Thursday, May 25, 2017

The Stars in Secret Influence!


Finally, after a lot of work to finish up this series, we come to the end of Nanashi no Asterism with chapter 23, which also includes some bonus content at the end of the volume with some added details about the characters.

From the very first chapter, this series had a way of pulling you in with long inner monologues detailing the characters' thoughts, something that, although fairly common in manga, was handled very well with this series. It was a lot of fun working on this series and seeing Kina Kobayashi's art style improve and soften as time went on, giving the characters a more gentle appearance later on compared to the earlier chapters. But the characters themselves were also very interesting, especially Kotooka, because for all her faults, she was also the most endearing and the most human.

Some people may have been put off by Asakura wedging himself in between the main love triangle, or even that he forms this relationship with Subaru as time goes on, taking time away from the main three. That was probably one of the reasons as to why the series lost popularity and got cancelled, and if so, it's a shame. Subaru and Asakura put as much into the story as the three girls, and the series just wouldn't have been the same without them. Considering the pacing of the series in the earlier volumes, it was obvious that it was meant to continue for at least another few volumes, and we can only wonder where else this series would have gone had Kobayashi had the opportunity to finish it the way she had originally intended. But Kobayashi definitely has a strong talent as a manga author, and considering this was her debut series, we hope that she comes back soon with a new series.

However, as a surprise bonus, Kobayashi posted a short manga about Subaru and Asakura on Twitter, which she also reposted on pixiv. We translated this, and it's included in a batch also containing a set of Nanashi no Asterism illustrations also from her Twitter account and reposted to pixiv. It's not much, but at least it's something.

And now for a massive update on all of our projects. First of all, we'll be continuing with Moyashimon as usual with v05, as well as finally getting to LiLy v02. The next Seito Kaichou chapter should also be out next week. We also want to get to Nisekoi Boyfriend's sequel volume Nisekoi Boyfriend lovely soon, too. For that reason, it is unlikely we'll get to Shiomi-chan v02 before July, which is also around the time we'll be doing Kami-sama no Ekohiiki v01 which comes out in late June.

After that, we hope that Ookami Shounen v04 will finally be coming out in July, but we really don't know when they plan to release it. Shortly after that should be when Shimanami Tasogare v03 comes out in August, and then Mizutama Honey Boy v07 should be out in October. We're not really sure when Shounen Oujo v06 is gonna come out since that series is so prone to hiatuses, but with any luck, it could be out late this year, maybe November. Similarly, since Kuragehime restarts its serialization next month, we are hoping that means v17 will be out either late this year or early next year, but we have to wait and see if Higashimura's gonna be serializing it monthly or bimonthly. Lastly, Heroine Voice has been conspicuously absent from Comic Rex and Tsukudani's Twitter account since last October, so we're not sure if it's ever coming back.

So we hope you enjoy the end of Nanashi no Asterism, a series that will be dearly missed.

Nanashi no Asterism ch. 23: Mediafire, Dropbox
Nanashi no Asterism bonus (Twitter & pixiv): Mediafire, Dropbox
Volume batches on the Nanashi no Asterism page.

13 comments:

  1. Ah, yeah, it makes sense that putting non-gender-bender BL in a male-oriented manga would cause it to be cancelled. Such a pity :( Still, 5 volumes isn't too shabby of a run.

    Thanks very much for completing the series (and including the extras), and also for the status update!

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  2. Thank you very much for working on this series. I really loved it from beginning to end. It's been so long since I was so absorved by a story, wondering about what would happen to the characters. It's such a shame that it got a rushed ending with so many interesting plots remaining in the air, but still, I think the author made a really decent ending even with the sudden cancelation.

    I was actually going to ask if you were going to translate the extras Kobayashi posted on her twitter, but I see you've already done it. You guys are too great I swear.

    I hope Kobayashi gets the chance someday to continue the story with a sequel or something of the sort, I'd love to see Washio's confession, Tsukasa meeting her new love and of course Subaru getting caught by both Asakura and Tsukasa.

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  3. Maybe it's better it was cancelled, after all it really seems that the author really didn't know anymore who should be MCs of this work and what story should be told at times. If you advertise a manga as a love triangle between 3 girls, you don't deliver on that at all and then suddenly a yaoi duo becomes MCs for some time and steal the spotlight from them making the girls plot completely non-interesting in comparison then it just shows that the author should make a yaoi work from start and not bother with fake love triangle between the girls which as we see was resulted in quite heteronormative way for the MC.

    Looks like author was really mad about cancellation and blamed the yuri fans who didn't want to support the better yaoi now work anymore and showed them middle finger with such ending.

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    1. The girls AND the boys were main characters. Also " If you advertise a manga as a love triangle between 3 girls", I'm sorry but this is not true. Check the obi that came with the manga and the promo material, this manga was always advertised as a story about two triangles, the girl's triangle and the Subaru/Tsukasa/Asakura one.

      It seems to me that the problem here is that some yuri fans couldn't deal with the fact that this wasn't a yuri manga, it was a manga about homosexuality and the boys were as important as the girls. It's a shame, BL fans have no problem accepting lesbians on their BL, yuri fans on the other hand? "Eeeck, boys".

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  4. Thank you very much for all your work to share, I'm happy to read!!

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  5. Good series. Too bad it got discontinued. I really liked it. The Subaru/Asakura relationship did get dragged to the front a little too much in the end. But it was very entertaining to read.

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  6. Thank you so very much for your hard work translating this one! I love it to pieces, will miss it a lot..

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  7. Thank you very much!

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  8. It's really sad that this manga couldn't continue as it was envisioned by the author, but oh well. It still got a somewhat decent closure.
    I even like that the ending is open. It is clear that there was not enough time to resolve all of the plot threads and I think that it's better to leave some of them alone, than to try tying them when you have no chance of doing it properly. Open ending also leaves a small chance that we might see a continuation at some point in the future, as unlikely as that may be.

    Thank you very much for scanlating this manga. To say that I like it would be an understatement. I love it. Even in its current imperfect form, it is still my favourite series translated by you (out of the ones I've tried, of course).
    So thank you again. For bringing this manga to our attention and allowing us, who don't know Japanese, to read it.

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  9. Thanks again so much for scanlating this lovely series and the extras on Twitter too! Now that I'm able to read it in a language I understand, the ending is significantly better than what I had originally thought from looking at the raws. Paired with the author notes, timeskip omake underneath the cover, and the Subaru/Asakura extra posted on Twitter, there's just enough info to get an idea of what happens post-series, which is enough to satisfy me. Though, of course I'm still crossing my fingers for a sequel, more Subaru/Asakura parts, or something with similar themes. As someone who has read a ton of manga over the years, Nanashi no Asterism is one that stands out to me because of the GL, BL(ish), and crossdressing.

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  10. Thank you for translating this series, I'm sad it was cancelled too soon. Kotooka was an great character with realistic flaws that I haven't seen in a while. Despite her being superficial and selfish at times, she remained likeable and that's not an easy thing to accomplish.

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  11. Thank you very much for translating this series!! I was actually curious on whether you were going to translate the bonuses... I was upset that it was cut short but regardless it ended pretty well. I actually really enjoyed Subaru+Asakura's interactions and I'm glad this series existed period.

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  12. For the love of god I need a spin off of just Subaru and Asakura slowly falling in love.

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