#I even have the light novels that have been translated (only volume 1&2 I think)

[thebomb-thebird-andtheburntbitch]

HELL YEAH

[maboroshi-no]

Hamefura LN11 Extra Story Translation (Part 4)

I have started translating the extra story which comes with the special edition of volume 11 of the Hamefura light novel.

I posted some notes about it a while ago.

This part is about Alan’s POV of his childhood.

Previous parts: Part 1    Part 2     Part 3

~The Story of the 4 Stuart Brothers~ (Part 4)

Alan’s POV

When I woke up, I could see the usual ceiling. But it was awfully distorted. Aah, again.

Maid: Master Alan, are you okay?

…the servant asked, worryingly peering into my bed. I replied…

Alan: …I… am… o…

"I am okay". This was what I was trying to say, but my voice wouldn't come out well. Seeing me like this, the servant left in a hurry to get some medicine. I couldn't really move my body because it felt heavy, and my vision looked distorted. This feeling… I probably had a high fever. Even though I had been feeling a little better for a while, even though I had been able to stay up longer during the daytime… I was now back to bed again. And I also started to feel sad that it had happened today of all days. Today was my and my older twin brother's birthday. Because I had been feeling well lately, Mother, my older twin brother Geordo and I had planned to celebrate our birthday together today. I had heard that, unlike me, my older twin brother Geordo was healthy. I had mostly never talked to him because I had been laid up in this room the whole time, but I had heard that he was very talented and splendid. And I had been looking forward to meeting him and asking him about the outside world today…  But with this fever, it didn't seem like I would be able to join the party. Aaah… Why was my body like this…? I was sick and tired of sleeping in my room all day. I wanted to go outside and play like Geordo. Because I felt sad and bitter, my distorted vision became even more distorted.

After my fifth birthday, my health had gradually settled down. I had been laid up the whole time till now, and as a result, I had spent nearly no time on my studies. So for my sake, brilliant teachers had been assigned to me. There was a lot of studying, but the lessons were really fun because I could learn things that I didn't know about until now. However, one time, when I was walking to my teacher's place with my textbook in hand to ask him a question about the lesson, I heard this.

Man A: Hey, it's that rumored fourth prince. Look at the textbook he's holding.

Man B: Uwaah! He's using such a basic textbook at that age! I can't believe it!

Man A: Yeah, the difference is just awful compared to the other princes. And Prince Geordo, who is the same age, seems to have already completed the application part. Poor guy.

They were certainly talking about me. I felt the blood suddenly draining from my body. It was the first time that someone had talked like that about me. As I had been sleeping in my room all this time because of my poor health, there had been no one by my side but my mother, and the servants who had been taking care of me since birth. They had always worried about me. As I had never been hit with such malicious looks and words before, I was terribly shaken.

"Such a basic textbook".

I knew very well that I was behind in my studies. But my mother and the servants had told me that it couldn't be helped. So I hadn't thought about it too deeply.

"Poor guy".

These words remained as if they had been stuck to my ears. I didn't feel like going to my teacher's anymore, and I returned to my room, like I was running away. Right after I had returned to my room, the servants noticed that I looked strange and asked me what had happened, but I couldn't bring myself to talk about it. They always worried about me, so I knew that they would try to comfort me by telling me "Don't worry, this is not true". But right now, I felt like these words of comfort would actually hurt me. Because I couldn't help thinking that they might only say them out of pity, because they also felt sorry for me.

After that, since I had now started paying attention to them, these voices steadily entered my ears. "The Good-for-Nothing Prince" "The Deadweight Prince" Because I needed to wipe out these voices, I threw my whole being into my studies and my sword training. I had wanted to talk a lot with my older twin brother once I would get better, and also run outside and play to my heart's content, but I didn't have the leisure to do such things. Anyway, if I didn't go at my studies and training frantically, I wouldn't be able to fill the gap that I had accumulated until now. With this thought, I strived for it as if my life had depended on it.

It might have bore some fruit as, after several years, I had caught up to the other children of my age. I had become so brilliant that all the teachers praised my splendid results. I had had a late start because of my poor health, but after several years, I had been able to catch up to the other children. I was brilliant. 

And like this, I was getting up to speed. I was conceited, thinking I was amazing.

Still… One day, I noticed that my older twin brother Geordo could do anything better than me, and that the things that I was struggling to do, he would do them quickly with an unconcerned face. I had been making so much effort without sparing any time to sleep. I had become so brilliant that the teachers now praised my splendid results. In spite of this, I couldn't compare to Geordo at all. My nose, which had been high in the air, crashed down in an instant.

Then, I took some distance from Geordo. Well, we mostly had no contact to begin with, but… After I had gotten conscious of it, I still started to avoid him. Because I couldn't bear to be compared to Geordo, whom I could never reach no matter what effort I put in. In spite of this…

Man A: Prince Alan is so mediocre no matter what he does.

Man B: He has been laid up for so long because of his poor health, so it can't be helped.

Man A: Even so, despite them being twins, there's so much difference between him and Prince Geordo. I feel for him.

Man B: There sure is. Prince Geordo might have taken all the good things while in the womb.

Man A: Ha ha! So that would make him the dregs after all the good things were taken!

Man B: Whoa, whoa! That's harsh!

After I had stumbled on this conversation, my vision went completely dark. "The pathetic prince who is lagging behind children of the same age". I had been able to wipe out these words after piling up my efforts. Still… No matter what effort I put in, I couldn't wipe out "The prince who is far inferior to Prince Geordo". I was overwhelmed by these malicious words whispered to me, and before I knew it, I had become filled with an inferiority complex towards Geordo.

I felt irritated just by hearing Geordo's name, and I felt annoyed just by seeing his face. I didn't want to let it get to me, I didn't want to know about Geordo, but the more I thought about it, the more the talks about Geordo would enter my ears. I had become sensitive to his existence. And yet, unlike me, Geordo didn't seem concerned about my existence at all, which stirred up my feelings even more.

While I was spending such days, my eldest brother Jeffrey started to show up at my place little by little. I was the youngest of us four brothers, but I had nearly had no contact with my other brothers. I had of course not seen them during the period when I was constantly laid up, but also after I had been able to get out of my room. I had been desperate to catch up with the lost time then, so I hadn't really gone to meet them. Since they hadn't come to see me either, I had figured that my brilliant older brothers probably had no interest in their incompetent younger brother after all this time. Even so, why would he suddenly come now?  It was a mystery.

The first time I had met him, I didn't know who he was, and…

Alan: Hey you, who are you?

…I asked him. Jeffrey opened his eyes a little wide, and…

Jeffrey: I am Jeffrey Stuart. Your eldest brother. I am sorry for not coming to see you during all this time.

…he said while showing a little embarrassed face. Now that he had said it, when I took a really, really good look at him, his face was indeed similar to Geordo's, and the color of his hair and eyes were the same as mine. I found it suspicious that he would suddenly come to me even though he had never tried to have any contact with me during all these years, so…

Alan: And so? What's your business with me?

…I asked in an overbearing way, but that guy didn't mind my attitude, and…

Jeffrey: I have come to see you, Alan.

…he replied, smiling.

Alan: And I am asking why you came to see me.

I was a little irritated, but while still smiling, Jeffrey…

Jeffrey: Do I need a reason to come see my brothers? I wanted to see you, so I came.

…he said.

After this encounter, Jeffrey would repeatedly come to my place. Doing so, he would keep asking about touchy things, like my now completely recovered health, or how I was getting along with Geordo. That guy was probably coming here to make fun of his incompetent younger brother. It was extremely unpleasant. I treated Jeffrey harshly each time he came, but he still returned as usual without looking even a little upset about it.

Before long, I had become eight, Geordo had become engaged, and I had also gotten a fiancée. A sweet girl called Mary Hunt. After interacting with her, I encountered that mysterious noble daughter called Katarina Claes. She climbed trees, and she fished too. Katarina wasn't like the average noble daughter. For me who had never played anything like a game before, my interactions with Katarina were new and fun. Before I knew it, I would excitedly come and go to Katarina's home. And then, I finally encountered Geordo there.

At first, I was terribly distressed. I might have been terrified of this person called Geordo. But he was the Geordo that I had come to know through Katarina. She had made me realize that I had only known him through hearsays and that I hadn't taken a good look at who Geordo really was. That, while I had been lamenting over Geordo not deigning to look at me, I hadn't properly looked at him either. That people had different aptitudes, and that Geordo too, had things that he was good with, and things that he was bad with. That there was no such thing as a perfect human being. These were what Katarina had taught me. Though, it might not have been her intention at all to teach me that.

And then, the things around me that I had never tried to properly look at because I had been stuck on my views, they were not as I had imagined. The people who had been speaking ill about me had only been some people in my older brothers' factions. The teachers and the whole servants staff had never spoken ill about me. I had just been frightened and pained by the delusions that I had created myself.

To begin with, Geordo was way more human than I had imagined. I could see that after I had started going to the Claes household with him and spending lots of time together. Before, I couldn't tell what he was thinking because he only made artificial-looking smiles, but his thoughts had unexpectedly been showing on his face many times. Especially, when it came to Katarina, I could see his smile freeze out of shock, or see him covering his face and shaking his shoulders, probably trying to hold back a burst of laughter. And whenever I had a farming contest with Katarina, Geordo would join in and go at it with all his might. He also had a childish side. It had made me realize that my image of Geordo until now really had just been a wrong impression.

And also my eldest brother Jeffrey. I had been hating him because I had thought that he was coming to make fun of me, but my way of seeing him had also changed. My eldest brother had just been worried about my health and my tense relationship with Geordo. Because I had been completely overwhelmed by my negative assumptions, I had arbitrarily thought of him as a bad person.

And the other day, when I returned to my room after talking to Geordo, that same Jeffrey called out to me with a smile.

Jeffrey: So you get along with Geordo now!

After my eldest brother had said this, his face had taken on an expression of relief.

Alan: Yeah, kind of. Thanks for worrying about me till now.

After I had said this in reply, Jeffrey looked at me blankly, and then suddenly started to ruffle my hair. Wh-What's with him?! He seemed to be treating me like a brat. It annoyed me a little, but when I looked up at his face, there was such a happy smile on it, so I held back any protest and left it at that.

Afterwards, whenever Jeffey came over, I would casually spend time with him to make him happy. But because he was set on treating me like a brat, it was a little troublesome.

[specialability]

2022 Reading

So it seems that my total is ~41 books read, although it's difficult to count. Thirty-eight different titles, although the web novels are often 3-6 volumes worth each. Manga is even harder to pin down, Naruto alone is 72 volumes and there are a lot of manga I read and don't keep track of or are ongoing. I don't remember what I was doing in June, I must have been reading something. Links are to novelupdates for webnovels and some to the publisher if they might be slightly harder to find.

January

Dune by Frank Herbert (reread)

Children of Dune

Dune Messiah

February

Hikaru no Go by Yumi Hotta & Takeshi Obata (reread)

Cried at the end, as one does. Recommended for fans of sports/trading card/proxy battle fans but also fans of dramatic men who carry hand fans.

March

Bu Tian Gang by Meng Xi Shi (web novel, DNF)

Qiang Jin Jiu by Tang Jiuqing (web novel, on hold)

Unseen Immortal of Three Hundred Years (web novel, translation stalled)

Spring Trees and Sunset Clouds by Wei Liang (web novel, Exiled Rebels translation)

post I made about these

April

Female General and Eldest Princess by 请君莫笑 (web novel, melts translation)

post about this great sweeping yuri romance

May

Otherside Picnic Omnibus Vol. 1-3 by Iori Miyazawa

I had trouble falling asleep after reading these they were so freakin scary. In a very good way. The yuri is also excellent and falls within the category of 'fucked up people finding love in a fucked up world'

Scum Villain's Self-Saving System Vol. 1 & 2 by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu (Seven Seas trans.) post about it

Stray by 年终 (web novel, Kinky Translations)

Interesting unusual danmei in a more western fantasy setting. Post about it.

Monster by Naoki Urasawa (reread)

July

Tai Sui by Priest (E. Danglars trans.) If I had to pick one, this would be my book of the year. Post at chapter 66 and the end although I think it would take a full year of a university level course to pick this novel apart properly.

August

Smiley's People by John LeCarré

I read a bunch of LeCarré last year and had this one laying around that I hadn't gotten to.

Bleach by Kubo Tite (reread, yes all of it)

Jujutsu Kaisen by Gege Akutami (reread, only some volumes)

Naruto by Masashi Kishimoto (reread, all of it)

September

The Millennium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson (reread)

The girl with the dragon tattoo

The girl who played with fire

The girl who kicked the hornet's nest

A Most Wanted Man by John LeCarré

October

all Pushkin Vertigo editions

Detective Kindaichi Mysteries by Seishi Yokomizo

The Honjin Murders

Death on Gokumon Island

The Village of Eight Graves

The Inugami Curse

The Decagon House Murders by Yukito Ayatsuji

Probably one of the best mysteries I've ever read, and I didn't even realize that the author was the same as one of my favourite horror light novels, Another. (He is also the husband of Fuyumi Ono!) I think it depends on the person whether you will enjoy the ending or not, but I very much did. This and a number of the other murder mysteries I read after it are all by members of the Honkaku Mystery Writers of Japan club who were part of a new wave of "fair play" mysteries based on golden age classics. From there I transitioned into reading more classic mysteries that were referenced in these novels.

The Tokyo Zodiac Murders by Shōji Shimada

Murder in the Crooked House Shōji Shimada

The Master Key by Masako Togawa

The Lady Killer by Masako Togawa

November

Honeymoon to Nowhere by Akimitsu Takagi

The Tattoo Murder Case by Akimitsu Takagi

Death Among the Undead by Masahiro Imamura

Another modern mystery novel that stands out for it's original premise: a locked room murder mystery with the characters all trapped in a cabin in the woods in the middle of a zombie outbreak. Personally I think the romance could have been done without, and a female narrator would have been stronger, but overall very compelling.

The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett Turns out the movie is very accurate to the novel.

The 8 Mansion Murders by Takemaru Akiko

Hollow Man by John Dickson Carr

One of the golden age mysteries repeatedly referenced by some of the newer mysteries and genuinely a bit scary at points.

December

Golden age detective stories ed. by Otto Penzler

Currently working on this short story collection. The intros to each story putting it in context are very interesting.

[caffeinatedseri]

Dead Apple Light Novel

Recently, I decided to buy LN 5, Dead Apple, purely because I’m a sucker for all of BSD’s light novels, so this post will revolve around what I took away from this novel. 

Dead Apple is Canon

Since the story jumps around in the timeline a lot, I had originally thought that Dead Apple took place outside of canon (especially with Atsushi’s flashback). 

However, a particular part of Asagiri’s afterword stuck out to me:

Now, allow me a moment to discuss some of the particulars of Dead Apple. Chronologically, the story takes place after the second season of the anime — in other words, after the war with the Guild, which puts Dead Apple somewhere between the ninth and tenth volumes of the manga. 

The novel also ended up affecting the main story in numerous ways, and I’m sure this new experience will continue to influence my future work as well.

It’s not unusual for a light novel to insert itself into the main timeline (see 55 Minutes which takes place in the 10th volume), but it’s nice to have confirmation that the same applies to Dead Apple. 

Of course, just because a work isn’t canon compliant (see BEAST), doesn’t mean that it has no potential for further analysis or it doesn’t bring any added complexity to the main plot. Regardless, this post serves as somewhat of a precursor to my other posts concerning Dead Apple since I have a tendency to talk about it a lot, and I’d like to establish a basis for a lot of my posts. 

Differences between the Movie and Light Novel

In the afterword of the light novel, Hiro Iwahata (the author of this LN) said:

“Furthermore, I worked on this book under Asagiri’s supervision, meaning there are several lines in certain scenes that differ from the movie. It might even be fun comparing the two!  Nothing would make me happier than the fans enjoying this novel alongside the movie.”

As per Iwahata’s request, I went into the light novel, looking for differences between it and the movie. However, the novel is surprisingly, almost identical to the movie (maybe not surprising considering it is a “movie novelization”).

Because the differences are so miniscule, I believe they hold an even greater significance, since Asagiri must have wanted to change these specific details for a certain reason. 

Some of the differences I talk about might be unimportant, but I did my best to catch everything that was changed from the movie.

1. The movie doesn’t mention SKK as a part of the Dragon’s Head Conflict, but the novel says, “Some fought under the alias Twin Dark.” 

This probably means that SKK became a pair either before the Dragon’s Head Conflict or during (although I’m pretty sure that the “organization” they destroyed over night was Shibusawa’s organization).

2. When Dazai says that he would’ve continued killing people in the mafia if it weren’t for Oda, Atsushi has little to no reaction in the movie; I would describe it as maybe a hesitant or concerned feeling.

In the novel, Atsushi has a more outward reaction.

““Huh...?!” Atsushi was baffled. He had no idea whether that was true. What did Dazai mean by that? (...) The melancholy Atsushi felt from Dazai had disappeared, and Dazai continued to speak in his usual lighthearted manner.”

Not only does he react verbally, but the novel also adds an inner monologue (mainly for Atsushi) that can’t be portrayed as well in movie format. 

To me, this change highlights how Atsushi sees Dazai purely as a good person; he reacts in such a startled manner because he believes that Dazai is too good of a person to be in the mafia killing people (which we know Atsushi hates). This trend reoccurs throughout the story, of Atsushi turning a blind eye to Dazai’s “bad side.”

3. This one isn’t at all the movie’s fault, but the novel gives a lot more clues as to what the “dead apple” and the dagger in the apple motif represents.

The first time it appears is when Kunikida and Tanizaki meet the Special Division’s agent, but they find out that he’s already dead.

“It [the apple] was, without a doubt, a simple fruit... save for the fact that there was a knife sticking out of it as if to condemn the taste of sin. A blade had been driven into the symbol of original sin. A dreary, ominous aura, oozed from the ripe fruit like venom. 

Throughout the novel, it seems to associate the “dead apple” motif with Fyodor pretty strongly, especially since this paragraph ties in Fyodor’s ideals nicely with the symbolism of the apple and dagger.

The apple represents sin, the very first sin — which you could interpret as sin at its purest — while the dagger represents the condemning of such sin. However, the apple can also potentially symbolize life, while the dagger stabbing into life can mean death. 

Fyodor’s ideals revolve around “removing the sin” of ability users (represented by an apple in this case) but he does so through manipulation. The dagger is associated with stealth and deception, which is fitting with what Fyodor does to “remove the sin” of ability users.

However, he’s also taking the lives of ability users in this process, hence stabbing the apple, coincidentally committing another sin in his attempt to relinquish all sin.

4. In the “Snow White” Oda and Dazai flashback, everything is identical to the movie (word for word), but there is some additional narration.

“It was an alarming sight — Dazai sounded like he was in a trance. It was as if he was ignoring all this world had to offer while in pursuit of something else.”

I’ve talked about this particular scene before here, but the gist is that Dazai was discreetly talking about himself while referring to Snow White. 

Dazai joined the mafia because he believed that the violence (or true human nature) would give him a reason to live, but we already know that this kind of thinking was flawed.  Thus, this line most likely means that Dazai was ignoring all of the “good” qualities of the world while pursuing a reason to live, which inevitably wouldn’t work. 

5. Right after the flashback, when Dazai takes the pill, the novel really sells the act of “Dazai walking towards his death and going to the evil side.” 

Personally, this scene in the movie felt more open to interpretation after you’ve seen the ending. You could say that Dazai took the antidote and said “Being on the side that saves people is more beautiful,” because his plan is to continue living to save more people. 

However, the novel throws away any possible double meaning with this paragraph:

“Dazai then reached for the pill with his bandaged hand, neatly picked it up, and slowly brought it to his lips — just like Snow White and the sweet, poisoned apple. The venomous red-and-pure-white-pill disappeared inside his mouth.”

After Dazai’s tangent on how Snow White could’ve committed suicide out of despair, the narration compares him directly to Snow White. With the added venomous pill stated outright, it only further cements the idea that Dazai’s actually committing suicide here.

I don’t particularly like this change, because it feels like this moment was set up entirely just to divert the audience’s expectations, rather than it be a standalone scene that makes sense when considering the rest of the story. (It might not necessarily be a change, possibly just a rough translation from movie to novel). 

6. When Atsushi wakes up from his nightmare, there’s some additional inner monologue:

Everything’s okay. I’m not the same person I was when I lived at the orphanage. I have friends. I have a place where I belong — the Armed Detective Agency. Things are different now.

The anime (and in turn the movie) tends to downplay the effects of Atsushi’s trauma — probably due to the limitations of anime — but regardless the novel portrays it much better with how Atsushi’s trauma affects practically every aspect of his life. 

7. I thought Fukuzawa’s ability only gave his subordinates control over their abilities, but the novel says:

“Yukichi Fukuzawa and his skill, All Men are Equal, a peculiar ability that allowed him to suppress and control his subordinates’ skills.”

Does this mean that Fukuzawa could control and suppress all of the agency’s abilities? It could be a weird translation, but it seems oddly specific.

8. This detail isn’t actually a novel exclusive, but it is an extremely small detail that I missed while watching the movie, so I figured I would add it here too.

“the phantom’s notebook had the word Compromise written on the cover. A copy of himself that didn’t follow ideals but made compromises was an abomination to Kunikida.”

Considering how abilities act as the shadow to every character in this story, this is a nice detail that shows how Kunikida’s inner desire is to compromise, because carrying such heavy ideals is undoubtedly a burden. However, because he holds onto his ideals so strongly, it becomes his biggest weakness AND his biggest strength.

9. There’s a super small detail added to this scene with Dazai, Fyodor, and Shibusawa. When Dazai suggests that Shibusawa could be saved by an angel or a demon, the following exchange occurs:

“Hmm... Maybe an angel?” Dazai picked up the skull on the table. “Or maybe a demon?” “It’s obvious what both of your true intentions are, if you ask me.” The third man mirthfully cackled and took the skull from Dazai’s hand.

In the movie, Dazai doesn’t pick up anything, so as a result Fyodor doesn’t take anything from Dazai either. 

Because Fyodor walked into the scene after Dazai suggested that an angel or demon would save Shibusawa, I strongly suspect that this was foreshadowing future events in which Fyodor does “save” Shibusawa by giving him his memories back.

The novel adds more to this foreshadowing by having Dazai pick up the skull before it’s taken by Fyodor — essentially having Fyodor take the cards out of Dazai’s hands and put them in his favor. 

It’s also worth pointing out that the skull is also the object that Fyodor uses to revive Shibusawa into a supernatural ghost of some sorts at the end of the story.

10. This may be just a difference in translations but in the movie, Shibusawa refers to Fyodor as “Demon Fyodor-kun”, whereas in the novel Fyodor is called “Fyodor the Conjurer.” (Ango uses the Conjurer title as well).

In western esotericism, a conjurer is a person who summons supernatural beings, like spirits, demons, or God.

This slightly changes the connotation of Fyodor’s title from a inhuman being of pure malicious intent to just a human who summons these otherworldly beings. This idea also aligns with Shibusawa’s revival, since he’s some sort of supernatural ghost that was “summoned” by Fyodor. 

11. Skipping past the parts where Kyouka and Akutagawa regain their abilities, and Chuuya talks to Ango in the government facility, (since they have little to no changes between the movie and the novel) there is a somewhat significant detail changed in Draconia once again with Dazai and Fyodor.

In the novel, this glowing ball of energy from the movie is actually described as an apple: 

The two lights melted into one and spun until they formed a juicy sphere. They had produced a single apple — a juicy, poisoned apple red as blood.

It birthed a skill — and an extremely powerful one at that — the ability to absorb. Every last crystal adorning Draconia’s walls was sucked into the apple with intense force. Ten — a hundred — a thousand — two thousand — every last one was greedily devoured by the apple...

The apple swelled as it absorbed the numerous crystals until the red light became hotter than the surface of hell.

Since the “dead apple” motif aligns with Fyodor’s character, we can assume that the apple is representative of sin, and sin is associated with abilities, as Fyodor believes.

This strange poisoned apple is made of abilities and has an ability (the ability to absorb), and it commits a sin (greed) in its devouring of other abilities; it’s also hotter than “hell”, which is a very specific connection that leads me to this idea:

My theory is that a normal apple represents life, while a poisoned apple (or dead apple), indicative of a stained, impure life, represents sin. Fyodor believes abilities are akin to sin (what a clever rhyme), therefore all of their lives are sinful.

12. This is arguably the most insignificant change of this entire post, but I feel obligated to put it here regardless since it was different from the movie. When the Special Division detects the singularity of Shibusawa’s dragon form in the novel, it says:

“Abnormal values for singularity are increasing! They’re twice — no, 2.5 times higher than they were six years ago.”

In the movie, the number is five times higher instead.

Why did this number change? Is it significant? I honestly have no idea (I’m surprised I even caught this), but it’s there and I had to document it anyways. 

13. The novel adds this narration for Shibusawa when he gets his memories back and he’s in the orphanage’s room with Atsushi:

“Shibusawa clearly recalled the events from six years ago. Fyodor had enticed him to go to the orphanage where he tortured a young Atsushi... until Atsushi fought back and killed him.”

There’s two things to take away from this: Fyodor had known Shibusawa for at least six years, and Fyodor had been planning the events of Dead Apple since at least six years ago. 

I find it hard to believe that Fyodor’s plan was thwarted by Dazai, because of how Fyodor demonstrated his ability to plan ahead in the main series, but I’m not sure what the long term effects of this plan could be. If Shibusawa succeeded, then it could’ve aligned with the DOA’s goals, but once again I don’t think Fyodor’s plan was actually foiled.

14. Super minor once again, but right after Shibusawa gets revived, the last sentence of chapter 5 is,

“Nobody would ever see the smile on Fyodor’s face.” 

Honestly, I think this was just added to create an ominous tone, but it’s a nice detail regardless.

15. As the red fog spreads across Yokohama, there’s a good part of exposition that connects the “dead apple” motif to Fyodor once again:

“After the red fog devoured the earth, the planet would undoubtedly look like a floating red apple from space. There would be no humans left on its surface, nor any signs they ever existed. It would be a true paradise, and with that, the Dead Apple would finally be complete. A dead planet covered in red fog — that was what Fyodor had planned and sought out.

Nothing other than death could wash away the original sin of man, so it was only fitting for the sin, which started with a fruit, to end with one as well. 

It’s pretty long, but I like the way this passage is written, more specifically the last part since it fits well with the sinful poisoned apple idea.

It also aligns with Fyodor’s ideals of creating a true paradise, free of ability users. However, if Fyodor had planned to have the Earth covered in fog, that could mean that his plan was actually stopped by Dazai and Atsushi in the end.

16. Shibusawa has a few additional lines of dialogue when he talks to Atsushi in their final fight.

“The dragon and tiger... I see now why they are called rivals.”

The dragon and tiger have their roots in Chinese Buddhism, but to go further into that topic would make this already lengthy post even longer.

“Don’t get the wrong idea, though. I’m not blaming you for what happened.”

This line is a brief moment of weakness for Shibusawa, which is interesting in contrast to his strong will to kill Atsushi. Just as Atsushi learned to accept the past and the tiger’s ferocity, Shibusawa shares the same attitude by separating the blame from himself to just simply accepting the past for what happened.

17. In the aftermath of the last fight against Shibusawa, Atsushi and Kyouka meet up with Dazai.

Kyouka asks, “Are you sure this is what you wanted?” which prompts two different responses in the movie and novel respectively.

In the movie, Atsushi says, “Just as Shibusawa was able to forget that he’d been killed before, I think Dazai can put his past behind him again. But this is fine.”

In the novel, Atsushi says:

“... I could probably seal away this memory just like how I’d forgotten I’d killed him before. But... I’m okay with this.”

I interpreted Kyouka’s question in the movie to be questioning Dazai’s loyalties, as he did betray everyone, and Atsushi responded in Dazai’s defense because he trusts him.

However, the novel does change Atsushi’s response to focus on himself rather than Dazai, which in turn changes the implications of Kyouka’s question. 

Kyouka seems to be asking Atsushi whether he was okay with killing Shibusawa, and Atsushi responds by acknowledging that he did kill Shibusawa, and that’s okay. (a very clear development from the beginning of the story when he believed it was unnecessary to kill anyone, and he didn’t want to kill anyone)

18. In the epilogue, Ango talks about the underlying motivations behind the “Dead Apple” case. This change could be attributed to translation differences (like many others in this post), but the connotation does slightly differ from movie to novel. 

In the movie, Ango says, “How is a man like Shibusawa, so intelligent that others look like alien creatures to him, to act, to be destroyed, or to be saved?”

In the novel, Ango says:

“Perhaps the two of them [Dazai and Fyodor] just wanted to get a glimpse of someone like them... Perhaps they wanted to see what he would do and how he would meet his demise... or perhaps how he would be saved.”

The movie simply poses a broad question of what would happen to Shibusawa, a person alienated from the rest of society. 

The novel changes this to focus on Dazai and Fyodor’s perspective — two irredeemable aliens from society just like Shibusawa — executing this grand scheme out of curiosity to see what would happen to someone of the likes of them, and if there’s a possibility for redemption.

19. This is the final difference on this list, and it’s quite a large change. In Fyodor’s monologue at the very end of the story, he has a completely different tone from the movie to novel.

In the movie, Fyodor says, “But in order to end this world, rife with crime and punishment, I do need that book.”

The novel says: 

Glittering high-rises and stately brick buildings stood side by side in this port city with its countless citizens who struggled against crime and punishment. “I think I’ve taken a liking to this city myself..”  Fyodor took a bite of the apple in his hand, and the juicy nectar ran down his delicate fingers. “You’d all better be on your best behavior until next time.”

The reference to the book may have been removed for consistency with the main series, as the book is a part of the DOA’s plan (or more specifically Fukuchi). 

It also seems like Fyodor has grown fond of the city, and no longer wants Yokohama to be destroyed, so it’s still possible that his plan deterred from what he had originally intended.

Beyond that, I’m not entirely sure why crime and punishment was mentioned, or why there’s such an ominous tone to his ending statement, but that’s up to personal interpretation. 

That concludes the long list of extremely specific and minor differences between the Dead Apple movie and light novel! 

Overall, I would say it’s worth checking out the light novel if you don’t have a strong grasp of the Dead Apple story, because it definitely presents the small intricacies of the plot in a more comprehensible way. 

On a side note, the manga adaptation has a lot of noticeable differences from the movie and light novel, mostly with the addition of entirely new scenes (which you can read @buraihatranslations​ — what a shameless self plug). I would highly recommend reading it as those extra scenes are very amusing, to say the least without giving any spoilers.

Honestly, this post was a lot longer than I intended, but I hope you enjoyed it regardless. Thank you for reading!

[nikadoesanart]

My predictions on BSD getting animated going forward

I’ll be taking a look at the novel page counts (Japanese and English) and comparing them to the screen time they’ve gotten so far and then using this to predict how long the remaining light novel adaptations will be (approximately). At the end will also be my rough prediction/hopes for the order of some of these being adapted. I say some because I have yet to read what there is so far of the gaiden novel translations, the main story manga has essentially still been on the DOA arc almost since where the anime left off, and I personally think that it’s currently too soon for Storm Bringer (aside from money purposes).

Note, most of this was written well before the anime 5th anniversary livestream but the announcements wound up not affecting it. I then of course made adjustments as needed account for the novel content we do have so far, both in Japanese and in English (officially).

Page to Episode Count

Not counting the afterward, ads, etc for the English/US copy, Japanese is including it

Also all eng page counts are using the Yen Press release and jp page counts are taken from the fandom wiki

*148 is purely counting the Untold Origins portion of the novel. If we also count the A Day at the Agency short story that’s included before it (56 pages), then we get the full 203

Also the English page count for BEAST was noted before the English release date but after page counts have been posted by affiliated retailers, so subtract a couple pages from the written count of 176 for the time being to account for the afterward and possible character sheets being included

Now that we have our page to episode counts (as of April 5th, 2021), let’s find the actual content run time of what we do have animated so far.

Seasons 1-3 and the OVA all have the same episode length/duration. Each episode is 23 minutes, and we can subtract 3 minutes on average from that to account for the OP and ED being played. This leaves us with an average of 20 minutes of BSD story content per episode. So on average, each of the first 3 seasons contain 240 minutes, or 4 hours, worth of story content.

Dead Apple’s total run time is 91 minutes, with the OP and ED making up 9 of those minutes. However, we do have a bit of the story content being played while the ED is playing (as sometimes happens in the anime as well). To keep the math simple, I’ll be approximating story content time at 82 minutes.

Apply these numbers to the novels that have been animated so far and this is (approximately) what we get:

Now let’s use these numbers to predict the screen time needed for the other novels

Note that we can’t really use Entrance Exam as a fair measure because of how much got cut out (just compare the run time of it to Dark Era and it speaks for itself). However, the numbers for Dark Era and Dead Apple are the best ones to use, as they both have minimal changes between anime and novel and both have official English translations currently available. Take out the approximate time taken up by OP/ED and and the numbers pretty much match up.

So with that being said, we can estimate Untold Origins (only) at approximately 3 eps/60 min and 55 Minutes at 1h 40-55min/100-115 min or 5-6 eps if it doesn’t get a movie. We can also estimate the A Day at the Detective Agency short story at the beginning of Untold Origins to take up about 1 ep, probably even a bit less.

1+ 3 + 5-6 = 9-10 episodes which isn’t enough for a full single cour season unless they all get put into one big OVA season, but also 10-11 eps (or less) seasons are a thing (ie. Fugou Keiji: Balance Unlimited, Blood Lad, Black Butler: Book of Circus, The Seven Deadly Sins: Signs of a Holy War, FLCL)

My personal predictions/hopes for the anime adaptation timeline going forward

This is considering the manga content, current “pausing/stopping points” what wouldn’t be too awkward, each of the novels relevancy/necessity to the main story manga, and assuming we continue with single cour (12-13 ep) seasons

Hopefully/ideally a 55 Minutes movie

S4: ch 54-70

Early S5 (preferably) or end of S4: Untold Origins or A Day at the Agency

S5: ch 71-88/around where we are now?

A Day at the Agency can, in my opinion at least, be chucked in at any point either as a single episode OVA or as the light novel content for s4 (maybe not even taking a full episode and then starting ch 54 in the last few minutes for example). Keep in mind that the current DOA arc is a long one and has plenty to it, so personally I think it may even be better to not include a novel adaptation in a future S4, as it would likely already be a right squeeze content wise. Remember, we also have a few XX.5 chapters that are continuations of the chapter directly before them.

I still need to read what’s currently available of the gaiden novel fan translations but it can probably be adapted at any point as well. I’m estimating approximately 5-6 eps as an OVA series. I don’t really think it would get a movie, partially because you can make it only so long, especially since it’s an anime movie and unlike Storm Bringer, it doesn’t have Chuuya to practically guarantee the profit.

BEAST also doesn’t directly impact the main story and can be adapted at virtually any point. However, seeing as we do have a live action confirmed for it and it’s page count lines up very closely with Dark Era, it can be either 4 eps or (more likely in my opinion) a movie, as it can be considered almost stand alone content.

Personally, I believe it is currently way too soon to animate Storm Bringer as it came out only a little over a month ago (as of writing this) and has minimal plot necessity as of ch 91, but I do believe it should be either split into 2 movies (a part 1 and part 2) or it would need 8 episodes, likely as an OVA season. If it were to get animated sooner than 55 Minutes or Untold Origins, which I believe to be very unlikely, I feel that it would almost certainly be driven by the financial gains of Chuuya being included, and his popularity alone. Reminder, SB is about Chuuya and not SKK. Dazai’s appearance in SB is proportionally a very small percentage and he’s not even mentioned in the official plot summary.

However, you can argue that SB is starting to have some relevance now, with the recent mention of the Order of the Clock Tower in ch 90 and the increased relevance of sealed ability weapons in ch 91. However, I really do believe that you can’t adapt Storm Bringer before 55 Minutes because of Standard Island and its treaty, it also talks about sealed ability weapons, knowing who Wells is, and 55 Minutes canonically takes place during the “downtime” portion of S3. In fact, here’s Asagiri’s words directly from the Afterward (translation by Yen Press):

“this volume didn’t take place in the past, but rather sometime after the tenth volume of the manga. In other words, it’s a tale about the ‘usual’ detective agency in novel format.” (55 minutes, p 237)

Untold Origins also should be adapted sooner rather than later (at least compared to SB in my opinion) because it’s about Ranpo and Fukuzawa’s shared past, which becomes increasingly relevant ch 70 onwards, as well as the need for the ADA being founded (which ties in with Yosano’s backstory in ch 65-66).

In regards to whether I think each of these would be better suited to a movie adaptation or as multiple regular length anime episodes, it’s mainly due to page count and partly due to the budget difference between the two, as well as how difficult I think it would be to animate each of these based on what needs to be drawn. The anime industry isn’t the fastest to switch to newer technology, hence why we see issues with 3D blending sometimes. I really do think that at the very least, 55 Minutes deserves the movie budget because of how detailed and complex the architecture of Standard Island is described as, as well all the mechanical parts needed for the final battle of the novel. Hate the lizard mouths introduced in Dead Apple all you want, but you can’t deny that the 3D cgi was blended very smoothly. For any of the other novels to be movies, it’s more so because gaiden and BEAST can be considered their own stand alone stories that don’t rely too heavily on the main story in terms of when they take place and get adapted. I feel that SB is more likely to get its own season or an OVA season more so due to its length, but multiple part anime movies have also been done before (ie. the Fate/Stay Night: Heaven’s Feel movies), so it’s not entirely impossible. Especially considering that merely having any Chuuya screen time means that you can expect the profit and popularity to really go up, especially with SKK being on screen together (regardless of whether you love or hate how the fandom tends to push a shipping POV on them).

These are all of course just my hopes and predictions and estimates based on information currently available, so take them with some salt. I’d love to hear opinions on how, when, and why each of the currently non animated novels should be adapted going forward. Also please stop begging the relevant BSD official Twitter pages for SB to be animated next and go read the other light novels you Chuuya simp

[i-cant-believe-i-wrote-this]

What Makes A Memorable Scene: Joy of Life Edition - Chen Ping Ping

Hi! So I'm a giant fan of the Joy of Life (《慶餘年》) webnovel and TV series, and while I was compiling memorable/emotional scenes to talk about on this book I just realised how very skilled the author (Mao Ni) was in crafting this sort of thing. Therefore I decided to write some posts about memorable and emotional scenes in Joy of Life exclusively!

One of my favourite characters was ✨Chen Ping Ping✨, the badass Head of the Overwatch Department! He had this mix of savageness, calmness, kindness and wisdom in him that just made him an extremely intriguing person. Since I read Joy of Life over a year ago, the scenes about him that I remember most was his downfall. And I've got two scenes I'd like to share with you, even though all parts of the novel about him were gold.

Like my last post, I've translated some excerpts because 1) it's so fun and 2) so I can share them with you!

AS USUAL, SPOILERS AHEAD!

1. The Capture of Chen Ping Ping

Volume 7, Chapter 97: 一根手指與監察院的臣服

Chen Ping Ping is arrested for treason and attempted assassination of the Emperor.

But at this time, He Zong Wei who was standing beside him suddenly said softly, “Best to kill them now, so as to shake their resolve.”

“When did it become your turn to speak about what I do?” Yan Bing Yun tossed out a sentence coldly.

Yet his words could silence He Zong Wei but not the officials of the Overwatch Department, they stood up slowly, watching Yan Bing Yun with an indifferent gaze, as if at a corpse; perhaps the next moment they would collectively move, and charge at the stretcher.

The situation was already at an extremely critical state; Yan Bing Yun squinted at his surroundings, knowing clearly that on his own, he still couldn't suppress the officials' love for Chen Ping Ping.

……

……

An aged finger was suddenly extended.

Everyone was silent, every Overwatch official cast their gaze at that aged finger, the finger that extended from beside the stretcher. The finger shifted slightly, motioning a gesture that every Overwatch official had memorised in their heart.

"Hold!" A Second Bureau official’s heart suddenly overflowed with sorrow, wetness lining the eyes; roared with grief and indignation, and knelt down heavily on both knees.

“Hold!”

“Hold!”

That aged finger seemed to have a certain magical power; it only extended and wagged lightly, subsequently, the courtyard sounded with countless voices saying the word hold; hold means silence, hold means waiting, hold means forbearance, hold means to give up against the will.

Hold means stay where you are.

All the Overwatch Department officials stayed where they were, the word hold from their mouths, two streams of tears flowing downwards, no weight of gold on their knees but with the heaviness of a mountain, striking the floor, watching the stretcher slowly pass them.

Before I say anything else can I say...OUCHH

Two main things here: helplessness and love. These two things feed onto each other, making this scene extremely emotional. This excerpt clearly shows the unbreakable bond between Chen Ping Ping and his officials, and their unbeatable loyalty and love for him. And due to that, Chen Ping Ping's order for them to stand down makes it so heartbreaking due to the dilemma in their minds: save him and break his order as a result, or obey him and watch him get captured? They choose to obey, but this makes them helpless and it becomes unbearable for them to watch him suffer. That emotion is shared by the reader due to their liking for Chen Ping Ping and after witnessing the unwavering loyalty of his officials.

Furthermore, the fact that Chen Ping Ping is thinking for his officials - telling them to stand down, so they aren't punished for treason- moves the reader as well, as this shows his care for them. This reciprocated loyalty is simply super emotional because Chen Ping Ping's goodness is revealed.

2. The Death of Chen Ping Ping

Volume 7, Chapter 102: 雨中送陳萍萍

Chen Ping Ping is executed by the brutal method of "death by a thousand cuts".

The old man in his arms was so light, holding him was like holding a cloud of wind, a cloud of wind that could dissipate anytime. Below the slightly disheveled hair, Fan Xian’s pale face twitched slightly, instinctively reaching out to hold Chen Ping Ping’s old and icy hand, holding it tightly and never letting go.

The old man had suffered unspeakable amounts of pain in this life, and was disabled for half of it, so his qi and blood had exhausted long ago; today during the death by a thousand cuts, not a lot of blood other from the pain had burst out as every slice was made, but the torture of so many cuts still caused blood water to accumulate at a location, wetting the black uniform of the Overwatch Department, making it a little sticky, a little hot, a little scalding.

In the autumn rain, Fan Xian held his frail body lightly, afraid to pain him even more; grasped his icy hand tightly, afraid he would leave just like this.

“Who could make you come back if you refused to? Why did you keep me in Dong Yi City?” Fan Xian spoke lowly and hoarsely, parched lips soaked pale by the rain, peeling slightly, pitiful to the eyes. “Who was I toiling and labouring for all these years, wasn’t it all for you elders to leave the Capital City, to enjoy the days, I was always trying hard...”

“You know I know everything.” Fan Xian lowered his head a bit more, resting it against the old man’s wrinkled face, and in the rain his body swayed, as if coaxing the old man in his arms to sleep.

The hand suddenly tightened for a moment; the old man gripped Fan Xian’s hand firmly with his, but all the energy remaining in his life couldn’t even hold a hand firmly now; it was as if he was unwilling to let something go, or fearing something, so he had to hold on to something below this sky of gale and rain, on this ground of blood and water.

🥲🥲 So 🥲🥲

To be honest, I think sorrow and loss are one of the most impactful emotions to ever write about, especially the death of a loved one. Chen Ping Ping was both loved by Fan Xian and the reader, and he was simply a wonderful father figure that everyone is sorry to see him go, especially in a way as torturous and humiliating as "death by a thousand cuts" (literally, usually more than a thousand tbh). This brings us to two more chilling (and by that I mean extremely impactful) emotions - humiliation and powerlessness. Since the reader is literally helpless against the events within the story, they can definitely empathise with the powerlessness of the characters. And humiliation - yeah you get it. It stings.

Mao Ni's (the author) language was also honed very well to portray this scene as emotive as possible. Let me list out what I found:

Its chapter title! In Chinese it's 雨中送陳萍萍, meaning something like "seeing Chen Ping Ping go in the rain" and he doesn't just go, he dies; that's just so sad dude

The emphasis of Chen Ping Ping's physical weakness especially when he's been described as being powerful and badass the entire novel, which creates a giant contrast

"Holding it tightly and never letting go" - the bond between Fan Xian and Chen Ping Ping is so touching, and that's also a main factor of the emotions in the scene

"It was as if he was unwilling to let something go, or fearing something" - even though Chen Ping Ping never defied his arrest, this shows how he actually doesn't want to die at all, making it even more agonising

AND that's all I have for now! I'll be doing a few (?) more posts on Joy of Life because I absolutely adore it, but for now, see you soon!

Bye bye!

[hanijunk]

Alright boys, girls, and nonbinary folks of the world. It’s 5:36am (1/30 when I first started) as I decide to give up on my attempt to continue to focus on learning statistics, avoid studying for my two upcoming midterms, and put off my two actual essays for two different classes.

Instead we’re going into a dive about ✨ KazuFuuma ✨ . Is this me telling you you gotta ship it? No of course not, you’re entitled to your own ships! You don’t really gotta care about it as a ship. But I do want people to recognize it’s THERE canonically, and how disregarding it is extremely unfair to Kazuki as a character particularly. Also, I’m working on the assumption anyone clicking this at least knows the bare bones about what KazuFuuma (ex. You know they are a ship of Kazuki/Fuuma from Dolce, you know they are childhood friends, you know who Dolce is, you know about Honeyworks, etc.) I’ll be making references to specific things, but I won’t always go into heavy detail. Might just hope you know it or take my word for what it is, and go into analyzing it. Some I’ll put direct references to find, but some I’ll trust you can find it yourself. If you somehow read this MAMMOTH and want reference to a specific thing mentioned, hmu I can help you find it!!

Also I hate tumblr formatting sm if you legit wanna read this 7 page essay but hate tumblr format lmk I'll add it as a google doc link instead too. anYWHO

Before actually getting into the meat of things lemme preface some stuff.

Again it’s like almost 6am so this will be disorganized and very train of thought (and likely long due to the fact when I fly by the seat of my pants I’m known to get unnecessarily extensive). It’s definitely gonna be in large part why it’s important to recognize as a romantic relationship foundation and what about it shapes Kazuki’s character in particular. Maybe a bit of how it’s been built up and its general focus and implications. Dunno yet. We’ll see LMAOO

I say f*ck. Not a lot, just a handful of times. This ain’t something scholarly this is for my own enjoyment so if you don’t like that might not wanna read. And it’s not like spitefully I just curse a lot if you haven’t...read my tags before lol

Again this is through the lens of a Kazuki stan. Of COURSE I’m going to have some level of bias, but if anything that bias may help more than hurt because that means I become FIXATED and think a lot about Kazuki. Which plays into establishing just how important it is that Kazufuuma’s relationship is recognized, especially in a romantic light at this point. Lmfao. 

I’ll have a few more prefaces about the actual content below but to keep this from getting too long if you wanna read come below the cut owo

I have extremely limited knowledge of Japanese just taking a few classes in highschool (so like 3 yrs ago) and live in America. This means a lot of my knowledge is gathered through the english translations of the super duper incredible and lovely people in the Honeyworks fandom who provide translations (delaix and takanenene esp have provided so much for me being able to understand Dolce) and my own limited Japanese paired with Google Translate for things that remain untranslated.

This only will be drawing on information I have come in contact with and have access to and making assumptions based on that, most (if not all) of which is in the public domain. So things like the Dolce Manga Volumes released via Animate, exclusive 4komas, and Light Novels are out of my area for the most part (apart from again snippets of translations thanks to this fandom’s godlike and generous translators).

I will not be drawing on anything from the first Dolce album with the exception of Nade Nade. From a meta standpoint, I consider those songs as songs made as performance media as opposed to character explorations. Nade Nade is the exception because (1) it was released a whole year before the album and (2) you can tell it’s explicitly an exploration of Fuuma and Kazuki’s interpersonal relationship even if it’s in a slightly more performance based context than the songs that came out with the Dolce LNs. Easiest parallel I can make to show this is if you held Non-Fantasy, Yume Fanfare, and Samishigariya up against each other, you could tell the difference in intended audience and intended purpose the same way the Dolce 1st album, Nade Nade, and the songs of the LNs do respectively. Even if there is some basis to ground Kazufuuma, for the purposes of this essay I’ll be acting under the assumption the 1st album falls under the Non-Fantasy equivalent category.

THAT WAS A LOT OF PREFACING CONSIDERING LIKE 2 PPL WILL PROBABLY READ IT I just have a tendency to anytime I do anything analytical lay down ground acknowledgements for myself to work on just...cuz it makes me feel less guilty for any accidental misinformation even if I’m writing towards my future self to read lolll IM SORRY WITHOUT FURTHER TO DO HERE’S THE BRAIN DUMP

First let’s go ahead and establish why it needs to be recognized as an important relationship. Again, I’m a Kazuki stan. He’s my favorite character not only of Dolce but also of the entire Honeyworks series, and as much as I love him for reasons outside the ship, whether you like it or not Kazufuuma is an essential aspect of his character and narrative. Of course there’s the fact that him and Fuuma are childhood friends, so that’s going to in part define their characters and interactions with each other and those around them. They’re both going to be relevant to one another and important to one another’s stories to an even greater extent than the rest of the members of Dolce. But on Kazuki’s side at least, it’s an EXTREME amount. A running plotpoint in Dolce Diary is the sheer amount of dedication Kazuki has to Fuuma and how much his thoughts and decisions are influenced by Fuuma, whether it be how he feels happiest spending time with Fuuma, how he decided to get his piercing to represent he wanted to protect Fuuma, how he doesn’t want to dislike food so he can eat what Fuuma dislikes, etc. Not to mention running jokes about his borderline overprotectiveness and downright possessiveness of Fuuma, how proud he is when Fuuma gets praised, or that one 4koma that literally explicitly states he can read Fuuma’s mind when he thinks motherfucking ‘dirty thoughts’ about his childhood friend (Fuuma). I still don’t know what the fuck to make of that last bit. Genuinely. Or the fact it’s a fucking running joke. As in it’s not a one off. It’s been brought up multiple times. Kazuki what the fuck. 

That’s not to say that he doesn’t have character outside of Fuuma or he doesn’t interact with people other than Fuuma. He’s great friends with Sara, Girisha, and Kippei and is shown time and time again to have fun interactions with all of them, generally acting as the best support friend for every member of the group, not Fuuma alone. For instance how he helps Kippei with his self confidence issues or stays over at Sara’s to protect him from a cockroach (which he fails at lol). Nor is that to say all his interactions involving Fuuma focus solely on his devotion to Fuuma, especially in instances where the manga focuses on Dolce as a group dynamic (though even in that setting there are times where jokes about his devotion are thrown in). He’s kind, he’s stupid, he’s friendly, he’s an amazing character in his own right, and I love him for all those reasons. But that doesn’t change the fact a major part of his character and his character interactions are rooted in Fuuma, and arguably some of his most interesting, eccentric, and notable behaviors and traits revolve around Fuuma (again the mind reading for example).

Hell let’s take it one step further. If you look at the character bios of the Dolce members, you get everyone’s motives for being an idol and interests. Of them, Kazuki is the only one to have another character mentioned directly, not to mention that supporting Fuuma is explicitly stated to be his primary motive as to why he became an idol. Not even Fuuma’s sister is mentioned, though two arguments can be made for this. The first would be that Fuuma’s backstory about wanting to fulfill his dream for himself and his sister was decided later to explain Fuuma’s choice to crossdress though it can be argued it was intentionally done to leave it as a reveal at a later date, to which I would argue I don’t think this backstory was a choice in post. While Fuuma’s dedicated Dolce Diary extra exploring that backstory was released a little less than a year after Dolce was revealed, the preview to set up Fuuma’s backstory was actually the first thing released after the character bios on the Dolce Official Twitter page if you exclude a drawing of Dolce from Yamako. The second argument could be that information about his sister was intentionally withheld to set up the reveal when Fuuma’s extra released to explore it. However, going by that logic (which I do agree with), that would also mean that Fuuma’s inclusion and importance in Kazuki’s character bio also set up his dedicated extra, which I don’t think would be incorrect to assume considering what his actual extra turned out being.

Which brings me to the thing that makes it inexplicable to write off the romantic implications behind Kazufuuma: Kazuki’s dedicated Dolce Diary extra, Suki. I shipped Kazufuuma before even knowing of Suki, sure. But the fact that Suki even exists is a shock to me and drove into me the fact that Kazufuuma wasn’t just my own projection. Again, it’s not a surprise that Fuuma shapes Kazuki’s life. They’re childhood friends, of course they’re going to be important to each other. But this extra explicitly brought Kazuki’s feelings towards Fuuma under a direct spotlight. At first I was thinking oh, this extra was just to acknowledge the fact that Kazuki and Fuuma’s relationship can have romantic implications, but the end of it the conclusion that we got was that it didn’t matter what type of “like” he felt for Fuuma. Originally, I thought it wasn’t anything more than saying there are all types of like, and it doesn’t always need to be explicitly defined, but I appreciated the fact they were aware that they were writing Kazuki in a way that conveyed romantic implications. 

Then I thought about it because, again, I love Kazuki of course I’m going to think about his character extra, and realized...that’s not how these character extras have worked. There are only three character extras out as far as I know and have read: Fuuma, Kippei, and Kazuki. If we look at Fuuma and Kippei’s, each extra had a conclusion, sure, but they didn’t have a resolution. Rather, they were simply setting up explicitly what each character’s primary character arc and conflict were. Fuuma’s extra brought attention to the fact that he’s particularly a crossdressing idol by exploring the motives behind it. His choice to be a crossdressing idol is constantly under fire both by himself and the world around him. He’s not immune to those who consider his crossdressing strange, and a part of his story is both finding people who accept his decision to crossdress and to succeed for himself as a crossdressing idol. It’s an essential part of how we understand and define him as a character and it’s a central part of how he interacts with the world around him. For Kippei, it lays the severity of his insecurity under the spotlight and his journey and motives for improving himself. Again, this isn’t something isolated and resolved in the extra; his extreme insecurity and negativity is constantly affecting how he interacts with practically everyone from his fellow Dolce members to his fans despite the fact in all honesty? He’s fucking insanely talented in his own right, his own brother mentioning how smart he is and how he has amazing reflexes. For Kippei, his negativity is an essential part of how we understand and define him and central to how he interacts with the world as much as Fuuma’s decision to crossdress is to him.

Which brings us back to Kazuki, of course. In his dedicated extra, in the chapter that’s supposed to explore and establish and bring attention to an essential part of his character, the aspect of himself under investigation is how he feels about Fuuma. It’s not just how he behaves around Fuuma, it’s explicitly an exploration of his feelings, on top of the fact it’s explicitly an exploration about whether or not he likes Fuuma r o m a n t i c a l l y. Literally the conflict is spurred on by someone outright asking “Do you like him?” and having to clarify “I mean romantically.” What they decided to focus on for Kazuki’s character and emphasize and establish is that Kazuki’s like towards Fuuma toes the line between friendship and romance. His ambiguous feelings towards Fuuma (if we leave them inconclusive as Suki did) are just like Fuuma’s crossdressing and Kippei’s insecurity in the sense the weight of whatever those feelings may be are seen in how he interacts with the world around him and influences his behaviors. It would be another story if they introduced the potential and shut it down all within the extra, because then his central conflict would to me be less directly open to romantic potential and more simply about how his arc was meant to explore the dynamic of the behavior of an extremely dedicated best friend. The fact that he may be romantically attracted to Fuuma or may be only platonically dedicated to Fuuma is instead something that looms over Kazuki in the same way Fuuma’s decision to crossdress constantly looms over him. It’s what Dolce wanted to point to and say this is Kazuki’s central character conflict and central arc: exploring what type of feelings he has towards Fuuma. 

Sure, it can be argued that there’s only three Dolce Diary character extras, there’s not enough to be sure about that being the purpose of the extras unless we get the other two’s extras. First, at this point I honestly don’t know if or when they’re going to release an extra revolving around Sara and Girisha just because not only has it been over a year and a half since the latest Dolce Diary Character Extra (Kazuki’s) was released despite the gap between the first and latest Dolce Diary Character Extra (Fuuma’s and Kazuki’s) were within a year of release but also because the Dolce 4komas and comics they’ve been posting to Twitter have decreased (last one being over half a year ago) potentially due to them deciding to focus on releasing Dolce manga content through the purchasable volumes instead. (This is not particularly related to the Kazufuuma argument, just wanted to put out there my two cents on what Sara and Girisha’s extra/focal arc would be. Based on a large part of the Dolce Diary in conjuncture with Can’t an Idol Fall in Love, I’d argue Sara’s would be his journey to regain his passion for performing, and if it’s not that I’d say it’d be coming out of his self-imposed isolation and opening up to people again. As for Girisha, I have less of a concrete idea but I’m assuming it’d be something pertaining to how people often misconceive him whether it be in tandem with his determination, his optimism and sociability, or his stupidity/ability to ignore those misconceptions and work past them. But Girisha is treated like the comedic relief 90% of the time so I’m not entirely sure, but his primary conflict is definitely rooted in misconceptions of him being his roadblock imo. #MoreGirishaContentPlz) That being said, I personally feel like the three are already enough evidence, especially considering it would be honestly even more cruel for Kazuki’s character-centric extra to be focusing on something that wasn’t essential to his character and character arc, anyway. And though it’s not explicitly stated that these chapters are extras exploring a central character, you can kind of tell based on how they are (to my knowledge) the only Dolce Diary updates with cover/title cards each which include their focal character front and center. So working off that fact, the Kazuki-centric chapter established that a pillar to his narrative was his feelings towards Fuuma and that those feelings are still open to romantic potential. 

But if you follow me, this is why up until Can’t an Idol Fall in Love With Another Idol’s release, I was terrified of them writing that off. I would have been ok if it was just an arc that was given attention then continued to actively work in the background, as all the character arcs have been over all of Dolce’s content. The fact that they might be giving Fuuma a love interest and giving Fuuma a love arc while Kazuki’s feelings were still up in the air and were still the primary highlighted narrative for him would have been fucking scuffed. To me, it would be like… why would they make him so Fuuma-centric to the point that even his dedicated chapter was not just focused on Fuuma but focused on the ambiguity and potential of him having romantic feelings for Fuuma, yet reduce him to being Fuuma's designated right-hand man. Don’t get me wrong, friendships are just as important as romantic relationships. But again, rather than conclude Kazuki’s answer in Suki to be that his feelings were of friendship, they left it open ended and allow audience members to be actively aware that Kazuki’s feelings towards Fuuma still had potential to be romantically coded. It would just be so weird to quickly close off that narrative by giving Fuuma a love interest as opposed to letting Kazuki conclude it himself. It would be fucking beyond frustrating for me, at least Eventually, I kept trying to drive my hopes that they would explore Kazuki’s narrative at all down to the ground because it was a Fuuma-centric novel; maybe if anything they’d explore those feelings in his own novel after the fact. But then they kept having little drops here and there of Kazuki being even the slightest bit relevant and I’d go back to questioning “Are??? They??? Is this on purpose??? Do they know what they’re doing or are they just doing this because Kazuki’s just so important to Fuuma as his best friend that he’s there as his right-hand I genuinely can’t tell???” And um. Welp.

Safe to say Can’t An Idol Fall in Love sold me on the fact that they know what they’re doing LOL. And to anyone who thinks that Kazuki’s feelings can still be read as ambiguous in CAIFILWAI as opposed to explicitly romantic - whether it be due to a fear they may pull the “I like him as a friend” card or due to the disbelief that they have an explicit mlm main character in the Honeyworks series - I’d like to cover any bases that may make you think this way. If you think it’s just Kazuki acting like a protective friend, why do you think he calls Yui a rival? If you’ve only seen the MV and think it’s ambiguous or can be taken as the "likfe" for friend, then does that mean you think Yui’s feelings toward Fuuma are also ambiguous or as a friend? With the way Yui responds, she is trying to rival Kazuki’s feelings towards Fuuma. She and Kazuki recognize whatever feeling it is that they hold towards Fuuma, both of their feelings are the same type. I don’t think most people would argue that Yui’s confession about Fuuma was one of pure respect and friendship. Plus, if anything I’d argue of the three characters in the MV, Fuuma is the one whose feelings are left the most ambiguous despite him being the central character. It’s heavily implied that he may be forming feelings for Yui, but nowhere is it established either in the song or in the MV, especially if you compare it to Kazuki and Yui’s declarations or if you compare it to Sara’s feelings for Uru in Can’t An Idol Fall in Love. Fuuma’s romantic narrative here is trying to figure out how he feels for Yui, while for Kazuki and Yui they’ve established a rivalry because they both have mutually established they like Fuuma romantically.

If the MV isn’t enough for you and Suki isn’t enough for you for...some reason…??? You can check out the snippets of the light novel which the wonderful takanenene translated: one which revisits the conflict set up in Suki and one that covers the confession scene in the MV in more detail. If the fact that the conflict set up in Suki (aka the lurking feeling of not knowing if all he felt for Fuuma was only platonic or more than platonic) was specifically reestablished in the LN for anyone who didn’t keep up with Dolce Diary didn’t tip you off that it was something important, his behavior in the confession scene as depicted by the LN definitely should have. He’s possessive about his spot by Fuuma’s side. He doesn’t want that spot to be taken by anyone else. Even if he knows that they can help Fuuma, he wants it to be him. And this line: “Kazuki then trails off his words, quietly saying ‘That’s why…’ and then gave Yui a slightly painful smile, his cheeks turning red,” before he declares Yui a rival and states he likes Fuuma. If you can tell me you read that line and are still on the fence about Kazuki’s “like” towards Fuuma being romantic, please message me and I will see how I can get through to you. Like it wasn’t even just a romantically coded confession. It’s just a romantic confession. That “like” is romantic. And I’m so proud that he’s not only come to understand for himself how he feels, but that he’s confident enough to ask the person he sees as a romantic rival to speak in private and not only clarify her feelings for Fuuma but before she can even do that firmly establishes that he loves Fuuma with conviction. Kazuki my boy I’m so proud of you. *sniffs*

And that’s it for establishing Kazufuuma as at least canonically one-sidedly canon and why there’s not only no reason to deny it but also why denying it is a fucking disrespectful move towards Kazuki. He’s a character, sure, but that doesn’t change the fact you shouldn’t write off his struggle to come to be convicted enough to say it out loud. This has been something weighing on him at least a year, if not more (all I know is it started when both he and Fuuma were in some year in middle school). And as a character in a piece of media, I’ve been saying this the entire time, but brushing it off as non-romantic is literally chucking a fucking pillar of his character’s story into the gutter. And to those who may be saying Kazuki’s confession came out of nowhere and is pandering reread this entire fucking essay again I dare you to do it and tell me to my face it’s pandering. Again. Writing off the buildup as pandering is disrespectful to him, disrespectful to his character and narrative, and disrespectful to the wonderful people who have been creating Dolce so diligently and have crafted this narrative for us. Saying his “supposed feelings” and “ambiguous confession” is pandering is like saying Fuuma’s crossdressing is pandering which. If you say either of those I will find you and I will shank you in the fucking gut. Even if you’re not fully into Dolce, recognize these characters are actually very well developed and executed amazingly, as per every Honeyworks character that has come to exist. I don’t blame you if you weren’t aware of the weight of Kazufuuma, but now that you read this I hope you are. That’s mainly what I needed to get out there, but as follows will be me more exploring how Kazufuuma has been built up and generally waving my hand off at where it may be going. If you want you can dip, thanks for reading up to here because I know I repeated a lot because it’s just. So important to drill into your head and has been something I’ve been hung up about constantly. LOL

As for where exactly they’re taking it from this point on, I honestly don’t know. In all honesty, I didn’t even expect them to take it the direction they did. But honestly, I think the direction they went with it is really interesting and better than I could have imagined, in my opinion at least. Honeyworks never ceases to amaze me with their storytelling and narrative choices, and I don’t think there’s any that stand out to me as being severely questionable that they haven’t reapproached at some point down the line. And, again, I think they’re treating this with a lot of care and deserved respect. So I’m just gonna be gushing about how smart they set it up and how smart they’ve been executing it and maybe my own hopes on the direction it could go.

Whether they make Kazufuuma reciprocated I have no real clue or bearings, but to me my gut reaction is they will. Of course, I’m biased, but again if you trace things all the way back to 2018 and step through Dolce’s content and growth from there, I’d say even if they didn’t know if they could execute it like this and see it to fruition, I’d argue that Kazufuuma has been at least heavily implied since the beginning as a relationship they wanted to explore from both sides of the relationship. Obviously I brought up Kazuki’s character bio already, but if you look at the *goes to count* 5th Dolce Diary update already has a joke jabbing at the fact that Kazuki is technically Fuuma’s type (and the way Kippei and Kazuki excitedly react is so cute). The fifth update. And as stated before there are tons of Kazufuuma moments in Dolce Diary, whether it’s played for comedic effect or played straight (and this is post Suki but oh my god I’ve said it before I’ll say it again get yourself someone who looks at you the way Kazuki looks at Fuuma oh my jesus). But song-wise, I mentioned the one Dolce album song I would bring up is Nade Nade and this is where it comes! 

Not only is Nade Nade specifically focused on Kazuki and Fuuma’s relationship as opposed to the whole of Dolce despite being the first song, it included the setup/preview of the Fuuma-centric extra prior to the full release of the Fuuma-centric extra itself and was released early as fuck. Literally between the 6th and 7th update to Dolce Diary. Sure, it could be to isolate them as a duo for marketing purposes (they’re very often the two promoted idols together if the whole of the group aren’t included), but the way it’s established as a perspective song as opposed to a general idol duet is what fascinates me. Anyone who didn’t know about Dolce prior and only followed Honeyworks for music would be first introduced to these characters through this song alone, and maybe this is where my Kazufuuma bias comes from but I was one of those people LOL. I thought it was just a cute one-off relationship that they had set up for the purpose of a song and that it was an implied friends-to-lovers story that would never get a conclusion. Also I mistakenly thought Fuuma was a girl oop-. In the full context of Dolce, this song in part helped establish Fuuma and Kazuki more solidly as a unique duo out of all of Dolce, but it also specifically explored through Fuuma’s eyes just how much Fuuma recognizes and appreciates the unwavering support Kazuki gives him to follow his dreams as he wishes. For Fuuma, he loves Kazuki too, though whether it holds any romantic potential in the same way Kazuki loves him has never been explored to nearly the same extent. But Fuuma appreciates how Kazuki’s remained by his side and does everything he can to support him, so Nade Nade explores how his way of expressing his love and thankfulness to Kazuki is by never saying that he needs Kazuki by his side. He’s glad Kazuki’s always been there for him, and his reciprocation takes on the form of being ready to unwaveringly support Kazuki and not ask for more than he already has, even if it meant Kazuki would be leaving his side, despite the fact that he really does wish they could remain together forever just as Kazuki does. The one point he lets himself say something vaguely close to always wanting to stay together, he gets a surprised expression out of Kazuki and says an ambiguous “suki dayo.” Of course, this it much less romantically coded than what we get from Kazuki in Suki and CAIFILWAI, but there is an interesting emphasis put on it nonetheless. Keep in mind, this is all established through the song, which released long before not only Fuuma’s character-centric extra released but also Kazuki’s character-centric extra released, so there is at least a substantial setup for Fuuma’s feelings towards Kazuki’s being strong as well and possibly grow to be reciprocated one day.

I think for me the most fascinating part about Nade Nade is how they tied it back around to Can’t An Idol Fall In Love with Another Idol. Again, without remembering Nade Nade, I still thought CAIFILWAI was brilliantly explored and executed, even if some people would have preferred no love triangle. But honestly, revisiting Nade Nade makes me trust even more the direction they’re taking with this. Whether or not they make Kazufuuma canon mutually (which. Even if they for some inexplicable reason didn’t I’m going down with this ship.), I’m sure they’re putting a lot of thought into the story, because the last bit of Nade Nade directly parallels the misunderstanding that arose from Fuuma mishearing the Kazuki and Yui. Fuuma is resolved to support Kazuki in any area he’s given the chance, and that explicitly includes if Kazuki had some girl he liked, which is what he assumes is going on. The fact that they tied this back around in the form of a misunderstanding was really really smart and Honeyworks is always so good at parallels and references back to their older songs, but for some reason I didn’t expect this. I don’t know how to say why, but the fact that the song that started it all, kicked off both Dolce and Kazufuuma, was directly referenced both visually in the MV with a cameo at the start and narratively despite the central dynamic being predominantly explored in this story in particular was that of Fuuma and another potential love interest and involves said potential love interest for some reason makes me think that (sorry Yui) this is all planned out for Kazufuuma in the grand scheme of things. That being said, I don’t know if me thinking it was planned all along is just me with shipper goggles, but the idea it’s come full circle nearly 3 years later is not shipper goggles and a very very well done parallel in my opinion, whether this trajectory was their plan for Kazufuuma from the beginning or not. Just wanted to gush about that some more. 

There’s more I could go into especially if I went into specific details about interactions or specific implications established in Honeyworks' Dolce content about different characters that would be fascinating to explore in relation to and under the lens of Kazufuuma, but I think this is uh...plenty long enough. Plus, I doubt you'll stop seeing Kazufuuma posts from me so those ideas will probably just be miniposts or somethin.

Back to the overarching point of this segment, idk what they’ll do with this story in the end, but do I think Kazufuuma will canon? I’m used to looking at ships that aren’t explicitly apparent with a sliver of skepticism, but all things considered (as I stated before) yeah. I don’t see reason why they wouldn’t now that they’ve explicitly identified there is a romantic dimension to it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Like to me, the setup isn’t something that would be written off as unrequited? And this doesn’t have to play into why I don’t think it will canon, my personal opinion on the Fuuyui relationship (again albeit through the lens of a hard Kazufuuma shipper lmao) has it’s own merits and is really cute, I find it cute in the way I found Koyuhina cute. I personally never really shipped Koyuhina, and especially since they slipped Kotarou into Ima Suki Ni Naru I was more curious about who this kid was and how he played into things I didn’t really see Koyuhina as something that would come to fruition. Similarly, there’s more importance in the overall sense on Kazuki than there is Yui (considering he’s one of the 5 original and focal members of this generation of idols, this would be natural), as well as the fact there’s just way more foundation and exploration in Fuuma and Kazuki’s relationship than there is Fuuma and Yui. As for how much of a balance there is inside the LN itself, the fact that they seem to have spent a substantial amount relaying the foundation of Fuuma and Kazuki’s relationship and re-exploring it (at least in Kazuki’s perspective) at all on top of how much content there is covering their relationship prior to the LN ever since Dolce’s origin just feels like that relationship holds more weight. Pretty much Kazufuuma feels more established as a priority in general. The way I personally hope Fuuyui plays out is whether they wind up holding mutual feelings or not or whether Fuuma doesn’t feel that way towards Yui is they get a relationship akin to Kotarou and Arisa. Albeit, Kotarou and Arisa never viewed each other in a romantic light, but they had mutual respect and solidarity. That’s the type of friendship I hope comes out of Fuyui. And considering there hasn’t been a break-up in any Honeyworks’ canon relationships (nor do I expect there to be… they’re all perfect for each other LMAO) it would actually be interesting if Fuuyui get together but don’t endgame and Kazufuuma is established as the inseparable endgame after some realization or another, though I don’t expect them to go that route nor do I know if that’d be the best way to go about it anyway. Also final point, Honeyworks seems to have a thing for childhood friends trope anyway soooooo owo All in all, don’t know where they’re taking it, just excited to see where it goes. 

TL;DR of this *counts* 7 page essay, stan Kazufuuma. Not gonna proof this. Maybe I’ll edit and repost but yall are getting a confusing clusterfuck of ramblings over 2-3 hr periods of me writing across 3 different days at around 5am each day. Uh. If you got this far like and subscribe and-- jk plz reply to this mammoth anywhere you see fit or tell me if you have stuffs to add or counter or whatnot I like hearing people talk about Kazufuuma ;w; I am Kazuki and Kazufuuma brainrot can you tell after reading this? No? Lemme just remind you I’m K--

[masterhandss]

‘My Next Life as A Villainess’ Anime is over...

SO WHAT NOW???

A lot of us are disappointed that Katarina’s adventures are finally over, and a lot of us are gonna miss watching the wacky hi-jinks of our dense villainess. I’ve seen a lot of people say that they will stop posting or paying attention to hamefura after the anime ends, and while I might be the same to some extent, I just want to say that there are still a lot of hamefura things to look forward to after the anime ends!

These are actually some very obvious things to look forward to, but you know I’d still like to share them so you can use them to fill the hole in your heart that the anime left behind.

-------

Edit: (9/30/20) I added stuff, as well as a cut for all yall who says my posts are too long qwq

The Manga

Hamefura still has an on-going manga that is currently in Chapter 3 of the Light Novels! A lot of you already read it, and understand that it can get frustrating when there’s a lack of updates on the english side of things, but if you’re really curious, you can go over and check out the JP releases every month so you can have an idea of whats to come for the manga :DD (The fan translation of ENG Chapter 26 came out a few days ago so you know it’s not dead!!)

I’d recommend reading the english translation on Mangadex, since most translation groups officially upload their translation on there. 

The Spin-off (Hametsuo/Bakarina Alter)

It deserves it’s own category for just how unique it is in terms of its reception in the western crowd. I know a lot of people probably read it, but I guess people barely talk about because it’s not really that far into it’s premise yet. 

I just can’t stop recommending this manga to people (despite not going where I thought it’d be) because of how good the art-style is and how much promise it has. It updates monthly, which I know is a long wait, but it does pay off when you see the quality of everything. Plus it’s just fun to imagine how hamefura would go if it followed the typical “villainess otome isekai” format.

I actually love talking about hametsuo, so maybe my posts are woth the look ;; w ;;

The Light Novels

credits to @sparckle-art​ for the scans!

I’m happy to read that a lot of people are gonna go switch and buy the light novels after the anime ends! By the time the anime ends, the Vol. 6 of the LN would release a week later, acting kind of like a replacement of what is supposed to be a new episode for that week.

The fan-translated version of the web novel is available online, up until half of Vol. 4, but I still recommend buying the books on bookwalker (i don’t know if the sale is still there, but I’d recommend picking up the book regardless!). If reading the fan translation piqued your interest, then playing for the books would definitely worth your money if you ask me! 

An increase of sales might show them that there’s interest for this light novel, and might make them translate the JP novels even faster! (or maybe i’m just too impatient to wait 2-3 months for Volume 7 dshfjsfgs who knows?)

My only warning is that the tone really does shift post-arc 1 (Fortune Lover I) so if you’re looking for harem hijinks, from spoilers I’ve seen I think there would less of that and more of world building. (ps. please stop asking me where to read it ;;-;;)

Edit: Volume 8 is coming out in a few months, with Volume 9 probably being released at either Jan or Feb next year, then after that it’ll be a yearly update

StoryMe Otome Game

credit to the hamefura reddit discord for the screenshots!

I’m surprised a lot of people doesn’t know about the StoryMe game, despite it updating every week alongside the anime. Just kidding I didn’t either lol, I actually found about this thanks to the hamefura reddit discord server! StoryMe is a choose-your-own-adventure otome game, kind of like those “Episodes” or “Chapters” game that gets recommended on Youtube a lot. 

It’s still in japanese, which is probably why not a lot of people knows of it yet, but it seems like you can play as Katarina and romance anyone from the entire harem (yes, the girls too), so keep you eyes peeled for if ever it gets an english translation!

It’s basically the bluray Fortune Lover game with the DVDs, but instead of Maria, you actually get to play as Katarina!

(I’ll make a separate post for this later, maybe)

Edit: The game just came out in English in September 16, and just spat out a 11-episode update at September 30

tldr: go play it, it has 19 episodes out right now

Katarina’s Farm

It’s a newly announced mobile game with a web trial version that centers around playing as Katarina, trying to earn money and points for expanding your farm land, planting more expensive plants and getting the other members of the harem to join you! It’s a 2D pixel game that seems like it wouldnt take too much time to play (you can get the first 4 characters within 30 minutes of gameplay, but that might be adjusted in the mobile version) so I understand if it might not interest some people, but that’s still something to look forward to!

I made another post about it so check out the link to the web version here!

The Bluray Otome Game

While I can’t say this for certain, but maybe if there was ever an official english bluray release, it might include the Fortune Lover Male Capture Target Routes that are included in the game. Maybe someone will play it and translate it even! It would interesting to see how different the boys are, and give us further appreciation for Katarina’s influence and changes!

There’s a preview for a CG in Keith’s Route, which comes with the second bluray (no pv for Geordo ;; w ;;)

Edit: All the boy’s routes are out in Japanese

We don’t know if they’ll ever be released in English though, so hopefully someone translates them at least ;;w;;

The Manga and Yuri Anthology

Missing the hilarious and heartwarming antics of Katarina and her harem? Then you should check out the Manga Anthology (that has just been been translated in its entirety). It’s 14 chapters of absolute hilarity!

There’s also a Yuri Anthology, featuring the 4 girls of the harem! If you’re looking for more of that then, it’s an absolute recommendation!

Spin-off Visual Novel

Edit: They recently just announced a spinoff visual novel! It takes place after the Fortune Lover 1 Arc and features sexy pirates hgsjhgsdf

It’s just recently announced so there’s not a lot of info besides the company making it (it’s Otomate) and the fact that it’s gonna be an all new Bakarina adventure uwu

Bakarina Radio

I heard there’s a Bakarina Radio too, featurning the VAs of the anime cast. 

I don’t know if its a regular thing or a one time thing, but its still worth checkin out!

https//twitter.com/hamehura/status/1309831738525278209

The Second Season of the Anime

I seriously wasn’t expecting another season, considering how different the next arc is, but I’m happy nonetheless for more Bakarina! I hope this motivates the fans to continue supporting the series, as a bigger reaction will definitely lead to more content for us to enjoy! I have a theory about S2, which I think is worth the read :3c

Other Otome Isekais

There’s a lot of other Villainess Otome Isekai’s that are worth the read, and a lot of them as just as interesting as hamefura, despite the lack of a harem (from deep rooted revenge to hilarious and crazy villainess, there’s a lot!) The quickest recommendation I can give is just looking up “Akuyaku” and “Villainess” on Mangadex (do both btw they dont have the same results), but theres a lot that doesn’t get recommended so do your research! I swear it’s worth your time!

Anyways, I hope any of these fill the hole that the hamefura anime will leave in our hearts as we wait for season 2! (sorry for repeating the same line again hdsfgdjhsfg) Feel free to add anything like fanfic recommendations and artists, as I can’t cover everything on my own, as those really help provide hamefura fans with content :DD

[lost-in-yujikiri]

References of Classic Literatures in SAO

This post are thoughts I have on discord plus discussion with friends. I didn’t intend to publish this publicly but this was so well-received and a friend asked me to do so, so here it is.

Below are the classic works that I think SAO main arcs took many inspirations from:

1) Aincrad arc & Little Red Riding Hood

- Asuna is the Little Red Riding Hood, with Kirito as the brooding hunter who protected her and led her to a happy ending, and Kayaba is the wolf who disguised himself as Asuna's "Grandma" (aka her caretaker).

- Kayaba's nickname is the same name as the central character of Wuthering Heights (Heathcliff), both men created their world of their own obsessions (for OG Heathcliff is his love with Catherine, for Kayaba is his castle dream) and during that creation they ended up destroying a lot of lives, even innocent people involved.

2) Fairy Dance arc & A Midsummer Night’s Dream

- Fairy Dance might take references from A Midsummer Night's Dream with Fairy King & Queen Oberon & Titania, who are a married couple under quarrels (Asuna and Sugou). The Fairy Dance arc also presents the themes of falling in love with the wrong person (Suguha/Leafa’s feelings for her brother/cousin Kazuto/Kirito) and unrequited love (Recon to Leafa, Leafa to Kirito) albeit in a different way than the original story.

3) Phantom Bullet arc & Sonezaki Shinjuu 

- The classic kabuki play Sonezaki Shinjuu (The Love Suicides at Sonezaki) is a story about close acquaintances/families/lovers being tangled in conflicts of opposing sides, with the main couple performing a double suicide ending so they can be husband and wife in afterlife (just like Kyouji & Sinon). In SAO Kyouji tried to force the double suicide on Sinon but it failed.

3) Alicization arc volume 9-14, Eugeo’s story & The Little Prince

- When people see Alicization cast many might think of Alice in Wonderland first. However Eugeo's whole story in Alicization 1st half was most likely inspired from The Little Prince, with Eugeo as the Prince, Kirito as the Prince's wise old buddy and also the story's Narrator, and Zuberg as the Prince's Rose flower in his homeland which he loves so much but was separated from for so long. Only Alice S30 is the Alice in Wonderland, which is why she isn't the one Eugeo looked for.

- Friendship between the Narrator & the Prince is somewhat similar Kirito & Eugeo, in how the Prince is the only one who truly shares the world view of Narrator. In stories of his own journey, the Prince met a lot of adults, each of them showed their greed, selfishness, ugliness in their way, and the Prince's pure heart couldn't understand or withstand most of them. Just like Eugeo's naivety and pure heart can't accept even the littlest unfairness and evils of his world.

- The Prince thought he didn't love his rose in the correct way, and during his journey he knew his rose isn't so special because there are millions of beautiful roses on Earth. But later he learned that it's the time and space that he spent nurturing his rose that made the rose truly special and distinct. Isn't that similar to how Eugeo learned that love is giving, like nurturing flowers continuously?

- However, the Prince agonized then because he was in a place too far from his home and he left his rose for too long that it might have been eaten, like the distance and long pining towards the Alice in Eugeo's past that killed him inside, while his childhood has long gone.

- In The Little Prince's ending, the prince followed a poisonous snake's offer that if he lets it bite him, he would be able to return to his planet with his beloved rose (Quinella's deal, anyone?). The narrator realized what would really happen but couldn't stop the Prince. Before following that offer, the Prince told the Narrator please look at the stars to remember him, if it looks like he has died, it is only because his body is too heavy to take with him to his planet. The next day, the Prince's body couldn't be found and in his later journey, the Narrator ask the readers if any of them have seen the Prince. In Eugeo's story though, instead of creating an ambiguous ending, Reki presented both ends of the Prince's fate literally. Eugeo died in a sacrifice of his choice, and at the same time went into the light with the little Alice in his past (aka the Little Prince's rose).

- Kirito, just like how the Narrator who believed the Prince didn't die, continued to live in his own world of darkness like the time he spent with Eugeo hasn't gone.

4) Alicization volume 13-18, Alice Synthesis 30′s story & Alice in Wonderland

- Alice Synthesis 30, from an empty knight who has no knowledge of the world with a forced Knight identity, was thrown to the unknown in War of Underworld and had to fight off everything and figure her self-identity out on her own, has parallels with Alice in Wonderland. Original Alice fell into a rabbit hole into Wonderland when she followed the White Rabbit, while Alice S30 fell from Floor 85 of the Cathedral when she fought after Kirito, both Alices learned about the mess that is happening in the world they're in after this.

- The original story is more about all kinds of creatures and humans in Wonderland rather than just about Alice herself, while War of Underworld is also more about people participating in the War rather than just about Alice S30.

- Kirito is the cheshire cat who guided her somewhere along the way but left her on her own device at some point. There are pig-lookalike creatures called "Rath" in the original Wonderland story, and in SAO we have RATH company who is monitoring project Alicization as well as the pig-lookalike Orcs in WoU. In many versions of Alice in Wonderland the stories involve a coup d'état towards a tyrant queen, in Alicization we have a Quinella as similar type of ruler whom Alice S30 and her friends fought against.

- At the end of both stories Alices left the mess in their "Wonderland" to get to real world. Though for OG Alice it's getting back to reality, while for Alice S30 she just got thrown to another "Wonderland" where she has even less attachment to as well as being shunned by most other humans without being able to go back to the UW she knows.

5) Kirito’s character arc in Alicization & Yu Boya and Zhong ziqi:

Kirito's character arc in Alicization was inspired by the story of Yu Boya & Zhong Ziqi, whose story has invented the words 知音知己 ("2 souls who understanding each other's tone & self the most") which usually get translated to English as "bosom friends", Chinese usually called them the epitome of friendship/ companionship. In Japan their names are translated as "Haku Ga" & "Shou Shiki".

Full story can be found here:

http://chineseaesop.blogspot.com/2012/09/yu-boya-and-zhong-ziqi-romance-of-guqin.html

Summary: Boya was an accomplished statesman from the Kingdom of Tsin and also an expert musician who played the "qin". One day as he played a musical piece on the river when he sailed to the Kingdom of Chu, he met a woodcutter named Zhong Ziqi, who might be poor but is very knowledgeable about music & what Boya's soul wanted to convey through his music. Being very happy that he could find a partner who can so quickly clicked with him, Boya & Ziqi stayed with each other talking for 3 days. Though Ziqi eventually had to go back to support his parents so they had to part with a promise of seeing each other again. The next year Boya went to find Ziqi, only to hear from Ziqi's father that he had died while trying to both work to support his family & study to catch up to a successful man like Boya. Boya played his last piece of music in front of Ziqi's grave and then destroyed his beloved musical instrument and swore to never play it again, because the life friend who could understand his heart & soul was no longer in this world. He then told Ziqi's father that he would adopt Ziqi's parents and support them like Ziqi did, saying "I was one with Ziqi and he with me. Do not think of me as an outsider."

So Kirito = Boya who are both accomplished in life (battles/social hierarchy), Eugeo = the woodcutter Ziqi who's inexperienced but wise and shared a love of something (swordmanship for Kirito & Eugep/ music for Boya & Zhong Ziqi) with the other man, both died young before they truly accomplished any of life goals. Their deaths devastated their friends, Boya destroyed his own musical instrument and his own musical ability, while for Kirito even though he was right at the chance to wake up from coma, due to the guilt of Eugeo’s death he intended to use his sword to stab himself, but having no sword so he tried to destroy his heart instead.

In the end though Kirito was stopped by a fragment of Eugeo’s soul, who give him the strength to stand back up again.

Personal thoughts:

- I find it interesting that Kirito is very apt for 2 different roles in the Little Red Riding Hood and The Little Prince, more than any roles with other heroines. In Aincrad/Progressive he is the hunter who managed to protect the Riding Hood Asuna from the wolves and in one way or another lead her to her own happy ending. In Alicization he is the best friend to the Prince Eugeo, he wanted to show the Prince the world and lead him to happiness too, but ended up having to watch his Prince walking to his own death.

- Mother's Rosario is treated as a side story in the original Web Novel and not a full-blown arc, so it doesn't have classic references. But Reki said in an interview along with the author of yuri manga/anime Bloom Into You that it's the most yuri-esque story he has ever written (despite not being technically yuri).

[formerxformerxemo]

I decided to do a list of the top manga series I’ve read so far. This is purely for my own entertainment and in no particular order.

1. Ten Count

This might be cringe but I love BL a lot. Ten Count is a complete series and I finished it practically right away. It’s hot, yes, but I feel like the portrayal of mental illness in this series is handled pretty well. Really it had me in tears near the end, but I’m a sap.

2. Chobits

Perhaps another controversial choice? I bought the dark horse comics omnibus and finished the second one in one night. Really on the surface it’s kind of stupid. Falling in love with pretty robots? Boring and weird. But CLAMP imo just hits it out of the park with this one. It takes that insecurity that women feel being compared to these robots who have been modeled to be the perfect female companion in every way and addresses that. It could also be seen as an analogy (if that’s the term) for just normal human insecurity when faced with anyone we perceive as better than us. Also I thought it was a good metaphor for accepting the fact people can’t choose who they fall in love with and that’s valid. I infer this because of CLAMP’s other works like Wish and even Cardcaptor Sakura. Anyway Hideki is a sex crazed young adult male but he vows to be true to Chi who he can’t be with in that way. Talk about true love.

3. Kimetsu no Yaiba

Ah. My favorite series ever. No lie. Demon Slayer is such a fascinating and well woven tale. I think the overall theme of humanity’s spirit being unbreakable in the face of so much pain is just... idk I feel the more I like something the harder it is for me to talk about it. Okay let’s try again. Tanjiro is our main character and probably one of my favorite characters ever. He is so sweet and fights so hard. He does have weaknesses (though not many) which make him slightly more relatable than he could be. I believe the love he has for his family is what keeps Nezuko from completely giving into her demonic urges. Love is another theme here as well. Another thing I like about Demon Slayer is how the backstory of many characters are revealed. Tanjiro has pity on the demons after they die because he knows they were once human. The demon’s backstories are some of my favorite. I won’t go into anymore detail because I just can’t formulate the words but anyway highly recommend. This series is complete in Japan but the official English translations haven’t finished coming out in print yet so I haven’t finished it yet.

4. Bungo Stray Dogs

I think the thing I like most about this series is the fact that I am being introduced to famous Japanese authors I wouldn’t have heard about otherwise. In the states are world lit classes are predominantly white with some Latin American exceptions. I only read a Japanese novel my senior year of university because my professor had taught in Japan for many years and insisted we read Snow Country. Moving on. There is action in this manga but also tons of hilarious moments. The dynamics between the characters is also priceless. Chuuya and Dazai... don’t get me started. I am also obsessed with the Light Novel spin offs. I’ve read manga volumes 1 through 8 and currently our beloved detectives are fighting against the Guild whose members are based on authors from the English speaking world. Like the Japanese characters these Guild members have powers that the author based off of their respective works. I just find that very clever.

5. Rin-ne

From the beloved creator for so many iconic manga series comes this little gem. I find it so funny. So funny it’s almost absurd, but it always cheers me up. I believe it’s already complete in Japan with 40 volumes? But I’m too lazy to look it up. I’m also aware that real fans go by chapters not volumes but again I am lazy.

6. Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun

The title turned me off. Toilet bound? But I was unaware of the common tale of Hanaka-san of the toilet. Now I am. This series is at times sweet, funny and slightly scary. I don’t regret picking it up.

[maboroshi-no]

Hamefura LN11 Extra Story Translation (Part 2)

I have started translating the extra story which comes with the special edition of volume 11 of the Hamefura light novel.

I posted some notes about it a while ago.

Geordo’s POV is long so I have split it in two. Part 2 is thus the first half of Geordo’s POV, which goes from his early childhood to just before Alan started visiting the Claes household.

Previous parts: Part 1

~The Story of the 4 Stuart Brothers~ (Part 2)

Remark: Indented dialogues are dialogues that Geordo thinks about in his mind.  

Geordo’s POV

Maid: So this is where you've been, Master Geordo! I have been searching for you!

After she said this, the maid rushed over to me. The maid looked awfully panicked, so…

Geordo: …I am sorry.

…I said as I apologized. The maid made a little troubled face, and…

Maid: Why did you slip out of your room and come to such a place?

…she asked me.

Geordo: I wanted to see Mother's face. I was actually supposed to see her today.

Since today was my and my younger twin brother Alan's 4th birthday, we had planned to celebrate it with Mother. But Alan got a fever again in the early morning, so the celebration got called off. So, because I wanted to see Mother's face even if only a little, I slipped out of my room and came to the area of the building where Mother and the convalescent Alan were. But in the end, I didn't know in which room Mother and Alan were, and the maid came running to me just as I was wondering what to do.

Maid: I see... However, you won't be able to meet with her until Master Alan's condition returns to normal.

The maid said this with a troubled expression.

Geordo: …Okay.

I agreed. With how things had been so far, I knew that I would be told this, and that's why I was planning on just taking a look at her face without letting anyone know. My younger twin brother Alan had had a weak body ever since he was born, so he would get sudden fevers and stay in bed for days. And just when I thought that he finally got better, he instantly fell sick again and got laid up. That's why I had mostly never seen my younger brother. And because Mother was constantly attending to Alan, she hadn't come to visit me. From what the servants told me, it seemed like Mother was feeling responsible for giving Alan a weak body, so it couldn't be helped that she couldn't visit me. Even so, I wanted to see Mother. But whenever the servants told me: "Your mother is having a difficult time. You are a good boy Master Geordo, so you can bear with it, right?" as they did many times, I had no choice but to patiently bear with it. After all, I didn't want to make things harder for her. Besides, Mother and my younger brother Alan were not the only ones that I could not see. Father and my two older brothers too. I could rarely see them. I heard that Father was extremely busy with work at the moment. The servants said that he was so busy that he didn't even have time to sleep. I heard that my two older brothers were also busy with their studies and sword training, and also that the people taking care of them had formed factions, and that as a result I couldn't meet them so easily. I didn't really understand what "factions" were, but I understood that I couldn't simply meet them just because I wanted to. For such reasons, I had mostly never seen my family and had been spending time with the servants who were in charge of my care. All while enviously watching the children accompanying their parents to the castle. I wanted to see Father, Mother and my brothers. But it was difficult to meet any of them so I couldn't. I understood this but there were times where I couldn't help but feel lonely. Like other children, I wanted my family to give me headpats. I wanted them to give me hugs. The servants would feel disrespectful if they did, so I didn't get any from them.

Maid: Once Master Alan gets better, you will be able to meet them again right away!

As I was dropping my shoulders, the maid said this to me. But the promise before, and the promise even before got broken because Alan was in poor condition or because an urgent business came up.

Geordo: What should I do to be able to see Mother?

As I muttered this, the maid said this with a slightly troubled expression.

Maid: If you are a good boy, I am sure that you will be able to see her, Master Geordo.

…she told me. This was what the other servants often told me. That if I were a good boy, then I would surely be able to meet everyone. So I dedicated all my efforts to my studies and sword training. So that I would be able to meet everyone, so that they would praise me when I do.

Geordo's Mom: You are so amazing, Geordo! You are such a good boy!

So that Mother would tell me this and pat my head. When I imagined this, I could endure it.

Geordo: …In this case, I will return to my room and study.

I worked hard so I could get many praises from my family once I would be able to meet them. I had been working hard on my studies and sword training ever since, so I got many praises from my teachers. Then I waited for my family to come visit me. I kept anxiously waiting for someone to tell me "You are amazing, Geordo!" while patting my head, for someone to hug me. I waited, waited, waited. I kept waiting for a long time but no one came to me. I was lonely, I was sad, my chest hurt as it was squeezed hard… Waiting had now become painful. It was painful because I kept hoping for someone to come and praise me. It was because I kept my hopes up that I was feeling lonely and sad. If I didn't, I wouldn't have to feel this way. To begin with, it was because I felt emotions like sadness and loneliness that I was feeling hopeless. If I didn't think about anything, if I got rid of these feelings, then I wouldn't have to suffer anymore. I should stop holding an interest in anything. This world unkind to me would then become a boring one. Nothing would matter. No expectations, nor interest in anything. A boring and colorless world. Yes, if the world was like this, there would not be turmoil in my heart anymore. Because I wanted to do something about the overflowing sadness and pain in my heart, I kept whispering this in my heart. And before long, I didn't hold interest in anything anymore. I had become someone who was feeling too much boredom in this boring world. Loneliness, sadness and others… I forgot all the emotions that I felt long ago.

Then after I lost all interest in anything, my eldest brother Jeffrey came to visit me. I had already lost all interest in my family as well. Even when my older brother came over, I could only think things like "What did he come for?" or "Is he here to kill time?'", I didn't feel happy to see him nor felt attached to him in the slightest. Rather, since our father had inherited the throne, we had become candidates to become the next king and seemed to have been dragged against our will into a succession battle. I guessed that my older brother was approaching me for that reason and that he was scheming something. As a result, I felt annoyed and uncomfortable.

Jeffrey: How are you, Geordo?

Because Jeffrey was approaching me with his usual frivolous smile on his face,

Geordo: Well, I have no problem with my health. You must be busy Big Brother, so feel free to go back.

I said this with a smile, but the color of his face didn't change at all and he said…

Jeffrey: Eeeh~ I am not that busy today, so let's talk more!

…he replied. The servants near me, the teachers… If I observed them for a while I could tell what most people were thinking. However, when it came to my older brother Jeffrey, I couldn't really tell. He would approach me with a frivolous face and ask me incoherent things. Like the food I liked, the books I liked, my pastimes or other pointless things. Also…

Geordo: "I have no likes nor dislikes, I can eat everything." Geordo: "I look over books of many genres." Geordo: "I don't particularly have any pastime."

Whenever I replied in this manner, he would make a somewhat lonely face.

Maybe because he intended to grasp some weakness and he couldn't get anything from me? In that case, shouldn't he feel frustrated? I didn't really understand. What could it be?

Around the time after our 5th birthday, I heard from the servants that Alan was finally in good health. However, Alan didn't seem to like me very much as he would always frown at me whenever he saw me, so he never came to see me. Since he seemed to hate me so much, I never came to see him either. A little while after Alan's condition calmed down, my mother also came several times to see me. I had mostly never seen my mother and she must have been busy after becoming queen, so…

Geordo: I don't particularly have any problem so it is fine not to make time to see me while you are busy.

As I was always coldly asking her to promptly leave whenever I received her, she mostly never appeared before me ever since. I was not particularly yearning for my family, so there was no need for her to expressly come to me while she was busy. It would on the contrary be bothersome to her to keep me company. Being a little cold should be fine. But my eldest brother Jeffrey only, no matter how coldly I sent him back, he kept coming over with his usual frivolous demeanor.

Like this, as I was spending tedious and boring days while feeling a little annoyed by my eldest brother's occasional visits, the year of my 8th birthday was the big turning point for me. On that spring day, Duke Claes told me that he had brought his daughter to the castle for the first time and thus asked me to keep her company. Ever since my older brothers got engaged, more nobles wanted to provide me with a fiancée, which is why I was often asked this kind of request. It honestly bothered me, but Duke Claes was someone of both high status and popularity, so I could not ignore his request and had no choice but to accept it. Like this, I met the girl named Katarina Claes. She was the only daughter of the Claes family so she must have grown up extremely spoiled. She was a selfish and self-important girl, and on top of this she didn't seem very smart, but this type was not uncommon among noble daughters, so I was used to them. I was dealing with her with a flawless fake smile. However, as I was showing her around the garden, Katarina unfortunately fell over and hit her head. On top of this, there was a wound on her forehead, which was heavily bleeding. After she was examined by a doctor, she returned to her manor. I saw her out while thinking to myself that things had become a pain. Then, since I was the one who was guiding her around, I went to visit the sick Katarina. My servants had previously told me: "Won't she ask you to take responsibility and get engaged to her?" but their words gave me a good idea. To do something about this annoying situation where people forced fiancée candidates on me, getting engaged to Katarina wouldn't be so bad. Duke Claes was a neutral party who was not affiliated to any of my two older brothers' factions, and managing that noble daughter should be easy since she didn't seem very smart. This course of events led me to get engaged to Katarina Claes, but… From that moment on, my everyday life started to greatly change. When I met her, Katarina Claes was a haughty and selfish noble daughter, but after she was laid up from falling over and hitting her head, her character completely changed. I didn't know where that haughty young mistress went, but she had become an amusing and very interesting girl. And before I knew it, started the days where Katarina had me wrapped around her finger while I should have been the one casually managing her. Despite being a noble lady, Katarina kept acting in unprecedented and curious ways. I couldn't get tired of watching her at all, and before I knew it, I came to find the time that we spent together enjoyable. Then…

Katarina: Please look at this, Prince Geordo! This seedling has grown splendidly!

As she said this, she gave me a beaming smile. Because neither the servants which had been around me until now, nor the nobles had ever smiled at me like this, my chest felt warm when she did.

Katarina: These sweets were so delicious so I have set some aside for you, Prince Geordo. Please try them.

Katarina: Prince Geordo, I saw from my window earlier a very pretty rainbow in that direction! Let's go see it!

The sweets that she held out to me with a smile were very delicious, her hand holding mine was warm, and even though I was running with my hand pulled, I felt thrilled. All my life, I haven't held an interest in anything, the world was monochrome and full of boring things, and I thought that, maybe, I didn't have a decent heart in me. But ever since I met Katarina, emotions had steadily overflowed. As if the ice of my frozen heart had melted. Then, after I met Katarina and experienced many feelings like enjoyment, happiness and sadness, I came to see things about the people around me that I could not see before. For example, I thought that my servants were unconcerned about me and were only taking care of me because it was their job, but they were actually concerned about me and they had been eagerly taking care of me in various ways. I thought that, because of the factional strife, my older brother Jeffrey was coming over to grasp my weaknesses, but it seemed like he was actually worried about me and was coming to see how I was doing. I thought that I could easily tell what people were thinking but they made me realize that it was only the surface portion. But even though I had realized it, it was hard to suddenly change my attitude. I couldn't have honest reactions like Katarina.

Katarina: Prince Geordo, thank you very much for helping me today.

The other day I helped Katarina with her field, and after that she thanked me with a smile. Today I came unannounced and barged in on Katarina and Keith's farm work. Keith was making a displeased face but Katarina was grinning as she was happy to get additional help. When Katarina was happy, she would spontaneously say that she was "happy". When she was sad, she would spontaneously say that she was "sad". As I couldn't really speak so honestly and straightforwardly with my older brother nor the people around me, I incidentally tried to ask Katarina how she did it.

Geordo: Katarina, how come you can speak your feelings so honestly?

After I asked this, I realized that this question was unlike me, but Katarina didn't seem to mind it. She looked at me blankly and then said this.

Katarina: Umm, rather than being honest, it is just that my feelings end up slipping out of my mouth.

Her feelings slipped out of her mouth? I wonder if such a thing could happen. To begin with, these "feelings" that I had finally experienced recently were a sensation that I could not really grasp. Since I was perplexed, Katarina…

Katarina: But because of this, I have been scolded by Mother many times.

…she said, laughing.

[fantranslatorbychoice]

Kakuriyo no Yadomeshi Volume 6 Chapter 7 - Tenjin-ya's Hotspring Manjuu Part 1

T/N: I all, how are you all doing? Thank you for waiting, I did my best but I’m not at my best so if there’s typos.. Sorry, I did minimal beta.. I am doing my best to get to Part 2 over the weekend, please look forward to that...

As always, if you like this translation, you can heart it, share the link, reblog, I just respectfully ask that DO NOT REPOST ELSEWHERE. This is my contribution to the scant English content of this fandom, and I worked really hard to finish this thing, it’s not like I just copy-pasted everything. I even had to build the kanji in Jisho one by one. Try it and you’ll see what I mean.You can rave about this, rant about this, reply, etc. but if possible please link back to this page. If you’re unsure how to do that, just copy the web address of this page. If you’re on a blogsite just insert the web address as a hyperlink as a link back to here. Honestly if this light novel was officially-published in English, I wouldn’t even be doing this right now... And if it did, I’d take this offline to support the publishers and Yuuma-sensei. Creators support creators, is what I believe in. I’ll prolly do 1-5 once 6-10 has been done, or however long I can manage to translate the raw texts, it can take a toll at times.  As previously-mentioned in earlier chapters, if you stumbled upon this one, the two seasons of the anime covered volumes 1-5, so other than the extra details, you didn’t miss much stuff.  There's more recipes in this chapter, but again, if you're planning to try these, I cannot guarantee your success. The methods aren't exactly precise in the book, and based on my experiences in dealing with desserts, precision measurements are the key to success. So as always, try at your own risk, I am not liable for any losses O_O  Alright here’s chapter 7 now...

P217 "Say, Aoi-chan, is there anything I can do?" "Oh, Kasuga?" After the full moon and so many days, Kasuga came to Yugao. It was before working hours, and while sitting on the counters, Kasuga was wearing a depressed face. "Everyone doesn't want to give me anything to do. They say that since I am the Minister of the Right's daughter, I should just take a break. The Okami-sama just couldn't put so much pain onto me. Gah, I just have too much free time." "Oh, so that's how it is." "Yeah-- Even though until today they were always sending me out to do all sorts of errands. And I had a fight with O-ryo-sama too." "With O-ryo? Why??!" "O-ryo sama, she somehow changed, somewhat. She started wailing and complaining when I decided to get married into the Northern Lands, as well as resigning. Even though I told her that it was out of my hands, she just pouted and ignored me when I was talking to her. I wonder if she's resentful because I was getting married before she did." "..." P218 In O-ryo's case, she's just lonely... But at the end of this month Kasuga's already resigning, it's probably sad if she doesn't get to do some work. "That's it then. If that's the case, how about working here in Yugao? Just about now, we're short of helping hands." "But I'm already here, Aoi-sama--" "Ahaha, Ai-chan hasn't had her public appearance yet." The kitchen trainee-helper Ai-chan who has helped me so much, peeked with a bouncy face. With the original appearance that she made for me, I still don't ask her to serve the customers because she still easily gets sleepy. If Kasuga's going to lend a hand, that's going to be a great help... "But Kasuga, I wonder if you wanted to be a waitress until the end..." "Hmmmm.. I won't say it's what I feel but, right now I have nowhere else to go. I get it now, I'll work at Aoi-chan's place." "That's great! If that's the case, then Kasuga is our new-hire! That being said, you can't leave us now just yet, Kasuga." "What the, don't you make things so serious, Aoi-chan! Even though I said that I'd quit Tenjin-ya, I'll probably come back here again if I failed." "...Is that even possible?" P219 "If that happens, that's a problem. But if anything happens, I don't know." "..." I wonder if Kasuga is worried about something. While propping her chin on her hands, she seems to be only thinking of one thing. "Oh, that's right! Kasuga, won't you come make some Tenjin-ya's hotspring manjuu with me?" "Hotspring manjuu? That squirmy brown sugar-flavored hotspring manjuu?" "No, the new hotspring manjuu by Tenjin-ya that was requested of me. That's why I'm in the middle of its test trials. Come here for a bit. Oh, and the apron's over there." I allowed Kasuga to wear the spare apron, and immediately she went inside the kitchen. We have just finished gathering the ingredients for the manjuu that we were going to make. Home-made rice flour from newly-harvested rice, some sake, and Kimon's specialty product Cassowary eggs. Hand-made red bean paste were made into balls and arranged. There's also products delivered from the Northern Lands such as milk and cream cheese. "Aoi-chan, what are you planning to make with these?" "I wonder if I can call them steamed flour manjuu? We have a pan that's good enough to be used for steaming. It looks like Kasuga's cheeks, it's fluffy and springy and soft." "What, you're saying that I'm a round-faced Tanuki right now?" "No, I didn't say that you reminded me of that..." But it won't be a problem to make it into an authentic Tanuki face... P220 Kasuga puffed her cheeks more than ever. "Aoi-san, good morning. What is the daily special** for today.. hey, it's Kasuga-san?" Ginji came to Yugao to check what meals were going to be served today. Kasuga has been here since morning, and he seemed to be shocked. "Oh, Ginji-san. Uhm, you see, starting today Kasuga is now our newly-hired employee. I explained the circumstances as such and such to Ginji-san. "Oh, I see now. The other waitresses had reservations on Kasuga and probably didn't want to impose. It's important to take care of your body before getting married." "I'm sturdily built, I can do multitasking too..." "I understand, Kasuga-san. Well then, I'll tell them that your days of being a waitress in Tenjin-ya has ended and you'll be our all-around help here. Up to now, with you having worked as a waitress in Tenjin-ya, you've also have a job here in Yugao as a hired help, so don't talk about weird things." "..." Kasuga eagerly nodded her head. Definintely, she wants to work as a waitress until the very end... With regards to O-ryo, she truly had to support Kasuga during those times, and yet why on earth is she sulking? If I meet O-ryo, I really had to ask her about it. T/N: Teishoku=定食=can be the regular set meals or the daily special. A lot of times, Japanese restaurants adjust their menu according to the ingredients available for the day, the week, or even the season. So oftentimes the menu can change up to a daily basis. P221 "Alright then! In anyhow and in anycase, today is hotspring manjuu! Hotspring manjuu!" With a plop I put my hands together, and briskly propped up my kimono sleeves. "Say, Ginji-san, the hell's cauldron in the "secret base", can we use that, I wonder?" "The hell's cauldron, you say? Yes you may, it's not fixed there you know." Alright, as I closed my fists triumphantly. Since we already had permission, we first had to do some preliminary preparations. Food preparation is easy. The steamed manjuu that we're making would be of two flavors: "Egg" and "Cheese". The "Egg", well, it's plain flavored. I'll add the Cassowary eggs, milk, oils and other ingredients, and mix them all until smooth, and to replace baking powder I'll use rice flour, and add some liquor to that. Once the flour bits have disappeared, these will be sufficiently mixed altogether. For the "Cheese", we'll use the cream cheese delivered from the Northern Lands. Once it has softened we'll mix in on a mixing bowl that looks like a goldfish bowl, and mix the dough which was also used for the "Egg" flavor. For those two flavors, I halved the dough with my hands. Because the dough has a high moisture content, it's necessary to put them in the steamer individually. But because there's no cups here like those in Utsushiyo, for the meantime as these steam we'll just use the small bowls as replacement, and only the "Egg" with the red bean paste balls were loaded in. "Aoi-chan, are we not going to put bean paste in the 'Cheese' ones?" P222 "This manjuu has no bean paste, the cream cheese mixed in this dough is going to give out the flavor." The manjuu filled with bean paste is delicious, but what I plan to do today, apart from that it should be a product with an enjoyable taste and texture... "After this we will.. Steam it in hell.. heeheehee" "Aoi-chan's face looks like a demon from hell" "She's a cooking demon, Aoi-san." As expected from a bride from hell, says Kasuga and Ginji-san. No, I didn't hear anything, I didn't hear anything. Now then. With the three of us, holding the hotspring manjuu inside the small bowls, we went towards the secret base in the mountain out back. In front of the pampas grass field, Kasuga who was feeling down and depressed suddenly had her moods lifted up. "Amazing! There's a place like this in this mountain behind Tenjin-ya?!" "Even I only learned about this a few days ago." The pampas grass and Kasuga, together, it surely looks like a painting. It reflects the autumn. As expected of a Tanuki. In the middle of the pampas grass field, an open area that has the open-air hotspring pops out like a hole, and beyond that there is a small shrine. Yesterday above that shrine I drank sweet sake, today it's different. In the nearby gazebo with the hell's cauldron, we're going to make hotspring manjuu. P223 "Uwah, it's hoooot." "Be careful, Aoi-san. The temperature of the steam that spouts out is above a hundred degrees**. We arranged the small bowls that we were using on a large bamboo strainer, and we carefully placed those inside the hell's cauldron. After that we closed it with the wooden lid, and waited for the steam to rise. "The steaming takes about 30 minutes. Let's go pick some pampas grass. We'll use those to decorate Yugao with, to make it more autumn-y." Somehow, while we were waiting we started gathering pampas grass. Kasuga's wild instincts awakened, and with a poof turned into a Tanuki, and started running around the pampas grass field. From where I thought she was hiding in-between the pampas she would pop out and appear, and then vanish and pop out her face somewhere, in another place. That cute little Tanuki, how is she already leaving to get married... "..." "While we're at it, is Ginji-san going to run around as a fox too?" "Ehhhh. I'm fine, you know--" Without knowing why, Ginji-san glowed. And I thought I was going to see a Tanuki and a fox playing together in the pampas grass field... "Ohhh, that, Steamed-juu, Steamed-juu**" While leisurely watching Kasuga run around the pampas grass field, with that so good a mood, we have forgotten about it. T/N: This is in Celsius guys, OK? So for Fahrenheit users, that's 100 x 9 divided by 5 plus 32 because 0 degrees Celsius=32 Fahrenheit so that makes it.. 212 Fahrenheit. Yes, even though I don't have to do this, I like doing something like this from time to time lol FOR SCIENCE!

This was shortened from “steamed manjuu” but steam-man sounds weird so I adjusted the translation to make it more appealing lol but hey, I translate the nouns however I see fit lol P224 This is likely a winner. When the lid of the hell's cauldron was taken off, a sweet smell along with the airy and billowy steam came out, and the lovely, fluffy, yellow steamed manjuu came to view. It seemed that it flowed out of the small bowl that it was steamed in, and it has thickly swelled into a round ball. This is somewhat steamed well, the carbs look delicious... "It looks delicious, Aoi-chan let's eat it right away" With a poof, Kasuga returned to her human form, and demanded it so as she pulled my sleeve. If there were aluminum cups or paper cups or any disposable cup that we could use, it's easy to do these... Using the small cups to have these steamed, while taking care of the emitted vapors I cut it into a cross-section and pulled it out using a narrow knife. I divided this into three portions for three people, and while it was still piping hot we took a bite. At any rate, this is the "Egg". "Uwah-- it's fluffy and bouncy!" Spontaneously, anyone could notice that. The fluffy and springy texture, it almost certainly had an impact on the memory. "It's because we used rice flour. Bread as well as steamed manjuu that uses rice flour, that gives off a prominent, bouncy feel.** The Ayakashi living in Kakuriyo love rice, and comparing this to those made with wheat flour, using rice flour a lot better. And particularly, these are made with rice flour made out of Kimon's rice brand, 'Onihonoka', doesn't that give off the vibe of being a souvenir product?"

T/N: Honestly any bread-ish product that uses rice flour is fluffy and springy. I love rice cakes too, they’re kinda like these. T_T P225 "Oh, that's a very important thing you know. Made locally, consumed locally. Isn't that great, the egg's fragrance is also left behind. It goes without saying that the Cassowary egg is this land's specialty product. Its ingredients and the process are but simple, and the basement workshop can make the process of hell steaming easier. It's unreal that souvenir products get mass-produced, it's because it's difficult to figure out how much the cost of production would be." Because Ginji-san has already experienced failures on such in the past, his face got agonized. "Say Aoi-chan, this cheese type that we also steamed, can we try eating it too?" "Yes of course. Well.. Here's what I was planning to do.." I could predict that the popularity of the "Egg" was going to be great. But if it's just that, I worry that its impact as a newly-released product would wane quickly. Aside from that, as cheese it not yet a major product while it's gradually being introduced and spread out, I put my focus on it. A dessert made especially with cream cheese. It was good that there's also some here in Kakuriyo. "I have realized that lately, I have been eating a lot of cheese, but in Kakuriyo aren't there any foods served that are called as such? But here, we're near the Northern Lands where their dairy industry is booming, and I think that I want the Ayakashi living in Kakuriyo to know about the flavors of cheese. Cheese-flavored steamed bread. I used to make a lot of those in Utsushiyo." I was a regular buyer of those convenience store breads. These were desserts similar to cheese souffle. P226 I wonder if Ayakashi can be allowed to receive them? "Uwah... I thought it was going to taste something like before, but this is entirely different. It is rich, and has a bit of sourness, doesn't it?" "It differs from the "Egg" as its taste is mildly more apparent, but the cream cheese's unique flavor has fully dissolved into the dough, didn't it? This tastes good. For sure, this is going to be Tenjin-ya's unique and finest souvenir item. And in spite of becoming like that, that is what makes this thing important." Kasuga and Ginji-san seem to have their enjoyment in eating got stolen. Those two, seemed to be taking in things well. "Nonetheless, this is a big gamble. We're going to divert the attention away from the cheese flavor, so I think it's a good idea to turn it into a limited-edition item." "If you say it like that, it's like an expansion. The dough used for 'Egg' can be the base, and we can serve the flavors of each season. There's plain dough, dough with bean paste, and we can change the flavorings. I think it's possible for that dessert. Indeed, it can be promising. I think we should go for it!!" Somehow Ginji-san seems to feel it in his gut, a while ago he was worried about calculating the production costs and the production methods. Kasuga reached out for the steaming basket with her hands, and started gouging out the freshly-steamed manjuu by herself, picking it out and taking a bite, tearing a part out and taking a bite, she seemed so happy as her mouth was chewing. It seems that she has taken a liking to the cream cheese. "This hell-juu** is delicious, right?" T/N: Hell-juu=hell manjuu= the original was jigoku-man, from jigoku-manjuu, but that doesn't ring a bell, or at least, not in my case. Well, whatever, I translate so I heck this on my own accord lololol P227 "Hell-juu? That somehow sounds like a disturbing name, isn't it?" Manjuu steamed using hell's cauldron, abbreviated into hell-juu. But Ginji-san just nonchalantly acted as if he didn't hear what were being said. "I think that's great! It's catchy, and it sounds uniquely Kimon-y. It also makes it easy to design the packaging for the souvenir's box!" "Y-you think so?" For sure it's easy to roll off the tongue, but I wanted to give off the impression of a cute, sweet little baby chick, I was perplexed at how the naming was ostentatious. But Kasuga making a name for the souvenir product by herself, I just found her so adorable. Kasuga seems glad, and I guess that's good somehow... "Say, Aoi-chan. What shape will you sell this with? For sure we can't sell these still being inside a bowl, won't we?" She bluntly asked the question, which is just as important, I pointed my finger out to think. "That is our number 1 question. We can make them right now using bowls as they steam, but essentially we need to make them using tools such as aluminum containers, thin paper cups and other sorts of shape holders. I think it's hard to get hold of them in Kakuriyo." "..if you're just thinking of one shape, won't the inn be able to make the tools?" P228 "Really? Ginji-san, that can be done?" With a face brimming with confidence, Ginji-san declared "Yes, that's right". "Here at Tenjin-ya, we have a large-scale workshop underground. If it's something that is like an item from Utsushiyo, Dr. Saraku would research about it quickly, and the Iron-mice can make them for you overnight." "Wow, the underground workshop people are amazing! If we're going there now, let's ask them." My plan was impulsive, and as such Ginji-san doesn't have any time to spare anymore. "Even if I was to go with you, from here onwards I can't go to any other department to do my work. Hmmm, but if I let Aoi-san go by herself, I will get worried. You might get lost." What's that? Ginji-san perceived that I easily get lost... "Then in that case I'll take her to Tenjin-basement, Wakadanna-sama. I've gone there a lot due to errands." "Ah, if Kasuga-san is there, then I'll be relieved of worry! Yes, please do take care of Aoi-san." Ginji-san had me under Kasuga's care, and with a quick bow of the head, quickly left the place and left us. "Say, Kasuga, what place is Tenjin-basement?" "Uhm, you see, Aoi-chan, the underground workshop is where everyone here at Tenjin-ya, trespasses into." "Oh, it's that kind of place." Originally, before going to Tenjin-basement, we were going to discuss with and ask Dr. Saraku about the production of the new hotspring manjuu. P229 And for that reason, we were going to give Dr. Saraku some Hell-juu to taste-test.

"Uhm, excuse me, Dr. Saraku!" "Hmmm... Oh, who's there~?" "Uhm, it's Aoi.. From Yugao!" In Tenjin-ya's underground workshop, managing the trespassed Tenjin-basement, the "Development Department Chief" Dr. Saraku, was just coming out of a nap when we came in. Previously when we went to the research room, he was in the corner wrapped in a blanket and looking dead asleep, and we shook him awake. "Hmm. It's nice that you came by, Yomego-cha~n. Oh, Kasuga-ojouchan is also here!" While wearing his black glasses, Dr. Saraku looked at both Kasuga and I to confirm that it was us. Waking up and wearing his lab coat, he gave out a huge yawn. "Could it be that, you have finished making the new hotspring manjuu?" "Yes. But we still have a small problem, we heard from Ginji-san that Dr. Saraku can resolve it, and we thought to give some to you for taste testing as we consult about it." Kasuga opened the cloth covering the steaming basket, and with a "Here you go" took out the small bowls used for steaming P230 the two types of steamed manjuu. "Hmmm. This looks like a Kakuriyo-style cupcake?" "N-no... We didn't have any equipment that's why we used the small bowls for steaming.. And that's our problem." Right away, we explained the choice of ingredients to Dr. Saraku, and we gave him each type for sampling. "Mmm! Mmm! Isn't this very good? This is the exact opposite of the old-fashioned and unpopular brown sugar manjuu! It's light and soft and fluffy. There's so much moisture so an appropriate container is needed, eh? The cheese added to this makes it feel so fashionable as well." "For me, I also reasonably like today's old-fashioned manjuu." "Kasuga-ojouchan, you probably have an attachment to that." While humming, as Dr. Saraku tore from the manjuu and repeatedly ate it, he was thinking on what shape it should be made into. "If we made each of the plain manjuu into a small bite-sized piece, we can fit a lot of it inside a box. Since the chewy dough of the plain manjuu is relatively elastic, it is better to make them small so that they are easier to eat." "Certainly... like chewy bread and doughnuts, it's easy to tear apart, and we probably can make a lot of them when small." "In addition to that, right now its size easily fills in the stomach and it's good that we sell it this way. If the manjuu was bigger, P231 it would be a problem when half gets left uneaten." "Ah, yeah, that's right, that's right." We nodded enthusiastically, Kasuga and I. For sure, with a smaller size it's easier to adjust the amounts anyone would want to eat. "Also, the colors for 'Egg' and 'Cheese' doesn't seem distinct from one another, and I'd like for them to be distinguishable solely by looking at them. It't probably a good idea to change the color of the steaming cups." With a rustling sound, Dr. Saraku fished something out of his research desk. What the, it looks like something sold in Utsushiyo, a paper cup used for steamed bread and cupcakes. "The item that Yomego-chan wanted, is something like this?" "Yes, yes, this is it. But what's with this one?" "This is an item that we developed. It's an item delivered from Utsushiyo. We took it for future use." According to Dr. Saraku, they were producing a paper cup capable of withstanding the steaming process, and that seems to be easy here in Kakuriyo. It's very easy to tear off as well as edible, the inner part is waxed, the outside feels like it was made to look like soft washi paper. The colors were white and red. Right away, it was red and white, the favorite of Ayakashi. Immediately Dr. Saraku started drawing a blueprint. And then... "Uhhhh.. Workshop Manager No. 3, Workshop Manager No. 3, this is urge~nt, go to Saraku's place" "Yes-chu" The Iron Mouse Workshop Manager who was called for heard the broadcast opened the door, and immediately appeared. While wearing work clothes and scurrying P232 it went to us. "Workshop Manager No. 3, can you not make me a prototype of this blueprint of a receptacle? White and red. First of all, it's made out of paper, the inside has a powerful waxy coating. It should have the feel of withstanding the steaming in Tenjin-ya's hotsprings-- that is the most important detail of all. You understand?" "I understand-chu. I'll make it right away-chu." The Iron Mouse Workshop manager received the instructions without any hesitation, and left the research room scurrying out. I thought the assignment's instructions were sloppy but, right now it's somewhat amazing that it was comprehensible. "By the way Yomego-chan, we have to talk about the unavoidable aspect of this souvenir product, do we use preservatives or something, and how? What about the expiry date? Is the shelf-like short, is it long, we have to adjust how many we will sell as well as the flavors, you know." "So about hat, we were planning to ask Shizuna-chan about that. Because we will be using Tenjin-ya's hotspring vapors to do hell-steaming, we heard that it can help the food less prone to spoilage." "Oh... that kind of talk. Surely it's because it's about hell-steaming, for that type of hotspring it's OK to use 10 minutes of time. Shizuna-ojouchan is just below, certainly she is at the 5th level underground research room. It's Tenjin-ya's deep subterranean area where the aggregated steam is used, many researches are done there." After hearing that, we briefly went to where Shizuna-chan was. P233 Tenjin-basement 5th floor. That is where all researches of the collected steam underground were done, and has testing sites for hotspring types for use by the bath house managers. It was a bit dark, and the steam was hot. All around it, it seemed like an excavation site. The researchers wearing a lab coat were surrounding a hotspring that glows a dull, eerie,red-colored light, they were pouring something, churning, collecting, and arranging. Ah, that's creepy. What are they even doing... Shizuna-chan was wearing an earnest face while giving out instructions. "Well now, Aoi-san, Kasuga, what brings you here?" Peeking out and realizing that we were there, she went away from her place, and came to us with a smile. Shizuna-chan in a lab coat looks cute. "Shizuna-chan, are you in the middle of an experiment? We have something that we want to consult with you for a bit." "It's because we're... making Tenjin-ya's new hotspring manjuu." After telling her about it, Shizuna-chan clasped her hands together and went "Wow, new hotspring manjuu?". Somehow she seemed to be interested in it. "Since we're already here, please walk this way." And after that, she showed us around the personal laboratory she was using. "I apologize, it's dirty..." P234 "..." Uh, hm. For sure, it's fairly messy. Dr. Saraku's lab may be staying within the limits, but comparing this place, this looks like it hasn't been tidied up yet, and there were so many stuff in it. The room is also cramped, it seems. Surprisingly, this looks like a girl that couldn't sweep the room entirely by herself. "Oh" On top of Shizuna-chan's research table, placed astutely was a picture of Tokihiko-san. Tokihiko-san was Shizuna-chan's master, and is currently Orio-ya's Chief Bath Manager. Somehow it looked like it was torn out of a magazine, from Orio-ya's special feature edition. It seems that beside him was Hatori-san's face, up to two-thirds of the whole has been torn off... "Well then, what's the consultation about?" Shizuna-chan served some tea for us. From there, while sipping tea, we talked with Shizuna-chan about the situation with the production of the new manjuu, and we gave her some Hell-juu for taste-testing. "Wow, this is delicious...! This, surely this has been steamed in our hotsprings, isn't it?' "You knew?" "Yes, through its flavor and aroma. I know it very well, it is this the hotspring's flavor." P235 As expected of the bath manager. And such and such, we continued our conversations. "So this manjuu, you want to preserve it through hell-steaming, yes? For sure, the hotspring drawn from Tenjin-ya's subterranean areas have sulphur as its component, and it has a germicidal action. The preservation itself is connected to this so.. Aoi-san, how many days would you like the shelf-life to be?" "Oh, that, at least about 20 days, I think it's good enough for a takeaway souvenir product." "If it's for 20 days, using Tenjin-ya's steam, I think it's possible using only the hotspring resources maintained here, that would be effective. It's a natural preservative, and doesn't give the body negative side effects." Based on what Shizuna-chan said, the antibacterial effects of the hotsprings are being used to develop medicine, and it's very much the work of bath managers. "It's not difficult to boost the antibacterial effects of the available hotsprings, Even the employees at the bath management research area also know the possibilities. Indeed, please allow the bath management research team to cooperate with the creation of the Hell-juu as well!" "Wah, thank you Shizuna-chan!" "It's Aoi-san's suggestion, and it's a souvenir item that Kasuga christened. I want this souvenir item to be loved by so many people for a very long time..." Shizuna-chan the nure-onna's smile, the twinkle was starting to crumble. Covering the corners of her eyes with her lab coat, with a frail voice she utters "So sad..." "I don't want to imagine Kasuga eventually leaving Tenjin-ya. Because I wont have a roomate T/N: So basically, they're using steam to sterilize the manjuu. Wow, so science-y.. WAh, this brings back old memories... I miss I old job x_x lol it depends gahahaha P236 anymore, and I'll be alone... It's lonely~..." With those words, even Kasuga's eyes started welling up in spite of herself. I see now. These two girls are more than two roomates sharing the same room. "I, truly understand Kasuga very well. I asked Odanna-sama about it. That is why, I asked how can I help Kasuga with my own hands, even though that's the only way that I can do to help~. Even our room, Kasuga always cleans it for me~" "Shizuna-chan..." Kasuga looks like she's about to cry while smiling, and she gently hugged Shizuna-chan. “Shizuna-chan is such a cry-baby. Even though you're part of the management staff somehow you still roomed with me, and I've thought about that for a long time, because it is what it is, right? Me, I'll still go to Tenjin-ya again. This time as a guest, and enter the baths under Shizuna-chan's management. Surely, I'll be diligently tidying up the room, you know." After a moment, Shizuna-chan eventually recovered and calmed down from her sobbing. Waveringly, she slapped her cheeks impressively. I didn't know, Kasuga has so many strong and long bonds... "Kasuga, I'll give this to you. It's important to take a rest, OK?" Shizuna-chan fished out something from her research desk, and pulled something out. P237 It was a brown, ordinary medicine jar with a red label stuck on it. When it was opened... "Wah, it's the 'SUPER - Sea of Blood Ointment'!" "Really? What is that gooey red thing?!" Kasuga seemed really happy... And I was disgusted by what I saw, it was something, like a blood-colored slime. "Heehee, Aoi-san this is medicine that you apply on your skin. It was developed and made by Tenjin-ya's Hotspring Research, and it's a really effective ointment. 'SUPER' is not for sale, please have one, Aoi-san. Before washing, when the seasons have become harsh, be sure to use it for cracked and fissured skin. Even I apply it every night on my feet and hands." "Eh, that's so helpful! Thanks Shizuna-chan!" Lately, the water used for washing dishes have been cold and stinging, and only Odanna-sama told me that my hands were cracked and worn. This looks grotesque on the eyes, but with this I'm pleased. I'm grateful to be given something that I can use.

Having finished our consultations, as well as receiving the mysterious medicine SUPER - Sea of Blood Ointment, as Shizuna-chan went "Bye-bye" we left the Tenjin-basement and went back up. "Ah, you're just in time, Yomego-chan, Kasuga Ojou-chan!" P238 "Dr. Saraku" In front of the Development Department research room, Dr. Saraku and the Iron Mouse Workshop Manager were waiting for us. "Look, look, it's finished. A container to use in steaming!" "What, that's fast!" Somehow only one hour has passed, and a sample container for steaming Hell-juu has already been finished. This was some technical prowess. Tenjin-basement's Workshop Iron Mice are magical. And triumphantly with a smug face saying "It's before breakfast-chu", the Workshop manager looks cute somehow. .. "Here, you can try checking the strength of this while steaming Hell-juu. Our workshop has a hell's cauldron that you can use. Also, we have to show the finished product to Byakuya-san. Ochouban-chou will set the price point, and in turn will also do the commercializations." ".. what? Price? Isn't that done here already?" "What are you talking about? The earlier you do that, the better. It's important to be the leader. In some respects, if someone tells you to do it, it's like getting told off twice."** "..." Kasuga and I looked at each other's faces. We were only going to provide taste-testing, but now were thinking how to react. Somehow, isn't the progression fast...?

T/N: Sorry guys, I had no idea how to translate this part so I just did my best.. I mean, it does happen that some words couldn't get any hits in Jisho so.. yeah. Maybe 1% total... But then again, it's Dr. Saraku so... Meh.

End of Chapter 7, Volume 6. Previous - Chapter 6   Next - Chapter 8

References:

Wonderful site for the youkai references

Other stuff I used to do this: Kodansha Kanji Learner’s Dictionary (you can buy here, I’m not sponsored btw). I was about to buy the older edition but then the newer one came out 2013 so I bought that instead. Worth buying since I was able to find nearly all of the words I needed just by stroke pattern alone.

Merriam-Webster's Japanese-English Dictionary (the red-covered 1996 version is apparently out of print right now). This is what I have been using for a very long time, I bought it when I was still a fetus (yes I am old so what lol), and after so many years, when compared to newer editions, I still prefer this one since its entirety is Japanese-English, the English to Japanese gloss are just 16 pages tops, so you get more Japanese words for your buck. But that’s just my opinion, maybe other people prefer the Jap-En x En-Jap IDEK.

Basic online dictionary, Jisho. Knowledge of verb conjugations  and other words are necessary since not all have entries.

If you can read Japanese, you can buy the whole set in Amazon Japan, they’re shipping worldwide now, I think.

[yurimother]

LGBTQ Light Novel Review - Bloom Into You: Regarding Saeki Sayaka Vol. 1

*Contains minor spoilers for Bloom Into You*

I have always said that Bloom Into You is a little bit too popular and awarded more praise than the typical and trope-filled story deserves. However, fame and success have their benefits, and thanks to the series’ popularity, we are gifted with the phenomenal light novel spin-off Bloom Into You: Regarding Saeki Sayaka. This wondrous collaboration between the original creator, Nio Nakatani, and famed Yuri author Iruma Hitoma (Adachi and Shimamura) takes the very best elements of Bloom Into You, namely side character Sayaka and her experiences with LGBT identity and life and puts them front and center. The result is a beautiful and important coming of age story about a young woman discovering her sexuality. A story that not only escapes the common traps of the Yuri genre but utilizes and subverts them with flawless execution.

The first volume in the Regarding Saeki Sayaka light novel trilogy revolves around the titular character before the events of the main series. The entire book is narrated from Sayaka’s first-person perspective and told in the past tense, with Sayaka occasionally giving brief retrospective insights to contextualize her experiences. This presentation excellently frames the story, giving valuable analysis to its events, heck, Sayaka can probably do my job better than I could. The ex post facto storytelling also pairs nicely with the dramatic irony present in the story, provided that the reader has read the manga or seen the anime. On that point, while the light novel effectively stands on its own legs, reading it as a companion piece and prologue to Bloom Into You will significantly increase the book’s impact.

The first of the volume’s two parts, Year 5 Group 3, paints a portrait of childhood Sayaka. She is serious and mature for her age, often pushing herself to be the best in every area, both academic and extracurricular. However, she has apparent social deficiencies, remaining distant at best, and hostile at worst to others. She is surprised, annoyed, and challenged when a student in her swim class attempts to bond with her. The girl displays a strong affinity for Sayaka and, although at their age describing their connection as romantic or sexual feels inaccurate, she clearly yearns for a bond beyond friendship.

Frustrated by the girl’s advances and erratic personality, Sayaka angrily tells her to be more serious. Determined to win Sayaka’s affection, the girl attempts to mimic Sayaka’s mature demeanor. This act subconsciously implants the idea in Sayaka’s head that people must change themselves to suit the ones they desire, a lesson which later proves dangerous for her. Soon after, Sayaka begins experiencing strange feelings for the girl, which further her frustration. The confused Sayaka attempts to explain away her emotions, “I mean, the person next to me was a girl, and so was I.” However, after a sexually charged moment in the pool, the fearful Sayaka runs away and quits her swimming class.

This first chapter effectively lays the foundation for Sayaka’s sexual awakening and foreshadows some of the situations in which she will later find herself. Although Iruma’s prose, and Jan Cash and Vincent Castaneda’s translation’ is expressive and beautiful, capturing Sayaka’s inner voice superbly, there are a few flaws. The service described, including details about the locker room and the girls’ swimsuits, is incredibly awkward, especially considering the elementary school-aged characters. The climactic moment between the two, while appropriately dramatic, is undercut by this exploitation and its inherently ridiculous nature. Thankfully the second half of the book, Class 2-C, Tomosumi Girls’ Academy, lacks the off-putting elements of the first and perfectly sets Sayaka up as the character we know and love from the original series.

As Sayaka enters middle school, she becomes slightly less rigid and strict than she was as an elementary schooler. Instead, she is an excellent reflection of the girl seen in the original series, a serious and driven person but reliably kindhearted. She joins the choir club, where she meets Yuzuki Chie, referred to almost exclusively as “Senpai.” Followers of the original will quickly come to recognize this character as Sayaka’s ex-girlfriend, briefly seen in the manga and anime. Yuzuki confesses her love for Sayaka, leaving the latter to ponder the implications of dating her.

The sequence which follows this confession is nothing short of masterful. A once again conflicted Sayaka struggles to comprehend the possibility of dating Yuzuki. She thinks of the potential relationship as both one between two individuals and as a romance between two people who are both women. In the end, she decides that, although she does not yet love her senpai, she wants to try dating. Their relationship is full of adolescent naivetés and fluttering emotions.

Sayaka lacks a reference to healthy love and relationships, so, just as the girl from her swimming class did, she changes to become a figure that Yuzuki can love, telling her what she wants to hear and doing what will make her happy. For example, although Sayaka does not enjoy novels, she visits a bookstore, which turns out to be the Koito family’s, to buy and read one of Yuzuki’s favorite books. Eventually, their relationship escalates, and Sayaka admits that she has fallen in love with her partner. However, after moving up to high school, Yuzuki begins to pull away from Sayaka.

Their ultimate showdown and break up is reminiscent of Class S literary themes, with Yuzuki claiming the relationship was play, acting out, and mimicking fiction’s prevailing narrative of romance. However, now that they are nearly adults, and as they are both women, the “play” is no longer appropriate. Sayaka, however, does not feel the same way, and herein lies Regarding Saeki Sayaka’s pure brilliance. Iruma subtly and expertly hides small lines and hints to this difference throughout the book. Yuzuki speaks mostly in romantic clichés as if imitating romance movies or books, “Senpai often speaks like she’s in a story.” However, Sayaka shows genuine commitment and devotion to her partner, working (foolishly) to change herself for Yuzuki and occasionally thinking of their future together, once wondering if they would be together when they were old ladies.

Their actions contradict each other’s so much because Sayaka, the girl who strived to be mature and act like an adult from an early age, does not see the relationship between two girls as immature or a game. To her, it was a very genuine experience that helped lead her to her ultimate revelation and the light novel’s amazing final lines, “I accepted it. It wasn’t understanding or resignation, just acceptance. Of myself, and of the fact that I could only love girls.” Here both the author and the character have openly rejected the S era ideas that love between women is fleeting and childish, Sayaka comes to see herself as a gay woman (although she sadly does not employ this specific terminology). Here the book elevates itself past the original series and embraces the more modern and queerer era of Yuri.

Iruma Hitoma has done the impossible, taking a good Yuri story and transforming it into a great one, rewarding readers with a thoughtful and nuanced experience detailing a young woman’s confusion and strife as she discovers her identity. It is by no means perfect, as all the side characters are thin and underdeveloped, yet they do not need to be. This story is exclusively Sayaka’s, and the others exist only to serve the amazing development and growth gracefully communicated in this stunning light novel.

However, as I wrap up this review, I cannot help but think of how much easier Sayaka’s experience would have been, how much clarity she may have had, and the pain she could have avoided, had she learned about LGBTQ identities and experiences before her tribulations. It is so essential for the young to see positive representation of all peoples in both fiction and reality as they grow up, and perhaps ironically, Bloom Into You: Regarding Saeki Sayaka Volume 1 has joined the elite ranks of titles which can positively impact the lives of its readers. It contains a wonderful, authentic, and grounded story of coming to terms with one’s sexuality. This light novel is an absolute must-read, even if you are not a fan of the original series, and I cannot wait for its continuation, especially as the upcoming third volume hints at a tale about a happy Sayaka and her girlfriend.

Ratings: Story – 10 Characters – 9 LGBTQ – 9 Sexual Content – 4 Final – 9

Order Bloom Into You: Regarding Saeki Sayaka here: https://amzn.to/31QgIaR

Review copy provided by Seven Seas Entertainment @sevenseasentertainment​

[nikadoesanart]

Why I think Bones animated the light novels in the order they have so far

Before I start, I will preface this by directly quoting Asagiri as he did say himself:

“...each of the plots in [novel] Volumes 1 through 4 are independent with their own timelines that follow different protagonists, meaning you can start them in any order.” (55 Minutes, Afterword, Yen Press translation)

This was of course written at the time of 55 Minutes being written (which was first released in October of 2016), but this has so far held true for all of the following light novels except for Storm Bringer. So officially speaking, you don’t necessarily have to read the bsd light novels in numerical/release order or chronological to the story order either, though you’d probably want to have read or watched 15 Years Old before Storm Bringer. Also, considering that 55 Minutes and Dead Apple are the only ones that take place during the main story, you may want to have at least finished season 2 or read up to the end of ch 37 in the manga so that you’re familiar with the characters (because these two take place shortly after where s2 left off).

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s get to why I personally think that Bones has decided to adapt the light novels that have been animated so far in the order that they have. Seeing as Dead Apple was pretty much requested by Bones for Asagiri to write (according to his afterword in the novel), I won’t really be going over it.

Anyway, my theory is that they chose to adapt Entrance Exam>Dark Era>15 YO because in that order the light novels are most relevant to which part of Dazai’s past and mental state are tied to the current main story arc being animated. This doesn’t make Dazai the protagonist in the main story, in fact he never has been as of yet, but this is how the audience is able to slowly uncover Dazai’s past and try to learn about how his mind works. Keep in mind that even the novels with Dazai’s name in the title and even what few scenes there are focused on Dazai and his POV in them, they are not actually from his POV and we are given the absolute minimal clues as to what he may be thinking.

In s1 we don’t know much about his past yet but Entrance Exam/Azure Messenger helps to highlight his eccentricities while also showing his cunning, but also addresses the question of how Dazai and Kunikida are able to work together. Atsushi himself starts the arc off by questioning how two people with seemingly such incompatible work ethics and personalities are able to work together and even became work partners in the first place.

This was cut out from the anime but the novel also shows how Dazai can act sketchy at times and acts on his own behind people’s backs. There were also a lot of overall changes from the Entrance Exam novel to the point that I find it more fitting to refer to the novel as Entrance Exam and the animated arc as the Azure Messenger arc due to how much was cut and changed, but that’s not the point here.

Next, Dark Era shows not only that Dazai used to work in the Port Mafia, but also some of his closest connections within it and why he left, which becomes relevant during the Guild arc. It also introduces us to the Lupin bar, which Dazai is later shown holding a match box from there as a relic of Oda, who he always thinks about/remembers in difficult situations. Dark Era is also where we’re introduced to Ango and what led to Dazai pretty much despising and refusing to forgive Ango.

15 Years Old mainly shows us the relationship between Dazai and Chuuya. This includes how they first met, the earliest instance we know of when Dazai can act his age, but also touches on the topic of Mori’s leadership. It takes place shortly after when Mori became leader, so the choices Mori makes during this time are crucial to both him and the PM. The importance of Mori’s leadership is later mentioned again during the Cannibalism arc, and we see Chuuya respecting Mori as a fellow leader at the end of 15 YO. We also see in 15 some of Dazai’s mentality as a strategist and leader when directly under Mori’s influence, and it is Mori’s teaching that got Dazai to a point that the only reason Fyodor was able to be found in s3 was because Dazai claimed that it’s how he would act in that situation. This is shown in some of Dazai’s unnecessary cruelty and use of excessive force during the arc (ie. continuing to shoot a dead body). 15 also shows not only how Dazai and Chuuya first met but also how they are both able to act their age around each other. Their constant bickering shows that they can both act like the teens or young adults that they are (depending on when we’re looking at) but also that they already have at least some respect and trust for each of them being their own person and each having their own strengths. They’re both being used as very important and powerful tools by their respective groups during 15, but they still realize that the other can each make their own decisions. Dazai is the one that tells the Sheep that Chuuya is his own person and Chuuya assures Shirase and Yuan of the captured members safety and he later realizes the extent of Dazai’s foresight after asking him to spare the kids, which Dazai mentions was part of his original plan anyway.

What’s interesting to me is how during the Rimbaud fight, Dazai claims that he’s started to become interested in living again yet only 1 year later in Storm Bringer, he is at his absolute worst in terms of what we’ve seen so far of his mental health. In regards to everything that went into Dazai’s mental health plummeting between 15 and SB and then improving again between SB and the Dragon Head Conflict, for now we can only hope to one day learn more about the DHC, how Dazai and Oda first met and what happened to Dazai during Chuuya’s first year in the PM. Also do keep in mind that 15 Years Old was originally written at Bones’ request (you can read the full afterword here).

In my opinion, when you think of these as some of the reasons for the order of the light novel adaptations so far, it makes sense to me. I do still question why we got Dead Apple instead of getting 55 Minutes animated, as they take place at around the same time on the timeline. However, if Dead Apple and even the Walking Alone OVA have proved anything, it’s that Chuuya’s mere presence alone brings in the money. Entrance Exam and Dark Era are respectively light novels 1 & 2 but #3 is Untold Origins of the Agency, which has a short story about Atsushi’s entrance exam being planned (A Day at the Agency) followed by the story of how Ranpo and Fukuzawa met and how this led to the need for the ADA to be founded. Personally, I don’t think Untold Origins is too necessary to the main story until Bones gets to animating chapter 71 onwards. In fact, if you want to look at the order of the Japanese release dates for the novels, Gaiden (January 2016) came out between Untold Origins (May 2015) and 55 Minutes (October 2016), yet with the official translations for the novels it’s been skipped over. But at the end of the day, the order Bones has chosen so far is by no means wrong or right. I’m not sure if the information regarding who chose which novel to adapt when is available to the public (if it’s in an interview or one of the guidebooks, hopefully there are translations available so please lmk if you know anything!), but hopefully Asagiri was involved in that part of the decision making as bsd is originally his story.

If you want to see my more in depth predictions for when the remaining light novel anime adaptations would take place (as in which order they’d be animated) and my estimated screen time for each, you can check it out here.

Also last minute thought/realization but they probably could’ve animated A Day at the Agency instead of Entrance Exam and achieved almost the same goal? I think I’ll revisit this idea later after rereading the novels eventually.

[soul-eater-novel]

«-first // archive // Ramsus-kun Scanslations

★ Chapters 0-1 complete translation

★ Chapters 2-3 complete translation

★ Chapters 4-5 complete translation

★ Chapters 6-7 complete translation

★ Chapters 8-9 complete translation

★ Chapters 10-11 complete translation

For your reading pleasure and enjoyment, below the cut are the full rough English translations of chapters 12 and 13 of the official 1998 Suikoden I Soul Eater novel (volume 2 of 3). Individual page translations can be found in the chapter 12 and chapter 13 tags.

Chapter 12: Hope Remains

They hurried along the dwarven mountain road. After leaving the Village of the Elves, they had ridden for one full day then spent another crossing over the mountain on foot. In this way, it had taken two days total to reach the wide basin that comprised the Dwarven Village. Their party of six was now returning back along this same route after meeting with the chief elder of the dwarves.  

The burning mirror was indeed a weapon invented by the dwarves. The elder had told them that the dwarves believed the blueprints for it had been stolen from their large vault⁠—normally a source of pride⁠ for its impenetrability—but the identity of the thief or thieves was as yet unknown. 

When Valeria noted that she had heard a man named Kage had stolen the blueprints on General Kwanda’s orders, the elder was livid. “Kwanda! That insolent bastard! We won’t stand our blueprints being stolen, or shoddy knockoffs of our work!” His eyes burned with rage. “The burning mirror is a terrible weapon, immensely powerful. It cannot be destroyed by ordinary means... but our windfire cannon can be used to shatter it in an instant. We’ll get to work constructing the cannon right away to show that bastard what happens when you mess with the dwarves. It would besmirch our good name to let some sneak thief just get away with this!” 

Although they had not been able to obtain any reinforcements, they had been promised a means to destroy the mirror. So they hurried on their way without a moment’s pause to rest. 

“Young Master…” wheezed Gremio miserably. “Couldn’t we take a break? This mountain path is… just a little… too much for me…” 

“Sure, take a break!” Valeria spat, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “As long as you don’t mind being left here.” 

“I-I could live with that…” 

“Hang in there, Gremio!” Tir cheered him on kindly.  “Everyone is toughing through this together.”

“We need to get back to the elf village to evacuate everyone immediately. The dwarf chief said he could destroy the mirror, but we have no idea when the cannon will be ready.” 

“You gonna beg that old man to evacuate the elves?” asked Viktor. “He didn’t seem too keen on cooperating last time.”

“Oh, please don’t talk like that.” Kirkis replied forlornly. “He may be hardheaded, but the elder chief has done everything in his power to protect our village.”

“Ah, point taken. Sorry, Kirkis.” Viktor shut his mouth and they hiked up the mountain path in silence. 

When they finally reached the summit there was no time to enjoy the beautiful view from the mountaintop and they all hurried on. But no sooner had they begun their descent than Kirkis stopped cold. 

“What is that?” He pointed toward the wide swath of forest to the southwest. Surrounded on all sides by the forest, something gleamed atop the roof of Pannu Yakuta castle. 

“It can’t be! The burning mirror?!” shouted Valeria. “They’ve completed it already?!” Everyone tensed. 

“Hurry!” 

The six of them tore down the mountain path at full speed. But even when they reached their horses at the foot of the mountain, they would still need half a day at minimum to reach the elf village. Tir stole a glance at the burning mirror. It sparkled with even more intensity than it had just moments before. 

There’s no mistaking it—the mirror is already gathering heat from the atmosphere. 

“Damn it!” Tir swore. “Will we make it in time?!” 

Running, Viktor called, “It’s autumn, ain’t it?! So maybe it’ll take longer for it to gather heat!”

“But look!” 

Gremio pointed to the sky. The sun broke through a gap in the clouds and shone upon Pannu Yakuta castle. Receiving the light of the sun, the mirror sparkled brighter than ever. 

“Shit!” groaned Viktor. “It’s gathering heat from the sunlight?!” 

Kirkis screamed as a dazzling light shot out of the mirror. It all happened in an instant. The light hit the western forest, reached the elf village, and the center of the village exploded violently in a pillar of flame. The flames roared. Only later did the thunderous roar of the explosion and the pillar reached their ears—as they stood stock still, dumfounded. To Tir it sounded as though the very trees themselves were screaming. 

“This is crazy… it’s crazy!” Kirkis mumbled. The tragedy was so great it left the rest of them speechless, and all the while the flames spread across the forest. Black smoke billowed into the sky. 

“You musn’t give up hope, Kirkis” said Tir, gazing intently at the spreading flames. “Some elves may have escaped the fire. Let’s hurry!”

Kirkis gritted his teeth. “You’re right.”

The band of six galloped onwards, hoping against hope for the safety of the elf clan with all their hearts.

- - -

“This is horrible…” Valerie’s voice echoed hollowly among the trees reduced to scorched earth. 

They pushed their horses, and by the time they arrived at the forest, the fire had burnt itself out. No trace of the forest remained; only scorched fields stretched out around them. 

As they moved forward, the ground grew harder in spots beneath their feet—Tir guessed they were stepping on the roots of the elves’ giant tree.

Because the tree had borne the full brunt of the mirror’s onslaught, it hadn’t been so much burnt down as it had been completely obliterated. It seemed that some scorched sections of its root system were all that remained. There was no sign of a single elf—the acrid stink of charred tree and the wind whistling were all that surrounded Tir and the others. 

“If the forest looks this bad, then the elves must have all...” Gremio murmured and trailed off, dismounting. The others also dismounted but no one else said a word. Kirkis walked across the scorched earth and up to the roots of the great tree. 

“Why...” Kirkis slowly sank, his knees on the ground. His slender shoulders shook, and his weeping dyed the burnt field in shades of sorrow. “Why did this happen…?” He sobbed. “Was everything we did in vain?” 

Gremio stood by his side. “Kirkis…” 

“We did everything we could... but there’s nothing left here...

Everyone and everything I wanted to protect is gone…” 

He stood, wiped his tears, fumbled in his pockets, then took something out. Seeing the glittering object in the palm of Kirkis’ hand, Gremio started. “Oh. That’s...”

“I was planning to give this ring to her once the war was over… and now... she'll never wear it. Oh, poor Sylvina…”

It fell from Kirkis’ hands and struck the roots of the great tree.

Tink… 

The ring that should have adorned Sylvina’s pale, beautiful fingers tumbled along the charred forest floor and was lost amidst the dark ashes of the trees charred by the Empire’s attack.  

Tir gripped his staff tight in his hands. 

Even if he tries to bury his feelings beneath the ashes, Kirkis must be so angry with us for not being able to help him like he asked us to. 

Gremio picked up the ring. “Kirkis… you mustn’t throw this away.” He took Kirkis’ hand and placed the ring in it, his voice gentle. “This ring represents all your hopes. And you mustn’t ever throw hope away. As long as you have even just a little hope, you can go on living… I think elves and humans are the same in that regard, don’t you?” 

“Gremio…” Kirkis gazed at the ring now back in his hand, then looked up at him. “Yes… yes, that could be true.”

“It is. Please, as long as you draw breath, always remember what it feels like to hold hope in your heart.” 

Kirkis rubbed his eyes dry and raised his head. “W-would it be all right if we stayed here just a little longer? If any of my friends managed to escape into the forest, I want to be here for them…”

No one was going to refuse Kirkis’ request. Listening to Kirkis’ footsteps as he walked out of the burnt forest, Tir and the others surveyed the forest and the surrounding fields.

The setting sun cast an orange glow over the blackened forest. Eventually Tir and the others returned to the remains of the forest once the sun had set, and rested among the great tree’s roots. Kirkis was also tired from walking the forest, and was resting against a fallen tree in a stupor. But it seemed like no matter how long he waited, his fellow villagers were unlikely to reappear. 

“Kirikis…” Valerie began somberly. “We’ve waited here but no one’s come. That probably means there are no elves nearby. Unfortunately we don’t have time to wait for any elves who were far away enough to avoid the attack.” 

Kirkis stood. “Yeah…” 

“Please don’t lose hope, Kirkis...” Gremio urged, his voice kind as could be. Then he turned to Tir.  “Young Master, let’s return to headquarters. We can no longer decide how to proceed in this fight on our own.” 

Viktor grinned in response. “No need fer that—look!” Viktor jerked his chin up, pointing to the northwest where a group of horse riders were galloping towards them, weaving their way through the trees that were now little more than charcoal. 

“Lord Tir! Are you unharmed?!” Called the man in the white halfcoat, waving his arm. 

“Mathiu!” 

Tir leapt on his horse and raced towards the riders. Mathiu was galloping their way, with Pahn, Lepant, and Varkas following close behind. 

Mathiu looked around them, aghast. “Lord Tir, what in the world happened here?” 

“It’s a long story...” 

Tir relayed the events at the elf village, the dwarven village, and told them all about the burning mirror. 

“I see… So that’s what happened...” Mathiu looked down at the ground for a time, but then spoke to Tir in gentle tones. “You did everything you could do, Lord Tir. Thank you.”

“I really didn’t accomplish anything. It’s still uncertain whether or not we can get the kobolds to lend us their strength, and neither the elves nor us are strong enough to face the Empire on our own.” Tir hung his head.

“What happened to the elves is truly saddening.” Thundered Lepant in his robust voice. “But, Lord Tir, you have no need to worry about the size of our army!”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, Master Tir,” explained Pahn, “right before we left the castle, Humphrey and Sanchez arrived, leading  a bunch of soldiers.” 

“Aha! So they’re finally here!” boomed Viktor behind them. Tir turned to look and saw that everyone had lined up on their horses without him noticing. 

Viktor grinned happily. “So, how many troops did they bring?” 

“About 5,500.” Varkas answered cheerfully, looking at Tir. “They met others along their way, and now their ranks exceed 6,000.”

“Master Tir, that’s more than enough to take on Kwanda! We’ll leave ‘em in the dust!”

“Um, I’ve been wondering…” interjected Gremio. Just how did you all get through the Lost Woods? I thought it was impossible to find without a guide or someone to lead you.” 

“Quite so. We were actually entirely flummoxed, stuck on the other side of the Lost Woods…” replied Mathiu. “...until two elves who came out of the wood kindly offered to guide us.”

“Two elves?!” Kirkis exclaimed, leaning forward eagerly. “Where are those elves now?!

“I believe they are waiting in the Kobold village—” Mathiu started to say, but was cut off by a voice distantly calling from the north. 

“Heeeeeey! Kiiiirkiiis!!”

A figure came racing across the burnt fields at an unbelievable speed. He sped along faster than a horse, quicker than the wind, blue clothes and long azure hair whipping in the wind. As the elf drew closer, they could also see someone on his back, long purple hair streaming out behind them. 

“That’s Stallion—and he’s got Sylvina with him!” Kirkis turned to everyone, his eyes shining. “Stallion is the fastest elf in the land… and to think we always made fun of him for only ever using that speed to run away...!” Kirkis choked up. Tears welled in his green-blue eyes. Even though tears wet his cheeks, Kirkis laughed and spurred his horse forward into a gallop. 

When they were only a short distance away from each other on that burnt plain, Stallion let Sylvina down off his back at the same instant that Kirkis leapt off his steed. And so, the two embraced. 

“With speed like that, I can certainly see how he could escape the burning mirror…” Gremio said, his voice filled with admiration. As everyone watched, Kirkis took Sylvina’s hand and slipped something into it. Tir and the others had a good idea as to what that something might be. Everyone’s hearts were warmed at the sight.

Mathiu turned to Tir. “What next, Lord Tir?” 

For a moment, Tir couldn’t answer. But it wasn’t because he was uncertain—it was because he was so happy he could hardly speak. 

We have a glimmer of hope after all. 

He raised his face and answered. “Okay! We march on Pannu Yakuta!”

Chapter 13: The Big Battle

At Tir’s order, the Liberation Army began to move. They all drew courage from Humphrey and Sanchez joining in the fight against the Empire. The Liberation Army’s spirits rose even higher when Kirkis, Sylvina, Stallion and Valeria also volunteered to fight alongside them.

Nevertheless, the fact that Kwanda Rosman had completed the burning mirror instilled a deep unease in their hearts as battle drew nearer. Tir was especially worried that if their army made a misstep, they would meet the same fate as the elf village. 

That was when Valeria proposed her plan to Mathiu. 

“Once every three days, General Kwanda sends out a patrol to check on the status of the surrounding area. It takes five days for the patrol to circle the forest and their route is predetermined, so we could lie in wait to ambush and capture them without giving away our own position.”  

It was decided that Mathiu would send out Varkas to capture the patrol at once. The main force lay concealed in the forest that ran along the base of the mountains to the east and they set up camp in the forest near Pannu Yakuta castle. Mathiu called everyone together at the camp for a war council meeting while their main force got some rest. 

Pahn, Lepant, Gremio, Cleo, Viktor, Humphrey. These brave leaders of the Liberation Army met with Mathiu and Tir, along with Valeria and Kirkis, which made ten altogether. They had all sat down at the big table. Everyone looked around at each other. Mathiu spoke first. 

“It is imperative that we capture Pannu Yakuta, but of course the burning mirror prevents us from doing so. As we’ve seen from what befell the elf village, the mirror’s power is absolute. If they turn the mirror on us, that’s the end⁠—us and our army will be ashes in seconds flat.”

“Hrm…” rumbled Lepant thoughtfully. “How can we deal with the mirror?”

“I’ve got an idea!” Kirkis quipped cheerfully and took a stand. “I think the mirror’s weak point is how it collects heat from the atmosphere. If it’s unable to do that, then they can’t use it.”

“But, Kirkis…” This time Gremio piped up. “Since it’s autumn, it certainly is difficult to gather heat from the atmosphere, but they can still use the mirror by harnessing the power of the sun.”

“Yeah, what do we do about that?” wondered Cleo. "It would be best to do battle when the temperature is low and the sun is not shining, correct?"

Mathiu nodded. “Yes. That iss what I was thinking as well. Waiting for the weather to grow colder only gives our enemy further opportunities to go on the offensive. Let’s attack the castle tonight. What do you say, Lord Tir?”

“I think that’s a good plan.”

“Then just leave the tactical side of things to me.”

Mathiu stood and briskly assigned everyone their duties. Lepant was in charge of the advance team. Forest surrounded Pannu Yakuta castle, but it seemed there was a path to the northern side where they could move their troops through quite a wide swath of the forest. Lepant would take up position there and challenge Kwanda to do battle. Pahn and Valeria would each lead a group of soldiers and lay concealed on either side of the forest. Lepant would lose to Kwanda’s army on purpose and then retreat, luring Kwanda and his forces out into the forest, where the other two parties would make their move, cutting off Kwanda’s retreat. Humphrey would act as commander of another party, playing things by ear and acting as needed as the plan unfolded.

“I see. What a splendid plan. Just as I’d expect of our tactician!” Lepant cried in apparent satisfaction, but Kirkis hadn’t been assigned a role, and his expression grew stormy.

“Lord Mathiu, what shall I do? I want to help out, too.”

Mathiu did not sugarcoat his answer. “Kirkis. I’m grateful you feel that way, but I am afraid I cannot use you in this battle.”

“Why not?!” shouted Kirkis. 

Tir didn’t understand the reasoning behind Mathiu’s words, either. 

Of course Kirkis would want to fight against Kwanda Rosman, the man who destroyed his entire clan…

“Is there some reason we can’t use Kirkus in this battle?” Tir asked, bewildered.

“Yes, just one…” Mathiu placed both of his hands upon the table and stared at Tir. “Lord Tir, before you departed the castle you and I spoke about Kwanda Rosman. We both agreed that he is not a man inclined to senseless slaughter...”

“What?!” cried Kirkis, his voice filled with grief. "How can you say that?! He just used the burning mirror to destroy my entire village!”

“I am well aware,” said Mathiu, now holding Kirkis’ gaze. “I understand your feelings. Painfully so. But, Kirkis, grudges have no place in this battle. We intend to capture General Kwanda without killing him to find out what drove him to this atrocious act, whether it was by order of the Emperor, or by his own design. We must first establish that before taking any further action.”   

They all fell silent, then, admiring Mathiu’s ability to believe in the humanity of others, even enemies.

“I understand, Mathiu...” Kirkis said quietly. “I despise Kwanda. Words are not enough to describe how much I hate him. But I am a member of the Liberation Army now. If you say we are to capture him alive, then I will abide by that.”

Mathiu smiled, bowing his head. “Those are the words I’ve been waiting to hear. Now that that’s out of the way, I will assign five hundred archers to you. Please hide in the forest with Lady Valeria, and let loose volleys of arrows immediately after we have cut off Kwanda’s army’s line of retreat.”

“Yes, sir!” Replied Kirkis, his spirits back at full force.

Now that all the roles were divided up, the war council was over. Mathiu dictated that Cleo and Gremio’s units would cover their bases by protecting the rear and that Viktor’s unit would stay with Mathiu on standby.  

The camp burst into activity. The soldiers were pumped up for the oncoming battle. This was Tir’s first campaign and electric energy coursed through his veins.

Night fell at long last, a pervasive chill invading the forest. 

To avoid detection by the Kwanda army, they lit no fires in the camp. Under the cover of night, the troop of foot soldiers led by Pahn left the camp first. Then went Valeria's calvary unit and Kirkis’ archers. Once the night had worn on, Humphrey’s raiding party and Lepant, leading the main body of soldiers, also left the camp.

- - -

“Show your face, Imperial General Kwanda Rosman! You will pay for your crimes!" roared Lepant. He had gathered his troops at the front gates. If the impressive formation advancing out into the field with blazing torches was any indication, Kwanda Rosman was also preparing for battle.

Braziers burned here and there and on the other side of the sturdy, high stone walls of the castle, the whinnies of horses could be heard.

“You hear us, Kwanda?! Or are you pissing yourself in your bed, scared shitless ‘cuz we’re out here?!” Shouted Lepant again, earning laughter from the soldiers. 

Perhaps no longer able to endure these insults, Kwanda appeared above the gate of the multi-storied castle. “Just who do you think you are? Are you aware this castle you’re causing a ruckus at is under the protection of one of the five imperial generals, Iron Wall Kwanda?!”

In line with his nickname, Kwanda’s entire body was covered in sturdy armor. Even his head was protected by a helmet, only allowing a portion of his face to show. He wore the title of imperial general without shame. The brazier fires glinted off his silver armor, turning it red. 

Lepant, however, continued unleashing his torrent of abuse upon the unflinching Kwanda. Mathiu’s strategy was to turn Kwanda’s quick temper against him and, of course, lure him out of the castle.

“Here he is at last! The cruel demon who exterminated the elf tribe! I am Lepant of Kouan, now leader of the Liberation Army vanguard! The autumn breeze carried the ghosts of the elves to our doorstep, where they whispered in our ears their desire for revenge. Resign yourself to death, for we bear the grudge of the elves, and we will destroy you!”

“Liberation Army? You’re nothing but rebels! Perfect. I’d been meaning to squash you like the bugs you are sometime...” Guffawed Kwanda as he descended the stairs. “Thank you for saving me the trouble of tracking you down. Prepare to face Kwanda Rosman’s wrath!” 

At that moment Lepant also brought out his unit in order to draw out Kwanda’s forces.

The castle gates opened with a grating sound. Kwanda was framed by the gates for a moment, astride his horse with his long-handled battleaxe at his side. Without waiting for his regiment, Kwanda leapt through the gates alone.

“Damned Kouan bumpkins! You’ll help me clean the rust off this axe of mine!”

“Bastard! You’ll bow before my gleaming blade Kirinji and beg the elves for forgiveness!” shouted Lepant, pushing his horse into a gallop. The two men collided with the electric force of a lightning bolt. The flames glinted from their raised blades as they dueled, the sounds of their clashing blades echoing in the night.

“Take that!”

Weaving through Kwanda’s assault, Lepant lunged with his blade, stabbing it towards Kwanda’s flank. But Kirinji was repelled, ricocheting off Kwanda’s golden armor. He wasn’t even scratched.

“Fool! This armor was hand-forged by the dwarves! Your dull blade couldn’t even hope to dent it!” Bellowed Kwanda, raising his battleaxe. Flustered, Lepant turned his blade to the side and it bit into the handle of Lepant’s axe, halting the blow.

“Guh!”

Lepant was hit by the full force of the weight of the battleaxe coupled with Kwanda’s physical strength. He managed to somehow stop the blade of the axe, but his horse could not bear the weight and abruptly dropped to its knees.

“Oh no, Lord Lepant!”

Perceiving he was at a disadvantage, Lepant’s unit surged forward as one at the same moment that Kwanda’s soldiers also moved to the front. The two sides clashed and erupted into chaos. The soldiers’ roars, screams, and the pounding of the horses’ hooves filled the grasslands. 

Finally, Lepant called out to his soldiers. “Retreat! We’re pulling out!”

“Running away, are you?!”

Lepant retreated from the battle on the field, fighting as he withdrew. Kuwanda’s assault had left many soldiers injured and now the only thing they could do was believe Mathiu’s plan would work.

Lepant’s unit eventually retreated down the path that ran through the forest. Kwanda’s large force followed them right in, torches blazing.

“Kwanda Rosman! You razed the Elves’ sacred forest to the ground and that is a grave crime indeed!”

Valeria’s mounted unit chose that moment to leap out of the forest to Kwanda’s right. Pahn’s foot soldiers also came rushing out of the forest to the left at the same instance.   

“General! Surrender quietly!”

They had swooped down and attacked Kwanda’s two units at the rear of his forces, but Kwanda had been chasing Lepant so eagerly that he did not seem to realize he had been ambushed. As the sounds of the commotion reached him he finally turned to his aide and demanded, “What’s going on back there?!”

“They’ve ambushed us and cut off our path of retreat!”

“Wh-what...?!”

Kwanda turned back to break through the enemy ranks. Lepant knew as soon as Kwanda turned away from him that Valeria and Pahn had launched their attacks.

“You’re caught in our trap! You’re such a short-sighted fool you can only see what’s right in front of you!”

He launched a counterattack with his entire unit. Pressed at the front and the rear, Kwanda’s movements grew limited. Adding to his misfortune, a rain of arrows fell on his forces from an unknown source. Soldiers fell in droves. Amid the chaos, Kwanda ground his teeth in anger and bellowed, “Not yet! We haven’t lost yet! Hey, you! Use the you-know-what! Three shots!”

“Yes, sir!”

His aide took some sort of tube out of his backpack and pointed it toward the sky.

Pshhew!

Three balls of fire shot out of the tube and into the black night sky, turning the sky white in their brilliance. 

Staring up at the flashes in the dark sky, Tir murmured, “What are those, Mathiu?”

He and Mathiu were leading their unit toward the tail end of Lepant’s forces.

Mathiu groaned softly. “I should have expected no less from Kwanda Rosman... He is one of the Empire’s generals, and apparently not your average foe.”

Viktor snorted, leading his horse beside Mathiu. “Ya mind breakin’ that one down for us, Mr. Tactician?”

"Those flares are a type of signal used by the Imperial Army. The number of flares determines the meaning. One flare is an order to advance, while two indicates standby."

"And three?" asked Cleo.

Glowering at the sky bathed in white, Mathiu answered. "Three is a call for reinforcements."

- - -

"Damn!” Shouted Valeria, who was intimidating Kwanda’s flank but stared in dismay as another wave of soldiers poured out of the opened castle gates. “Kwanda's still got more soldiers?!"

As she and Pahn pressed Kwanda’s rear flank, Pahn realized that one of the new enemy units was advancing on them from behind.

“Lady Valeria, will you take care of the castle soldiers? I’ll handle Kwanda!”

“Got it!”

Valeria and Pahn quickly reorganized their troops into two separate groups and both clashed with the enemy Imperial Army forces. As the ranks of ambushed soldiers fell their strength dwindled as well. However, now Pahn and Valeria’s two units were trapped between Kwanda's forces returning to the castle and his reinforcements exiting the castle, forcing them into an awkward position.

"These bastards just don’t let up!"

Soldiers appeared in front of Pahn and attacked him. It was all he could do to hold them back. It seemed only a matter of time before Valeria's unit would also be crushed by the soldiers from the castle.

- - -

"We need more arrows! Up and at ‘em, people!"

Kirkis did everything he could to rouse his archers to aid Pahn and Valeria, caught in Kwanda's pincer attack, but it was difficult to tell friend from foe in the dead of night and the fighting on the forest's pathways had descended into chaos. This was no time for an arrow to go astray. Kirkus and the archers grew impatient.

“Can’t we shoot yet?! Kwanda’s winning, isn’t he?!”

Kirkus clenched his fists even tighter.

“Hey, Elf!” a cheerful voice called from within the forest. “Don’t screw up, now!”

When Kirkis and the archers peered into the rustling bushes, a pair of gleaming eyes appeared, glinting in the dark.

“Looks like a close fight. But everything’s all right now. Us kobolds have come to back you up!” As he spoke, the kobold soldier Kuromimi materialized from the pitch-black woods.

“Kuromimi...!”

Kirkus was still reeling in surprise at Kuromimi’s sudden appearance, but Kuromimi licked his chops and laughed. “You Liberation Army guys really kept your word. The Imperial Army hasn’t shown up in the north forest this whole time!”

“S-so that’s why you’re here to help us?”

“I hate liars. But I love people who keep their promises. We got you covered!” Shouted Kuromimi, and leapt onto the meadow, his tail bristling. Behind him followed all sorts of kobolds waving their swords - burly, strong kobolds, slim, clever kobolds, and on and on.

- - -

“What the?!”

Valeria stared in amazement at the unit that came charging out of the woods. She had been born and raised in the forest, so kobolds were nothing new to her. She inferred in a flash that they were allies because they had appeared from where Kirkis was concealed.

“Reinforcements are coming, everyone!” Valeria raised her sword high. “Don’t fall behind, kobolds! Give it your all!”

Amid the bloody battle, the soldiers once again regained their fighting spirits. The kobold clan charged into the soldiers from the castle. The imperial soldiers, under attack from Valeria on one side and the kobold clan on the other, prepared to flee. At the moment Pahn’s unit began to move, having received notice of the reinforcements, another unit flanked them.

“Sorry to keep you waiting...”

It was Humphrey, accompanying the commando unit.

“You’re late, ya bastard!” cried Pahn as they shifted ranks and Humphrey’s unit switched with his, allowing injured soldiers to pull back from the battle.

Humphrey’s uninjured unit pressed Kwanda once more. Watchinging as Humphrey’s huge sword and Kwanda’s axe clashed, sending sparks flying, Pahn reorganized his unit and struck the soldiers from the castle opposite the Kobold clan’s attack.  

- - -

“Hey, tactician!” roared Viktor, turning to Mathiu, drawn sword in hand. “Ain’t it our turn yet?!” 

He had readied his unit for battle the minute Kwanda’s reinforcements had come out of the castle. A subordinate came running up to Mathiu and reported on the state of the battle. It only took a second, but to Viktor it felt like an eternity. 

At last, Mathiu shouted, “Viktor! Provide support to Pahn’s unit as Lepant’s unit falls back!”

“Whoo! Finally! Head-bashin’ time!” Viktor turned to his soldiers. “Let’s go! We’ll show ‘em just how stubborn the Liberation Army is!”

The soldiers, who were tired of waiting, all at once gave a great battle cry. Viktor’s horse broke into a gallop. The moment his unit slipped in beside Lepant’s, the screams of the Imperial soldiers noticeably ticked up a notch.

- - -

The battle between the two armies raged seemingly without end. The land was soaked with blood, the field covered with corpses, with no clear victor in sight. Mathiu had ordered an all-out offensive attack on the all-powerful Kwanda’s army.

Along with Gremio and Cleo, Tir had joined and were fighting beside Lepant’s unit. It was Tir’s first large battle and the unimaginably gruesome sights made him sick to his stomach, but he gritted his teeth and fought on.

We need to settle this fight immediately.

“Young Master! Let’s hurry and capture General Kwanda!” Shouted Gremio, swinging his axe. The sky was beginning to turn violet—dawn was not far off. When the sun rose, Kwanda would be able to use the burning mirror. Impatience burned in Tir’s breast.

Suddenly Kwanda’s unit gave cheers of joy. Kwanda was unmistakably penetrating the space they had carved out between Valeria and Humphey’s unit. At that moment the soldiers Tir and the others were fighting turned and fled.

“Don’t let him escape! Don’t let General Kwanda get away!” Tir shouted as loud as he could, but imperial soldiers blocked his way and he couldn’t give chase.

Kuromimi, Pahn, and Viktor all launched incessant attacks from the sides but the imperial army merged to form one huge unit, impossible to smash.The imperial soldiers and Kwanda made a mad dash toward the castle gate. Tir and the others flew right behind them on their steeds, but the castle gate smashed closed right in front of their noses. The enemy soldiers were amassed beyond the gates with no way for the Liberation Army to get at them. Slowly but surely the sun began to rise over the eastern mountains.

“Gh...” Tir bit down hard on his lip without being aware of it. 

We sacrificed so much in this battle, only to lose now...?

“That’s what you get for rebelling against the Empire, fools!” Kwanda suddenly called from above. He stood on the castle roof. Set up beside him was the huge, elliptical shape of the burning mirror.  

“This farce ends here! Let’s settle this once and for all!” Kwanda sneered. “I’ll give you a taste of the burning mirror’s full strength!”

The burning mirror glinted. As the sun climbed higher in the sky, the mirror shone all the brighter.  

They were out of time.

“Young Master...” Gremio looked up at the mirror, mortified. “We can’t fight this. We’ve got to pull our forces back.”

“I know...” Tir gripped his staff hard, looking back at the soldiers. He kicked his horse into a gallop. “Everyone, spread out!” he yelled. “Spread out as much as you can to minimize casualties!”

Valeria and Viktor’s units as well as Pahn and Lepant’s units carrying the wounded soldiers all obeyed his orders and the soldiers scattered in all directions.

“Ooh, spreading yourselves thin to make it harder to aim, are you? But you’re too late!”

Kwanda’s scorn reached Tir’s back. Urging his horse forward, he looked over his shoulder at the burning mirror. It was already emitting a glaring light—any moment now there would be a flash and....

“Hurry! Hurry, everyone!” 

No sooner had the words left Tir’s lips than the burning mirror was enveloped in a dazzling light.

“Woah...?!”

An intense wind suddenly sprung out of nowhere ahead of Tir. With a dreadful groan, the wind whooshed over his head roaring like a wild beast and flew toward the castle. Immediately afterward came the violent sound of an explosion on the castle roof. The noise rippled out in a shockwave across the plain, setting the trees in the forest swaying. Simultaneously, from the burning mirror on the roof a pale light seeped out, closing around Tir and his comrades.

Tir looked back once more and saw the burning mirror was no longer emitting light—it was only the surface of the mirror smashed into a million pieces, leaving the roof of Pannu Yakuta castle fully exposed.

[dokidokivisual]

Gochiusa BLOOM episode 3 impressions

Previously: episode 2, episode 1 (seriously, the number of notes on ep 2 review is too low...)

Welcome to another review of Gochuumon wa usagi desu ka? BLOOM. In this episode, the series explores a topic it rarely touched previously, which is school life. Unlike many similar slice-of-life series, Gochiusa rarely concerned itself with such a mundane setting, preferring the ambience of cafés and cobblestone streets. There were a few exceptions, such as the first half of season 2 episode 10, but this is the first episode fully dedicated to a school setting.

Another distinguishing trait of Gochiusa is that the group of main characters attends not one, but several different schools. In particular, there are two high schools: a “normal” one attended by Cocoa and Chiya, and an “elite” one attended by Sharo and Rize. Moreover, there’s a group of middle school characters on the verge of graduating. As such, the question of which high school will Chino, Maya and Megu eventually choose was bound to come to the forefront at some point. And that’s exactly what happens in this episode.

There’s a lot of interesting stuff to discuss, so let’s get down to business...

The episode opens with a shot of Aoyama Blue Mountain on a boat, which also appears in the beginning of season 1 episode 1. By the way before COVID you could totally ride a boat like this in Colmar. Just watch your head...

Yeah, this is under the bridge from season 2 ED. Filmed by me.

Anyway, I’m being sidetracked. What’s important is that this is the only shot where you could tell it’s morning, because of the angle of the shadow from the bridge. It is indeed morning, and we see Cocoa and Chino walking down to school. Seems the summer vacation is over and it’s already September? Cocoa, the self-described pikka-pika no onee-chan, tries to coerce Chino into committing to enter the same high school as her, while Chino is not sure about that. We’ve seen Chino being unsure about her future as recently as this season’s episode 1, and in regards to the high school choice the time for a decision is quickly approaching.

Soon we see Maya and Megu who are facing the same decision. Megu seems to have already decided on what Maya derisively calls the gokigenyo school. The greeting gokigenyo (ご機嫌よう) comes from the word “kigen” (機嫌) which means “mood”, and can be literally translated as “how do you do”. However the same word is also used as farewell, which often causes troubles for translators.

The concept of “gokigenyo school“ has been popularised by the light novel and anime series Maria watches over us (Marimite), which is also one of the most influential works of the yuri genre. This concept has also been parodied a number of times, for example in the excellent episode 5 of Flip Flappers.

Megu manages to convince Maya and Chino to come with her to a tour of this school, and we get a close-up of Maya hinting that she’s definitely hiding something.

Meanwhile at Cocoa’s school, the class president declares the theme of the cultural festival being “cafe”, and puts Chiya and Cocoa in charge of it, because they work at a cafe. It seems that Chiya is considered to be more dependable than Cocoa by her classmates, since she got a higher rank. Nevertheless, it is Cocoa who mostly delivers the speech to fire up the other students.

Note the usage of Chinese tally marks to tally the votes. The five strokes comprising the character 正 (”truth”) equate 5 votes. This method is popular across East Asia, even in Korea where Chinese characters are no longer used.

Also I’ve seen a lot of people were confused by the inclusion of “sex museum” as one of the proposals, which is how 秘宝館 (hihokan) has been translated by the official subtitles. This word, which literally means “the hall of hidden treasures” has been used by various establishments of this type in post-war Japan, however only few of them remain open now. I think “sex museum” is a bad translation because, while technically correct, it breaks mimesis, or in simpler terms, immersion. The English translation is so blatantly inappropriate that it would never make it onto this blackboard, whereas the Japanese word is obscure and innocent-looking enough that it just might. A better translation would be “adult museum”, in fact that’s what the most well-known hihokan, Atami Hihokan uses for its English title.

As proof of each other’s ability, Cocoa mentions Chiya’s triple tray wielding skill (お盆三刀流 obon santoryu) which has been demonstrated in season 2 episode 1. Chiya brings up Cocoa’s “basking in the sun” (日向ぼっこ hinatabokko) attitude which supposedly makes her popular among customers. This is a reference to season 2 episode 5 where Rize says Cocoa always either practices latte art or basks in the sun.

On the way back from school, we learn that Chiya is actually scared of the responsibilities placed on her, and her dream of becoming the president of Ama Usa An franchise (which has been mentioned in s2e1, s2e9 and maybe other episodes I forgot) might be ruined because of this. Cocoa consoles her, again showing her motherly side.

Back at Rabbit House, Cocoa explains how the upcoming festival will be exciting (wakuwaku) and fluffy/cuddly (mofumofu). This is one of several times Cocoa uses silly onomatopoeia to describe something in this episode (aforementioned pikkapika onee-chan and describing her school also as mofumofu in a latter scene). Interestingly, all of these lines are anime-original, and at this point seems like an intentional effort to make Cocoa speak in a more eccentric manner.

In the next scene Sharo becomes angry at Chiya for keeping secrets from her, and blows her cheeks, which makes her turn into a Fugu fish, according to Chiya. Fugu is famous in Japanese cuisine for being a highly poisonous but sought after delicacy, however in this case the comparison has to do with the tendency of a live fugu (as well as other pufferfish) to inflate its stomach, giving it an almost spherical appearance to deter predators.

Next there’s another anime-original CocoChino scene where Chino asks Cocoa about what her school is like. This is my favorite part of the episode because it’s just so adorable. Like, even the fact that Cocoa is drying Chino’s hair with a towel after bath shows how close they became. The direction and the delivery of the dialogue is masterfully executed. Cocoa would be really hurt if Chino chooses any other school, and Chino knows that. But Chino can’t admit she’ll choose her next school because of Cocoa, at least not yet.

Now we move on to the main plot of the episode, which is Chimame visiting Rize and Sharo’s school. Like I said in the preview, this episode covers chapters 10 and 11 of the volume 5 of the manga, which in-universe occur at the same time. However while it fully covers (and has the same title as) chapter 10, only the first half of chapter 11 is included. So about 2/3 of the episode are dedicated to the story of chapter 10.

Chimame attend a speech by “OG” Mate Rin. OG in this case doesn’t mean “original gangsta”, but “old girl”, which is a Japanese term for female alumni of some school (there’s also OB for men). Chino recognizes Rin as the editor of Aoyama Blue Mountain, and I’m not sure if Maya and Megu ever met her, so they don’t. When Rin recalls a senior who turned her life around, Chino recalls her chance meeting with Cocoa. In particular the phrase deai ga taisetsu (”chance meetings are to be cherished”) sticks with her. On the other hand, Maya seems to be interested in the fact that Rin was recommended for scholarship. Interestingly in the manga, Maya slept through most of the speech. 

The senior Rin was talking about was obviously Aoyama and we see that there’s actually a huge bounty placed on her. The currency sign consisting of combined letters G and U wasn’t seen before, with prices usually displayed in yen, but there was a Euro-like sign at an open market at the beginning of season 2 episode 1, which might be a shorthand way to write GU. Either way this currency must have a serious hyperinflation problem as the reward for finding Aoyama exceeds 10 billion GU. In countries affected by hyperinflation, a stable foreign currency is often used to perform economic transactions, which might explain why most of the prices are in yen.

But is there some significance to this exact number? Why, yes, 10/27 is Aoyama’s birthday! It is also the start of “reading week”, which actually lasts 2 weeks, until November 9.

After the speech Megu gets separated from the rest of the group, and the other two also get lost in the vast campus of the school. As seen from the above interior shot of the school, it is also inexplicably rabbit-themed (or maybe just this particular hall is), with golden rabbit statues and also a picture on the left wall with the kanji for rabbit (兎).

Through a series of misunderstandings Chimame end up infiltrating the school with Sharo and Rize providing uniforms for them to blend in. Despite having trouble to behave “ladylike” before, Maya naturally blends in once she treats it as a game, and even gets invited to a tea party. She makes a mistake though by mentioning moyashi (bean sprouts) which is considered a cheap and low-class food, but she’s saved by the fact that the rich girls don’t even know what that is, and Sharo explaining how to prepare it in a fancy way.

Eventually the groups meet each other and Maya reveals she has been recommended for scholarship due to her good grades. Perhaps she also treated her school grades as experience points to gain, as the title of the episode (and the manga chapter) ”The whole world is my experience points” seems to suggest. This is the idea behind a real concept of gamification, by the way.

There’s also a callback to the season 2 episode 8, where Maya asks Rize for advice while Chino and Megu are spying on her. It is worth to rewatch that scene, because it’s full of foreshadowing for this episode. Back then Maya thinks she’s the only one of the three to go to this school, but now she thinks there’s a good chance all three will still go to the same school. Chino doesn’t seem to feel this way though.

In the end we see Cocoa and Chiya joining the group, also wearing the elite school uniforms, which is briefly explained by them gathering supplies for the cultural festival. I guess the next episode will explain how they ended up there. In the manga even the fact that they have a cultural festival wasn’t revealed until this point. Also in the manga fukiya club president, Karede Yura, inexplicably appears for just one panel so that Cocoa and Chiya could thank her, without any lines. In the anime she appears just as (if not more) suddenly, however there’s some foreshadowing with her inviting Rize to a tournament earlier, and she gets quite a few speaking lines.

If you listen closely there’s a funny sound effect as she looks at Rize, and then at Sharo. I really liked her design since her first appearance in the manga, and Koi probably does too, as her role has greatly increased in the recent chapters. Consequently her single-panel background appearance has been expanded as well in this episode, she got her full name mentioned in the credits, and there’s even a Karede Yura character song included on the second BD volume (which includes this season’s episodes 3 and 4). All things considered, I fully expect Yura to appear in the episode 4 as well.

The episode ends with Chino looking at the sky with a worried expression. It just hit her that both Megu and Maya are going to a different school than she is expected to go to. As Megu and Maya have a clear path forward, Chino’s future has become even more uncertain, and she feels like the odd one out in the group. Now the part of the ending where Chino is suddenly alone makes sense:

this is basically her imagining the future where Maya and Megu leave her. The coffee cup transition symbolises Chino waking up and seeing that MaMe are still her friends and aren’t going anywhere. We’ll see though...

This time it’s Megu doing latte art in the ending, and the picture is of Chino and Maya dancing. The weird thing is, Megu wasn’t even present at this scene, so how did she draw it in such detail?

Also another random fact I noticed: Chino’s Alice costume actually appeared in the opening of both season 1 and season 2. Here’s a comparison for reference:

Anyway, that was the third episode of Gochuumon wa usagi desu ka? BLOOM and I hope you enjoyed reading my review. See you next week... or so.