It finally arrived, relatively fast in fact, so I spent the night reading it. I'm happy it was released next, especially because Nana's and Hitomi's story is a more fond memory for me than even Girl Friends. That's probably because the first chapter stood out among other stories in that it didn't remain as bittersweet and ambiguous as most I encountered, back when I started reading yuri manga, besides the pretty art and detailed characters.[1] It might have been around the time it got scanlated but that's a bit hard to confirm after this long. It's a bit shameful to admit that I found out there are 5 finishing chapters only by the time I ordered this publication, but it made me very happy as I always wished for the story being continued when only occasional follow-up chapters appeared time-to-time.
I expressed earlier that I'm concerned about the quality of the translation. As of the result, it's quite acceptable and I'm sure it was a lot of work, but I'm a bit disappointed too. It's not that big of an issue I suppose, but I don't really like the title of the first chapter that much in this version. Moving on, there are only a few typos, about 5 or 6 altogether, but besides the obvious letter doubling there are some that make sentences grammatically wrong, or that could've been two different correct sentences but is neither. What I'm more concerned about are the potential mistranslations. To me it appears as if Lililicious' work carried more meaning and/or details here and there. If it's an effort for a more fluent or familiar experience then I'm not convinced it's really for the better. Translation matters lead to what keeps bothering me the most (the rest of this part might be a spoiler); It's the "We can register our..." sentence on the very last page of the Hitomi & Nana chapters. Did I miss the news of certain changes in Japan or is it indeed a glaring fault? I considered the possibility of it being a reference to opportunities abroad, but then the lines that follow seem controversial.
About the stories, I didn't like the one-shots nearly as much, but it's nice how they expand the setting a bit. The ending of the main storyline is both appealing and sudden. If I'm not mistaken, I read the author once stating that she intended to continue their story past high school, as they face problems during college and so on, while they keep working for a life together. This may be referred to in the afterword too. I'd also like more stories about grown-ups instead of those bound by school years, which, regardless of everything, remain uncertain to a great extent regarding the future. Stories that still start this early and continue that far could be even better, so I'm sorry for this missed opportunity. I wonder if, or preferably when, we could expect more stories about coming outs and facing discrimination differently than hiding, from authors, including Morinaga-sensei.
I don't have any basis for this, but I though some time ago about how nice it'd be if that the elderly couple at the Amber Teahouse (chapter 5) could be Nana and Hitomi or another couple Morinaga-sensei depicted, as their features match her usual designs.
[1] The word straightforward came to mind around that sentence, then that gayforward would be more suitable. That made me wonder if others would take that as an insult, if it has ever been used, or if it is just a really pathetic attempt at making up a word. Probably the latter only so I should apologize keeping this in the post.
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