The Entertainment News 2019 Edition Issue #18 - Manga Extra
Yes, this is going to set a lot of firsts here, but I want to end "Kawaii Golden Week Japan" here on a good note, so I chose manga. Ten-chan wasn't cute enough to do a solo music live review on haha jkjk
And if you need a blog record-breaking list, by posting this I:
- Broke Entertainment News rules by allowing a Manga Extra to appear BEFORE the issue itself, normally Sundays,
- Reviewed manga again when I said I stopped it almost a month ago. Thii will be followed by a couple more in the next couple of months when I support directly the first two Japanese manga I read... in Japanese, and,
- Indirectly inferred that something 2D was cuter than Ten-chan. ごめん！ *laughs*
(Sorry, gotta slot in the rule of three there haha) (Then again the first could've counted as two)
WHAT AND WHY
So yeah, in case you wonder what I have left up my sleeve, I bring myself up to finish this manga series I've been following since I was in secondary (middle) school: Tonari no Kashiwagi-san. As you may have found out by briefly searching online, English translations have stopped six chapters before the end, so... I have never seen it for myself. Until now. MUAHAHAHAHA
Let's talk about it haha
(For the sake of completion and easier reference I'll review Volume 12, from Chapter 78)
May I take you back in time, a time where sitting beside a girl in class was a thing. Sitting beside a girl you like is also a thing, and more so for Yuuto who actually likes Kashiwagi-san (Kotone, from here on) who is cold towards him but sits right beside him. Coincidentally, she is one of the 2D artists he follows online. Drama unfolds, and... coming in to the last volume (79-84) he asked her out. Aw, so sweet. And she said yes. Aw... okay okay, let's catch up on what actually happened since we last talked about it here. According to my last review of this lovely series 2 years ago, if I didn't remember wrongly, it was like a year since they just sat next to each other, it was Christmas and Yuuto manned up to ask her out after some group meeting which I really don't remember. Well, to go out on dates after entrance exams are over, of course. But yeah, you can imagine how that could already escalate when your girl says yes and you guys start studying together already haha. So yeah, it happened to Yuuto, it happened to his friend Kazuki who doesn't like to study so he had to be coached by her genius girlfriend Sayaka, and... we said goodbye to side character Tina and her heck, Japanese boyfriend, people. Coming down, all were good times in this last volume as they all got accepted to the school of their choice, Yuuto got to go out with Kotone which he thinks is an ideal date to do couple-like things on which are just going to the movies and having lunch together? Hey, these are things couple do too, bro. All in all, at this point Kotone showed way more initiative than Yuuto (okay Yuuto did hug the girl) as they both bravely face the joys of their maiden relationship, and that just makes me want to die of diabetes because they so sweet I can't even SHE EVEN GAVE HIM A KISS!!! *yells*
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| #TsundereJustice haha |
Looking back, I still think this is a great story. Firstly, because I can remember major events. Kazuki struggled to meet the father who protects the daughter after the divorce, struggled to deal with Sayaka herself (I mean, she's the perfect example of a tsundere WHICH I LOVE haha), and... struggled to deal with his own feelings too, and that changed real fast when they got together. For Yuuto, we know that he is kind of a timid person and admits to making mistakes just by speaking up (lol), but yeah, on the other hand Kotone has been real forgiving for the mistakes he makes. Giving him chance, that's what that is. The two guys both had hardships to deal with to get to where they are today, and I'm glad for them as I feel so many emotions from the plot itself. Then, we talk about production. The author Shimotsuki Kinusa chose a lighter and simpler theme to go with on the plot, so as with my simplistic expectations at that time... (if I could remember when I started I will tell you) this was a perfect story to dive into. Getting into the momentum is important though, and of course, getting to the plot twist where you link the girl to her online profile... you know, these kinds of stuff. Simple, straightforward, but super cringy and it makes you happy it had a happy ending. It was a series that I got into real fast back then when I was finding manga to read because Anime is boring haha
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| There can only be that many reactions to one event lol |
Lastly, and I think this deserves another paragraph, is how it did not get an adaptation. In my life this was the second story that did not have a proper adaptation, following "GE - Good Ending" in which nothing happened evn after the story ended. (FYI the same author later wrote "Domestic na Kanojo" which, you may have known, is an Anime last season) For this series, it had a brief moment in Manga 2.5, a sort of half-animated manga series (thus the name) in which I guess they just cut down the pages and emote them with... you guessed it, full voice casting! Actually, that was quite a joy to watch back then, and I believe it's still available, in Crunchyroll probably. Takagaki Ayahi (voiced Kotone) and Iguchi Yuka (voiced Sayaka) probably fulfilled my wishes for the series, and as much as we didn't get a full fledged show, this was still really fulfilling, in a sense. I'm seriously trying to find references to my own blogs here... okay, earliest mention of this was in 2011 (man) (the author did mention a 7-year production which started in 2009) where I was already reading some "40 odd chapters" of the series already. Translated, of course. I couldn't read anything without translations back then. But today. I'm kinda proud of myself for even being able to understand more than half of what the original work had to offer, and totally regretted not getting into this sooner. Still, sorry Kinusa-sensei, I can hardly take cringe now because of my age (and work life lol), but yes, this is a promise that I will (1) get this series online along with the two I mentioned above of the post as a tribute to this personal favourite of mine, and (2) I will try to follow up on your newest work where... the series continues!! This is not a joke. No translations online AFAIK, so... we're going raw! Yes, everyone. I'll update here if I can find any sources to read for free online (it's a thing now but for latest chapters)
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| Happiness is... |
P.S. If I'm dating with someone and she wants to give me a reward for like, my hard work for studying for exams, I'll take a selfie. Edited to perfection. *laughs* (No, just her alone, not with me because I can't bear to see my ugly a** face lmao) (Audience: What makes you think your girl will look attractive to you?) (Ugh...)
P.P.S. The author is right here, by the way:
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| Second to the last |
(Goddamn, did I say I wanted to talk about every manga author I liked when Anime "Honda-san" aired? Ugh, I hate myself now)
And this concludes "Kawaii Golden Week Japa- I think I got enough of this title how the heck can Japanese write such long titles for their Anime?? *laughs* (*looks at AV titties titles* haha) So yeah, I don't do this for weekends because I don't have the stamina (also referred to as "content") to carry on, so don't expect one tomorrow. This is technically just a tribute and is cute, so I'm just following the theme. Cya guys on Sunday.
Note to self: Even after skipping half of two out of seven chapters, it only took 20mins. You are improving. Remember to keep a dictionary nearby for books that won't have hiragana annotations (those are for younger audience typically) and for vocabulary haha
