^ The chapter 41 pages weren't exactly an "omake", Canno just added a splash page at the end of the chap, that wasn't there in the magazine version. But if I had just reuploaded the chap everyone would have missed it, so…

And yes, Kaoru is a peach. =3

I don't know if we'll get a straightforward "will you go out with me?" scene… The only time Canno has ever done that the conventional way was with Asuka and Mikaze; the others didn't need that.

Which is why I'm curious to see what spin she'll put on it in AyaYuri's case. A Big Damn Kiss seems like a given, but seeing that the yuriness has become increasingly explicit over the course of the series, I wonder if she will dare have them go further… It's the Comic Alive, there's room for audacity I think.

Episode 2 was… better? Not that episode 1 was bad or anything, but I feel this one did a better job at capturing the general mood and the characters' feelings. The music was somewhat less invasive, and there were some great directorial ideas.

For example, that scene where Sayaka and Yuu are talking, but the center of the frame is on Touko in the background, between the two. There also are some neat uses of focus-shifting (of whatever you call it) between background and foreground, something I often see in cinema but not so much in anime…

And of course, the train scene. Time suspends, but not with flashy colors and blooming effects or stuff like that; instead we have cold colors with a lot of white. Which reflects Yuu's perception of the kiss perfectly. It doesn't move her, literally.

Also a funny detail that was added − when Koyomi says "She's really taken a liking to you, huh?" and Yuu responds "I wonder why"… the scene stops there in the manga, but in the anime Akari and Koyomi answer "No idea", which cracked me up. X)

So pretty happy with this episode. Still some details here and there that I find a bit off (notably the opening, which gives a strange amount of focus to Akari and Koyomi and feels a bit too… sugary), but if they keep this up I might enjoy this adaptation more than I expected. They're doing well with what seems to be a limited budget.

last edited at Oct 13, 2018 5:33PM

Yep. Voleme 10 will be the last one.

Is there a source for that?

^^ Dunno, I think we got a couple more volumes left… At any rate, it'd be weird to have the series continue without Ayaka and Yurine. =O

On another note… I really have a strange soft spot for Kaoru. She's a background character, but I can't help but find her adorably dorky every time she appears. <3 I almost wouldn't mind an arc where she gets a girlfriend.

The volume 9 omake is up on Mangadex.

<3

Well the first few and the final one usually. With some extra budget on the most pivotal moments in between. Drama series usually know how to stretch the money just right.

Well, it's not like YagaKimi is the kind of series that requires a huge animation budget. It's the direction and composition that will make or break it, and so far it seems to have that down.

I have yet to see the first episode, but I read that they covered just one chapter in the first episode? Does that mean that the anime will only cover about 15 chapters? (Since it will be 13 episodes long) That would be a real bummer...

Don't forget that the first chapter of a series is much longer than the others. And a lot of YagaKimi chapters are pretty short.

last edited at Oct 7, 2018 5:01AM

The first episode of the anime is out. Feels a tad more… sappy than I remembered, but they seem to have nailed the "visual storytelling" part, and that's important. Maybe a little too much eye-twitching and blushing though. Sayaka looks a little weird to me for some reason, but I love the overall coloring, very warm and fuzzy. The music does the job.

Not much else to say; it was a rather slow episode, but then again this is a slow story.

last edited at Oct 5, 2018 7:37PM

@Kanonchan: I approve of your avatar. XD Erika's the best worst girl.

I'm not surprised by the chapter as I don't think there was any other way, any other logical way, for the story to go based on how it has gone thus far.

Yeah, considering both Yuu and Touko's characters, something had to go wrong in this fashion at some point…

"What is love?"

Well, you see this feeling of being slapped in the face, punched in the stomach and completely numb to pain after a rejection? That's what love is. No real surprise in this chap, only the fact that Touko would have rejected Yuu either way, making the initial misunderstanding a bit awkward, narratively speaking.

There's starting to be some backlash on other sites too, haha. X) It does feel like your typical romantic third act. But I still like the chapter's atmosphere; makes you share the characters' feelings beautifully.

Well, they reappear in the bonus chapters and volume extras, so there's that. It'd indeed be nice to have more of them reappear once in a while in the story proper though. Like Sawa and Itsuki in the Haine-Aika arc.

If Kon's school isn't Seiran Academy, then most likely het couples exist, yes.

I'm sure she could legalize gay mariage in Japan and make Sawa pregnant by sheer strength of will.

I have no idea how they survived that fall though. XD Water is not soft when you fall from that kind of height.

as long as it wasnt a belly flop you would be fine, it didnt look that high.

Hmm yeah, rereading the chap it looks survivable…

Interracial wouldn't still be an accurate term really, tho, if both are fully Japanese.

"Interracial" is never an accurate term for anything involving two humans anyway. But yes, freckles and dark skin are a nice combination. <3

…Still, I've taken a quick look at some of Hattori's other manga… is this really the same artist? ò.Ô It seems like his (?) art has improved quite tremendously.

^ …What?

last edited at Sep 28, 2018 6:21AM

I have no idea how they survived that fall though. XD Water is not soft when you fall from that kind of height.

But anyway, I really like the dynamic between the two so far. Seems like a cheery/naive girl vs. grumpy tsundere pattern, but pleasantly subdued.

As for the translations, I wouldn't really mind continuing (there wasn't exactly a whole lot to translate in this chap), but if there's a team out there willing to pick it up, I'd glady give it to them, as I already have a lot on my plate.

After some unplanned issues, there will be no AnoKiss chapter this month. BUT the anthology Éclair Rouge came out today, with the 4th entry of "Mushoku to JK" in it.

Also, Canno posted this as an apology.

Itsuki has already baked the cake, bought the dresses and sent out the invitation cards.

last edited at Sep 27, 2018 4:14PM

Oh yeah, Can't You Read the Mood? I did translate a few chapters a year or two ago.

last edited at Sep 27, 2018 4:07PM

Hmm, what was that series? ^^"

On another note, a compilation of all the volume 9 bonus pages we'll never get to read. ;__; Among other stuff.

I do wonder what's the reason for native English speakers saying it that way if it's unusual…

But regarding Japanese, there is indeed no convoluted tense to speak of, the nuances are expressed by auxiliaries added to the verbs. And sentences like "it's the first time we've met" often come from non-verbal expressions like "shotaimen" or "hajimemashite".

last edited at Sep 24, 2018 9:48PM

Or it's a translator bias, because afaik, Lyendith is French and translates Ano Kiss to French, then to English.

And in French this sentence is usually full present tense, like, "c'est la première fois que je te vois ici", which literally translates as "It's the first time I see you here".

The English of a non native speaker is often better than a native speaker (uses more complex sentences), but also has sometimes a "different" way of speaking that gives him away.

Basically this, yeah. I wasn't even aware that "first time that + present" was a mistake in English. And no one had ever pointed it out to me before, so English speakers don't seem to find it that weird either… But I'll keep it in mind nonetheless.

last edited at Sep 24, 2018 8:29PM

I can totally buy lesbian pregnancy being a thing in a world where men don't exist. X)

Well, that was a surpsingly… normal ending to this arc? Obviously Canno wasn't gonna end this on a downer note, but it really felt a bit too easy there. I get what she was going for though − the classic "you don't know what's precious to you until you've lost it", so in that sense the breakup was necessary; and there is some thematic resonance with the AyaYuri arc running in parallel. But it's the kind of arc that makes me wish Canno wasn't so adamant in starting and ending an arc in a single volume. Hell, Izumi and Chiharu had 7 full chapters (plus a Drama CD) dedicated to them, and it was for the better.

Nice! Pages 6 & 7 = first canonical reference to knockin' boots XD

Further proof: this 1-page bonus from Shosen: https://comic-alive.jp/archives/014/201809/2dc51eefa5925d08c88eb58b301aad31.jpg

…Goddammit, when I read those pages I thought "yeah, they probably didn't get much sleep that night", but I didn't think it'd be confirmed. >.> Why does Canno include different bonus pages depending on where you buy the volumes though? TT.TT She could just put them all in the regular editions… There are several bonus pages like that we'll never get to see…

edit: Oh, and chart.

last edited at Sep 20, 2018 2:27PM

Beautiful… Truly beautif- wait a minute, where are you putting your hand, Asuka? >.>

last edited at Sep 9, 2018 9:51AM

High-school stories usually end when the main characters graduate, so there's probably still an entire year left to cover for our dunce couple. But I admittedly don't know what to expect if Canno continues after Ayaka and Yurine hook up…

Anyway, preview time!

No surprise, this chap concludes Asuka and Mikaze's arc.

Yes! That look is almost like a mother lovingly gazing at her grown-up child, it's just too sweet.

On a different note…

"This person here... is your new mom! <3"
I thought about a yuri with an uninvited Alien. (Canno's comment)

…I'd kinda read that.