Cherry Blossoms in December
Before you rush to the comment section to complain, let me explain first: Yes, we are aware that The Town of Evening Calm, The Country of Cherry Blossoms (the manga formerly known as Yûnagi no machi; Sakura no kuni) has been licensed for English release. However, given the amount of work we have already invested in this manga and the fact that we were only one chapter short of completion, I decided to make an exception. This is one of our best projects and it simply does not feel right to drop it 10 m before the finish line.
It did take us a while to finish everything up. One reason was that I stubbornly went back and practically retranslated the first two chapters and changed the lettering style in a few places. I hope our final version does this magnificent story justice (or at least will stand the comparison with Last Gasp’s version ;)). Needless to say, we won’t be able to host the file for long. As soon as the official English release hits the bookstores (Jan/Feb ‘07), it will be gone. If you like what you read, you should go buy it. 
And now onto the other releases:
- Chokotto Sister v5 ch37-38
*sniff* Chapter 38 is sooo sad. Who would have thought that one could cry reading this series…
Apropos, the 7th volume of CS was recently released in Japan and there was an announcement at the end stating that the 8th volume (scheduled for release next spring) will be the last one. I think that’s a rather nice length for this series. Here’s hoping that the author and artist will manage to deliver a satisfying conclusion. I’m getting some strong Maison Ikkoku vibes from the latest chapters if you know what I mean. - Hourou Musuko v2 ch11-12
Here is a series that gets more and more adorable with each new chapter. It’s incredible! The author treats all her characters with so much love and respect that you never doubt their motivation.
Speaking of Takako Shimura, the 2nd volume of her Sweet Blue Flowers just came out in Japan last week and I have already ordered my copy, which means it should not be long until you get to see some scanlation of it. - Pumpkin and Mayonnaise ch4
Our latest josei project comes from none other than Kiriko Nananan, author of the critically-acclaimed Blue. On the surface, Pumpkin and Mayonnaise may look like an ordinary love story, but Nananan’s artwork and storytelling are anything but ordinary. It’s difficult to fully appreciate this manga until you read all of it, so I shall desist from further commenting. Just read it.
Next: Death-crazy samurai and universe-hopping children.
Amen that Hourou Musuko keeps getting better and better. Truly excellent writing. Thank you for helping the rest of us discover this series.
pseudorandom December 19, 2006 @ 6:49 pm
I read the first few chapters of Hourou Musuko released by Kotonoha and fell in love. Ended up reading through all 5 volumes released here in Japan.
I’m impressed by the quality of the works being translated by this group.
Rakshasa December 20, 2006 @ 12:28 pm
How long do we have to waith for the next chapters of Shigurui?
poeterdebier December 20, 2006 @ 12:29 pm
Thanks for another Horou Masuki! I’ve absolutely fallen in love with it, such a sweet story. n_n
But on a slightly unhappy note, I believe ebay user lucite8 ( http://myworld.ebay.com/lucite8/ ) is selling your scanlation of Goth on ebay. x: I hope I’m mistaken, but it sure doesn’t look like it. Seller shows no indication of it being your scanlation of it, I only knew ’cause I’ve read it before.
Just thought I’d give you a heads up. I have no ebay account so I can’t do anything myself.
~jeti
jeti December 20, 2006 @ 2:30 pm
Jesus, I spelled Hourou Musuko really badly there. *headdesk*
jeti December 20, 2006 @ 2:31 pm
My eyes got teary from CS ch38 T.T
Keep up the good work!
Tiojar December 20, 2006 @ 6:00 pm
Good choice on Town/Country; I could definitally see myself going nuts if something I had to just give up on something I had put so much time into. I think the attention your creating through scanslations is especially benificial for this title since Last Gasp isn’t really known for being great at getting people’s attention. In any case, another bang-up job and a great ending to the manga.
Also great to see more Nananan Kiriko getting scanslated. Less artistic than Blue so far, but has the same intimate and bitersweet quality I’ve come to expect from her. Hourou Musuko is progressing great as well.
Interesting to hear about “universe-hopping children”…
Huff December 20, 2006 @ 6:16 pm
Yes, these are some of my favorite chapters of Hourou Musuko so far. Shi-chan is awesome.
And I’m really looking forward to the “universe-hopping children.” You did promise it to me before the end of the year. ^_^
=Drake Aaron Rain
Drake Rain December 20, 2006 @ 7:19 pm
Thanks for all the HM love. This series definitely deserves it.
@3: The next chapter is being worked on as we speak, but there’s a lot redrawing to do, so things aren’t progressing as fast as we’d like it.
@4: Eww, I don’t know what’s more scary, that people actually stoop to such thing to make money or that someone would actually pay for it. In any case, our “policy” is to ignore those black sheep. It’s not like we could do anything against them anyway.
Nomad Soul December 20, 2006 @ 7:57 pm
omg, Chokotto Sister 38 was sad. Does this happen in the anime too? I’ve only just started watching it.
Asrialys December 21, 2006 @ 1:08 am
Hi! This may not be the place to ask(but I don’t see anywhere else to) may I ask if there are any other ways of downloading the older releases(especially the one-shots) besides through BT?
nuttdragon December 22, 2006 @ 11:56 pm
wooot! new horou musuko!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I was wondering why there wasn’t any new chapters of sweet blue flowers…. but… yay! It’s coming! such great series!!!!
Thank you!!
jess December 23, 2006 @ 3:18 am