The world must not forget that Jeeves knows how to make hankie bunnies. Forever grateful that Bun Katsuta saw this one fact and RAN with it in the manga🙏
Unlike the original version, here Jeeves asks Bertie if he'd like to have one too, to which Bertie only thinks to himself, "how dexterous..." Mind you, I'm basing this on mtl and a quick search in a dictionary but if this is really what they're saying, then what I find particularly hilarious is that he asks this right after Bertie realizes he's got the perfect opportunity to best Jeeves in the brain department. So now Bertie is reminded of the fact that, on top of being brainy, his valet is also frustratingly adroit (and I suspect Jeeves is being a subtle show-off).
Yes, the y.m. can have a hankie bunny too, as a lucky charm (ᴗ_ ᴗ ) Now off you go! Set your silly scheme in motion, Jeeves's spirit shall watch over you.
questioning everything that has led him to this point in his life and regretting not listening to Jeeves’s suggestion while looking at the stars and feeling lonely...
Chapter 1 of the Please, Jeeves translation is officially out!!
The era - the first half of the 20th century. The setting - London. Bertie, a young aristocrat, is a little bit dim - but that's quite all r
Do you like old British literature? Do you like silly comedies about guys getting into ridiculous situations for petty reasons? Then you will probably enjoy Please, Jeeves, the official manga adaptation of the Jeeves and Wooster stories by P. G. Wodehouse!
A few randomly-selected sample pages for your perusal...
Now go have a look at all of our hard work! We'll bring you the second chapter as soon as we can!
My family partner recently sent me a package from Japan that included these three volumes of manga that I’m so incredibly excited about! This series is called Please Jeeves based on the Jeeves stories by P. G. Wodehouse from the UK starting in 1915.
The story is about Bertie Wooster, a hapless aristocrat and his hyper competent valet, Jeeves, who is always getting him out of trouble.
I first became aware of these stories because Andrew Lloyd Webber adapted them into a musical that I found during my heaviest musical theater period in high school. Since then, I’ve read all 35 short stories and 11 novels. So it’s incredibly fun to find out there’s a manga!
Pleased to announce that I've acquired and am in the process of scanning all five volumes of the Jeeves and Wooster manga - Please, Jeeves by Bun Katsuta.
UPDATE: Proton Drive link - here. All five volumes have now been scanned! Thank you to @aceredshirt13 for quality checking.
UPDATE 2: The translation is officially underway, and you can find the first chapter here!
Nobody Expects The Japanese Jooster: Some Fun Translation Notes
Hey, guys. Are y'all aware that in the Japanese translation of "Bertie Changes His Mind", the line where Jeeves says "I'm fond of Mr. Wooster" is translated as 「私はウースター様が好きでございます」 (or, "watakushi wa Wooster-sama ga suki de gozaimasu")? Because I'm sure not normal about this.
Tl;dr: this line now reads like a love confession. (If an amusingly keigo-ridden love confession, because even in his internal dialogue Jeeves is physically incapable of not sounding aggressively polite.) More under the cut.
Now, please note that I am not fluent in Japanese, so take all my words with a grain of salt. But I have, at the very least studied it for several years, am currently living in Japan, and have listened to a great number of Japanese love songs. And this is how I would like to share that if you "ga suki" a person, this can and very often does mean you are in love with them.
Technically, "suki" just means "like". If you like apples, you'd say "ringo ga suki". If say, tennis is your favorite sport, you'd say "tenisu wa watashi no ichiban suki na supootsu" - with "ichiban suki" literally meaning "number one like". "Daisuki", or "big like", is the one that is often used for love - but boy is just plain "suki" used a hell of a lot.
Take this translation of "Ano Yume o Nazotte" (or "Tracing That Dream"), for example. Here, the translator has written it literally as "I like you", but contextually the song makes it pretty probable that it's a confession of romantic love. Or have a look at the Project Diva translation of "Suki Kirai" ("Like-Dislike" or "Love-Hate"), which makes "suki"'s usage in romantic love quite clear. There's even a whole conversation about the subject of love confession and translation in The Great Ace Attorney - this links to a fan-translated Let's Play so the original Japanese dialogue is visible, but the conversation happens similarly in the official localized version, though it manifests a bit differently. Regardless, both versions discuss "suki" as used to confess feelings of love.
What I'm saying is, wow, holy shit, Tamaki Morimura made a rather strong choice when using "suki". Because no matter the intent, that potential implication is absolutely going to be present in a reader's mind. And if you're wondering why I know this in the first place, it's because this line is used (in very slightly altered form, as "Wooster-sama" is exchanged for "the young master") in the manga, Please, Jeeves, which in large part uses Morimura's translation for its text, and... well. Let's just say our good pal Bun Katsuta seems to rather leaned into that with the expression.
Yeah.
And this goes in tandem with other aspects of the manga, like an added line that, to my knowledge, is not present anywhere in the original text (certainly not in the story that chapter adapts, "Jeeves in the Springtime"), in which Jeeves says that Bertie's shortcomings do not prevent him from being "beloved as a person". Not to mention the other choices the manga makes, such as having Jeeves wink at Bertie incessantly, or occasionally having hearts float around Bertie when he talks about Jeeves, or the panel at the end of "Without the Option where I swear to God it looks like Jeeves is trying to reach for Bertie's hand.
So, between the official translation and the manga adaptation, I'm not saying we have a Spanish Destiel situation on our hands... but I'm certainly implying it.
(My final note is that this is one of the favorite book series of Empress Emeritus Michiko. Which, with this added context, is very funny to me. I wish she had an open email address so I could ask her if she thinks they're in love.)
just purchased volume 4 of the Jeeves manga and my god. if i took a shot for every time Jeeves winked at or about Bertie Wooster. it's like at least once per chapter if not more. and it's almost always with such ridiculously fond looks. i'm beginning to think Katsuta-san and i are on the same page about the nature of their relationship. once the other four volumes come in the mail i'm uploading a winking compilation for the people
also the character designs are a delight...
...except for the black elevator attendant in Chump Cyril. Jesus Christ. That was not a delight. Bestie that was a jumpscare. Begging manga artists to draw black people like normal humans instead of minstrel show caricatures. Good Lord.
