For my first post of 2018, I will again talk about some of the manga I’ve read. Even though the kind of manga I read tends not to be officialy localised (and is often passed over by scanlators), my knowledge of Japanese allows me to read some of them despite no translation, official or otherwise. Like previous posts, beware of unmarked spoilers.
Lately, the backlog of manga I intend to read has grown, and I haven’t had the time to read them all. As usual, this is mainly Manga Time Kirara manga. Among the manga I’ve looked over include Yūnon Nagayama’s Myu~Con! (Music Conductor) and Arima’s Handstand!, both from Manga Time Kirara MAX, and Sarfata’s Mangaka Cherry and Moroko Kurasaki’s Nijiiro Photograph, both from Manga Time Kirara Forward. I won’t talk about all of them, but I will talk a bit about the first one I’ve listed.
Myu~Con! follows four schoolgirls who form the Tokiwamori Academy Chorus Club. The main character, Nonoka Misaki, dreams of being a conductor to a symphonic orchestra, while Mai Harehara aspires to become an idol. Together they try to form a (rather unoriginally named) club, but only being two people, as well as missing the deadline, they are not able to. On a rainy day, they meet the Chorus Club member Kanon Sakuraba, who takes them to her club’s room, and introduces her best friend Shizuku Hinata.
So far, I’ve only read the first of two volumes; I may post a full review once I’ve read the second volume. The initial chapters focus on the antics of the four girls, but after the introduction of the club advisor Shinju Ogawa (who looks like an elementary school girl, to the point where Mai thought she was an actual child), the girls prepare for the upcoming mini-concert. At the mini-concert, they meet Twin☆AntS (a duo composed of twins Aria and Lilia) and immediately become friends with them. But when it is time to perform, the group runs into problems, culminating in Mai collapsing.
The girls have their own quirks. Kanon almost always wears a school swimsuit under her clothing. Shizuku and Kanon appear to be in love with each other (yes, there is yuri). Nonoka is a bit of an airhead (the first chapter has her “conducting” in her fantasies, in full view of the other students walking in the hallway). One chapter had Shizuku lying on the ground, looking up… at Nonoka’s panties (she later does the same to Kanon, and notices the swimsuit). And of course, there is the advisor, who likes playing the recorder. And then there are some of the surprises. When Shinju asks whether anyone has failed any of their tests (a pass in this case is 40), Mai proudly shows her 70+ scores, only for Kanon and Shizuku to mention that they got 90+. And then the ditzy Nonoka shows her test results… and her average is 98.8 (with three 100s). Of course, Aria and Lilia show their test results, and everyone sees that they have failed, prompting the two to leave immediately.
That will be all for now. Anyway, in other news:
- With the discontinuation of Manga Time Kirara Miracle, several manga have moved. Of note, Ayumu Kasuga’s Castle Town Dandelion has already moved to the main magazine, and Harikamo’s Urara Meirochō will do likewise in the next issue. I suspect that its discontinuation is the result of falling popularity, especially after the end of Tachi’s Sakura Trick (which I suspect carried much of the magazine’s readership).
- The Manga Time Kirara Forward manga to be released on the 11th of this month include the third volume of Akino Miyabi’s Nadeshiko Doremisora and the third volume of Mountain Pukuichi’s Tamayomi. These two are fairly popular, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they received anime adaptations (but then again, I also wouldn’t be surprised if they were passed over, perhaps for Kayou’s Chotto Ippai!, which also seems to be popular).
- The other Manga Time Kirara manga to be released this month include the second volume of Tsukasa Unohana’s Anima Yell!, the third and final volume of Fūro Fuzuki’s Olive! Believe, “Olive”?, the fifth volume of Yuiko Tokumi’s Slow Start, and the third volume of Tomekichi’s Swap⇔Swap. Anima Yell! will also feature on the front cover of the next issue of Manga Time Kirara Carat.
- From what I’ve heard on Twitter, Utau Aizaki’s Why Did I Enter the Art Course!? was ranked first in the New Yonkoma of the Year award. Admittedly, I don’t know much about this award, or anything related to it.