Pictures of Life
I was planning to release a new chapter of Owari to Hajimari no Miles today, but my hard copy of the first volume arrived on Wednesday and I was like, why don’t spend some extra time re-scanlating the first two chapters and then continue with our own scans? To make up for it, you will get two new chapters next week.
With that out of the way, I’m very proud to introduce our second new project today, a manga that had been on our to-do-list since way before Kotonoha went on hiatus. As luck would have had it, I got in touch with Laika over at Mangahelpers and he agreed to translate it for us.
Based on a script by the author of Old Boy and brought to life by the late manga genius Hirosuke Kizaki, Shoujo Nemu tells the moving story of Nemu, a young girl who dreams of becoming a manga artist. Even though people couldn’t tell because of her shyness, Nemu possesses extraordinary talent, but it’s not until her encounter with Goro, a veteran manga artist plagued with self-doubt, that she begins to realize the true nature of her passion. What follows is an unusual friendship that ends up changing both their lives.
Aside from the impeccable artwork, what makes Shoujo Nemu special is the fact that all characters are cats. Even so, Kizaki manages to capture every human emotion in his characters’ expressions which is quite an achievement. I can’t stress enough how beautiful this manga is. Whether you are into this type of story or not, Shoujo Nemu is something that every manga fan should read.
Now, about the rest of today’s releases:
- Soil V2 Ch16
The final chapter of volume 2 further corroborates the suspicion that virtually every person in Soil has a dark secret to hide. It also becomes increasingly clear that the story isn’t actually about the Suzushiros’ fate. Instead, the family’s disappearance only serves as a trigger, a catalyst that brings to light the sordid underbelly of a modern society. And that doesn’t even take into account the supernatural elements that will only multiply in the next volumes. Get ready to be scared shitless!
- Hanashippanashi V1 Ch16-17
Just when I thought we had buried this one for good, along came Laika with an offer I couldn’t resist. So here are two new chapters of this freshly unearthed project. Besides Laika, I also want to thank Dille for helping me clean the scans. As an old-fashioned guy who is used to doing everything himself, I have to admit I’m surprised how having a good cleaner can speed things up. Gotta write that down for our next recruitment drive.
- Pumpkin and Mayonnaise V1 Ch5
This was next on our resurrection list. We are halfway through the story and chapter 5 marks a turning point in the main character’s emotional journey. Once again, Kiriko Nananan demonstrates with simple tools why she’s one of the most talented josei artists out there. My thanks to Megchan who provided the much needed script. We shall finish this project in a few weeks and move on to the next one.
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About Kotonoha
Since the group's inception in 2004, Kotonoha has established itself as the premier source of off-beat, sophisticated manga scanlations aimed at both the seinen and josei demographics. Among our most influential titles are Soil by Atsushi Kaneko, The Hour of the Mice by Kei Tōme, The Music of Marie by Usamaru Furuya, and the works from Inio Asano.
Contact: kotonoha (at) gmx (dot) net
Latest Releases
- All-Rounder Meguru v2 ch14
- The Music of Marie v2 ch12
- All-Rounder Meguru v2 ch11-13
- All-Rounder Meguru v2 ch9-10
- Garden ch1
- Soil v5 ch37-40
- The Music of Marie v2 ch11
- Memories of Emanon (complete)
- All-Rounder Meguru v1
- Soil v5 ch36
- Soil v5 ch36
- The Music of Marie v2 ch10
- The Hour of the Mice v3
- Soil v5 ch35
- Shoujo Nemu (complete)
- Soil v5 ch34
- Before Dawn and the End of the World (complete)
- Soil v5 ch33
- Owari to Hajimari no Miles ch11
- The Music of Marie v2 ch9
- Owari to Hajimari no Miles ch10
- Kaikisen (complete)
Hi!
I just found out that your group is back translating manga! Welcome back and thanks for the new works!
I noticed that there isn’t a link to the new short stories by Katsuhiro Otomo. Can you post it?
@Jin: Take a look at the blog’s sidebar under “Latest Releases.” They should be there at the bottom. I haven’t had the time to add them to our 1-shot list yet.
Great, now you guys, beyond making me pick new series are now making me bringh back from the dead some series. I´m almost glad that my college classes were postponed thanks to the pig flu, now I can lazy around a bit more..
You mentione a “resurrection list” in your post. Do you think you could tell us your priority for resurrecting series?
It’s not very fun being on the edge of your seat for the return of a series that may not be due for any scanlation in the near future. I understand you’re short-staffed and have a lot of series (especially after taking on new series), but it would be very appreciated if you could give a word on where series like Music of Marie or Kiichi! stand.
Thanks for all your work!
Congrats, you’re my favorite scanlation group again.
@Mona: As I said often before our priority lies with projects that are short and for which we have staff to work on. Obviously, I can’t reveal the whole list. All I can tell is that “The Hour of the Mice” and “The Music of Marie” are pretty high on it. In fact, you can expect a new chapter from one of those series as soon as next week. Kiichi!! is a slow-burner at the moment. Now, stop asking about when we will release what and just enjoy what’s available right now. Thank you.
@PitylessEnvy: We work hard for the money.
Ichigo69: yeah, Nomad, and you promised me you’d double my salary this time
＜hands on hips＞
as always, thanks.
i wasn’t expecting to see some of these projects revived.
Thanks for the new Soil chapter.
hooray \o/
Oh wow, I never expected to see Pumpkin and Mayonnaise revived! I really loved the first chapters when I read them a while back, so I’m really happy to be able to read the rest. Thank you for continuing it! Kotonoha is my favorite group for a reason, you guys have great taste in projects.
Happy that Hanashipanashi is back !
This work of pure poetry is one of my favorite projects.
Thanks.
Just another thanks for picking up projects again! I’m always amazed at the diversity of the works y’all decide to do, and it’s great (although with this batch, I suspected I would have to save Shoujo Nemu for last so that I wouldn’t finish being too bummed, weirded, or bleaked out…).
Thank you so much for Pumpkin and Mayonnaise! You guys have the coolest reads.
Welcome back!
Almost all of the one-shots I’ve read were done by you, and I’ve enjoyed them very much, so I must say “thank you” to you because if not for you I wouldn’t have had the chance to read those great pieces of artwork.
Keep up the good work.
thanks again for Pumpkin and Mayonnaise just loved the firt chapters, I kind of think the same way of the musician cause thats what I do and I left my job too, is a fritghenig and interesting way to see, how things could end for me, I will work hard for that not happenig in my life, anyway thanks, and please keep girlfriend going!!
Yay for hanashippanashi! I’m the happiest guy ever!
I was looking for shoujo nemu since a loong loong time ago, thanks for translating it!
Why does most people says the series is horrible but it is still widely rated?