ririya-translates

[ririya-translates]

Univeil Drama School: Quartz

[ririya-translates]

Duckweed Part Two Summary

Sorry this took a while to put together, but I have the second part summary of the Jack Jeanne Duckweed manga (part one). Both the first and second parts of the manga are currently online for free, but I'm unsure about their translation status so I thought I'd post these summaries for EN readers. I still recommend people going through them even without reading JP as there's a lot of great art that I've not included here.

The story continues where the last one left off, proceeding to show us more about Rhodonite's 77th year fall performance and exploring the dynamics between Tsukasa, Minorikawa, and Nagisa.

I default to using they/them for characters who present as femme outside of Jeanne roles because the prospect of English pronouns for Rhodonite girlies hurts my brain, but that's just a personal preference. Apologies for formatting weirdness since I had to do battle against the tumblr post editor just to assemble this thing.

Part 2:

-it doesn’t show us the rest of the play, cutting right to the results showing Rhodonite in dead last (order: Amber, Onyx, Quartz, Rhodonite)

-Tsukasa quickly leaves the scene, muttering “It’s my fault”

-Minorikawa feels that all of Rhodonite should take responsibility for not supporting their tresor

-Nagisa seems keenly aware of their weaknesses as a class and explains that Tsukasa’s singing is far above the others which creates an imbalance as they struggle to reach up to that level and Tsukasa won’t hold back

-this imbalance makes it hard for Tsukasa to reach full potential either. Rhodonite’s biggest problem is trying to bridge this gap

-Nagisa then explains to us a bit of the history from years 74-76 (Tsuki’s era) which gives more insight as to why some of the classes are now rather unbalanced in year 77

-years 74-76 are regarded as a special period in Univeil. It was defined by three major figures: Tsuki Tachibana, undefeated champion and the ‘treasure of Univeil’; Matsumasa Hiraki, Onyx Jack Ace known as the ‘prince of ice’ (I discussed his character’s connections further in this post)

-and the last of the big three is Kuuya Koiguchi, Rhodonite Al Jeanne and class lead known as the ‘princess of strife’ (multiple possible translations here). They should look familiar from part 1. 

-their name 鯉口 Koiguchi refers to the opening of a sword sheath, but can also literally mean “koi mouth” while 空也 Kuya has kanji for 'empty' and 'to be' 

-Kuya shows an intense determination to defeat Quartz and Onyx, feeling the biggest weapon they were missing was a tresor. They sought to find the strongest tresor they could, but nobody had the ability until Tsukasa showed up

-newly-enrolled Tsukasa appears much like Mare is in the game, very bubbly and carefree

-Kuya chose Tsukasa and became quite obsessive in turning Tsukasa into this ideal weapon. Their goal was to reach the same level as Quartz, but that never happened. They left Tamasaka without ever defeating Tsuki. This indicates they did not join the troupe.

-Nagisa and the others tried to help, but Kuya’s obsession still lives in Tsukasa’s mind. Nagisa fears that it will destroy Tsukasa at this rate if something isn't done about it

-with this in mind, Minorikawa goes back to the duck pond and watches ducks eat the duckweed. He thinks of all the food being fed to the tresor. But if the duck gets too big, it can no longer move properly to feed

-initially he thinks that this is why Rhodonite’s biggest priority should be on trying to improve to meet Tsukasa’s level, but he pauses and says something like: “actually, it’s best to let them eat”

September

-on the topic of ‘let them eat’, Ion has gained a lot of weight over summer break and looks much more like Ion we see in-game

-Nagisa announces their fall play, ‘Garden of the Phoenix’. It’s a story about gardeners working to maintain a magnificent garden where a phoenix lives

-one day, the phoenix’s flames torch the garden to the ground, causing a wave of destruction. The creature closes off its heart and lays waste to the garden

-a young gardener returns with plans to restore the garden, but must work together with the phoenix to bring back the beauty that was once there

-the phoenix cannot forget the pain it caused, but opens its heart to fulfill the gardener’s dream of rebuilding the garden

-Minorikawa is the second-highest Jack (‘sub-ace’) while Tsukasa plays the Al Jeanne, the leader of the gardeners heading up the restoration project. Nagisa plays the tresor as the Phoenix. Tsukasa is quite upset at not being the tresor and runs off

-Tsukasa runs once again to the duck pond and Minorikawa follows. Tsukasa feels like they’re being replaced because they’re inadequate as a tresor. Minorikawa responds asking about Tsukasa’s dream

-he talks about his dream of joining the Tamasaka Troupe. That only two or three students per year get chosen from Univeil, and sometimes none at all

-he thought joining Univeil was the first step towards this dream, but in reality after he joined, he felt it slipping further away. He imagines his younger self within this dream watching him with eyes of concern

-he’s resolved to still do the best he can towards that goal, despite the long and hard climb. But his dream requires sacrificing Tsukasa’s

-Tsukasa recalls a time when they used to have so much fun singing. They’re shown singing the song Kamome no Suihei-san, a classic Japanese children’s song about seagull sailors playing up and down on the waves. This video has EN captions of the lyrics.

-Tsukasa says that they don’t have dreams as big as Minorikawa’s and that they’ll be Al Jeanne if it’s what’s best for Rhodonite, but headbutts Minorikawa and basically says that if they sink, they’re dragging everyone with with them

-rehearsals seem to go well. Nagisa mentions how the role of Al Jeanne requires one to focus on every element of the performance, not just the singing part. Tsukasa seems to be picking this up quickly and will likely be able to return to the tresor role soon

Fall Play

-performance order: Onyx, Amber, Rhodonite, Quartz

-Hotei tells Tsukasa backstage that Nagisa was always jealous that Kuya chose Tsukasa as the tresor, but also that he became the class lead to support Tsukasa

-the performance goes well; Rhodonite has their chance to rise again and rebuild

-results: Amber, Onyx, Rhodonite, Quartz

-Tsukasa remarks that they beat Quartz but that third place isn’t all that satisfying. They recall Kuya saying Tsukasa could some day stand on the same level as Quartz

-Tsukasa explains that they joined Univeil simply because they loved to sing, but that over time they lost that joy of singing from being so focused on winning. They thank the class for having the chance to enjoy it again

-Tsukasa asks Minorikawa to carry his dreams through to the end, believing that he can do it. And that Tsukasa will do the same

-epilogue basically skips to the start of year 78 (in-game year) where Minorikawa is dealing with Mare and friends, Tsukasa is calmly enjoying some tea and starting on this new role of guiding the class

-the epilogue page talks about how the duckweed floating on the surface is gobbled up by bigger creatures, but that roots extend deep into the water and with the passing of winter, new sprouts are left behind. (I think Ishida may have gotten his aquatic plants mixed up because I’m unsure how this metaphor works with rootless plants, but we’ll roll with it) 

Note:

We know from an in-game event with Minorikawa in Mitsuki’s route and from Fumi’s birthday story that Tsukasa’s partner by the end of that year was the 75th class Al Jeanne, which seems pretty clearly to be Nagisa. Nagisa and Tsukasa don’t read as partners to me in Duckweed, but we know from Neji and Chui that a significant partnership can happen from just one play together so it’s possible their relationship has a big shift after this point (please let me know if anyone writes a fic about this because I badly want to see it!)

[ririya-translates]

Mitsuki Birthday Story and Flower

In 2024, Towada published short stories on character birthdays about how they celebrated those days in the game timeline. July 14th is Mitsuki's and I've been desperately wanting to translate it for a year now.

There aren't major spoilers, but I would advise completing the common route up to that point and his first affection event before reading for further context (his summer novel story is relevant too, but not a requirement).

His image flower is baby's breath. Ishida describes it as pairing well with other flowers, with both of them bringing out the other's charm, while also having its own pure and refined beauty.

Every July 14th, Shirota remembered that there was no cake. That day in the Quartz rehearsal room, as rainy season transitioned into summer, was no different.

"Louis, you're the same as always!" In the middle of the excitement stood the one with a high voice, girlish face, and slender figure. Kisa Tachibana was truly a Jeanne…or at least used to be. Past tense. Because for the summer performance Kisa was somehow challenged to take on a Jack role.

Mukai, the role Kisa played, was a man whose androgynous features made him stand out from the rest of the world. He had an articulate, clean-sounding voice as if it had all excess noise scraped off of it. He was a cool man who could manage any problems that arose with unaffected ease. Yet it was Mukai who was now shouting on the behalf of his work superior, Hasekura. They all held their breath in shock and couldn't look away. It even pierced through Shiroma, Shirota's character, who was unable to move a muscle.

The towering wave of Mukai's rage and Kisa's acting swept them all into the scene. While Kisa becoming a Jack set off a lot of controversy with the class transfer debacle, the day where he engulfed the rest of Univeil didn't seem that far off now. (…That isn't to say Kisa was always an 'unmistakable Jack' though.) While this current Kisa was a 'Jack any way you look at it', when he first met Kisa, Shirota imagined he would naturally walk down the Jeanne path. But now all his his thinking had been overturned.

Kisa Tachibana seemed like someone who did not fear change. This was in total contrast to Shirota, who had no desire for it. He felt it was best for situations and emotions to remain flat, to continue being perfectly level. Change was something that only brought troublesome pain. For example, there was absolutely never cake on any July 14th….

(That one again, huh?) Shirota let out an annoyed sigh at the flood of incoherent feelings rushing forth within him. If only he could get rid of these boring memories with an exhale. Recollections filled his veins and ran through his body until they pierced through his chest. The pain called forth more and more of these dormant memories to the surface. ――Faces lit up in candlelight. A house with all the lights off. ――A mix of singing voices and congratulations. The sound of only his own footsteps. ――A cake crowned with giant strawberries. A perfectly flat table with not a thing on it. (I don't even like cake anyway.) But even so, on a day like today, cake was all he could think about. (A round cake, split into pieces, this is my, this is…this is…..) The churning memories made his head feel fuzzy.

"Shirota." He suddenly heard his name called. He raised his head with a jolt and saw Kisa in front of him. From all the racket in the practice room, he would later figure out that Neji had called for a break. "Sorry, is it okay if I ask a song-related question?" "…." "Shirota?" "Oh, um…" Kisa blinked several times at Shirota's stammering, but waited for his response, being careful not to overstep any bounds. The more Shirota thought about not saying anything, about not continuing the conversation, the more that thick murky cloudiness grew in his head. "…You." "Yes?" "Look like you could eat a whole cake by yourself." "Huh," Kisa's voice slipped out. "Huh," Shirota's did the same. He realized he had dragged Kisa into all these memories. (What the hell are you doing?!) He reflexively scolded himself. "Sorry, I was thinking about something else." He apologized with flimsy words which lacked any ring of truth. They may as well have been lies. Emotions swelled up within him and surged forcefully. He was filled with hatred for himself. "I think I could eat one, depending on the size at least," Kisa said. There was no need to reply to such a ridiculous question, but he did anyways with a nod and a serious expression. "But for you Shirota, even just one piece might be a challenge, huh?" Kisa was trying to keep the conversation going. Seeing that, Shirota couldn't just ignore it. "…You might be right. Even just one piece feels like a lot sometimes. Especially if it's a sugary cake loaded with cream." Without missing a beat, Kisa said, "Like a shortcake?" He had just gone for the most common example, but it matched exactly with the one from Shirota's memories. A shortcake with red strawberries. (I don't even like cake, but…)

He thought about his younger self having a cake placed in front of him, one loaded with sweetness and kind affection. "…I guess." A cake on the table was a symbol of parental love. A cake missing from the table was a symbol of that love being gone. "But…I do have the urge to eat it from time to time." The fact that he never had it was the very thing that made him crave it so badly. His self was imprisoned within this cage of his parents as wounds were dug into his heart. The seeping blood was proof of his connection to them. "Well in that case, you should split it into pieces and just eat as much as you want," Kisa said, as if it was easy. "Huh…" "Just cut off the size of piece you think you'd like." (That's not really what I'm talking about. And what would I do with the leftover cake?) He kept his mouth closed. (Oh right, this guy…has had people around to split a cake with.) Parents, siblings, anyone like that. So he could receive cake from others and give it away as well.

Now that Shirota thought about it, he always assumed the cake would be sliced. That seemed like the natural way to enjoy a gift. But the moment he thought about this, his world suddenly turned upside down and all the feelings crashed on top of him. (I….) Cake is something that's given to others, isn't it? His thoughts first jumped to his parents' faces, a sight that always brought him to despair. But in the back of his mind, he also thought of those guys in the year above him who looked out for him. He thought of the others in Quartz and the other students in his year. (They've all changed, and so have I.) The turbulent emotions began to clear a little while the cake within his memories started to dim. "…Are there any songs you particularly like?" In an attempt to force the conversation back on track, Kisa finally asked the question he had wanted to ask from the start. Kisa's voice, and that of all the other Quartz students, began to ring all at once in Shirota's ears. (…Ah, right.)

With practice over, Shirota walked by himself down Tamasaka Hill. He had arrived at an old-fashioned patisserie a bit off of the main road. He spotted the place earlier on his way to the cafe. Even though it never seemed to run out of customers, it felt relaxed. "Welcome!" Within the store's lineup of colourful cakes stood a big round one with strawberries. But Shirota quickly averted his eyes. (Don't they have anything in a more reasonable size?) He moved to the line of cakes of far more modest size that fit just what he needed. Some seasonal fruit tarts caught his eye. "…Hi, I'd like to place an order. I'll have one of these fruit tarts. And…one strawberry shortcake." He paused a moment. "…The second one is pretty big, but I'll share it with my friends at school." Today was his birthday. This time next year, he would surely think back on this day and smile.

[ririya-translates]

i participated in the fmks mini anthology "花のワルツ" (Waltz of the Flowers) in celebration for fumisan's birthday last year in 2024!!!

happy birthday fumisan my beloved🌹❤️

[ririya-translates]

Fumi Birthday Story and Flower

Starting with Kisa in April 2024, Towada began posting "short" stories on the official Jack Jeanne website for an entire year of character birthdays. Unfortunately due to life things, I wasn't able to translate these at the time, but I especially wanted to get Fumi's story out since it's a conversation between Fumi and Tsukasa that feels relevant to Duckweed.

All birthday stories take place on the day of the character's birthday in the in-game year (June 14th for Fumi) so it helps to have played up to that point. I use they/them pronouns for Tsukasa.

Since I had to skip a year, I'll also add the "image flowers" they're doing for birthdays this year. Fumi's is the red camellia which Ishida describes as a flower that blooms impressively even in harsh environments and that captivates people's hearts with its elegance and beauty.

"Fuumi, happy birthday." A luxuriant voice wove through those congratulatory words. Sarafumi Takashina stood at the gates of Univeil Drama School, about to descend the stairs encompassed by countless interwoven trees. He looked over his shoulder with a slight wry smile. There behind him was Rhodonite's class lead―― or their Al Jeanne, or their tresor, or all of the above. It was a minor, no, a big complicated problem for both of them so best to leave it be for now. Tsukasa Oshinari, part of Fumi's same 76th class, smiled placidly. "Thanks." At this casual mention of gratitude, Tsukasa walked towards him, "Where might you be going by yourself on a day like today?" Without a word, Fumi passed through the school gates. Tsukasa naturally followed suit.

"…So, what is it?" Fumi asked Tsukasa as they descended Tamasaka Hill. "Whatever do you mean?" "You aren't the type to reach out to someone simply to wish them a happy birthday." "That's so mean!" Tsukasa's voice rose with a shout. But they immediately returned to their usual smile. To that soft veil masking their feelings. But Fumi had an idea of what this was about. ―― The issue of Kisa Tachibana's class transfer. Kisa had unleashed a blinding amount of light as Quartz's new unpolished gem as the Al Jeanne during the newcomers' performance. Him taking on a Jack role for the first time in the upcoming summer performance should have been the topic of discussion. But instead, the other classes for and against him being a Jack butted into things, to the point where a whole riot broke out about him transferring classes. Tsukasa headed up one side of this battle. It seemed likely it's what they wanted to talk about. They had said Kisa's talents could be displayed to shine most brightly at Rhodonite.

But in the back of Fumi's mind, he remembered the uneasy expression on Kisa's face. He remembered how Kisa looked after Univeil's principal, Shuri Chuza, stated that he would grant the request depending on the summer performance results. Those eyes which hungrily took in everything, not letting a single moment of Univeil's performances pass him by, had turned dark and cloudy. Droplets fell from them like rain.

Fumi remembered the conflict that rose in his heart, not knowing how to best react. Kisa's childhood friend, Soshiro Yonaga, watched her with a dark and solemn expression too. And Fumi couldn't ignore that even Shirota, who normally looked over Quartz from a bird's eye distance, had narrowed his focus onto Kisa. On the other end, Kai stared out at the twisted emotional whirlwind Neji had pulled the class into. "Huh, that's weird isn't it?" Only Suzu's wonderfully direct voice rang out.

To be wanted by others is to be toyed with by others. This was Fumi's daily life too. While he was wished a happy birthday by people he knew and even those he didn't, they were also sizing up his youth and talent. They told him about his remarkable future, his curse the rest of them had so wished to receive. But even through his hatred of it all, he reached out his hands towards this talent. He must continue dancing, no matter what. He could see a cage of countless hands around him. ――Until

Fumi found freedom in his days at Univeil when a certain someone was by his side. Every day their paths crossed was another colourful flower in those outstretched hands. It was good to pick and decorate with whichever flowers caught the eye. And to kick it all away if they turned to tangled vines. (Maybe Kisa can be like that too someday.) He felt like he wanted to reach out. But at the same time, even though he chose his words with the other person in mind, if the person on the receiving end didn't bear the weight of this experience, they would be left like merely a nice-looking facade of paper-mache that could only crumble. If left in this state, this person could get completely crushed. And so, all he could do was watch from a distance, staying close enough to help if Kisa started drowning.

"Hey, Fumi." Tsukasa addressed him, noticing he had gone quiet. They were already at the bottom of the hill and continuing on to the winding side streets towards Nakakoji. They walked through the smattering of voices from passers-by. Then Fumi noticed something. He noticed that Tsukasa had gone as quiet as he had. Before he had a chance to think about the meaning behind this silence, Tsukasa spoke up. "Are you lonely with Tsuki Tachibana gone?" It had been said as casually as asking about the day's weather, but the shock to Fumi felt like the sky was falling. Being unable to keep up his appearances, he accidentally looked at Tsukasa with his face defenseless. Tsukasa did not look at him. Tsuki Tachibana. Fumi's former partner. Everyone at Univeil knew about their relationship, yet it was territory nobody else could enter. Until this rose-coloured bird feigning ignorance calmly flew right in. "….Haha. Ahahaha!" he laughed reflexively. There was something strange in the depths of his heart. (Oh right, they had someone like that too.) He quickly narrows his eyes as he recalls the memory. There was a shadow of a rose behind that question. Tsukasa's partner was someone from Rhodonite's 75th class who graduated two months ago. As the class lead, Tsukasa remained composed, but that didn't extend to the depths within their chest. They were both excellent actors, after all.

――I am a tresor. That is my pride. The Tsukasa who proudly and boastfully said those words was now tinged in sepia tones. They once had that sort of freedom. They used to sing whatever they thought of, whatever they wanted. Tsukasa carried the heavy crown of Al Jeanne and took up the compass of class lead in a shockingly small amount of time. Last year’s final play was one of the reasons why. Tsukasa gambled everything to stand on-stage next to their Al Jeanne partner as a tresor in the final play and dropped out of the individual award rankings. Rhodonite came in last place. With every rise comes a fall; behind every joy lies a sorrow.

Fumi could never forget that look on the side of Tsukasa's face when they saw the results. Tsukasa had dropped the curtain on themselves, on the protagonist who stood in the middle of the stage singing freely. (I guess I did too.) The one who used to dance all over the place with the freedom and intensity to destroy everything now had his hands tied in trying to regularly check on the state of Quartz. Were they missing anything? Was anything falling apart? (…Tsuki was like that too.) His former partner. Fumi had intended for them to stand side by side, but in reality, Tsuki was always watching out for him. Fumi stared dead ahead as he took a step towards Nakakoji. "Well, I," A person floated up into his mind. No, make that 'people'. "I'm having a lot of fun lately." The gears of the new Quartz students were starting to turn. It had still only been two months. No, it had already been two months. Fumi had a sense that what they had could only be created by his class in particular.

"…Fumi." Then Tsukasa finally looked at him. "Can you answer me at a time like this with just a 'yes' or 'no'?" they said with a stupidly sunny face. Fine. Neither of them needed comfort or understanding from each other. At most they would cross paths, sparks of rivalry would fly, and then they'd go their separate ways. "Fumi, you should do something for me. It is your birthday, after all." "That's the opposite of how it normally works." "Present, please. Give me Kisa, please." Tsukasa had forcibly changed the topic. This is the one Fumi had initially expected. Their face had returned to that of the Rhodonite class lead. "You know, Fumi. I'm interested in seeing Kisa as a Jack. I'd take especially good care of that one," Tsuksa said with passion. "What are you expecting me to say to that? I'm not gonna say 'oh here you go'." Naturally, he had no plans of complying. (…Buuut, this is quite a curious thing.) The two of them who used to do as they pleased were now acting for the sake of others rather than themselves. It's what could be called 'growth'. Even though that growth required devouring freedom to become larger, Fumi thought this was a good thing. Because he himself had once been free, he now wanted others to live freely. Like a carefree cat doing as it pleases. (I've taken a liking to that one, huh?)

[ririya-translates]

takashina

[ririya-translates]

it's been a really rough year but mermay always makes it better :)

[ririya-translates]

I've created animated JackJeanne's Quartz Student mouse cursor set. Free to download on my Ko-fi. Enjoy! ジャックジャンヌのクォーツの生徒のマウスカーソルのアニメーションを作りました。BOOTHで無料でダウンロードできます。どうぞお楽しみください！

[ririya-translates]

What do you think happened to Kisa’s brother?

This is something I don't think the game gives us a single clear answer on yet, and it's very fun to play with different possibilities for it.

If anyone wants more specifics or sources for any references, shoot me an ask and I'll try to get that for you. I may have missed something, too. Also, always feel free to correct me if I'm misremembering something, it can happen.

This will have spoilers for and references to a bunch of side material, and assumes knowledge at least of Kai route and Kisa route, though Fumi route is also mentioned. By reading it, you will, at least, know what the game doesn't include, so if you're still working through the canon and don't want spoilers, here's your warning.

I think we are supposed to be assuming Tummy/Onaka is in some way related to him, but the game gives us so many different avenues as to how, it would feel presumptive to say which one will end up being the case (if, indeed, the sequels plan on resolving it at all.)

If anyone still doesn't know, Tsuki means "moon" so the joke of that first scene with Kai and Tummy is that the player is supposed to think Kai was about to name the weasel "Tsuki", after the mark on its tummy, but opts for "Tummy" instead. It isn't spelled with the kanji for moon, but is read that way.

I think if there was any doubt, that scene you can get at the end of Kisa route if you meet specific parameters is really meant to drive that home. But even that leaves some deniability, and provides little clarity.

We're given so many different details about the supernatural and they don't ever cohere into a single answer, which is fascinating. We know that weasels are considered sacred to Mt. Oodate, a god in its own right that predates any association of the area with theater.

We know that it's a strange place with many superstitions. We know the area has a local legend that people sometimes get "invited off" on a specific night of the month, and on Kai route, we see something potentially related to that happen to Kisa. [Read more about Izayoi here]

In the Arata forest live reading show, they added a new scene that isn't in the story in the summer light novel where Kisa falls into a cave on the mountain, starts hearing voices, and maybe hallucinating.

All of this carries the potential deniability of all the signs that Kisa herself is maybe more unwell than we're being shone for most of the game. She has her moments, like the Good Morning Exercise, and side material like her birthday story last year or the final story in Seven Winds, which paint a picture of someone who may in fact be prone to things like this, even without supernatural assistance.

But the way its framed in the game I think favors the supernatural being real in some way, and acting on her.

And if it is acting on her, it may well have been related to what happened to her brother.

We've got these disappearances, these seeming slips into other dimensions, ghosts, possessions, mountain gods and sacred weasel messengers, old superstitions based on plays, curses, a theater god that died of violent emotional suffering that shares part of the sound of his original name with her brother. We've got Fumi and Kai talking about how stressed Tsuki seemed by the end, Fumi remarking that Kisa about to lose it and wander in the woods reminds him of Tsuki. Kai recalls that Tsuki used to head out there when he was struggling, too.

Heck, buried in the Ishida Sui exhibition booklet, there's a rough sketch of Tsuki dancing that didn't make it into the game proper, with text beside it talking about him performing a Kagura dance of Himehiko dancing to quell the Mountain, and losing his heart in the process? People are commenting on how good he is as only a first year.

Kagura, traditionally, is a worship dance form in Shinto, that is thought of as a kind of channeling or possession in retelling stories of gods as both ritual and entertainment. So who knows what sort of ideas Towada and Ishida were kicking around when planning the game.

Whatever they were they have left us with pieces of a bunch of different ones, each with supporting evidence if you look for it. Was Tsuki a normal small town boy who became touched by the supernatural when he came to Univeil? Did his talent attract supernatural forces to act on him? Was he partially possessed? Did he make a pact of some kind with some force there? Did someone do this to him? Is it some kind of curse? Did the supernatural whisk him off? Did it reach in to try to save him?

Did he know, as Fumi says he suspects, that Kisa would follow him to Tamasaka?

Did he lose his heart the way Himehiko did? Did he turn into a weasel? Did he ask the mountain god to send a weasel to get Kisa? Did he buy Kisa a weasel stuffed animal that came alive as a spirit of the mountain?

Or maybe he was just a really talented kid, and all the pressure of this 'Treasure of Univeil' label, and all the expectations of genius, and playing class lead and jack ace and mentor and mysterious and calm upperclassman weighed on him more than he really let on. Maybe, like his little sister, the stress of it got to him, and something in the woods whispered to him, and he followed it.

Maybe something even more mundane and tragic happened. I think there's a lot of room left in the game to see Tsuki as a kid really in over his head who wasn't doing well, himself. That for all the perfect prince he played for everyone, he was breaking under the pressure. He does a terrible job of preparing the class for his departure, and he leaves Fumi an absolute mess without him.

Given that the 3Q routes are all about breaking through this image of your really talented upperclassmen who seem to be able to do anything to find scared traumatized confused kids underneath, I think the game is very much offering us the reading of Tsuki being the same way. A kid forced to help raise his little sister, who left that role for the first time and was thrown into another demanding one, full of expectations that only grew.

If you wanted to get real dark, I think you could fill in what else might have been going on with Tsuki in a lot of ways, but I won't go into them all here, because your imagination can provide, and also I don't want to color readings that darkly unless asked specifically for it.

It could easily be a combination of any of the above, too.

But also, I wrote an entire fic about the possibility that he was never a normal small town boy to begin with, and that is simply Kisa's perception of him. That maybe Tsuki was always Tsukihiko, the first generation Himehiko, incarnated using part of Kisa's own name, come to a sad lost theater kid at a shrine and playacting her big brother.

That maybe all the strangeness around him is because he was always not entirely human.

You can read that fic [here] and see all the supporting evidence I find for that side of things.

You can read another version of a similar theory [here]. I have several other ideas besides, and I'm sure I could come up with several more. I think the opening of the game, and some early sketches, float a potential of Tsuki as an antagonist, however the heck it would get there. Maybe he got possessed and Tummy is the part of him that survived that, or the last minute gift he sent. Maybe he got corrupted, somehow. Maybe he's a not-all-together-benevolent god here to mess with Kisa more. Maybe the Mountain and Himehiko are both playing at this. Maybe something completely outlandish I haven't even come up with. I think all these combinations of reads have some support and potential. There's enough material to theorize in so many different ways, and I don't think one is clearly more convincing than any of the others.

And, in new material, they may introduce more possibilities instead of cutting them back, instead. Maybe they'll be heading to there never even being one canon answer, and each theory will continue to get more evidence as it's joined by others. Maybe they'll be different equally supported endings. Who can say.

Or maybe they've got a single answer in mind, and as new material comes out, it'll get clearer and clearer which is correct.

Honestly, I think, if they wanted to, they could make the sequel (or, if they're planning on doing more sequels,, and just trap me here forever, one even later on) more of an explicit mystery game.

The way the game handles it, it genuinely comes off as weird how little curiosity Kisa seems to have about her brother's disappearance. I think through side material and brief moments in game, once again most strongly on Kai route, the implication I, at least, was left with, is that she can't think to much about it, that she's keeping these theater blinders on as a way to cope. The first chapter of the Moon Signpost Novel suggest she has always used this to cope with grief. But there's a layer of utter denial to it, too. In the Summer Kageki Novel, in his story, Yonaga thinks to himself that Tsuki is probably dead, and that he thinks Kisa must, deep down, know that. But that he doesn't want to be the one to say it, so he just awkwardly laughed and agreed when she said he was probably out there somewhere.

But it still feels weird. She never tries to crack this case, even a little, when it seems set up for her to do that. So I think it's a path they could take in later material, and because Ishida and Towada both seem to love making their characters fall apart, psychologically, we could get more of that fun Kai Route weirdness as she does. The fact that there ARE so many paths and answers that seem to have thematic or textual evidence means that the branching nature of an otome game, or a visual novel in general, could work really well to explore each of these and other potentialities. Each LI could have their own theory, or at least provide a different window into the mystery.

Like, Yonaga's interests canonically include researching the occult. Get on this, Fox Mulder! I'm genuinely so bummed out that doesn't come up more in game, and I think the side material constantly dropping new Tamasaka Town legends suggests that the authors had a lot more in mind that just didn't make the cut for the first game. I love the weirdness in Jack Jeanne, so I hope there will be much more of it.

Yonaga's got this research angle, and is someone who knew Tsuki in the past, and can explore those memories. Suzu's special ability is asking people about things - his summer light novel chapter has him and Kisa going around and getting lore, and his birthday story and some events also include that. I think Mitsuki's intense focus on trust and honesty could be a good opening to making Kisa talk about her feelings about things, and Mitsuki is in a unique position as not having met the guy and being annoyed at the mess he left behind. Kai's already got the Kai route stuff, which could easily continue. Fumi was Tsuki's partner, and almost certainly has more to share. I think there's a lot that can be done with the compare and contrast on the images of Tsuki that Fumi and Kisa have, but on Fumi route, Kisa is sort of still shutting that down, so we don't get it. Neji, ever the wild card, giver of lore finding quests and random information, is also positioned -- even more so after his birthday story -- to be in the middle of whatever politics are going on in Tamasaka, if that has something to do with it all -- that's an angle I didn't even really touch on. What's Chuza's role in all this, anyway? I feel like there are a lot of fucked up ways that sketchy guy could be involved in this.

Even the side characters from the first game could get in on it, if they get routes. Mare's got a big brother whose shadow hangs over everything too. Kasai, like Suzu, like Kisa, is someone who followed Tsuki's image to the Univeil stage. Minorikawa seems like the sort to constantly get himself involved over his head in something. Chui could go in so many directions, either political or supernatural, or again like in Kai route, shaking some realizations out of Kisa through the Magic of Theater. So, the very long answer to your question is, basically: I have no idea! And that I think there's a lot of potential for the game and it's side material (can you even call Jack Jeanne primarily a game anymore? Considering how much non-game bonus material there is?) to poke around in that mystery. Thanks for the ask! Happy to take any follow-ups or other questions!

[ririya-translates]

Duckweed available for free

Good news! Part 2 of Ishida's Jack Jeanne Duckweed manga is now fully available online for free. Part 1 still appears to be available as well so you can read the whole thing for free from beginning to end. I hope to post a Part 2 summary as well (Part 1 here) when I have the chance, but I wanted to let people know!

[ririya-translates]

Duckweed Part One Summary

Since Duckweed’s fan translation status will likely take quite some time due to its length and is partly paywalled currently, I wanted to write up a summary of the main points of the manga. If you've been seeing fan art lately for some unfamiliar characters, they might be from this manga so I included panels to get an idea for how they look.

While it was presented as a Minorikawa manga and he does feature in it quite a lot, I would say that the themes and story revolve more around Tsukasa and their points of overlap.

The story opens as they’re preparing for the Year 77 summer play with Minorikawa as a first-year and Tsukasa as the second-year tresor. As the manga one-shots have all been prequels, they serve more as a set-up to where we see the characters in-game so there aren’t any big game spoilers or anything.

It’s split into two parts so I will split these posts as well. I used point form because this gets lengthy. As of writing, part one is available for free online here. Pronouns get so tricky with Rhodonite so I tend to default to using they/them pronouns for Tsukasa and any characters who present as overtly femme outside of Jeanne roles (I think any pronouns people want to use are fine though).

Part 1:

-opens on Minorikawa performing Univeil musical numbers as a kid (presumably for his family) and dreaming about being a Jack Ace

-the odds of getting into Univeil are said to be around 1 in 30 (~3% acceptance rate) but he dreams about it still

2 Weeks Until Summer Play

-jumps to Minorikawa's first year at Univeil where he's been assigned as the assistant class lead and is upset that they're falling so behind on progress before the summer play

-we see him being pranked and terrorized by another Rhodonite girlie trio (no given names for them sadly) much like with Marechan and friends in the game. Since we don't see them in-game, they're presumably in class 75.

-we also meet the class 75 leads: Nagisa Ashibe 葦辺渚 (Al Jeanne/class lead) and Aoi Hotei 布袋碧 (Jack Ace)

Worth noting due to the duckweed/pond symbolism that Ashibe means ‘reedy shore’ and Nagisa means ‘water’s edge’. Aoi means ‘blue/green’ and Hotei can literally mean ‘cloth bag’ but is also the JP spelling for the Buddhist figure Budai? I don’t know if that’s relevant but it is kinda funny

-Tsukasa has a rather intimidating aura and runs quite intense singing practices

-Minorikawa and Ion are working out, talking about how Tsukasa seems to turn into another person during practice. Minorikawa thinks it might be due to the newcomers’ results (ranked in order: Quartz, Onyx, Amber, Rhodonite)

(Yes that is a skinny Ion in a burger shirt)

-Minorikawa tries to get Tsukasa to stop giving the class so many instructions at once in practice and to manage what’s left of their limited time. Nagisa calls for a break and brings the two of them two his office

-Minorikawa argues that they’re only 2 weeks out and not even halfway through the progress they need to reach. Nagisa tells Tsukasa that they need to have lower standards for singing quality in order to cover the other areas

-Tsukasa is quite upset, but Nagisa reminds them that the 74th class is gone now and the class must change accordingly for where they’re at now. Tsukasa relents

-Nagisa mentions Fumi and how even though Tsukasa is a genius, they are always in Fumi’s shadow. Minorikawa connects it to how he felt watching Chui. We see the continuing visual metaphor of ducks on the pond that will be explained more in Part 2

-Nagisa mentions that Tsukasa is carrying a heavy burden being the symbol of Rhodonite as the tresor. (Tresors in Rhodonite are considered a third lead role, possibly even higher than Jack Ace?)

1 Week Until Summer Play

-class has made a lot of progress and seems likely to squeak past the finish line

-Minorikawa notices some first-year students are missing and finds out Tsukasa went after them when they ditched practice. He heads towards the duck pond to find them

-students apologize in fear and Tsukasa asks if they really think their singing is good enough for Rhodonite

-that same question is then reversed in Tsukasa’s thoughts: do you think that kind of singing is good enough for Rhodonite’s tresor? There’s a menacing image of someone saying “Once again, from the top” which is a phrase Tsukasa has also used in other scenes

-the voice commands Tsukasa not to cry and Minorikawa finds them in noticeable distress

-Tsukasa walks away, saying to the crying student that even if you cry, you won’t get any better

-unnamed student says that they are actually someone who admires Tsukasa and wants to get over their crying habit. Students apologize to Minorikawa too for causing him trouble.

-Minorikawa looks back at the duck pond and thinks about how scared Tsukasa looked

Summer Play

-Performance order: Quartz, Amber, Onyx, Rhodonite (this is the same performance day we see in Parsley) -I Am Death leaves everyone shaken. Minorikawa feels Chui is in a totally different league from him

-he nervously hides in the bathroom to rehearse his lines again and notices Fumi’s Jack Ace (before Kai) looking quite distraught after the Quartz and Amber performances

-cuts to the Rhodonite play where Tsukasa is playing the goddess of the lake. Not too many details about the plot of this one

-Minorikawa notices things are off. Being last in the order has left the audience tired and the other classes all left an impression, especially Amber

-Tsukasa is closing the show in a big musical number, but things fall out of sync. The whole thing starts to crumble as ducks feed furiously, culminating in the last panel of Tsukasa's final song where it says the performance…breaks (cliffhanger ending)

And that's Part 1! I'll try to get a summary up for the second part as well. Hope that helps a bit.

[ririya-translates]

Hiraki the Prince of Ice

Okay so, Ishida made the most obscure reference in Duckweed Pt. 2 (Bookwalker) and I need some sort of record of it to exist outside of Discord. This also makes reference to plot points in Towada's first anniversary novel (now reduced to just a sample as it was published in the recent Tamasaka's Trail of Light 玉阪の光跡 novel), but even the sample does touch on the relevant part to this.

It's about quite a minor character who might prove relevant in the future and also some general Tamasaka history stuff, mostly from the novel. I tried to avoid any game spoilers, but it's long so I put it under a cut anyways. Names in English are changed to first-last order.

Edit to add the free version link The Tamasaka novel refers to the story about Tamasaka City's (玉坂市) founding when it used to be Tamasaka Town (玉坂町). This gets a bit into real Japanese history so apologies in advance if I oversimplify or say something inaccurate, but essentially, during the Meiji era (1868-1912), Japan transitioned from the Edo-era feudal style of government under the shogun and samurai leaders to a centralized government under the emperor. There were obviously a lot of changes as a result and one was a merge of various smaller municipalities across the country.

This is where Tamasaka’s history starts. So it’s established in the game that Tamasaka was founded after the first Himehiko was granted land to create a playhouse and little theatre town (please see this post for a much more thorough Himehiko event timeline). 

But what’s most important here is that the lord who granted him this land was named Matsubara Hiraki (開松原) and that his clan had their own castle and nearby samurai town also called Hiraki (開). Tamasaka Town and Hiraki co-existed until the Meiji period, where they were suddenly forced to merge into one city. There was a big debate over which name this new city would take. That whole story is discussed in the novel where they perform a joint play on how Tamasaka got its name. For now, just remember the name Hiraki.

Then we have this one weekend event with Sou on 8/1. It’s highly missable since it often overlaps with an affection event. Fortunately, @himehikoshrine has a transcript of it they let me use:

8/1 library event

Sou: …

Kisa: Sou…? What’s he reading…?

Sou, what are you reading? Huh? A program?

Sou: Ah, Kisa! Sorry, I didn’t notice you here!

It’s a program from the Tamasaka Troupe. I went to see their show.

Kisa: Really? So, how was it?

Sou: It was amazing! The principal’s nephew and a graduate from Onyx were the leads.

The nephew was the Hime. Everyone was treating him like a king.

Onyx’s graduate played the Hiko who was nicknamed the “Prince of Ice.”

The person who played the Prince of Ice was in the same year as Tsuki… He was really amazing.

Kisa: (He was with Tsuki…)

Sou: But the Hime actor was really amazing, too. He really didn’t resemble the principal.

I guess people born into the world of theater just have a different vibe, you know? Like Fumi.

I thought I could study them, but I just ended up watching as part of the audience.

So I figured I should at least read the interview that was typed up, but…

I could tell the two actors don’t get along from their comments…

Kisa: Huh?

Sou: They were the perfect partners onstage, too.

Actors really are amazing…

Okay so we know there was an Onyx student in the 74th class with Tsuki who is currently at the Tamasaka Troupe as a Hiko (Jack) partnered with a member of the Chuza family line. Also that he’s nicknamed the “Prince of Ice”. Not much to take away from it other than knowing there’s someone from Tsuki’s time currently in the troupe (quite possibly the only one from his year). Until Duckweed pt. 2 drops this singular panel:

From left to right it reads:

In Quartz, the “Treasure of Univeil”

Undisputed champion: Tsuki Tachibana

In Onyx, the “Ultimate Jack”

Prince of Ice: Matsumasa Hiraki

It was a time of fierce battle between the big two Jack Aces.

開松正 Matsumasa Hiraki. I feel like you don’t even need to read Japanese to see how similar it is to 開松原 Matsubara Hiraki. They share a family name and both sound like possible samurai names starting with the same ‘matsu’ kanji.

Considering names in JJ generally seem to have a fair bit of intent, I do think there’s reason to assume Matsumasa comes from the Hiraki family line. Which poses a lot of questions about his family history overall with Tamasaka politics and the troupe and about his personal history with Tsuki. Those two connections make me think he could be significant, maybe in the sequel, but honestly who knows what goes on in Ishida’s mind. It’s also fun that his successor, Kaido, plays the leader of the Hiraki clan in the Tamasaka play.

[ririya-translates]

Jack Jeanne Manga News April 2025

Good news, part one of the new manga about Minorikawa's first year (Duckweed) is now available for free online! It's about 70 pages in length and part two will be available to purchase mostly likely May 18th at midnight JST (unsure if it will also be uploaded for free later).

It can also be purchased via Bookwalker in the May 2025 issue of Ultra Jump.

Quick non-spoiler summary of the first chapter is that it takes place during Minorikawa's first year as they are preparing for the summer play (exact same time as Parsley). We get to see more about Rhodonite's dynamics and perspectives with a focus on Minorikawa and Tsukasa.

Unfortunately, Puppet and Parsley have been cut down to sample-sized versions instead of being fully available for free. BUT they did something nobody expected by releasing a fully voice acted panel-by-panel video of Parsley with the original voice cast. It covers the entire manga and is freely available on Youtube. Akira Kosemura (game OST director) even made a new song.

Finally, Ishida surprised everyone when he announced only a few days before the Foliage anthology release that there would be a new 16-page manga, called Pecker (as in, woodpecker). This is only available in the Foliage manga anthology (Bookwalker). It's about the time when Neji decides to transfer to Quartz in his second year from mostly Chui's perspective. Despite being short, I would recommend it for people particularly interested in those characters.

[ririya-translates]

NEVERMIND, THEY RELEASED THE BIRTHDAY SHORT, IGNORE THE OTHER MESSAGE ABOUT IT

YIPPEE!!!

I hope you liked it! It’s a fascinating look into Neji’s brain. Just about as chaotic as I imagined. And the combination of banter and genuine support from Kai and Fumi is so sweet. I love my 3Q boys so much!

For those who want to try to read or machine translate the stories, they’re on the official website.

We’ll have to wait until Kisa’s bday (April 8th) to see if they’ll continue stories for another year or not.

[ririya-translates]

Jack Jeanne March/April 2025 News

Apologies if someone has already done a big news roundup post but I figured I'd write one for covering the fourth anniversary stuff and new book and manga releases.

This year's anniversary art took a very different direction from the formal styles from last year's with a more streetwear look. Official website here.

We got a livestream too with Yuka Terasaki (Kisa), Masumu Ono (Kasai), and Taichi Kusano (Mare) where they read some fan mail about things people like about JJ and which class they'd be in. The stream didn't reveal a lot of new news, although it does sound like Ishida and Towada are working on the sequel pretty much every day. Towada also posted this cute art before the stream on Bluesky.

On another stream Kisa's VA did with Gakuto Kajiwara (Shirota) she mentioned that she's only met with Ishida twice so far (and that he reminds her of Kenshi Yonezu??) so it sounds like probably a lot is going on in the planning and writing stage, but they're not at the recording stage yet. Also please watch this adorable clip of them singing Faded Color together.

As far as anniversary news, a lot of it was the expected things (mostly stuff that's hard to access outside of Japan) like Joysound karaoke collab, Gratte cafe collab, popup shops in Shibuya and Umeda with a little digital stamp collection game. I'm expecting merch to be sold online on Broccoli's store after the shops close at the end of March (requires a JP address so you will likely need a proxy shipping service outside of Japan). In addition to the acrylic stands and pins, there was a cute Tummy coffee tumbler and a sorta itabag-style tote with a window in it for showing off merch. They also announced a new drama CD coming out based on Towada's birthday stories (currently untranslated to my knowledge).

But the most exciting thing is that we're getting some new content! The first is a novel by Towada called 玉坂の光跡 or "Tamasaka's Trail of Light" which includes both the first anniversary novel "Happy Anniversary" (which used to be free but has sadly been cut to just a sample) and a new episode of 30k characters. It's a bit over 300 pages long which makes it slightly longer than the summer novel and Seven Winds. There's also some pre-order bonuses (art from Stella Worth and a visual board with a short story from Animate)

The second is a manga collection titled ジャックジャンヌ FOLIAGE ～アンバー・オニキス～ (Jack Jeanne FOLIAGE - Amber & Onyx) which has both Puppet and Parsley manga with some new art. If you want to check out the JP versions, I suggest trying to do so before April 17th as I'm unsure if they'll continue to be available for free after the commercial release.

But perhaps one of the most exciting things is that just today Ishida announced a new two-part manga one-shot published in Ultra Jump on April 18th. It's called "Duckweed" and will be focused on Minorikawa's first year after being picked to the be class lead's assistant and his challenges in managing all the Rhodonite girlies. Unlike the others, I do not expect this one to be posted officially online for free since it's being published.

For those who were maybe hoping for more sequel news, I do think the biggest thing we can take away from all this between the note at the end of Parsley, Kasai and Mare on the anniversary stream, and now a Minorikawa manga is that I get the strong sense the sequel will take place in the following year with Kisa as a second-year. I'm not sure how they will make this work with the graduated students, but that seems to be the direction all signs are indicating.

[ririya-translates]

okay they released the full cover without the watermark. KISA TACHIBANA YOU LOOK SO COOL

I'm suuuuper curious what the new novel (tamasaka no kouseki) is about. plus they're developing the sequel game and releasing a new manga (jack jeanne foliage) (I believe that one might feature sugachi?)

[ririya-translates]

What exactly is JJ Seven Winds about? I've been eyeing it for a while but are they just short stories of Kisa and the characters? Does it take place post-game?

Seven Winds stories take place soon before the final plays on each route, generally after the major route conflicts have been addressed. It’s basically the sort of content I might expect from a fan disc in book form, which is to say it’s fluffier romantic content between Kisa and each LI. In comparison, the summer novel also has stories for each character but Kisa isn’t always involved. I’d say the summer novel is about exploring the LIs as characters and Seven Winds is about exploring their relationship dynamics with Kisa. Each story is of her spending a day off with one of them, taking a bit of a break before the big day.

I haven’t read the entirety of the book due to life being very hectic when it released, but I quite liked what I read from Mitsuki, Fumi, and Neji’s stories. I especially liked Fumi’s for seeing a different side to him.