What IS it with yuri manga and throwing in the shot of the "mysterious" woman in trendy clothes walking through a terminal or a train station to show that she's coming from somewhere far away? And having her say something ambiguous that obviously hints at a history with one of the leading ladies? There's clichés and then there's this!

Why, it's the yuri version of the mysterious stranger who appears in similar circumstances in practically every mainstream romantic manga (both shounen and shoujo) out there. The one whose sudden arrival spells big trouble for the romance of the MCs and lotsa thrills for the readers.

Japanese audiences sure love their clichés. ¯⧹_(ツ)_⧸¯

I'm not really against the cliché trope since I'm in it for the development of their relationship and overprotective girlfriend/s is the best tea

What IS it with yuri manga and throwing in the shot of the "mysterious" woman in trendy clothes walking through a terminal or a train station to show that she's coming from somewhere far away? And having her say something ambiguous that obviously hints at a history with one of the leading ladies? There's clichés and then there's this!

Why, it's the yuri version of the mysterious stranger who appears in similar circumstances in practically every mainstream romantic manga

I don't really know how anyone can call Igarashi "mysterious". We know who she is, we know her name, and we know quite a bit about her relationship with Chidori, even if all the details are as yet unclear. We probably know more about her personal history than we do of any of the other characters except the main two. That's not really a "mystery woman".

What IS it with yuri manga and throwing in the shot of the "mysterious" woman in trendy clothes walking through a terminal or a train station to show that she's coming from somewhere far away? And having her say something ambiguous that obviously hints at a history with one of the leading ladies? There's clichés and then there's this!

Why, it's the yuri version of the mysterious stranger who appears in similar circumstances in practically every mainstream romantic manga

I don't really know how anyone can call Igarashi "mysterious". We know who she is, we know her name, and we know quite a bit about her relationship with Chidori, even if all the details are as yet unclear. We probably know more about her personal history than we do of any of the other characters except the main two. That's not really a "mystery woman".

We don't know it's Igarashi, and whoever it is we don't know who she's referring to. I don't think Igarashi would refer to the girl who dumped/rejected her as "the cute kouhai we left behind <3".

last edited at Jun 23, 2019 12:27PM

I don't think Igarashi would refer to the girl who dumped/rejected her as "the cute kouhai we left behind <3".

The literal translation is "The kouhai-chan from after graduation ♡" (卒業した後の後輩ちゃん♡), but that sounds awkward in English. The "cute", "we", "left behind" are not in the original. I haven't read ahead, so this nitpick might be completely irrelevant, but it's important in the sense that we shouldn't start speculating based on translation word choices.

However, if she was Igarashi and referring to Chidori, she wouldn't refer to her as "The kouhai-chan from after graduation", since Chidori already rejected her while they were both students (chap. 23).

The literal translation is "The kouhai-chan from after graduation ♡" (卒業した後の後輩ちゃん♡), but that sounds awkward in English. The "cute", "we", "left behind" are not in the original. I haven't read ahead, so this nitpick might be completely irrelevant, but it's important in the sense that we shouldn't start speculating based on translation word choices.

The meaning is not "from after graduation"; a "literal" translation would be something like "after-I-graduated-kouhai-chan." In Japanese, generally there are a variety of possible ways an attributive clause interacts with the head noun, but it's usually clear in context. In this case, "the kouhai I graduated from" or "my old kouhai now that I've graduated" seems like the obvious meaning. My word choice was based on that interpretation.

As for the "cute", I needed to use "kouhai" as a noun rather than as a name or term of address because of the way the statement is structured. I try to only use honorifics on terms of address, and ideally only on actual names: "the kouhai-chan" just reads very poorly. So I wrote "the cute kouhai" instead, as it conveys the same meaning and feeling; the "-chan" here is basically a term of endearment.

The "we" is a bit of a guess. It's unclear who she's speaking to, since we can only see one side of the conversation. Based on the way she's speaking, I thought she could be talking to a friend from high school who'd graduated with her. Probably someone who stayed in or around Tohoku, whereas she herself went to university elsewhere.

Generally, I think you're right. If the translator is very good, then you can read a lot into their words about implied meanings in the text. If the translator is like me, then sometimes we fail to consider potential alternate readings of our words (or just screw up) and accidentally imply something that is incorrect. When a statement is ambiguous or has multiple meanings, it's very hard to properly convey those hints or alternate readings in a different language.

I wrote this translation after I already read the next couple volumes, so later events influenced how I resolved ambiguities in the text. I believe I remember thinking this was Igarashi when I first read it, but maybe it's not as obvious as I thought.

oh, good... we've finally reached that point. I was wondering when the new character inserted solely to add drama was going to appear -_-

@schuyguy

I didn't mean to criticize your translation at all, you do a great job. I was just trying to make a point about predictions based on exact phrasing (because @uncertain highlighted the word "we").

I believe I remember thinking this was Igarashi when I first read it, but maybe it's not as obvious as I thought.

I'm just speculating, but since you spoiler'd:

The 後 throws me out of the loop here. Why is graduation, specifically the time after graduation so important, that that's the descriptor she's using for the kouhai?

If she is Igarashi referring to Chidori, that seems like a weird way of phrasing it. "The kouhai I am/was in love with", "The kouhai I was telling you about", "The kouhai that rejected me" or just "That kouhai-chan" seem way more natural to me. If that's a spoiler, don't answer me.

^ She's talking about visiting her old school and explaining to the other person her motivation in doing so: she's interested in meeting someone she was familiar with who would still be a pupil there whom she hasn't caught up with since graduating. That's what the descriptor conveys.

@schuyguy

I didn't mean to criticize your translation at all, you do a great job. I was just trying to make a point about predictions based on exact phrasing (because @uncertain highlighted the word "we").

I didn't necessarily think you were criticizing me, I just wanted to explain my thinking, since you mentioned the translation.

The 後 throws me out of the loop here. Why is graduation, specifically the time after graduation so important, that that's the descriptor she's using for the kouhai?

If she is Igarashi referring to Chidori, that seems like a weird way of phrasing it. "The kouhai I am/was in love with", "The kouhai I was telling you about", "The kouhai that rejected me" or just "That kouhai-chan" seem way more natural to me. If that's a spoiler, don't answer me.

As for why she'd use 卒業したの後の, I don't think there's any spoilers there. Here's what we know in the context:
1: she's back in town after being away for a while
2: she's going to visit the school that she recently graduated from

Then the full line in question is this:

ん～？だって．．．どうしてるか　気になるじゃん？ 卒業した後の　後輩ちゃん

This question is fragmented: first she asks, then she supplies the topic. I think it's written that way more for dramatic effect than for any other reason. The subject comes last as a dramatic reveal. As a consequence, the structure requires that the second part be a single noun phrase, meaning that all the information has to be contained in a clause modifying kouhai. Even though it's grammatically modifying kouhai, I don't really think it's meant to identify her or single her out. It's just general information.

So I think she refers to her kouhai this way simply because she's emphasizing that she's curious about how the kouhai has done in the months since she last saw her. Graduation and visiting her old school was the previous topic of discussion, so it was natural to continue that line of thought.

Handhelding without Protection
Wait thats illegal

WOW that comment that was made in the latest chapter, "No flowers bloom without going through a storm," is so ominous and I hate it so much. Please, leave the perfect cinnamon rolls alone. Let them solve the problem of coming out first, don't just pile on more! Well, that's okay. Still gonna read this beautiful work of art.

/insert "in the closet" joke here.

/insert "in the closet" joke here.

And after that: beach boobs incoming.

It's a beach extravaganza, in which we learn that they're probably never going to have sex ever.

It's a beach extravaganza, in which we learn that they're probably never going to have sex ever.

They’re not going to have sex at the beach right now, certainly, but what leads you to the “never” conclusion?

just fuck already

i see the typhoon did not reach tohoku then

Not only could you tell her that, Nanoha, you absolutely SHOULD tell her that.

Chidori: We can't let anyone know we're dating, especially not our friends.
All of her friends: Titties...

At this rate, the three of them are going to come out to Nanoha and Chidori that they're all in a poly relationship before those two are comfortable holding hands in public. At least Nanoha seems to be getting more comfortable with their relationship and she might eventually push Chidori into coming out.

There are some pretty ominous chapter titles coming up and they go right along with the line from the end of Chapter 36: "No flowers bloom without passing through a storm." So we have "Summer Storm", some backstory chapters, "Their Trial", "Decision and Parting", and "Flowers after the Rain"... It kind of looks like there's could be a break-up and get back together arc coming up. There's definitely something going on with the girl who Chidori cut her hair over and who gave her chocolates on V-Day during their first year, which she then returned, but made Nanoha think that Chidori had a boyfriend up until right after Spring Break when she confessed. That was obviously the woman arriving at the airport or train station or whatever at the end of Chapter 36.

There are some pretty ominous chapter titles coming up and they go right along with the line from the end of Chapter 36: "No flowers bloom without passing through a storm." So we have "Summer Storm", some backstory chapters, "Their Trial", "Decision and Parting", and "Flowers after the Rain"... It kind of looks like there's could be a break-up and get back together arc coming up. There's definitely something going on with the girl who Chidori cut her hair over and who gave her chocolates on V-Day during their first year, which she then returned, but made Nanoha think that Chidori had a boyfriend up until right after Spring Break when she confessed. That was obviously the woman arriving at the airport or train station or whatever at the end of Chapter 36.

Yeah no, my best guess is that Chidori's ex comeback and try to make a move on her but Nanoha step in as Chidori's GF and Chidori cut definitely the ties with her ex.

Thank you for picking this again <3 I can't wait until we reach chapters 47, 48 and 49. Fireworks are dangerous

Arrh my favourite slightly unless lesbians are back.

Omg she said sexy, i can't take this no more