A Change of Scenery Works Wonders!

And now we come to the end of Mizutama Honey Boy volume 8 with chapters 39 and 40, as well as a short bonus chapter. As mentioned at the end of the volume, volume 9 will be released later this year, probably September or October. It doesn't say it's the last volume, so it's safe to assume it will continue beyond that. However, considering how the story has been progressing for the last couple of volumes, we wouldn't be surprised if it ends at either 10 or 11 volumes. Only time will tell.

In other news, we'll be working on Nettaigyo v02 as soon as it arrives in a few days. That means we'll get to Madowanai Hoshi v03 sometime later in May. And although we still have yet to confirm this, Shiomi-chan v04 will probably come out in June. The only other volume coming out around that time will be Kamieko's fifth and final volume in late June. And yes, we still do intend to get around to redoing Ookami Shounen's content from volume 5 with the volume raws, although that will probably only be once we get done with the above mentioned stuff.

And unfortunately, Shounen Oujo has now been on hiatus for over 10 months. As mentioned before, its longest hiatus was a full 2 years, so we're hoping it comes back soon so its next volume can be released later this year.

Mizutama Honey Boy ch. 39: Mediafire, Dropbox
Mizutama Honey Boy ch. 40: Mediafire, Dropbox
Mizutama Honey Boy ch. 40.5: Mediafire, Dropbox

Edit: Typo in ch. 40.5 fixed and reuploaded. Replace with this.
Edit 2: Typo in ch. 39 fixed and reuploaded. Replace with this.

Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue!

Now we come to Mizutama Honey Boy chapters 37 and 38, more than halfway through the volume.

Incredibly, this is our 1000th post to the blog after more than 7 and a half years of operation.

Mizutama Honey Boy ch. 37: Mediafire, Dropbox
Mizutama Honey Boy ch. 38: Mediafire, Dropbox

Edit: Typos in both chapters fixed and reuploaded.

As Cool As the Sea!

After a six month wait, Mizutama Honey Boy returns with chapters 35 and 36 from the beginning of volume 8. Fun fact, this is now our second-oldest project from when we picked it up almost exactly 3 years ago. And this is also our longest currently ongoing series by both volume number and chapter number.

Another little interesting thing is that about a year ago, Mizutama was one of 33 manga chosen by Japanese anime stores that should get an anime adaptation. Considering that only the most popular shoujo series ever get anime, it's probably unlikely that this one would ever get one, but it was nice to see that others feel this is certainly worthy of an anime. That said, a few series on that list have actually gotten anime since then, such as Houseki no Kuni, Karakai Jozu no Takagi-san, and most recently, Happy Sugar Life which premieres next season, so I guess it's not totally impossible for Mizutama to get the same treatment.

Mizutama Honey Boy ch. 35: Mediafire, Dropbox
Mizutama Honey Boy ch. 36: Mediafire, Dropbox

Edit: Typo in chapter 35 fixed and reuploaded.

True Magic Comes From Within!

For our third series pick up of 2018, it is our pleasure to present the first one that's actually a gender bender. This is chapter 1 of Bokura wa Mahou Shounen (We're Magical Boys) by Teppei Fukushima (or Bokumaho for short), and it also has a subtitle and/or alternate title, Puer Magus Nobis, which is literally "we are magical boys" in Latin. The story is as follows:

Kaito Odagiri is a normal fifth grade boy who can hold his own in a fight and loves to show off. This attracts the attention of Makoto Kaibara, a boy at Kaito's school who reveals to him that he can use magic, but he needs Kaito's help to protect the peace of their town. Kaito jumps at the chance of being a magic-wielding superhero, but his excitement turns to horror when he realizes that he'll be protecting the town dressed as a typical magical girl under the name Thrilling Pink. Although initially reluctant, Kaito soon discovers that there’s more to being a magical boy than simply looking cute in a skirt.

This is actually a very new manga that only just premiered in Weekly Young Jump last month, although despite that being a weekly magazine, this series is serialized monthly, so right now, only 2 chapters of it have been released. That means that its first volume won't even be released until later on this year, probably sometime around October, but we didn't want to wait that long to start it, so we decided to do chapter 1 right now.

The series itself garnered a certain amount of attention upon its release, and fanart has already started popping up on pixiv. Overall, it's a great series, although the art style may be a bit off-putting for some, but it's fitting for a cutesy series like this. It's also interesting that although it's serialized in a seinen manga magazine, it has young characters typical of shounen manga, and of course, a lot of frills and sparkles that would be right at home in a shoujo manga, so perhaps its ability to cross over demographics has helped it gained some early appeal.

So if you think that's something you want to read, please check it out.

Bokura wa Mahou Shounen ch. 1: Mediafire, Dropbox

Actions Speak Louder Than Words!

Now we come to the end of Nettaigyo wa Yuki ni Kogareru volume 1 with the release of chapter 4. However, volume 2 comes out in less than 10 days, so we'll be continuing with this in a couple of weeks once we get the next volume.

Also, there's a little thing in the afterword that should probably be explained. The official shorthand version of the title is given as Hanigare (はにがれ), taken from the bold portions of the series' title: 熱帯魚は雪に焦がれる. The reason why it's not Wanigare is the same reason for Haganai's shorthand title.

Nettaigyo wa Yuki no Kogareru ch. 4: Mediafire, Dropbox

Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails!

Kami-sama no Ekohiiki volume 4 now concludes with chapters 22 and 23. As stated at the end of the volume, the fifth and final volume comes out in late June, and we will most likely be working on it shortly after its release.

That said, recent events in this series have taken a turn that I suppose could have been predicted as early as volume 2, but that which certainly couldn't have been foreseen when we started this series last year, i.e. that it is no longer a gender bender series as of volume 4. Personally, that was kind of a hard pill to swallow, and we have seen other people comment along that same line elsewhere, so I would just like to say to those people, I share your disappointment. When we decide to do a gender bender series, we obviously expect it to remain a gender bender series throughout the story, but if there's one thing that we've come to understand about Ayumi Komura over the years is that she is very unpredictable.

Even though we were already committed at the time to do Komura's next series after Mori no Takuma-san, it was still invigorating to see her tackling another gender bender series after Usolily, especially considering that both Full Dozer and Takuma-san weren't gender benders, either. Obviously, it comes as no surprise that there's an added emphasis and enjoyment we put on gender benders, and Kamieko was no different, at least until volume 4. However, we are still committed to finishing the series, and we'll see what happens with Komura after that.

In other news, we'll be starting on Mizutama Honey Boy v08 later this week, but first comes finishing up Nettaigyo v01.

Kami-sama no Ekohiiki ch. 22: Mediafire, Dropbox
Kami-sama no Ekohiiki ch. 23: Mediafire, Dropbox

Don't Question What Feels Right!

Nettaigyo chapter 3 is done, the shortest one in the volume, with one left this volume.

Nettaigyo wa Yuki ni Kogareru ch. 3: Mediafire, Dropbox

Be Careful What You Wish For!

Happy Friday the 13th! And now here's Nettaigyo chapter 2, halfway through volume 1. Although the ensuing chapters are shorter than chapter 1, it's still super cute.

Nettaigyo wa Yuki ni Kogareru ch. 2: Mediafire, Dropbox

The First Step is Always the Hardest!

Here are Kamieko chapters 20 and 21, more than halfway through the volume with two chapters left in volume 4.

Kami-sama no Ekohiiki ch. 20: Mediafire, Dropbox
Kami-sama no Ekohiiki ch. 21: Mediafire, Dropbox

Just Go With the Flow!

Now we have Shimanami Tasogare chapter 21, the start of the soon to be final volume. For the first time since this new serialization began, it is now shifting to a monthly schedule, so the next chapter will be released on May 9, and if it continues at a monthly pace, it should then end in August.

Shimanami Tasogare ch. 21: Mediafire, Dropbox

The Ocean Brings With It Countless Possibilities!

Today, it is our pleasure to present the first chapter of our second pick up of the year, Nettaigyo wa Yuki ni Kogareru (A Tropical Fish Yearns for Snow) by Makoto Hagino. Although it is a slight departure from our usual repertoire as it is not gender bender related whatsoever, it is a very cute story that frankly we find it hard to believe no one scanlated before us. The story is as follows:

Konatsu Amano is a high school girl who has just moved to a seaside town in Ehime Prefecture after her father is transferred overseas for his job. Lonely and unsure of her new surroundings, Konatsu finds herself gravitating towards Koyuki Honami, an older girl at her school who is popular but is seen as out of reach by her peers who view her as too perfect. Koyuki is also the sole member of the Aquarium Club, which in turn makes her feel cut off from others. In an attempt to help ease Koyuki’s and her own feelings of loneliness, Konatsu befriends Koyuki and the two gradually grow closer together.

Although it probably can't technically be called a shoujo ai/yuri manga, there's a lot of subtext, so you don't even need to put on your yuri goggles for this one. It's just basically a very cute story about two girls who find solace in their loneliness with each other, and from the beginning, it's been billed as a "girl-ship story", short for girls friendship.

That said, the title itself plays up their relationship as possibly something more. To understand this, realize that the natsu (夏) in Konatsu means summer, and by extension, is reminiscent of tropical regions, and the yuki (雪) in Koyuki means snow. So the translated title as A Tropical Fish Yearns for Snow could be interpreted as "Konatsu yearns for Koyuki". And what's more, kogareru (焦がれる) in the title which is translated as "yearns" is taken from the word kogeru (焦げる) meaning to burn, so it's a kind of intense yearning for something or someone, and is used in words such as koikogareru (恋い焦がれる), meaning to be deeply in love.

Another interesting aspect of this series is that the main location is based on a real place, which the author talks about on the inside cover. Makoto Hagino, who is originally from Ehime Prefecture, based the Aquarium Club in the story on a real Aquarium Club at a high school in Ozu, Ehime, which just like in the story, is opened up to the public once a month, and they also have their own website.

In regards to the author, this is Hagino's debut series, but she previously won the Gold Prize in ASCII Media Works' annual Dengeki Taisho competition in 2016 at the age of 24 for a one-shot called Kaiyoubu e Youkoso! (Welcome to the Ocean Club!). And then she started serializing Nettaigyo a little bit later in June 2017 in Dengeki Maoh, so although only the first volume is currently out, volume 2 is being released later this month. Hagino also announced at the end of March on her Twitter account that the first volume is getting a second printing, so we're glad to see the series is doing well in Japan.

So if you think that it's something you'd find interesting, please check it out.

Nettaigyo wa Yuki ni Kogareru ch. 1: Mediafire, Dropbox

Edit: Typos fixed and reuploaded.

Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice!

It's finally time to start Kamieko volume 4 with chapters 18 and 19. However, it's been confirmed at the end of this volume that the series will end with volume 5, which will come out in June. So we hope you enjoy the last two volumes of this series as we get through them.

Kami-sama no Ekohiiki ch. 18: Mediafire, Dropbox
Kami-sama no Ekohiiki ch. 19: Mediafire, Dropbox

A Bountiful Answer That Fits All Questions!

At long last, Madowanai Hoshi volume 2 ends with chapters 16, 17 and 18, which also includes a few pages of bonus content at the end of the volume. The third volume is set to be released later this month, but because of other projects we'll be doing, we probably won't get to it until late May or early June. Since we've been working on both Moyashimon and now this series since the end of last year, we do need to take a short break from Masayuki Ishikawa anyway, so it worked out pretty well time wise. Still, Madowanai Hoshi is nowhere near as difficult or frustrating as Moyashimon was, so it's more pleasant to work on from a scanlating point of view, and we're really enjoying the story as a whole.

In some unrelated news, as you may have already seen from our Twitter account, there are a couple of updates to two of our projects. First, LiLy by Mayo Ebisawa that had previously been announced to be on hiatus due to the author's maternity leave, was moved to the completed works section on Ura Sunday's website last week, finally confirming what we had suspected: it ultimately got axed. It's a shame since the series was just starting to get going at the end of volume 2, but I guess it just wasn't that popular. So we've moved the series to our completed projects page.

Second, Yuuki Kamatani announced last week on Twitter that they were drawing up the storyboard for the final chapter, but seeing as how every volume up to now has had 5 chapters, and we've just gone through 5 chapters to effectively complete what will be compiled in volume 4, it's safe to say that the series will end in another 5 chapters to complete the series at 5 volumes. So if it continues with the biweekly serialization, it'll end on June 6.

Next up, the start of Kamieko v04.

Madowanai Hoshi ch. 16: Mediafire, Dropbox
Madowanai Hoshi ch. 17: Mediafire, Dropbox
Madowanai Hoshi ch. 18: Mediafire, Dropbox