Sachiko

Chapter 4 is probably the funniest and at the same time cutest thus far! The cooking club has their meetings every Monday and Friday. On Mondays they plan the menu and Fridays they do the actual cooking. Most of the members only show up on Fridays because the planning is pretty boring! Horikawa shows up for a Monday meeting and to her dismay the only other club member present is Wakatsuki. :D

Wakatsuki obviously continues to go after her with everything she has. As soon as Horikawa walks in she’s kissed and attacked. She ends up knocking Wakatsuki over the head with a soup ladle. :D

In the last chapter Wakatsuki somewhat confessed her love for Horikawa but it seems neither of them are aware of the confession. Horikawa thinks that’s just just teasing her while Wakatsuki doesn’t realize she even confessed. Actually pretty cute. :)

Wakatsuki learns of last years president, who was Horikawa’s friend it seems. The two of them made a cake together. It seems she was a very important person to Horikawa from the cell phone picture. After coming up with a diabolic plan Wakatsuki flys out of the meeting. Leaving Horikawa worried she might quit the club…The following day there’s a giant wedding cake on Horikawa’s homeroom desk. >_>… It looks almost evil. lol Wakatsuki made it to try and win her heart. But, as we’ve learned so far she isn’t a very good cook. :D

Now Horikawa has decided to do whatever it takes to teach Wakatsuki to cook! To restore the clubs honor!

Looking forward to chapter 5. I’m curious exactly how far Horikawa will take it to teach Wakatsuki. :o More cute, more silly, more enjoyment. Love this series. :) Keep an eye out for it, coming soon to a Lililicious near you. :)

Much like the last chapter, this one is from a thought point of view. Instead of Horikawa it’s Wakatsuki this time. She introduces herself as Wakatsuki Chihiro, age 16. So we find out a bit more about one of our characters.

She begins by giving away a little tip on dating. She mentions never having a problem getting the person she was after. But those were all boys. This time it’s a girl. She feels like she’s in serious trouble because she’s never had to pursue before. Only sit back and wait because of her popularity. It appears she was after Horikawa before joining the club and used the test of sexuality as a cheap way to steal a kiss.

It appears the two of them are on somewhat of a date. At least I think so. It seems they’re out visiting a bookstore together. I don’t think it’s the library but I could be wrong. Anyway, Horikawa is helping her find books to help with her cooking. As Wakatsuki continues to think of ways to get Horikawa to fall in love with her. Horikawa interrupts her train of thought and ask Wakatsuki if she ever told the girl she was in love with how she felt yet. Obviously Horikawa doesn’t realize it’s her that Wakatsuki is in love with. She ask if she’s sure it’s really love and not just close friendship that Wakatsuki is feeling for the girl.

Wakatsuki mistakes what Horikawa is saying and jumps her. :D Saying “I Want you president!!” At the very end Wakatsuki decides that she’s going to use her inability at cooking as an advantage to lure Horikawa in. :)

Overall a pretty good chapter once again. This is slowly turning into one of my favorite series. I would expect no less though, considering it’s from the same mangaka who does Girlfriends. If you’re not reading this yet, I do believe you’ve lost your mind. :)

Wakatsuki feels betrayed by the club president, Horikawa. She promised Wakatsuki that she could come to her with any problems when she initially joined the club. Now she president refuses to help her discover her sexuality! Obviously that may be just a bit much to ask for. :D

This chapter mostly focuses on the thoughts of Horikawa and how she feels about giving her very first kiss up to a girl. She’s offended that Wakatsuki would not only take her first kiss but try and take her virginity as well!

Wakatsuki decides to stop by Horikawa’s class and drop off a cheesecake she made in coking class earlier in the day. Apparently it’s disgusting despite the fact that it looks good. Wakatsuki didn’t measure anything out she just dumped from the ingredient bottles! :D

The girls in Horikawa’s class begin to notice how often Wakatsuki is coming around and mention how great of a president she must be to have such a faithful admirer coming around so often. Horikawa can’t explain to them what’s really going on though. She does admit right at the very end though, she thought Wakatsuki was cute. :)

Cute chapter, especially the cheesecake part! :D A little slow though on the development front. I guess Horikawa admitting Wakatsuki’s cuteness is big, but not much else went on beyond that. Another nice mixture of comedy and story though. It’s really shaping up so far. :)

A cute little story of the cooking club president and another member of the cooking club, Wakatsuki. The club president seems shy, calm and is very inexperienced when it comes to relationships. The club member, Wakatsuki on the other hand is quite the opposite. Flamboyant, bold and has been in quite a few relationships (with boys).

She comes to the club president with a request. A kiss to determine her sexuality. Lately she hasn’t been very interested in boys and can’t figure out why. She’s questioning herself. Wakatsuki says she has joined the club to learn the art of cooking. So one day, in the future, she can land a guy with a big job. She tells the president that if she is “that way” then there’s no need for her to remain in the cooking club. There’s no point of learning cooking if she likes girls. The president seems shocked but makes a deal with her. No matter what the outcome of the kiss that she will remain in the club. It appears they’re at their minimum limit to remain a club and the president is doing anything she possibly can to keep her.

Wakatsuki and her share a kiss together. A short lived one it would seem. Wakatsuki instantly decide that because it didn’t make her vomit that she is a lesbian. The club president tells her to quit talking like that and think it over first. Not to base it off one kiss. Wakatsuki decides that she’s right…she needs to kiss her again! It looks like there was a lot more involved in the second one! She’s trying to get in the presidents pants. :D The president promptly slaps Wakatsuki away setting up for a nice series to begin. :)

Really enjoyed this one. I’m a big fan of Tsubomi in general though. I like the setup for the second chapter. No cliff hangers, just enough comedy and cuteness to make you want more. :)

Page 05 “Kitty Cat Day”

The name says it all! Filler episode. Filled with cuteness though, so I wont complain. :) As you have probably guessed this episode is about the cats. Mike, Haa, Grey and a new cat Kuma. What surprised me is that the cats communicated with one another and spoke. I guess it’s not surprising they can communicate, all animals can. It’s more the fact that they spent an entire episode on developing the characters of the cats. There series is nearly half over and they wasted a episode on that? Kind of confusing. We get a little insight on each of the four cats personalities now.

Mike is the cat who’s always in the abandon lot.  Mike seems to be free-thinking, a bit defensive and possibly a little dim to the world around him. He’s probably my favorite of the four though. What a cute voice too. :p Mike seems interested in knowing what it would be like to be a house cat. I really hope he ends up with Sora eventually.

Haa is the cat from episode two with the giant eyes. He feels laid back and not aware of other peoples feelings it would seem. He has no problem saying what’s on his mind. Which I guess isn’t a bad thing. Especially considering I don’t think he’s doing it to be spiteful. Haa also seems a bit more worldly than Mike. The two of them also seem to be friends. Haa doesn’t seem to think being a house cat is the way to go. I guess he likes his freedom more than anything else.

Kuma is a very oddly shaped cat. With a GIANT head and odd body he’s quite unique. He has a extremely deep voice which makes listening to him almost make you giggle. He also uses very old dialect it would seem. Perhaps refering to himself in third-person? At least that’s how I took it. He’s very high on himself and can do no wrong. He’s also looking for a owner and wishes to be a house cat. At the end of the show Kamiya (the bug girl from Sora’s art class) ends up taking him home. She finds him in a box labeled “RARE BEAST” that the other cats helped him setup after some funny scenes with the box.

Grey is the cat from episode 2 that Sora mentions has been recently adopted. Or made into a house cat. Since he began wearing a collar I assume that’s how she noticed. Anyways, Grey appears later in the episode with his collar now off. He scratches up the box that Kuma was in and walks off after shaking his head from side to side (meaning “no”) when Mike and Haa ask him if he’s going home. Perhaps he decided life as a stray was better? He did spend the day with Mike, Haa and Kuma. Maybe being a house cat just wasn’t for him. He seems to be the youngest and I don’t believe he spoke the entire episode. Only used facial expressions and movements to communicate.

Cute little episode, worth the watch. I’m still baffled as to why they would develop the cats rather than some of the other characters that likely need it. I don’t see the cats playing a huge role down the stretch. Although I could be wrong.

1. The episode opened with a white cat in a window looking insanely bored. The cat yawned…at the same time, so did I! I guess they’re contagious that way too. :D
2. The cat I just mentioned, he was a little look into the theme of the episode. The bored look on his face had “I want out” written all over it. The theme I picked up was that some things work for certain people (or cats in this case!) while they may not work for others. To each their own.
3. Preview for next episode mentions Aso and Hazuki being developed more.
4. Cats=Aria. HA!
5. I think given my descriptions you should be able to figure out which cats are which in the images below. If not just hover over the pictures and the names will pop up.

The last time we left Sugiura and Midori they were both younger, and still in high school. Now they’re both in college and it’s four and a half years later.

Midori seems to be worried about their relationship though. It seems she feels the love is starting to fade. Sugiura has decided to take the bar exams next year to become a lawyer and is spending a ton of time on her studying. Plus, she doesn’t like how the two of them can’t be affectionate in public. Midori does mention an active sex life though and the fact that’s all they do together anymore.

After being left alone in bed by Sugiura early, Midori decides to go out drinking. In the mood she was already in, it was a bad idea. She gets completely wasted has a whine-fest at the bar and then passes out in the entry way to Sugiuras. That seems to have angered Itchan, as she told Sugiura that Midori wasn’t allowed to drink for a month. :D I’m assuming Itchan is the landlord? Or perhaps the RA in a college dorm complex?

Midori seemingly back at her dorm/house calls Sugiura to schedule a movie date. Sugiura hesitantly accepts sending Midori into a fit of squeeeeee. Moving forward to the movie date…Sugiura seems extremely unenthusiastic when Midori shows her the movie poster of what they’re going to see. It’s “Packet Monsters”, which is obviously Pocket Monster, A.k.a. Pokemon. Sugiura ends up falling asleep at the movies and enraging Midori who does stomping out of the theaters. Sugiura chases after her trying to calm her down instead it does the opposite.

Midori tells her that they need to break up because things keep getting worse. Citing the fact Sugiura will have more time to study too. It seems to really crush Sugiura as she asked Midori if she still loves her, Midori replies with the same question. Midori is suddenly reminded of chasing Sugiura down after breaking off the “pretend relationship” in Chapter 2 when she broke down in tears. The two end up sitting down on the curb and having a heart to heart talk. Sugiura unveils her master plan to Midori (quickly become a lawyer, get lots of money, move in together, support them both).

Midori scolds her for not explaining it sooner. Then she would have understood why Sugiura was working so hard and not spending as much time with her. Sugiura felt that it would have scared Midori off, the fact of living together forever. Midori says otherwise and somehow Sugiura twist it into Midori accepting a marriage proposal! :D :D (Been there done that.) So after some funny narration and thought bubbles Midori seems to like the idea. The last page is pretty cute and shows the two in the future. :) ANOTHER HAPPY ENDING JUST THE WAY I LIKE IT!

Oh and as an even cooler added bonus, on the closing page of the series she explains why she picked this couple do to the extra story about and also includes a little picture in the bottom left corner showing the happy couple on their wedding day, five years later. Both in a wedding gown. :) Lipstick powah! :D

Before reading on please note that this is not a deliberate shot at Tranquil Spring. I worked with them for several chapters of this (7-15) and enjoyed my time there and the staff as a whole. I left due to time restraints I had at that point in my life. I have been debating for over a week if I should release this or not because I was worried about sending the wrong message. It’s one of my first attempts at actually translating a work publicly (meaning outside of school work). I had a good bit of help from a friend as well, who has also been pushing me to release this. So out of respect, I would recommend waiting for the Tranquil Spring release rather than download mine. I simply decided that it would be such a waste to just let it vanish. That said, I’m not even going to guarantee the proper translation of this.

This was practice/fun/whatever you want to call it. So here’s the link. Please enjoy.

[Download Octave Chapter 20]

Well in light of my fourth Clover work(Ch1, Ch2, Extra: Happy Days, Ch3) being released this week I’ve decided to do a little write-up on Chapter 2. This leaves me with one more chapter to edit, Chapter 4. If you recall from my first write up on Chapter 1 (unlikely because it was from June of 2009) Clover actually explores the stories of four sisters. The Extra chapter is a bonus of Chapter 2 story so rather than moving to Chapter 3 after this I’ll be blogging the Extra next. For obvious reasons.

The story begins with Midori working in a bakery. She gets a phone call from another employee and someone who is supposed to be there working with her. It seems the employee hs decided to quit and never gave a two weeks notice. Thus Midori is stuck there, with no help. A girl who seems to come in every day and order sweets arrives on time, as usual. Midori decides to get herself out of a jam by offering the girl a job. That girl is Sugiura, her younger by one year.

Fast forward two months later. The two of them, dressed in their Santa suits are out front of the store selling baked goods. Neither of the girls have a boyfriend and Midori is going on about how she doesn’t understand why, she’s a bit self absorbed. The standards she lists off to Sugiura are a bit ridiculous…or so it seems. Sugiura almost jokingly says that she fits all the criteria! Sugiura then proceeds to tell her that they should go out, until they find boyfriends. Midori shocked at first eventually agrees that it sounds like a fun idea.

Midori has an exchange with a friend of hers at school, Yuu-chan. She’s explaining how she ended up with a girlfriend for winter break rather than a girlfriend. Midori seems enthused about it and says she’s going to give it her all even if it is just for pretend! Then she rushes off to meet Sugiura for a date. The girls have the prototypical date. Shopping, movies, and tea together. Midori mentions how it’s fun but then ask how it’s different than just hanging out with a friend. That leads to Sugiura suggesting a kiss. I think Midori  planned for it to be platonic but seemed to get slightly excited over it.

Later, in a conversation with her friend again Midori realizes that once one of them gets a boyfriend they’ll have to break up. It seems to bother her just a bit but nothing too serious, yet. She’s just questioning herself more than anything. As she does after bringing Sugiura home. She starts to narrate her feelings. She questions whether she could be in love with Sugiura yet or if she could even love her.

We skip ahead to later that night, Sugiura is sleeping on the floor and Midori is in her own bed. After Sugiura gives Midori a goodnight kiss that seems to excite her she goes back towards her bed. Midori suggest that they sleep together for warmth. Funny little comedy moment there. A bit of a misinterpretation between the two at first. They end up in the bed together none the less and have a quick little chat about who Sugiura has dated in the past before going to sleep. Midori silently thinks to herself how convenient it would be is Sugiura liked girls now because of the way she’s starting to feel. Also that the “pretend” relationship last as long as it possibly can.

Now in the bakery, a man stops by and offers himself to Midori. Sugiura sees this and suggest that he would be right for her and quickly tells Midori that it’s time to end the pretend relationship. Sugiura runs off early saying she has some stuff to take care of but not without giving Midori a goodbye kiss. Midori realizing what has happened decides that she’s going to chase Sugiura down and tell her how she really feels. That she fell for her seriously. By the time she catches her she finds Sugiura crying. Sugiura professes her love to Midori before she even gets a chance to tell Sugiura. The two embrace as Sugiura begins apologizing for loving her. Midori admits to her that she’s also in love with her.

We skip some into the future, everything seems to be official with the two. This time we’re at Sugiura’s house. The two sit down to eat some sweets from the bakery when Sugiura mentions how she doesn’t want any and tell idori to help herself. Sugiura tells her that she only visited the shop daily before being employed because love drew her to Midori. Midori suddenly realizes that somebody who comes from a family as well off as Sugiura probably wouldn’t even need a part time job. She only took it to spend time with Midori, to get to know her. The story ends with the two joking around a bit and Midori giving Sugiura a kiss. :)

• Loved the whole thing about Sugiura only coming to buy pastries to see Midori. I never expected that the first time through. Completely caught me off guard. I never thought about the fact Sugiura mentioned being wealthy either. Duh!
• Extremely cute story, just like Chapter 1. Oh and for that matter, all Otsu stuff is super cute.
• Uzuki from Chapter 1 is pictured on one page, she’s very young though. Fuuka the sister whom Shiho (Uzuki’s girlfriend from Ch. 1) borrows a school uniform from is also seen taking care of Uzuki.

Sketchbook Update: I’ll be back to blogging Sketchbook soon. Maybe I’ll do Episode 5 tonight. Not quitting on it.

Page 04 “A Sketch Competition Between Three People”

We begin with Sora at the house with her brother. As we found out int he last episode he seems to try and look after her somewhat. He’s warning her of the weather as she prepares to leave for her art meeting. She doesn’t seem to mind the fact it’s going to rain and doesn’t skip a beat.

Kurihara and Sora are the only two who show up for the art meeting. You get a bit more incite on the two of their personalities. Sora, overly nervous and easily shaken. Kurihara worry free and in touch with nature. Kurihara picks up a big and allows it to climb her arm and onto her face. She laughs away while Sora begins to panic and seems rather upset.

The art meeting is more of an extracurricular field trip. Their teacher arrives in her car to pick the group up and seems rather unenthusiastic. She tries to convince them that it’s going to rain and seems to try and talk her way out of it but the two girls seem set on going. Umbrellas packed and all she welcomes them into her car…with her chickens. I mean a LOT of chickens. X_X I thought she had the one chicken P-chan from episode two. Apparently there are more than one.

Kasugano seems to be the world most cautious driver as cars are blasting by her and the girls are mentioning her not reaching the speed limit. She’s now pumped up to go on the trip despite her indifference minutes ago. After arriving at their destination Sora narrates on how excited Kurihara is. It’s obviously her love of science and nature. Kasugano tells the girls to go on while she waits in the car.

So far we’ve seen a short clip of both Aso and Hazuki. One at home while the other was grocery shopping. Both are seen looking up at the sky as if they’re waiting for rain.

Sora follows Kurihara through the forest and stops along the way with her several times to examine plants and bugs. Kurihara continues her excited pace as she runs from thing to thing. Sora follows her slowly but steadily. Kasugano seems to be napping in the car while the girls explore for something to sketch. Eventually after stopping for lunch Sora finds a nice scenic view to start sketching. During this little scene Sora narrates what I’m guessing is the message of the story. Just because two people see things differently doesn’t mean they can’t both be right.

As the pair of girls continue to work on their sketches the weather begins to move in. The scenery they were sketching starts to blur and become dull as the fog rolls in over the mountains. Sora mentions how familiar it seems to her. The scene shifts to Kasugano in the car. As the rain starts to fall on her windshield a familiar feeling washes over her as well. Aso and Hazuki have run into one another and are currently having tea together somewhere in town. As they sit in the front window they notice the rain beginning to come down.

Back on the mountain Kurihara tries to send Sora back to the car because of the rain. Sora refuses and wants to continue following Kurihara around. She begins to notice how everything on the mountain has two faces. One during good weather and another while it’s raining. She decides that’s the reason Kurihara went on the trip today. To see both faces.  Kurihara lifts a leaf to reveal a butterfly hiding under it from the rain. At that moment Sora feels like she can see what Kurihara can see. That brings us back to the message I mentioned earlier. People can see the same exact thing but in a different way.

The girls head back to the car and her a bit of grief from Kasugano for being a bit late. She’s standing outside of the car looking at at the mountains. As the girls realize what she’s doing they turn to look as well. Just then the sun starts to peak from behind the clouds for a beautiful scene. Then they realize behind them a rainbow seems to have formed.  The scene shifts to Aso and Hazuki leaving the tea shop as they notice the same rainbow.

The girls and Kasugano head for home. Kurihara begins picking on her driving again. Just then Kasugano notices that her parking brake has been on the entire trip. No wonder they were going so slow. -_- Sora looks back at the mountain view and begins sketching a rainbow into her original drawing. As they drive off into the distance Sora reinforces the message for this episode and Kurihara continues picking on her teachers driving.

1. Surprised to see Kurihara without Juju.
2. The comedy duo appears again. They both had sketch books and mention being in the art club. Odd I’ve still yet to see them communicate with any of the other art club members.
3. Super filler episode, at this pace though I suppose it’s mostly filler. Well…in a way.
4. The art work continues to amaze me episode after episode. I’m looking forward to the manga. I’ll probably start on that once I finish the anime.
5. It took me a bit but I went back and re-watched the chicken part. All the chickens she had in her car were stuffed animals it seems. P-Chan was home, guarding the house.

Page 03 “AO’s Worry“

In the opening scene we’re introduced to Sora’s brother Ao in a quick little skit loaded with giggles. As we move past the opening credits it continues. Just the two of them at home. Sora seems even more disconnected than usually this episode. She’s day dreaming pretty much constantly thus far. We also find out this is going to be the obligatory yukata festival episode. She’s waiting for her friends to arrive and meet her there. Ao definitely seems to be the more responsible of the two siblings. He is also apparently  a better cook. :D

When Sora’s friends arrive it appears my suspicions of the puppets being something common with Aso were right. When Ao answers the door she reaches her arm in wearing a puppet and begins talking to him X_X. Oh and she has affectionately named the puppet Kerokichi. As Aso rushes on into the house past Ao without and invite Hazuki begings straightening up the shoes at the door. At first blaming it on Aso but then finding out Ao made the mess. A embarrassing moment for her it would seem. Ao mentioned earlier that he was curious about Sora’s friends. How they managed with the way she drifts and zones out. After the exchange with Aso and Kazuki at the door he seems to put two and two together.

Now it’s time to put on the yukatas! While Sora “helps” Aso put hers on it seems Hazuki is ready to go and scolds the two of them a little  for playing around. Ao decides to bring tea upstairs for the girls and says he’ll leave it outside the door. Instead Aso opes the door and tells him he needs to see as well. She means his sister. He seems completely shocked by Sora’s beauty. To break the moment we get a quick insert of humor. I loved it. Well timed because it almost felt a bit awkward the way he was looking at his sisters.. X_O

As the girls prepare to head out for the festival Ao interacts a bit with Hazuki. He wants to know if she “acts like that at school too.” Hazuki seems confused by the question. I suppose she’s just used to the way Sora is. MESSAGE! Ao seems to blush a bit as Hazuki runs off, perhaps a crush. Oh and of course Sora has her sketchbook with her for the festival. :)

The comedy skit girls appear again, twice, still no clue who they are. I actually took a picture of them this episode so you wouldn’t think I was crazy. :D I do however think they are actual characters now though and not comic relief. They were involved in one of the scenes at the festival rather than just a comic skit.

Speaking of the festival, it seems the entire art club is there including the teacher. The girls spend most of the time together and play several games, eat cotton candy and just seem to enjoy the atmopshere. At one point Sora disappears and Aso and Hazuki run into Ao and his two friends. The girls and Ao both reassure the other two unnamed male friends of his that there’s nothing to worry about if Sora goes missing. Eventually everyone meets up with the exception of Kamiya and Negishi even though they were seen earlier at the festival.

They all gaze at the fireworks over the mountain range in the distance as Sora tries to sketch the fireworks. Her brother watchs her from a slight distance and puts his worries to rest about her being a little different. He realizes that she’s always the same and that’s just the way she is. He continues to look on proudly as the art club helps Sora sketch what she was having a hard time doing alone.

1. Hazuki is mature one of the group without a doubt. She’s polite respectful and somewhat motherly. Aso seems to be the risk taker and life of the party while Sora took more of a lackadaisical silly role. I guess I didn’t notice Sora’s personality as much in the first two episodes. She seems to have really narrated a lot more this episode. Which gives you a good view into her mind.
2. Ao is also very mature for his age. By the way he’s in middle school since I didn’t mention it yet. He’s very adult like though, especially in comparison to his sister.
3. To me the main message in this seemed to be about friendship of many different varieties. That includes brother-sister and friend-friend. Accepting people for who they are is what friendship is really about. At least that’s what I took away from this one.
4. I guess Juju and Kurihara are just friends but they do seem to follow the typical stereotype of a yuri couple outside of a primarily yuri genre. At least vaguely enough for yuri goggles. I’m keeping them on, don’t worry.- O_O-
5. Cute episode all in all. Seeing how close Ao and Sora seem to be was really cute. Also at the end when the art club was all helping her while she sketched was also a sweet moment.
6. Oh and because I didn’t say it anywhere yet, ARIA.  [I'm done]