indigo elegy

スプーン 木材 鎖骨 ゼラ 〜so we back in the mine

[indigoelegy]

♥*♡∞:｡.｡　about me　｡.｡:∞♡*♥

♡ molly ♡ 23 ♡ she/her ♡ @chiisananoinochi is also me ♡ i'm one of the admins over on @/litchilalitchi I ❤️ Usamaru Furuya ♡ if you send me an ask don’t be WEIRD. im approaching from a perspective of like a nursery worker to these troubled children ♡ my other interests include pacing my cage in a circle and biting onlookers. and pullip. at @specimendoll

[indigoelegy]

love them always

[indigoelegy]

amane gymnasium is a deconstruction of early bl

pictured is part of the back of volume 3 : )

amane gymnasium follows the title character, the dollmaker amane, and chronicles her life after her creations come to life. it hasn't been fully translated yet (though the first chapter can be read here on mangadex) but based on what i know about it (from being in a fortunate position where one of my friends can translate), aside from being really charming on its own, it unpacks and questions the bl genre from around the time furuya would have been engaging with it. (spoilers under the cut - i'll try and keep discussion of specific plot events to a minimum but i will definitely be spoiling like, the overall plot direction and concept)

on the surface level, the plot that follows amane's dolls and how they relate to each other has a lot of similarities to works by hagio and takemiya that set up the shounen ai genre and are often considered the 'first bl'. there's bullying, exploitation, and relationship struggles, all set against the backdrop of a european boarding school; all things that were typical to these works. even theo's design (in particular) seems to call back to that earlier time. but this story is within her story - 'amane gymnasium', the story that her dolls ultimately end up following, was written by amane in her journals; we see as she reacts with horror to the things she wrote that befalls these characters, and how she scrambles to fix things between them.

amane's horror, along with the way furuya portrays the events happening in the gymnasium, call into question the aestheticism and beauty these events are treated with in earlier works. it's easy to forget the horror and get lost in that beauty and relish the brief moments of 'respite' a work like kaze to ki no uta presents you with - but amane gymnasium doesn't allow you to forget. you watch these things befall them, you're a helpless onlooker, and it's distinctly not beautiful, and then you watch amane fall apart about it during her daily life. the events are the same - but furuya strips back the rose coloured filter and leaves you with the horrifying reality contrasting against the same elegant background, and amane's dolls who are beautiful in the same way. it doesn’t end there either - eventually it’s revealed to us that all of the things written were things that happened to amane herself, and the story was a coping mechanism of sorts - and it manifests in front of her through her dolls as the most literal reminder possible that all of it is unresolved and festering within her.

in the end, though, amane gymnasium is a story about facing your past and overcoming it, and moving forward. and despite digging in to that genre, it’s evident that furuya has a lot of love for it - and a lot of love for the people who consume it, as well (a similar situation can be found in genkaku picasso, too!). and I think that’s who should be attempting something like this - we see it often that somebody creates an edgy, cynical parody of a genre and then other people who hate that genre pile in and be like wow…. so cool and deconstructive….. and I don’t think they’re qualified to do that. the hot take of this post is that people who earnestly love (or have earnestly loved) and understand genres of media are the only ones who are truly fit to deconstruct them

might come back to this post later when it is in fact translated and make some more specific insights (there’s something with zepp I feel like has some significance but I’m not 100% sure enough to comment in case it’s misinformation) but who knows <3

[indigoelegy]

say hello to son boy ♡

i havent ever tried doing this before i just collect them. but this has both been somehow way easier than i thought it would be while also being insanely hard. the things i thought were going to be hard were easy. the things i thought were going to be easy were hard he still isnt finished (wig still needs some work and he doesnt have any eyebrows yet because i am afraid of them. and im going to change his eyechips) and trying to make his clothes is making me absolutely die where i stand but here he is. jaibo my son boy. completely naked as the day he was unboxed born

[indigoelegy]

new eyes and eyebrows for my boy

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i completely redid his face again

i think now he looks much more like he should! (please dont look at his clothes im not experienced with this and it seems that a 1/6 gakuran merely does not exist for me to buy, no matter how hard i searched) (he's still not perfect but i think my understanding of how to create like. desired shapes and indications of expressions on their faces is improving! his previous face was my first Ever attempt and i was just following the natural shape of isul's eyes and mouth then)

ive learned that my beloved pullip line are actually a huge pain in the ass to customise from all of this (i found out that acetone free doesn't always mean it is actually acetone free the hard way on a different doll) but i keep going becauese. i love them

also furthermore kanon is finished : )

hat super big

anyway i am still learning but perhaps one day i will get through all of them. not quite sure how i would handle the bald guys

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i am sorry that i haven’t posted anything in a long time i have been fighting for my life in the trenches (completely and utterly obsessed with claude frollo to the point where i can hardly think about anything else) but here are some pictures from the inside of amane gymnasium. i love these little guys!

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it's girl daughter

i based her outfit on that illustration from flowers instead because i'm not very good at sewing (yet) and i wanted to use pieces i could buy < 3 i have a little hat for her on the way but it hasn't arrived yet. her eyes are from mcilashop on etsy and they're beautiful (they have a really wide selection too if you need some then definitely check em out!). she's still a little messy but i think i have improved since last time, even if it was only a little

ideally i would like to make all of them one day, but i'm not sure considering im absolutely garbage at making outfits (jaibo has no pants, still) but i will never get better if i don't try. who knows maybe i can just dress them all in outfits resembling their outfits from the flowers artbook : )

[indigoelegy]

i’m starting to run out of shelf space _(:3」z)_

[indigoelegy]

say hello to son boy ♡

i havent ever tried doing this before i just collect them. but this has both been somehow way easier than i thought it would be while also being insanely hard. the things i thought were going to be hard were easy. the things i thought were going to be easy were hard he still isnt finished (wig still needs some work and he doesnt have any eyebrows yet because i am afraid of them. and im going to change his eyechips) and trying to make his clothes is making me absolutely die where i stand but here he is. jaibo my son boy. completely naked as the day he was unboxed born

[indigoelegy]

new eyes and eyebrows for my boy

[indigoelegy]

say hello to son boy ♡

i havent ever tried doing this before i just collect them. but this has both been somehow way easier than i thought it would be while also being insanely hard. the things i thought were going to be hard were easy. the things i thought were going to be easy were hard he still isnt finished (wig still needs some work and he doesnt have any eyebrows yet because i am afraid of them. and im going to change his eyechips) and trying to make his clothes is making me absolutely die where i stand but here he is. jaibo my son boy. completely naked as the day he was unboxed born

[indigoelegy]

usamaru furuya is underappreciated by people talking about lgbt manga and i’m here to change that

hi! if you like manga which merely contains LGBTQ+ characters going about their day and are treated with the humanity and sensitivity they deserve, then these are the recs for you. usamaru furuya himself has never expressed being lgbt at any point, however he does have a very nuanced and personal understanding of lgbt issues, so take that one as you will….. I’ll be including works that are only partially translated into English in this list as well as unfortunately, not many of his works have been localised in full, and even less officially. (Please note! I am a cis lesbian and Furuya’s work deals pretty exclusively with mtf trans people and mlm relationships and sentiments, neither of which are things I have direct lived experience with - however, based on my general experiences as an lgbt person and especially as somebody who reads a whole lot of lgbt manga, I feel he handles these subjects well. your experience may be different and that is totally fine, and I apologise if I ever word anything incorrectly in this post, but I just wanted to put this out there bc Furuya is my favourite mangaka 💕)

PLEASE keep in mind that due to the nature of some of these manga, they aren’t for everyone. I will do my best to list trigger warnings where applicable.

Litchi Hikari Club & Bokura no Hikari Club

**PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS ONE ESPECIALLY IS NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART.**

TWs: animal harm, depictions of underage sexual activity (not pornographic, and used for a purpose), a lot of gore and violence, death, sexual assault, child sexual abuse (both implied and shown. it’s only shown once but it is very upsetting so please tread very carefully), Nazi imagery and references, and use of the rising sun flag.

What’s in there?: MLM ‘couple’ (not a healthy one, mind you), and a trans girl.

If you aren’t familiar with this manga, I won’t be able to describe the plot in a way that’s meaningful to you - but one thing I promise is that despite the laundry list of tws and the incredibly shocking imagery used in this manga, all of it is used for a purpose. The reading order is Litchi first, and then Bokura (the prequel) afterwards. This manga has points to make on several topics, the most prevalent of which I can only describe as authority and corruption, the effects of extreme poverty and neglect on the young people who experience it, and the search for love and purpose (as well as the consequences that can come from not being properly prepared for or understanding of sexual relationships). The trans character is an example of the phrase ‘coding is canon’ - while she never outright turns to the camera and expresses her transness, it’s very much there. Overall, if you can stomach it, this is a fascinating series, and I can’t do it justice by simply describing it. But once again, please be warned that this is overall an extremely dark and depressing read and is by no means a light, fun read with cute LGBT representation. The representation is there but it’s underpinned by an incredibly dark backdrop and the main relationship, be warned, is not a healthy or positive one. A very good starting point to get a feel for this series is the 2016 live action movie! It isn’t perfect on account of some things not perfectly translating into film and some cuts they had to make for time, but it removes an unnecessary and triggering scene altogether, making it a good place to put your feelers out.

Litchi Hikari Club is a read for when you feel prepared to explore the depressing darkness of humanity left to run amok - but it’s a wonderful and rich read nonetheless. Please take care when reading this one though and heed the trigger warnings given.

Genkaku Picasso

TWs: honestly this is a very light read, so I struggle to think of any, but the most prominent one that springs to mind is death and grief - it’s very prevalent in the story. There are some jokes centred around a fujoshi character, but there is no actual fetishisation of MLM in there.

What’s in there?: A trans woman! (Fully, 100% canon. It says so directly in the text.)

Genkaku Picasso is a very light read compared to Litchi (anything is a light read compared to Litchi), and it explores a myriad of issues that Furuya explained as ‘real worries experienced by me and my peers’ in their teen years - the main character has struggles with grief which underpin the entire story, it explores the difficulties and anxieties that come with first relationships, and it also explores gender dysphoria. This isn’t necessarily the most realistic depiction of how coming out in a Japanese highschool would go - but as I understand, some people prefer stories which suspend the reality of something like that for a while. If you’re looking for a light read which takes place in a world where acceptance is the norm, then this manga is for you!

Teiichi no Kuni

**This work is not fully translated, and the information I’m giving is based on the first 19.5 chapters, as well as some offhand translation work done by my friend Mari.** (love you mari also she’s one of the admins on our blog @ litchilalitchi which you should definitely check out if you happen to like litchi hikari club 😇)

TWs: Suicide attempt, a few uses of slurs, and a lot of usages of the rising sun flag. I believe there may also be an implication of sexual assault at one point. Some homophobia and transphobia is touched on in chapters yet to be translated.

What’s in here?: More than one (potentially) gender nonconforming characters, and a whole bunch of extremely MLM feelings. None of the relationships in this manga are 100% canon or explicit (except for one, I think), this is more akin to the way something like Kakegurui is (without the fetishisation).

Teiichi no Kuni is an absolute riot won’t lie. I love this manga. This isn’t so much serious LGBT rep or anything as described above - but it is fun to read and watch these people dance around each other fruitily. Since this is only 1/3 translated (19.5/57 chapters) it’s difficult for me to really comment at this stage what the overwhelming message or themes are supposed to be. This is in the same sort of realm as Genkaku Picasso where homophobia doesn’t exist (although homophobia/transphobia, as well as potentially compulsory heterosexuality, are touched upon in some chapters that are yet to be translated in a storyline with one of the GNC characters). This was very fun to read bc it is so completely outrageous that’s all. No notes. There’s also a movie but I haven’t seen that so I can’t comment there.

Amane†Gymnasium

**There is only a single translated chapter of this work. This is once again based on my own observations as somebody who owns this manga (but who cannot read Japanese) and Mari’s help and dedication)**

TWs: Suicide, sexual assault/coercion, bullying

What’s in here?: MLM little guys, and an intersex character that is described unfortunately using the H-word (Furuya makes the distinction between this term and the actual condition of intersex, and that word is used for a reason).

I don’t want to talk too much about this manga as I don’t know when it will be translated, but if it is at any point in the future (wink nudge) then this can be a guide. Amane Gymnasium deals with some very real and personal but uniquely represented themes about writing cringe fiction to cope with having difficult circumstances, and the main character’s journey of overcoming her past.

Other Notable Mentions

- ‘Indigo Elegy’ (Chapter 7 of the anthology Happiness): Two main characters in that are pretty gay. It has themes about art and imagination, and working in harmony with another person. No notes! (PLEASE do not read the rest of happiness as some of it is almost purely eroguro nonsense and I can’t recommend it) (my blog is named after it!)

- The Music of Marie: not LGBT in the slightest actually, but it does present, for one scene, a society which has alternative gender norms in a way which treats them as completely normal. This manga is from 2001 so I would say that’s pretty cool.

Overall, it is pretty difficult for me to describe the very understanding vibe that Usamaru Furuya’s works have, and I would recommend reading them for yourself - but please take heed of the trigger warnings, and please be aware that some of his work (especially the early stuff) is eroguro and very shocking and graphic. In my opinion, Genkaku Picasso is an excellent starting point to what I mean when I say his style is very touching and human. Furuya is my favourite mangaka but I barely ever see his works mentioned when people are talking about non-yaoi/yuri LGBT manga.

[indigoelegy]

i read the music of marie today and that shit broke my heart so thanks once again mr furuya for sending me directly to emotional hell (affectionate)

[indigoelegy]

everything i know about lunatic circus from being a silly white girl with less than a toddler's comprehension of japanese

hi its me let me just preface this by saying uh the ONLY THING i'm able to properly read are their names because they have furigana and i can read that. everything else is a sort of Guess based on looking at the pictures and trying to piece it together in my mind. also ive only had a brief look at both the volumes (not so much volume 2 i havent actually looked through all of that). basically dont take ANYTHING i say at all as fact. please. im going based on VIBES alone. THIS IS GUESSWORK. ok so speaking of vibes first of all i get a bad feeling somehow. i dont know if its bc im traumatised from OTHER THINGS (stares) set in a kind of circus........ circus-like setting........ freakshow perhaps....... IF YOU GET WHAT IM SAYING but i get a bad feeling. LIKE I MEAN probably i'm wrong, right? because furuya isnt usually. like that. especially not nowadays but JUST IN CASE i just have some kind of weird feeling about it being set In A Circus

im just going to bulletpoint my assumptions based on the pictures

kujaku is a major asshole and i get the impression he's money hungry? there's this one panel which could be money next to him so im assuming that's what that means. nothing going to go wrong with that one im sure

hes also a major asshole because the troupe members line up before him and he WHIPS RANPO IN FRONT OF EVERYBODY. he also smacks one of the clowns and strikes a woman member to the ground and whips her as well (kizumaru tries to protect her, i think?)

ryunosuke spends a BUNCH of time on top of the tent talking or singing? to the weird creepy moon thing

i think ranpo and ryunosuke are going to be the boys who kiss in this one

no basis for this except they seem to be rivals and they get pictured together all the time

i think ranpo resents ryunosuke for being their poster boy while he's presumably an underperformer (thats the only reason i can fathom kujaku whipping him like that in front of everybody)

ranpo performs one of the things that i ASSUME only ryunosuke was able to do before (trapeze blindfolded) and he lands it and is excited about it??? maybe he gloats

and ryunosuke has a whole. whole issue about this. he goes into his room and screams (it literally says あああああああああああああああ which is pretty universal. even i know what that means!)

he does this shirtless and nagi peers in his window obviously wondering whats wrong with him but when ryunosuke sees him he gets embarrassed bc he has no shirt

i get the impression that its going to be like. ranpo has a jealous hateboner for ryunosuke because hes well loved and talented but the pressure of being their poster boy is driving him up the wall and theyll bond over the feeling of not being good enough for kujaku's money hungry little fingies no matter what etc etc

i havent had a solid look through volume 2 yet but i think ryunosuke is like. seriously ill. theres a panel or two in there that looks like he could be HALLUCINATING? while on the trapeze (PLEASE DONT TAKE MY WORD FOR THAT. I DONT KNOW. IT MIGHT NOT BE THAT) but either way even if that's not the case i get the impression hes very very troubled

nagi is a sweet little baby guy and i love him so much

also kujaku is even sussier in volume 2 bc in the beginning hes getting cosy with what looks to be like. a little girl. he is 74 years old (it says this). i'll get a picture of this one bc i cant believe my balls about this one to be honest

the little girl (idont know if she is actually a child or whether she just looks like one) is my pfp : ) i like her but i think kujaku should stop it

hotaru is like the troupe father???

or hes like. the responsible older brother type. either way he seems very kind and cool hes like he and nagi are best friends

btw hotaru and kizumaru are in their 20s but everybody else is 15-17 (nagi is 15 (and he goes to school before coming to the circus!), ryunosuke, ranpo and yuumi are 17 (not 100% sure abt yuumi its been a while since i looked) and karen and ikkoku are both 16)

there are a lot of panels which just linger on like

Man Attributes. this is a very gay affair

ok i only just noticed this in my sleep deprived haze RIGHT NOW but it maybe lends a little more weight that ryunosuke and ranpo are the only two who have names that might be derived from japanese authors AS FAR AS I KNOW. as far as i know. i dont know a lot about japanese literature except the absolute pop culture toddler basics (as usual) but i only Just Noticed. i havent checked if its the same kanji or anything YET but i will get back here when i do

anyway thats it i'll update this if i think of anything else but AGAIN PLEASE. PLEASE. i am JUST SOLELY looking at the pictures the ONLY THING I KNOW FOR CERTAIN are their names. its ONLY their names. i just bought them because i was curious and also physical books make me foam at the mouth like a rabid little doggy. i dont know if theres any other Better information out there about this manga but i couldnt find ANYTHING so i was like hm! my job now even though i, again, have a 3 month old's understanding of japanese please do not take any of this seriously im just guessing.

love you bye

edit btw if you want to see any of this you can just like you can dm me or send me an ask or whatever : )

[indigoelegy]

clowns and man areas part 2

same as the first time I am JUST GUESSING (though shoutout to mari bc she Did give me the gist of some of the scenes bc she like….. knows japanese. thanks bestie 👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩)

okay so as it turns out, the ‘moon’ that ryunosuke talks to (well the voice that responds from it) on top of the tent is ACTUALLY the little girl that kujaku gets cosy with. she lives in the top triangular part of the tent. also kujaku makes her sing to him bc that’s not creepy at all

i don’t think it ever mentions her name but she has like a lot of concern for ryunosuke. like so much. she spends a lot of time just going aaaaaaahhhhh ryu-kun 🥺

she’s actually introduced at the end of volume 1 but I never noticed that for some reason

anyway ryunosuke fails his set and becomes disgraced. kujaku whips him like he did with ranpo and ranpo actually overtakes him as their poster boy which sends him into just. mental illness spiral

he DOES hallucinate.

also it’s revealed that his older brother failed in the same way he did and splatted on the ground and literally died. like right away. so no wonder he’s troubled (shoutout to mari for informing me that it was his brother and not just Some Guy)

hotaru is very sweet. he’s so sweet. im going to kiss him on the mouth

ryunosuke gets called ryuu a lot by the other troupe members. and he calls kizumaru kizu-ani and hotaru hota-ani which I thought was kind of sweet

also i was right about kujaku being money hungry bc he appears to have a Secret Money Stash where the mystery tent girl lives

there’s way more I discovered way more today but I can’t think of it. i will update < 3

bonus picture of nagi that sent me

[indigoelegy]

part 3 i rember

tw for potential eating disorder????? again. i don't know if that's what this is but hmmmm

at one point ryunosuke overhears hotaru and kizumaru having a conversation and it freaks him out. idr if this is before or after he fails but i think it is linked to his failure somehow

hotaru is super wasted and hes like i feel so bad for him he is trying so hard. also he is fucking built (which might explain in part why it spends a lot of time lingering on ryunosuke's body in the earlier parts obviously aside from the Fruit Flavour furuya brings to everything) (mari was the one who translated thie conversation for me because i wanted to know what freaked him out < 3 thanks mari)

but uh after this ryunosuke loses a lot of weight. to the point where he's visibly gaunt when hotaru 'uncovers' him? (i dont know if he had run away to practice in secret or whatever but it makes a big deal of showing you that hotaru pulls his hood back and he's much thinner) but i get the idea that he gets the sense he failed because he was too heavy for the trapeze but that's just total speculation. i feel like thats the implication but i might be wrong

and im getting the sense that my initial prediction before i even had these books of 'the members get more and more fucked up/do things that are more and more fucked up to satisfy the higher-ups desire for money' was partially right but not in the way i expected

in a more. depressing and dark way than i expected. i sort of expected Mutilation Body Horror type of shit not like. this.

also the girl in the top of the tent comforts ryunosuke and i suspect he hallucinates that she's his mother. which is a whole other can of worms girl

pictured: thing that literally made me say 'that's not good' out loud when i seent it

[indigoelegy]

HI AGAIN SOMEBODY HAS TRANSLATED THE FIRST CHAPTER

Lunatic Circus - MangaDex

"Lunatic Circus" is a story about the circus called "Lunatic Circus", which is said to be the best in post WWII Japan, which has achieved an

it seems like some of the information in the previous iterations of this post is at least partially right based on this so maybe I wasn’t as far away as I thought!

[indigoelegy]

rotating himuro and teiichi in my mind to the tune of iroha uta ginsaku

[penicillinshock]

Teiichi update!

Hello!

I’m going to paste the same announcement I made on Discord, I would prefer those reading this to make an at least temporary Discord account and join our server because you can actually vote there and chat with me/others directly to express your opinion. Here’s an invite: https://discord.gg/BVS2Hytqrm

If you’re unable to make one no matter what, you can reply to this post, dm us, or send an ask.

The announcement is mostly about Teiichi, Toro no Ori fans have nothing to worry about (as of now).

Here’s the announcement:

We’re going to scanlate one or two more chapter of Teiichi, then we’ll move onto a different method that’s not going to be scanlation, but most likely the raw images next to the translation. The 2 methods that I can think of right now: - You click on the text boxes and then you can see the translation - Images on one side, translation is on the other

At the end of this post I’ll post a sample page of each method, two using the first one.

You can also offer other ideas, but what’s almost dead certain is that when it comes to Teiichi, we’re not going to have typesetted images beyond the next (two) chapter.

This post would be way too long if I explained every single reason behind this, if you would like to know more, we can also discuss this on Discord. Just know that it’s not possible for us to continue with Teiichi the way we did ‘till now.

We either do this or drop the manga, which I don’t want to do because there are many translated but unreleased Teiichi chapters. This manga is quite hard to work on and as far as I know, not that popular, but of course, if a scan group has the talent and resources to work on it, go ahead, just please contact us first if possible!

This might not be as pleasing to the eye as scanlated chapters, but it’s better than dropping it altogether I think, not to mention how much faster it is.

You will notice that the images are edited to be a bit of a worse quality and have watermarks on them. This is because I don’t want people to use the raws or the translations. Some of the raws were bought, so I don’t want people to just have access to high quality raws.

If someone ends up using the images or translations to release scanlated chapters, we’re going to stop altogether.

I apologize from those who hate this method or who will stop reading the releases from now, but either this or we drop Teiichi.

So here are the images:

Drive

Dropbox

One Note (This image is from another manga because I don’t have a Microsoft account, but if this wins the poll, I’ll set up one of course, this is just to show how it would look like.)

Aaaand that’s the end of the announcement! Please make a Discord account and join the server if possible, or if you can’t, let us know here! Thanks!

[indigoelegy]

everything i know about lunatic circus from being a silly white girl with less than a toddler's comprehension of japanese

hi its me let me just preface this by saying uh the ONLY THING i'm able to properly read are their names because they have furigana and i can read that. everything else is a sort of Guess based on looking at the pictures and trying to piece it together in my mind. also ive only had a brief look at both the volumes (not so much volume 2 i havent actually looked through all of that). basically dont take ANYTHING i say at all as fact. please. im going based on VIBES alone. THIS IS GUESSWORK. ok so speaking of vibes first of all i get a bad feeling somehow. i dont know if its bc im traumatised from OTHER THINGS (stares) set in a kind of circus........ circus-like setting........ freakshow perhaps....... IF YOU GET WHAT IM SAYING but i get a bad feeling. LIKE I MEAN probably i'm wrong, right? because furuya isnt usually. like that. especially not nowadays but JUST IN CASE i just have some kind of weird feeling about it being set In A Circus

im just going to bulletpoint my assumptions based on the pictures

kujaku is a major asshole and i get the impression he's money hungry? there's this one panel which could be money next to him so im assuming that's what that means. nothing going to go wrong with that one im sure

hes also a major asshole because the troupe members line up before him and he WHIPS RANPO IN FRONT OF EVERYBODY. he also smacks one of the clowns and strikes a woman member to the ground and whips her as well (kizumaru tries to protect her, i think?)

ryunosuke spends a BUNCH of time on top of the tent talking or singing? to the weird creepy moon thing

i think ranpo and ryunosuke are going to be the boys who kiss in this one

no basis for this except they seem to be rivals and they get pictured together all the time

i think ranpo resents ryunosuke for being their poster boy while he's presumably an underperformer (thats the only reason i can fathom kujaku whipping him like that in front of everybody)

ranpo performs one of the things that i ASSUME only ryunosuke was able to do before (trapeze blindfolded) and he lands it and is excited about it??? maybe he gloats

and ryunosuke has a whole. whole issue about this. he goes into his room and screams (it literally says あああああああああああああああ which is pretty universal. even i know what that means!)

he does this shirtless and nagi peers in his window obviously wondering whats wrong with him but when ryunosuke sees him he gets embarrassed bc he has no shirt

i get the impression that its going to be like. ranpo has a jealous hateboner for ryunosuke because hes well loved and talented but the pressure of being their poster boy is driving him up the wall and theyll bond over the feeling of not being good enough for kujaku's money hungry little fingies no matter what etc etc

i havent had a solid look through volume 2 yet but i think ryunosuke is like. seriously ill. theres a panel or two in there that looks like he could be HALLUCINATING? while on the trapeze (PLEASE DONT TAKE MY WORD FOR THAT. I DONT KNOW. IT MIGHT NOT BE THAT) but either way even if that's not the case i get the impression hes very very troubled

nagi is a sweet little baby guy and i love him so much

also kujaku is even sussier in volume 2 bc in the beginning hes getting cosy with what looks to be like. a little girl. he is 74 years old (it says this). i'll get a picture of this one bc i cant believe my balls about this one to be honest

the little girl (idont know if she is actually a child or whether she just looks like one) is my pfp : ) i like her but i think kujaku should stop it

hotaru is like the troupe father???

or hes like. the responsible older brother type. either way he seems very kind and cool hes like he and nagi are best friends

btw hotaru and kizumaru are in their 20s but everybody else is 15-17 (nagi is 15 (and he goes to school before coming to the circus!), ryunosuke, ranpo and yuumi are 17 (not 100% sure abt yuumi its been a while since i looked) and karen and ikkoku are both 16)

there are a lot of panels which just linger on like

Man Attributes. this is a very gay affair

ok i only just noticed this in my sleep deprived haze RIGHT NOW but it maybe lends a little more weight that ryunosuke and ranpo are the only two who have names that might be derived from japanese authors AS FAR AS I KNOW. as far as i know. i dont know a lot about japanese literature except the absolute pop culture toddler basics (as usual) but i only Just Noticed. i havent checked if its the same kanji or anything YET but i will get back here when i do

anyway thats it i'll update this if i think of anything else but AGAIN PLEASE. PLEASE. i am JUST SOLELY looking at the pictures the ONLY THING I KNOW FOR CERTAIN are their names. its ONLY their names. i just bought them because i was curious and also physical books make me foam at the mouth like a rabid little doggy. i dont know if theres any other Better information out there about this manga but i couldnt find ANYTHING so i was like hm! my job now even though i, again, have a 3 month old's understanding of japanese please do not take any of this seriously im just guessing.

love you bye

edit btw if you want to see any of this you can just like you can dm me or send me an ask or whatever : )

[indigoelegy]

clowns and man areas part 2

same as the first time I am JUST GUESSING (though shoutout to mari bc she Did give me the gist of some of the scenes bc she like….. knows japanese. thanks bestie 👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩)

okay so as it turns out, the ‘moon’ that ryunosuke talks to (well the voice that responds from it) on top of the tent is ACTUALLY the little girl that kujaku gets cosy with. she lives in the top triangular part of the tent. also kujaku makes her sing to him bc that’s not creepy at all

i don’t think it ever mentions her name but she has like a lot of concern for ryunosuke. like so much. she spends a lot of time just going aaaaaaahhhhh ryu-kun 🥺

she’s actually introduced at the end of volume 1 but I never noticed that for some reason

anyway ryunosuke fails his set and becomes disgraced. kujaku whips him like he did with ranpo and ranpo actually overtakes him as their poster boy which sends him into just. mental illness spiral

he DOES hallucinate.

also it’s revealed that his older brother failed in the same way he did and splatted on the ground and literally died. like right away. so no wonder he’s troubled (shoutout to mari for informing me that it was his brother and not just Some Guy)

hotaru is very sweet. he’s so sweet. im going to kiss him on the mouth

ryunosuke gets called ryuu a lot by the other troupe members. and he calls kizumaru kizu-ani and hotaru hota-ani which I thought was kind of sweet

also i was right about kujaku being money hungry bc he appears to have a Secret Money Stash where the mystery tent girl lives

there’s way more I discovered way more today but I can’t think of it. i will update < 3

bonus picture of nagi that sent me

[indigoelegy]

part 3 i rember

tw for potential eating disorder????? again. i don't know if that's what this is but hmmmm

at one point ryunosuke overhears hotaru and kizumaru having a conversation and it freaks him out. idr if this is before or after he fails but i think it is linked to his failure somehow

hotaru is super wasted and hes like i feel so bad for him he is trying so hard. also he is fucking built (which might explain in part why it spends a lot of time lingering on ryunosuke's body in the earlier parts obviously aside from the Fruit Flavour furuya brings to everything) (mari was the one who translated thie conversation for me because i wanted to know what freaked him out < 3 thanks mari)

but uh after this ryunosuke loses a lot of weight. to the point where he's visibly gaunt when hotaru 'uncovers' him? (i dont know if he had run away to practice in secret or whatever but it makes a big deal of showing you that hotaru pulls his hood back and he's much thinner) but i get the idea that he gets the sense he failed because he was too heavy for the trapeze but that's just total speculation. i feel like thats the implication but i might be wrong

and im getting the sense that my initial prediction before i even had these books of 'the members get more and more fucked up/do things that are more and more fucked up to satisfy the higher-ups desire for money' was partially right but not in the way i expected

in a more. depressing and dark way than i expected. i sort of expected Mutilation Body Horror type of shit not like. this.

also the girl in the top of the tent comforts ryunosuke and i suspect he hallucinates that she's his mother. which is a whole other can of worms girl

pictured: thing that literally made me say 'that's not good' out loud when i seent it

[indigoelegy]

everything i know about lunatic circus from being a silly white girl with less than a toddler's comprehension of japanese

hi its me let me just preface this by saying uh the ONLY THING i'm able to properly read are their names because they have furigana and i can read that. everything else is a sort of Guess based on looking at the pictures and trying to piece it together in my mind. also ive only had a brief look at both the volumes (not so much volume 2 i havent actually looked through all of that). basically dont take ANYTHING i say at all as fact. please. im going based on VIBES alone. THIS IS GUESSWORK. ok so speaking of vibes first of all i get a bad feeling somehow. i dont know if its bc im traumatised from OTHER THINGS (stares) set in a kind of circus........ circus-like setting........ freakshow perhaps....... IF YOU GET WHAT IM SAYING but i get a bad feeling. LIKE I MEAN probably i'm wrong, right? because furuya isnt usually. like that. especially not nowadays but JUST IN CASE i just have some kind of weird feeling about it being set In A Circus

im just going to bulletpoint my assumptions based on the pictures

kujaku is a major asshole and i get the impression he's money hungry? there's this one panel which could be money next to him so im assuming that's what that means. nothing going to go wrong with that one im sure

hes also a major asshole because the troupe members line up before him and he WHIPS RANPO IN FRONT OF EVERYBODY. he also smacks one of the clowns and strikes a woman member to the ground and whips her as well (kizumaru tries to protect her, i think?)

ryunosuke spends a BUNCH of time on top of the tent talking or singing? to the weird creepy moon thing

i think ranpo and ryunosuke are going to be the boys who kiss in this one

no basis for this except they seem to be rivals and they get pictured together all the time

i think ranpo resents ryunosuke for being their poster boy while he's presumably an underperformer (thats the only reason i can fathom kujaku whipping him like that in front of everybody)

ranpo performs one of the things that i ASSUME only ryunosuke was able to do before (trapeze blindfolded) and he lands it and is excited about it??? maybe he gloats

and ryunosuke has a whole. whole issue about this. he goes into his room and screams (it literally says あああああああああああああああ which is pretty universal. even i know what that means!)

he does this shirtless and nagi peers in his window obviously wondering whats wrong with him but when ryunosuke sees him he gets embarrassed bc he has no shirt

i get the impression that its going to be like. ranpo has a jealous hateboner for ryunosuke because hes well loved and talented but the pressure of being their poster boy is driving him up the wall and theyll bond over the feeling of not being good enough for kujaku's money hungry little fingies no matter what etc etc

i havent had a solid look through volume 2 yet but i think ryunosuke is like. seriously ill. theres a panel or two in there that looks like he could be HALLUCINATING? while on the trapeze (PLEASE DONT TAKE MY WORD FOR THAT. I DONT KNOW. IT MIGHT NOT BE THAT) but either way even if that's not the case i get the impression hes very very troubled

nagi is a sweet little baby guy and i love him so much

also kujaku is even sussier in volume 2 bc in the beginning hes getting cosy with what looks to be like. a little girl. he is 74 years old (it says this). i'll get a picture of this one bc i cant believe my balls about this one to be honest

the little girl (idont know if she is actually a child or whether she just looks like one) is my pfp : ) i like her but i think kujaku should stop it

hotaru is like the troupe father???

or hes like. the responsible older brother type. either way he seems very kind and cool hes like he and nagi are best friends

btw hotaru and kizumaru are in their 20s but everybody else is 15-17 (nagi is 15 (and he goes to school before coming to the circus!), ryunosuke, ranpo and yuumi are 17 (not 100% sure abt yuumi its been a while since i looked) and karen and ikkoku are both 16)

there are a lot of panels which just linger on like

Man Attributes. this is a very gay affair

ok i only just noticed this in my sleep deprived haze RIGHT NOW but it maybe lends a little more weight that ryunosuke and ranpo are the only two who have names that might be derived from japanese authors AS FAR AS I KNOW. as far as i know. i dont know a lot about japanese literature except the absolute pop culture toddler basics (as usual) but i only Just Noticed. i havent checked if its the same kanji or anything YET but i will get back here when i do

anyway thats it i'll update this if i think of anything else but AGAIN PLEASE. PLEASE. i am JUST SOLELY looking at the pictures the ONLY THING I KNOW FOR CERTAIN are their names. its ONLY their names. i just bought them because i was curious and also physical books make me foam at the mouth like a rabid little doggy. i dont know if theres any other Better information out there about this manga but i couldnt find ANYTHING so i was like hm! my job now even though i, again, have a 3 month old's understanding of japanese please do not take any of this seriously im just guessing.

love you bye

edit btw if you want to see any of this you can just like you can dm me or send me an ask or whatever : )

[indigoelegy]

clowns and man areas part 2

same as the first time I am JUST GUESSING (though shoutout to mari bc she Did give me the gist of some of the scenes bc she like….. knows japanese. thanks bestie 👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩)

okay so as it turns out, the ‘moon’ that ryunosuke talks to (well the voice that responds from it) on top of the tent is ACTUALLY the little girl that kujaku gets cosy with. she lives in the top triangular part of the tent. also kujaku makes her sing to him bc that’s not creepy at all

i don’t think it ever mentions her name but she has like a lot of concern for ryunosuke. like so much. she spends a lot of time just going aaaaaaahhhhh ryu-kun 🥺

she’s actually introduced at the end of volume 1 but I never noticed that for some reason

anyway ryunosuke fails his set and becomes disgraced. kujaku whips him like he did with ranpo and ranpo actually overtakes him as their poster boy which sends him into just. mental illness spiral

he DOES hallucinate.

also it’s revealed that his older brother failed in the same way he did and splatted on the ground and literally died. like right away. so no wonder he’s troubled (shoutout to mari for informing me that it was his brother and not just Some Guy)

hotaru is very sweet. he’s so sweet. im going to kiss him on the mouth

ryunosuke gets called ryuu a lot by the other troupe members. and he calls kizumaru kizu-ani and hotaru hota-ani which I thought was kind of sweet

also i was right about kujaku being money hungry bc he appears to have a Secret Money Stash where the mystery tent girl lives

there’s way more I discovered way more today but I can’t think of it. i will update < 3

bonus picture of nagi that sent me

[indigoelegy]

everything i know about lunatic circus from being a silly white girl with less than a toddler's comprehension of japanese

hi its me let me just preface this by saying uh the ONLY THING i'm able to properly read are their names because they have furigana and i can read that. everything else is a sort of Guess based on looking at the pictures and trying to piece it together in my mind. also ive only had a brief look at both the volumes (not so much volume 2 i havent actually looked through all of that). basically dont take ANYTHING i say at all as fact. please. im going based on VIBES alone. THIS IS GUESSWORK. ok so speaking of vibes first of all i get a bad feeling somehow. i dont know if its bc im traumatised from OTHER THINGS (stares) set in a kind of circus........ circus-like setting........ freakshow perhaps....... IF YOU GET WHAT IM SAYING but i get a bad feeling. LIKE I MEAN probably i'm wrong, right? because furuya isnt usually. like that. especially not nowadays but JUST IN CASE i just have some kind of weird feeling about it being set In A Circus

im just going to bulletpoint my assumptions based on the pictures

kujaku is a major asshole and i get the impression he's money hungry? there's this one panel which could be money next to him so im assuming that's what that means. nothing going to go wrong with that one im sure

hes also a major asshole because the troupe members line up before him and he WHIPS RANPO IN FRONT OF EVERYBODY. he also smacks one of the clowns and strikes a woman member to the ground and whips her as well (kizumaru tries to protect her, i think?)

ryunosuke spends a BUNCH of time on top of the tent talking or singing? to the weird creepy moon thing

i think ranpo and ryunosuke are going to be the boys who kiss in this one

no basis for this except they seem to be rivals and they get pictured together all the time

i think ranpo resents ryunosuke for being their poster boy while he's presumably an underperformer (thats the only reason i can fathom kujaku whipping him like that in front of everybody)

ranpo performs one of the things that i ASSUME only ryunosuke was able to do before (trapeze blindfolded) and he lands it and is excited about it??? maybe he gloats

and ryunosuke has a whole. whole issue about this. he goes into his room and screams (it literally says あああああああああああああああ which is pretty universal. even i know what that means!)

he does this shirtless and nagi peers in his window obviously wondering whats wrong with him but when ryunosuke sees him he gets embarrassed bc he has no shirt

i get the impression that its going to be like. ranpo has a jealous hateboner for ryunosuke because hes well loved and talented but the pressure of being their poster boy is driving him up the wall and theyll bond over the feeling of not being good enough for kujaku's money hungry little fingies no matter what etc etc

i havent had a solid look through volume 2 yet but i think ryunosuke is like. seriously ill. theres a panel or two in there that looks like he could be HALLUCINATING? while on the trapeze (PLEASE DONT TAKE MY WORD FOR THAT. I DONT KNOW. IT MIGHT NOT BE THAT) but either way even if that's not the case i get the impression hes very very troubled

nagi is a sweet little baby guy and i love him so much

also kujaku is even sussier in volume 2 bc in the beginning hes getting cosy with what looks to be like. a little girl. he is 74 years old (it says this). i'll get a picture of this one bc i cant believe my balls about this one to be honest

the little girl (idont know if she is actually a child or whether she just looks like one) is my pfp : ) i like her but i think kujaku should stop it

hotaru is like the troupe father???

or hes like. the responsible older brother type. either way he seems very kind and cool hes like he and nagi are best friends

btw hotaru and kizumaru are in their 20s but everybody else is 15-17 (nagi is 15 (and he goes to school before coming to the circus!), ryunosuke, ranpo and yuumi are 17 (not 100% sure abt yuumi its been a while since i looked) and karen and ikkoku are both 16)

there are a lot of panels which just linger on like

Man Attributes. this is a very gay affair

ok i only just noticed this in my sleep deprived haze RIGHT NOW but it maybe lends a little more weight that ryunosuke and ranpo are the only two who have names that might be derived from japanese authors AS FAR AS I KNOW. as far as i know. i dont know a lot about japanese literature except the absolute pop culture toddler basics (as usual) but i only Just Noticed. i havent checked if its the same kanji or anything YET but i will get back here when i do

anyway thats it i'll update this if i think of anything else but AGAIN PLEASE. PLEASE. i am JUST SOLELY looking at the pictures the ONLY THING I KNOW FOR CERTAIN are their names. its ONLY their names. i just bought them because i was curious and also physical books make me foam at the mouth like a rabid little doggy. i dont know if theres any other Better information out there about this manga but i couldnt find ANYTHING so i was like hm! my job now even though i, again, have a 3 month old's understanding of japanese please do not take any of this seriously im just guessing.

love you bye

edit btw if you want to see any of this you can just like you can dm me or send me an ask or whatever : )