Poor But Happy
So it seems I’m a bit late with this introduction. As some of you might have noticed, we have started a new fun project: Binbou Shimai Monogatari (lit. “Story of Poor Sisters”), a series that could easily rival Chokotto Sister in terms of cuteness and moé power. Seriously, everything about this manga cries out kawaii: it has cute covers, cute artwork, uber-cute characters, a cute story; hell, I even tried to choose lettering fonts that look cute. 
The Japanese have another funny-sounding word to describe this kind of manga: honobono (heartwarming). And that’s exactly what I feel while reading BSM. Sure, the story comes across as very episodic at first, which I suppose is due to the fact that the author, Izumi Kazuto, used to draw 4-panel comics before she debuted with this series in Shôgakukan’s Sunday GX in 2004 (which quickly gained popularity). As she starts to get a better feel for the new format, the chapters gradually grow longer and the story becomes more consistent while still retaining the calm pace that characterizes almost all slice-of-life manga.
What BSM lacks in tempo and consequences (though I haven’t heard anyone complain about Yotsubato! being slow ^^;), it makes up for it in mood and charm. The strong affection between the two Yamada sisters even spawned discussion among the Japanese readers as to whether this manga can be considered “yuri” or not. To be honest, I’m not really interested in the answer to this question. Just being able to follow the sisters’ harmonic daily life and see how they manage to overcome their problems with optimism and hope is satisfying enough for me. ^^
Contrary to some scurrilous rumors, our decision to launch this project in the same month that the anime adaptation starts to air is pure coincidence. Though we certainly don’t mind if the anime helps to boost the interest in the manga a bit. 
It has been a while since we last released something from Comic Cue. Today, we have two new 1-shots from the 9th volume: Black Coffee and Green Beans. Both were edited by a new editor named Leche. Let’s give him a warm welcome. Will there be more 1-shots from this unique publication in the near future? We’ll see. 
We finish off the first volume of Seizon - LifE with the 8th chapter. Both Boris and Chojiki have done a great job on this series so far. I hope you enjoy the story enough to join us again when the second volume kicks off shortly.
The third volume of Kilico is nearing its end. Today’s chapter is just the calm before the storm. If you think this volume doesn’t offer enough action and blood up till now, you don’t want to miss its ass-kicking, no-holds-barred finale that comes in an 88-page-long (!) chapter. Tomorrow, people are going to die.
Wow, releases are coming like drugs. Not that these types of drugs are bad, mind you.
Ladholyman June 11, 2006 @ 7:23 pm
Hooray for more Comic Cue one-shots!
Wada June 12, 2006 @ 2:01 am
“Will there be more 1-shots from this unique publication in the near future? We’ll see. :)”
I hope the results of the poll which seem to emphasize erotica/hentai and seinen over alternative stuff and one shots aren’t a factor in getting rid of this sort of thing, you’re one of the few groups that is willing to scanlate this stuff, please keep it up even if its not the most popular stuff in the world, there is a small group of devoted fans who want to continue to see this stuff.
neilworms June 12, 2006 @ 9:13 am
Sup’ neilworms. I also would hate to see alt. stuff go (love the one-shots by the way), but right now it’s in third place and only a couple of percent behind ero, so I doubt it would be eliminated all together. Plus alot of ero manga is pretty similar to alt; Naoki Yamamoto said he liked doing it because as long as he put sex in it, he could really experiment with the story and his editor wouldn’t make a big fuss.
Huff June 12, 2006 @ 11:22 am
We all know most of the people coming here now is because of the sheer nudity in Girlfriend, hence the poll results.
Neilworms is right though, I for one have missed comic cue’s one-shots tremendously and finding two new ones scanlated this morning was a bliss.
Thank you, Kotonoha.
Wada June 12, 2006 @ 11:57 am
I guess we’ll just have to pick up more series from Manga Erotics F. That way, we’ll get both the sex and the alternative stuff. ^^
Nomad Soul June 12, 2006 @ 5:31 pm
Consider this another vote towards what neilworms said.
some lamer June 12, 2006 @ 7:04 pm
Altho off-topic with the latest releases, I downloaded the one-shots of Please God done by Kotonoha and Lililicious. It’s put in the completed section at both groups and I thought that with the one-shots by both groups it was complete, but there’s a gap from page 45 till 60. It’s 1 or 2 stories? Not sure, but I was wondering if that small gap was simply so not worth it. Or did I overlook that it was released? >_
Lava June 14, 2006 @ 6:35 am
Argh, maximum to comment size?! Anyway, back on-topic… thanks for the many Kilico chapters eventho the WC is going on
Lava June 14, 2006 @ 6:37 am
@ Lava
Those remaining three stories have been done by Lililicious.
http://www.lililicious.net/projectDet.php?id=42
Elbart June 14, 2006 @ 7:55 am
As I mentioned in my post, I was talking about the stories done by both groups, not just Kotonoha. I looked at the page numbering of all 3 stories done by Lilicious and put them in the right place, but that left me with a remaining gap of ~15 pages. That’s why I’m asking
Lava June 14, 2006 @ 10:06 am
One story from “Please God” wasn’t scanlated because Sailor Avalon, the translator, didn’t think it was worth it.
Nomad Soul June 14, 2006 @ 6:35 pm
I haven’t recieved your reply for a few days. I’m guessing I didn’t make it. Nevermind that, I don’t have that much time anymore.
About the whole file mirrorers, I’m an admin at a download site, http://vnmanga.com/truyentranh. Check it out and tell me what you think.
animeaddicted June 14, 2006 @ 11:18 pm
@animeaddicted: Sure thing. You can host whatever you like. Just leave the contents of the files unmodified and take them down once they are licensed in the States.
Nomad Soul June 15, 2006 @ 4:14 pm
Wow, looks like Kotonoha’s output isn’t hampered by the hullabaloo of the world cup. Being in the UK, you’d think nothing else matters at the moment. Thanks for the releases.
iao June 15, 2006 @ 5:01 pm
Slightly off-topic:
Today I rechecked some of the Kotonoha releases I have with the torrents (unless they were batch-packed like “Please God” etc.), and I discovered that some of these files were different then the ones in the torrent. I always leeched them on or soon after release day, so I wondered if these were v2s?
Could it be possible to just share the altered pics somehow?
P.S. WOHO, thanks for the seemingly neverending stream of Kilico .:D
Elbart June 16, 2006 @ 1:28 pm
I hope to see more releases for Milk Closet. I can’t believe it is almost done scanlating though. I still wish you luck on your other projects aswell!
Kumi-chan June 16, 2006 @ 6:40 pm
I do not know how you choose your mangas, but keep up the good work. You whole selection are awesome stories and I am always on the edge of my seat for the next release. Keep up the good work, and thanks.
Piko Neal June 16, 2006 @ 11:48 pm
Hey, scanlators at Kotonoha;
Are you letting http://manga.ignition-one.com/series.php take your scanlations and still ask for donations? It seems there are a lot of things on there i’ve seen from other scanlation sites there as well, but if you gave them permission to use them my bad.
Skullbie June 17, 2006 @ 4:49 pm
@Elbart: If we don’t announce a second version then it’s because the modifications are so minimal that it’s not worth to redownload it.
@Kumi-chan: “Milk Closet” is being worked on as we speak.
@Skullbie: Yeah, I uploaded a few of our releases to their site because we lack HTTP mirrors ourselves. As long as the hoster doesn’t actively *charge* money for the downloads we got no problem with him. Though it seems their downloads are down anyway.
Nomad Soul June 17, 2006 @ 5:24 pm
Catching up on the main subject of the post, I hope you continue with “Binbou Shimai Monogatari” — it definitely fits in the nitch with “Chokotto Sister,” and there’s more room left in there.
l.n. hammer September 14, 2006 @ 2:00 pm