#manga summary

[mustang-v8]

Spoiler-free summary of the last 20 chapters of seraph of the end by me.

[ririya-translates]

Duckweed Part Two Summary

Sorry this took a while to put together, but I have the second part summary of the Jack Jeanne Duckweed manga (part one). Both the first and second parts of the manga are currently online for free, but I'm unsure about their translation status so I thought I'd post these summaries for EN readers. I still recommend people going through them even without reading JP as there's a lot of great art that I've not included here.

The story continues where the last one left off, proceeding to show us more about Rhodonite's 77th year fall performance and exploring the dynamics between Tsukasa, Minorikawa, and Nagisa.

I default to using they/them for characters who present as femme outside of Jeanne roles because the prospect of English pronouns for Rhodonite girlies hurts my brain, but that's just a personal preference. Apologies for formatting weirdness since I had to do battle against the tumblr post editor just to assemble this thing.

Part 2:

-it doesn’t show us the rest of the play, cutting right to the results showing Rhodonite in dead last (order: Amber, Onyx, Quartz, Rhodonite)

-Tsukasa quickly leaves the scene, muttering “It’s my fault”

-Minorikawa feels that all of Rhodonite should take responsibility for not supporting their tresor

-Nagisa seems keenly aware of their weaknesses as a class and explains that Tsukasa’s singing is far above the others which creates an imbalance as they struggle to reach up to that level and Tsukasa won’t hold back

-this imbalance makes it hard for Tsukasa to reach full potential either. Rhodonite’s biggest problem is trying to bridge this gap

-Nagisa then explains to us a bit of the history from years 74-76 (Tsuki’s era) which gives more insight as to why some of the classes are now rather unbalanced in year 77

-years 74-76 are regarded as a special period in Univeil. It was defined by three major figures: Tsuki Tachibana, undefeated champion and the ‘treasure of Univeil’; Matsumasa Hiraki, Onyx Jack Ace known as the ‘prince of ice’ (I discussed his character’s connections further in this post)

-and the last of the big three is Kuuya Koiguchi, Rhodonite Al Jeanne and class lead known as the ‘princess of strife’ (multiple possible translations here). They should look familiar from part 1. 

-their name 鯉口 Koiguchi refers to the opening of a sword sheath, but can also literally mean “koi mouth” while 空也 Kuya has kanji for 'empty' and 'to be' 

-Kuya shows an intense determination to defeat Quartz and Onyx, feeling the biggest weapon they were missing was a tresor. They sought to find the strongest tresor they could, but nobody had the ability until Tsukasa showed up

-newly-enrolled Tsukasa appears much like Mare is in the game, very bubbly and carefree

-Kuya chose Tsukasa and became quite obsessive in turning Tsukasa into this ideal weapon. Their goal was to reach the same level as Quartz, but that never happened. They left Tamasaka without ever defeating Tsuki. This indicates they did not join the troupe.

-Nagisa and the others tried to help, but Kuya’s obsession still lives in Tsukasa’s mind. Nagisa fears that it will destroy Tsukasa at this rate if something isn't done about it

-with this in mind, Minorikawa goes back to the duck pond and watches ducks eat the duckweed. He thinks of all the food being fed to the tresor. But if the duck gets too big, it can no longer move properly to feed

-initially he thinks that this is why Rhodonite’s biggest priority should be on trying to improve to meet Tsukasa’s level, but he pauses and says something like: “actually, it’s best to let them eat”

September

-on the topic of ‘let them eat’, Ion has gained a lot of weight over summer break and looks much more like Ion we see in-game

-Nagisa announces their fall play, ‘Garden of the Phoenix’. It’s a story about gardeners working to maintain a magnificent garden where a phoenix lives

-one day, the phoenix’s flames torch the garden to the ground, causing a wave of destruction. The creature closes off its heart and lays waste to the garden

-a young gardener returns with plans to restore the garden, but must work together with the phoenix to bring back the beauty that was once there

-the phoenix cannot forget the pain it caused, but opens its heart to fulfill the gardener’s dream of rebuilding the garden

-Minorikawa is the second-highest Jack (‘sub-ace’) while Tsukasa plays the Al Jeanne, the leader of the gardeners heading up the restoration project. Nagisa plays the tresor as the Phoenix. Tsukasa is quite upset at not being the tresor and runs off

-Tsukasa runs once again to the duck pond and Minorikawa follows. Tsukasa feels like they’re being replaced because they’re inadequate as a tresor. Minorikawa responds asking about Tsukasa’s dream

-he talks about his dream of joining the Tamasaka Troupe. That only two or three students per year get chosen from Univeil, and sometimes none at all

-he thought joining Univeil was the first step towards this dream, but in reality after he joined, he felt it slipping further away. He imagines his younger self within this dream watching him with eyes of concern

-he’s resolved to still do the best he can towards that goal, despite the long and hard climb. But his dream requires sacrificing Tsukasa’s

-Tsukasa recalls a time when they used to have so much fun singing. They’re shown singing the song Kamome no Suihei-san, a classic Japanese children’s song about seagull sailors playing up and down on the waves. This video has EN captions of the lyrics.

-Tsukasa says that they don’t have dreams as big as Minorikawa’s and that they’ll be Al Jeanne if it’s what’s best for Rhodonite, but headbutts Minorikawa and basically says that if they sink, they’re dragging everyone with with them

-rehearsals seem to go well. Nagisa mentions how the role of Al Jeanne requires one to focus on every element of the performance, not just the singing part. Tsukasa seems to be picking this up quickly and will likely be able to return to the tresor role soon

Fall Play

-performance order: Onyx, Amber, Rhodonite, Quartz

-Hotei tells Tsukasa backstage that Nagisa was always jealous that Kuya chose Tsukasa as the tresor, but also that he became the class lead to support Tsukasa

-the performance goes well; Rhodonite has their chance to rise again and rebuild

-results: Amber, Onyx, Rhodonite, Quartz

-Tsukasa remarks that they beat Quartz but that third place isn’t all that satisfying. They recall Kuya saying Tsukasa could some day stand on the same level as Quartz

-Tsukasa explains that they joined Univeil simply because they loved to sing, but that over time they lost that joy of singing from being so focused on winning. They thank the class for having the chance to enjoy it again

-Tsukasa asks Minorikawa to carry his dreams through to the end, believing that he can do it. And that Tsukasa will do the same

-epilogue basically skips to the start of year 78 (in-game year) where Minorikawa is dealing with Mare and friends, Tsukasa is calmly enjoying some tea and starting on this new role of guiding the class

-the epilogue page talks about how the duckweed floating on the surface is gobbled up by bigger creatures, but that roots extend deep into the water and with the passing of winter, new sprouts are left behind. (I think Ishida may have gotten his aquatic plants mixed up because I’m unsure how this metaphor works with rootless plants, but we’ll roll with it) 

Note:

We know from an in-game event with Minorikawa in Mitsuki’s route and from Fumi’s birthday story that Tsukasa’s partner by the end of that year was the 75th class Al Jeanne, which seems pretty clearly to be Nagisa. Nagisa and Tsukasa don’t read as partners to me in Duckweed, but we know from Neji and Chui that a significant partnership can happen from just one play together so it’s possible their relationship has a big shift after this point (please let me know if anyone writes a fic about this because I badly want to see it!)

[wafflepopbeerus]

So, basically this is the Italian translation of the manga, and the word "summary" was too long, but it just made Trunks say "Mario?!" And here it go

[nhkamira]

New series on MangaPlus App✨

Kuchi ga Saketemo Kimi Niwa official English translation is now on the app! it’s currently on chapter 6, but in non-official sites, you can find up to chapter 24; and so far is really funny an a nice read.

Summary: Miroku-san, the slit-mouth woman, is to marry high school student Kouichi to maintain her existence as his family has been in charge of upkeeping superstitions for generations. To add, there seems to be another reason that he seems more than willing…

Miroku, however, would rather use her own strength than borrow that of others. Thus, they establish a contract as follows.

1. For a trial period of a year, they are to act as though they were married.

2. If she is able to scare him within that year, the engagement will be broken. (mangaclash)

[blue-spider-lily]

Mairimashita! Iruma-kun manga summary - ch77 - Name of this feeling

Three beasts are destroying everything around and everyone need to evacuate far enough to safely take flight. Buildings are falling down and there are wounded demons as well…  Iruma watches the scene with unknown feeling swelling in his chest when he hears some random demons speculating about this whole thing being an act of terrorism. He asks Balam about it and the teacher confirms that those are summoned beasts

Balam: Someone has to summon them, and looking at their size/ there are several culprits… / Wait, what happened? Iruma: I don’t know…but/ I have a really uneasy feeling…

What is happening to our boy? He went through enough near-death situations to not be terrified by something like this… Suddenly they hear a cry for help. There is some kid coming out from under the rubble. 

Kid: Other kids I was playing with… They’re still in the hall/ but the rubble is blocking their way… Please help them!

Iruma reacts like every human would in his situation - he wants to do something. Only to be stopped by Balam.

Iruma: Sensei…? Balam: It’s impossible.

Then we hear random demons speak: “But the hall is where the beast is”, “I don’t want to get hurt”, “It’s too late”, “No way we go to save them”

Iruma: Why… Balam: Because they’re “demons”. Their desires are most important for them/ and they have very little compassion for those who aren’t close to them.

That’s right. Demons won’t move a finger if it’s not in their interests. They literally avert their eyes from this whole situation and can’t understand why Iruma cares. And the feeling in his chest is growing…

Random staff member: Stay back/ It’s dangerous. Iruma -I feel uneasy/ Really uneasy/ What is this feeling…It’s… spiraling- Azz: Iruma-sama! Are you all right?

That’s a really good question here, Azz-kun. What is happening with Iruma? He looks at the picture of them being happy, and then at the devastated park around him…

Iruma:…I see. -This feeling… This whole time I…  This whole time…

Iruma: The whole time… I was angry.

He angy!

Ok. Jokes aside because…

/////////////HOLLY SHIT RANT TIME/////////////

I CAN’T possibly stress enough how important this moment is. If you know even a bit about child development, you should know that kids whose parents ignore their cries when they’re infant become unable to recognize and express negative emotions (and this is only one of the bad effects). And we know for sure that Iruma’s parents totally ignored his feelings and problems. That is why he has a hard time expressing his bad feelings about what they did to him (or negative emotions in general). He knows that they were not normal but he has never been able to get really angry with them. The closest he got was a resigned exasperation and this is not enough.

And now, probably for the first time in his life. He not only recognized his feelings and expressed them -  he is also about to act on them /////////////AAAAAAA ok back to manga/////////////

Before anyone has time to stop him, he dashes forward, grabs the kid in the same moment the ceiling starts to crumble and carries him across the rubble while avoiding falling debris. Look at this action sequence

A great reminder that our boy is pretty damn athletic - ha was hunting bears when he was like five damnit! Eat this, demons!

Everyone: Eeeeeeeeeeeh? He dodged them all!!?

Ha! He better than all of you!

Balam calls his name but Iruma has something to say - The Icecream was delicious! And he had so much fun in the park, even when he got lost!

Iruma: But them everything got destroyed…/ This is absurd…/ I am probably angry now!!/ That’s why I’m going to strike back!!/ at this whole mess!!

He protecc!

Everyone else can evacuate. Iruma is off to save some kids! But he won’t be alone

Sabnock: -heh- You heard that? He’s angry, he says. Azz: Such a failure to not be able to notice his feelings…!!

They coming with him! (or are dragged along in Ronowe’s case)

Meanwhile, underground

Guard: What… is your…goal? Uetot: A rescue/ of a / prisoner.

T.B.C

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[timelessbeing]

(video credited to the video maker and characters to Iseyama Hajime)

Me : if you happen to be lazy af to catch up chapter 99 — 101/102, then this is the video for you.

[nocandnc]

Also about the new Yugami ch, I think it's interesting how Yugami can't seem to change the way he calls Chihiro even though he says it's not a big deal. I don't exactly agree with his classmates trying to stage some kind of friendship intervention, but maybe it's the push he needs to realize that Chihiro is special even if she's not necessarily a "friend". Thanks for the summary :)

It really is interesting…. Is it because he’s afraid of changing the status quo? He was quite rattled a few arcs back with the implication that he might change due to changes in his environment, only to find relief in knowing Chihiro was the same as always and that she thought the same of him. Or is it the familiarity of calling someone by their first name specifically that bothers him? The coziness of it?

Although I appreciate their good intentions, I do agree that the classmates might be causing unnecessary friction by meddling. The pair have managed to work through rough patches just fine before now… but like you say, it might end up being the push Yugami needs to accept that he’s happier in her company in one way or another.

[nan-nichi]

Sugars (Yamamori Mika)

Hi all! I bought the complete Sugars manga set the other day, and since it looks like chapters 21-28 haven’t been translated yet I’ll be posting summaries here! I’ve been studying Japanese for a few years so I’ll do my best to write good translations. In the meantime, if anyone wants any spoilers about the couples just send me an ask!