When you realize DeLphi isn't 1/4 dead, it's 2.5/5 dead.

Relatively subdued volume finale but not unusual given the manga's settling into a long run. Only so many times you can reinvent the rules without stealing twists from the endgame. And this volume was said to be more laid back before we take a steep turn next time.

The big takeaway of course is confirmation there was a 5th member of De:Lphinus. There's been subtle hints beyond Masaki plain asking where the 5th girl went, Delphinus being a 5 star constellation for example. And the Sailor Moon theory (each member follows the same naming pattern as the 5 main sailor senshi: Tsuki/moon, Ai/love, Hi/fire, Ki/tree, Mizu/water is missing. Dorothy being a massive Sailor Moon fangirl and referencing this way back with Kidou Ange wearing a Jupiter shirt.) So 5-chan is almost certainly Mizu-something.

Unless there's an insane twist in the works 5-chan is the ghost haunting DeLphi. Which raises questions. Why was her death even quieter than Aizawa's? Tear never referenced it aside from potentially at the start of ch18, where she may have linked herself to it ("I should know better than anyone [something supernatural is happening]" coupled with a panel of her standing in blood(?)). But she's been trying to deny DeLphi's haunted for a while now, so it makes sense she'd bury it. If so though, why isn't 5-chan targeting her? Why Aizawa and then Ange? Why does she need Aizawa to be fully dead? Why does she need to possess Ange to do it? It's not like Aizawa needs possession to get things done. Why is 5-chan seemingly bound to DeLphi when we know Aizawa has some pretty strict and unique rules binding her to school? And if Karasuma is investigating the source of this mess, why isn't she going after DeLphi? It's just a hunch but I don't think 5-chan is the final boss here.

There's a lot less insight on Masaki than I expected but it was a very humanizing chapter for her nonetheless. And now we get the fun implication Aizawa could accidentally kill her the same way 5-chan is killing Ange. That's a fairly deliberate transition from Masaki coughing to Ange coughing. This also seemingly confirms 5-chan did not die of ghostly illness, otherwise Tear would have mentioned it back when she said that's how Aizawa died. And finally we have wild ghosts returning (after 2 volumes post-exorcism) which means a return to the spooky stuff.

And now for the chapter title.
Lying Mii-kun and Broken Maa-chan is a light novel series by Hitoma Iruma, the author of Adachi and Shimamura. I haven't read all 12 volumes - only the 1st - so it's hard to tell exactly what connection Dorothy is drawing here. Far from the first time an Aizawa chapter title has referenced another work, and there's always meaning to it. To sum up Mii-kun and Maa-chan's relationship (spoilers for volume 1):

'Mii-kun' and Maa-chan were victims of a kidnapping when they were kids. The kidnapper forced Maa-chan to murder her own parents, traumatizing her and permanently derailing her memories and sense of reason. 'Mii-kun' is not the real Mii-kun, but the son of the kidnapper who was victimized as well. Maa-chan mentally replaced the real Mii-kun with him as a coping mechanism. 'Mii-kun' has his own trauma including being a pathological liar (even to himself) incapable of accepting the word love after his mother died protecting him during the kidnapping. The two were separated for a while, but after reuniting Maa-chan is utterly obsessed with 'Mii-kun', immediately treating him like they're a married couple which 'Mii-kun' passively goes along with. Maa-chan also has dark tendencies like kidnapping children herself, and 'Mii-kun' is driven by a desire to protect her and set everything right.

It's kind of a classic of the yandere genre, with a complex protagonist and melancholic monologues like Iruma's known for. Again, I'm no expert on it. And I can only guess what Michi or Masaki's deal is. But there's connections in that summary which should jump out at you. So are we getting a yandere arc out of Masaki? Is there more than meets the eye to her infatuation with Michi? Or is she just ghost sick and the title extends no further than the events of this chapter? Who knows!

Hopefully (hopefully) the manga doesn't go on another 2 month hiatus like the other volumes. Volume 1's happened because Dorothy was graduating college, 2's came because she missed deadlines, 3 had no reason given. But she's hired an assistant now so maybe I'll see you again next month.

• It's a little suspicious how fast Honda jumped on Masaki coughing. Does Masaki have a history of illness?
• The promise Ange refers to was in chapter 14 when she reassured Tear DeLphi wouldn't give up.
• With Michi getting interrupted asking about what Aizawa was like in life it's looking increasingly like there's an answer we need to hear there.
• Michi continues her deduction streak of being horribly wrong about everything.
• "I never thought about who I want to be with for Christmas. Oh anyway, how's Aizawa-san?" is like a colorblindness test for subtext.
• Enter the Michi/Aizawa/Masaki/Honda poly route.

I think the point of sympathy with Misaki might be related to Michi's early comic theory that Aizawa is haunting the classroom because while alive she barely got to attend school and do school life things due to her job as an idol. Maybe there was an element of truth to that with Aizawa, which makes her sympathize with Misaki's story here

Very true and I kind of lost that detail for the trees.

last edited at Dec 21, 2024 3:14PM

Anime Japan page. Series name and author name below.
見えてますよ！　愛沢さん
棘尾どろしー

[Good news] Seta has finally put on his winter uniform.

Aizawa's jealous of Masaki who's jealous of Kasumi who's jealousing Michi while Reona jealouses everybody and somewhere out there there's Sayaka. Come home soon.

Michi has finally been called out on her denseness. She obviously gets she's in love with Aizawa and is trying to bury it by denying Aizawa's feelings too, but at least she cracked the case of what happened in uh... chapter 5. At this rate she'll figure out the cultural festival by volume 8.

"女の子が好きでしょ？/You like girls, don't you?"
Japanese is one of those languages that can be difficult to parse the degree of expression as platonic or romantic, but y'know I'm pretty sure. A lot of Masaki's dialogue is like that.

There's a few noteworthy panels that feel like anchors for future plot points but have little context yet.
Michi recaps her assumption that Honda was only afraid of introducing her to Masaki because she'd tell Michi how Honda wanted to be an idol, which means it's almost certainly wrong. Sorry Michi you don't have a great record. And Honda later hints there's more she doesn't want Michi to know, going back to her strange warnings in chapter 20.

Meanwhile Aizawa has an uncharacteristically sympathetic reaction when Masaki defends herself getting close to Michi and coming to school. She then wants Honda and Masaki to stop fighting. Since it's practically guaranteed they met and Aizawa remembers her, she might have some empathy for whatever happened to Masaki to stop her from going to school.

And we have our setup for just Michi, Aizawa, and Masaki together for a few chapters. Next chapter should be on the long side and close off volume 4; Dorothy tends to end volumes with a bang. So while 4 has been a departure (like she promised back in the volume 3 extras) we're probably getting back to ghost shenanigans shortly. Ange's mystery has been building and Dorothy likes to write in broad strokes, sprinkling this photo across the last 3 chapters. So the question now is: is it the ghost in the mirror, or is that Ange while her body is possessed?

• Tear still has a group photo with Aizawa included on the back of her phone. Sentimental.
• More foreshadowing of Michi's strange athleticism.
• I appreciate how Aizawa is portrayed just as clueless as Michi. Viva idiot couples.
• Rikurou is probably Non's account.
• Return of Kittyzawa. The Ghost Trick theory holds.
• Pokerface Kasumi is my spirit animal.

• There was some other unintroduced girl there who didn't make it

The Mizu does exist!

Thinking on it more, if Masaki's surprised this girl isn't in the group now she must have seemingly passed. So maybe De:Lphinus was meant to be a 5 person group but something happened between auditions and debut. After all there's 5 stars in the constellation. And yeah of course there's the Sailor Moon naming scheme they all follow. 100% chance the missing girl is Mizu-something.

Secret lore chapter!?

• Masaki made it to the final auditions for De:Lphinus
• There was some other unintroduced girl there who didn't make it
• Back in chapter 18 Tear referenced some unexplained incident with a panel that looked like a pool of blood
• There's a random ghost haunting De:Lphinus that calls Aizawa "Hona-chan" but wants her dead
• Masaki dropped out of middle school potentially around the time she failed the De:Lphinus auditions
• Masaki and Aizawa surely knew each other, between Masaki calling her "Honami-chan" and the startled look Aizawa gives her on page 23

Masaki is a little toxic and manipulative in all the ways baby lamb Michi is blind to. She's clearly propping herself up in front of Michi by putting Honda down, though Honda's not that mad about it? Only time she lost it was when she thought Masaki was making light of Aizawa's death. But Honda clearly has some self-esteem issues Masaki's happily fostering.

What that tells me is they were likely once better friends and their relationship has been in a slow awkward decline, Masaki soothing herself by taking her frustrations out on someone who puts up with her. She really rubs it in that she's the dominant one, she's the prettier one, she's the one who got closer to being an idol. And those cold looks she gives out of Honda's sight on 14 and 16, when Honda's showing some vulnerability.

I don't think this is the type of manga to have irredeemable characters. Their relationship is messed up but also extremely natural. I'm sure we've all experienced a friendship that turned bitter but kept going out of obligation and a subconscious longing for those better days. I'm sure we've all been in Michi's position too of not being sure how seriously to take the bickering between two people you're just getting to know. And there's still flashes of warmth between them, surrounding the emotional abuse.

If I'm being charitable, part of Masaki getting off on using Honda like a punching bag is desperation to look good for someone new. We know she's running from something, even if she looks like she's got it together. Her fixation on Michi is weird to Honda, though it doesn't seem like she knew pre-amnesia Michi? But her comment on Michi's newly long hair is suspect. And obviously her stalking Michi at the end is taking it to new levels.

Normally I'd attribute Masaki's eyes to some yandere creative licensing, but considering there's an eye pattern going on...
Michi, Sayaka, and Neo have permanently fuzzy irises signifying their ability to see ghosts. Masaki's eyes aren't permanently like this, but on page 22 her pupil is all scrambled. To speculate, she's looking at Michi's back here. The AAA mark is on the back of Michi's neck. So it could have to do with that. There's also a mildly suspicious panel on page 10: Michi wonders if she's the only one that sees the ghost on Ange in detached narration over a panel of Masaki. Might be implying something, might be page constraints.

This chapter also doesn't really account for all the suspense last chapter, like warning Masaki might get weird, but we're getting there.

• Honda remains an angel. But I didn't think she'd be flirting with Michi as much as Masaki was.
• Honda prefers to not be called Reona, which Masaki refuses to do, but that strikes me as a childhood friend thing and not maliciousness.
• Dorothy skipped the usual chapter release art for 20 but we get Masaki in color now.
• Today's Aizawa's birthday.

You might have noticed the image quality is pretty bad recently. Around chapter 18 the magazine became noticeably blurrier and the web chapters dropped in resolution from 1920 to 1600. To make things worse, my rips of this latest issue do this wacky thing where every image's resolution is randomized?? I don't know. I upscaled them back to 1920 for some consistency and applied sharpening filters but it's not great. Maybe it's less noticeable on phones.

I adore how the most foreboding chapter of this manga is purely buildup to Michi getting kissed by a genki gyaru.

Masaki's definitely the girl from Honda's photo in the volume 2 extras.
Either Masaki really, REALLY knows her type or she knew Michi in the pre-amnesia days - she was at their school at the start of the year which is an odd detail. And despite all the red flags even Honda's shocked how fast Masaki jumped Michi. Still, Masaki didn't seem to recognize Michi at first in the selfie. Though if she does know her, that's the perfect chance for Michi to explore her missing memories without getting wiped again since it has nothing to do with Aizawa.

It's also the perfect case for Michi to admit she's in the middle of a love triangle and even double down on her feelings for Aizawa over a living girl.

There's tons of structure set up this chapter: It's a short while until goodbye at winter break, Masaki's surely coming back to school and Aizawa won't take that well, then two weeks of yuri divorce, something big happens at the New Years' concert, then reunion. Somewhere in there Michi is going to have to break into school and meet Aizawa. And bear in mind Christmas is a romantic holiday in Japan. That's like 5 emotional climaxes and probably the next 2 volumes worth of plot.

But that's a lot of thinking ahead when I can't imagine what the hell is about to happen in Honda's room.

Random notes:

• Ange being Michi's 2nd favorite is surely setup for Michi to confront whatever's possessing her.
• I keep confusing myself so for everyone's sake, Honda never said Masaki went to a different school. That was something Kasumi assumed and stuck. Honda didn't bother correcting but did get all awkward when it was brought up.
• Dorothy says Masaki was originally meant to appear in volume 1, back when she thought she needed to rush the story. Masaki probably is a pivotal character.
• High school isn't compulsory in Japan so someone who skipped middle school could still test to get in.
• Imaginary Honda #2 was super Osakan which somehow translates to Canadian? I don't make the rules.

Now I'm going to ramble about horror and romcoms.

It's an uncommon understanding that irony is key to both horror and comedy. Both rely heavily on building and subverting expectations, following similar patterns of raising, relieving, maintaining tension to banked and spent. It's this commonality that makes horror comedy like chocolate + peanut butter. In fact you'd be hard pressed finding a horror movie that doesn't throw in moments of even black comedy to subvert irony in the opposite direction.

And I think Dorothy does a masterful job utilizing irony for both purposes; this chapter being a prime example. Honda acting weirdly weird despite normally being the weirdest character leaves the whole scene uneasy, the strange inversion with Michi using the outgoing fonts while Honda has the shaky stuttering ones, leaping in and out of Honda's usual style of rapid-fire oddball jokes solely to stall and avoid the inescapable elephant in the room. Building up this feeling of dread. We know something's wrong that Michi is savvy enough to pick up on but not identify. Dramatic irony, when you're screaming at the TV hoping the dumbass protagonist realizes they shouldn't go in the house. The unrocked boat that should have been.

The foreboding balanced by a constant undercurrent that Masaki represents a romantic danger, (some small comfort to the yuri-loving audience who are still likely fearing the inevitable rivalry.) while subverting Michi's hopes of finding refuge in friendship. She doesn't see it precisely because she's blinding herself to love. Meanwhile Aizawa notices immediately. Yet this further subverts the typical impotent threat of a third wheel: Masaki is unintentionally raising the stakes for Aizawa's unstable unlife. The tension doesn't let up with the reveal - there's a dread for what happens when Aizawa finds out; you know someone's going to get hurt, not just in the feelings, and Michi's at fault.

But indeed there's almost always a sense of culpability in horror. The protagonist always gets a chance to dodge danger and ignores it. It's part of the cautionary tale, tied here into self-discovery. Undoubtedly, Masaki is already scary as a horror monster because we know she's a time bomb for Aizawa. And Michi's brought it on herself. Not that Honda doesn't share the blame. That shot of her in the elevator pre-emptively apologizing is almost comically unnerving, maybe the most bad vibes panel in the entire manga, followed by a hard cut to superdeformed chibis as she dodges the subject a final time.

This chapter's so uniquely Aizawa-san's style I love it.
It's wild that all this tension is spent introducing a simple love triangle. That Masaki's double-page intro somehow fits in the same category as the rest of the full-page jumpscares - very deliberately playing off multiple layers of tension. The general sense of danger, the horror of an impending love rival, and the comedic irony of subverting both aspects with each other; this would never work in a non-horror romantic comedy. It's a testament to the manga's strength synthesizing all 3 genres. Even if some people might have strong opinions on love triangles.

last edited at Sep 21, 2024 8:00AM

Fanbox again.
Translations for chapter 18 and 19.
I know the format's not ideal but it's the most I can be comfortable with. I really wish it didn't come to this.
As mentioned you can be updated on wordpress or discord. New chapters release at the start of each month and I'll try to have them typeset within a week.

Anyway to be less depressing yay Tania's finally letting the mask drop. Some interesting changes with Sara being aware of the 1 month waiting period for a new Sylpheed removing a bit of motivation for her suicide attempt, though it doesn't mean she's in the clear. Wonder if the butterfly monsters will still make a return. There's still the slow escalation of darkness, with Tania not quite killing the guard but Natalia being confronted with someone that clashes with her worldview of intrinsic good.

Tania's plan was rash but not terrible apart from failing to account for roots, which is clear exposition for future battles. And kind of funny she doesn't seem to know what roots are; I guess from growing up in a desert? It's not clear if she means to use the incoming monsters to her advantage but I wouldn't put it past her now. Can't wait for her to inevitably go after Sara.

Edit: Working on a better solution to let those with the raws read it unwatermarked, but it might take until next chapter. I know this all seems ridiculous but I've got dumb moral hangups to work through.

last edited at Sep 21, 2024 7:30AM

I don't really know what's happening and what's the deal with the last page, but it seems like everything's fine for now?

Recap as quick as I can make it:

Michi knew Aizawa in life but gets her memories wiped every time she comes close to learning this or directly interacts with her. Non confronted Michi about it but openly saying she's never met Aizawa caused Aizawa to despair into double-death. Mini Michi (who seems to be some kind of independent manifestation of Michi's spiritual powers protecting them both) managed to stabilize them but also ran out of power in the process. Sayaka threw her club's big performance to redraw the protective star mark with her own blood and bring them back from the brink before something possessing Ange could enter and kill Aizawa.

This chapter was only the calm after the storm with Sayaka nearly getting kicked out of her club and Michi trying to make sense of what happened, in part revealing how much she's forgotten (Non's photo of her with Aizawa, Mini Michi, everything in the gym where she started remembering the past). Its chaotic energy is all from Michi struggling to make sense of all she's not allowed to know.

As it stands with these 3:

• Michi: Has spiritual blinders preventing her from speaking to or remembering anything about Aizawa (her dizziness, nosebleeds, blacking out, etc.). She does a lot of mental gymnastics to fill in the gaps, but she's getting her memories wiped every couple chapters at this point. And yet she's accepted she's in love with Aizawa and making progress.

• Aizawa: Hard to tell because her only language is interpretive dance. But she potentially remembers everything and understands the most. She clearly recognizes Mini Michi and knows she used to know Michi. Considering Michi directly acknowledged her when she turned into a monster and is generally bad at hiding it, Aizawa also probably knows Michi can see her. She seems to be just hanging out enjoying her girlfriend's mental breakdown and hoping for the best.

• Sayaka: Pretending to be dumb but also not all-knowing. She knows Aizawa is a ghost, she knows the mark belongs to amnesiac Michi and is protecting the school, but she doesn't know from what. Or why things are so weird with these 2. She also must realize Michi can see ghosts which makes the 3 even goofier together. Sayaka has strong spiritual powers but her family seems to have beaten into her an attitude to publicly ignore or disbelieve in them. Even so she's too selfless to stop, so she leans into her happy-go-lucky weird idiot persona.

Now for Honda:

The ending's taking us into a new subplot. Honda's friend (who we've never met but is probably in the photo here) stood her up at the festival. Honda sent her a selfie with Michi to make her jealous, but this backfired when her friend hit on Michi instead. There's nothing else to go off yet but there's been hints for a while Honda has a complicated social life, along with connections being drawn to Michi's current state. Michi thinks she could sort this out if she made friends, Honda has lots of friends and is still just as insecure about defining those friendships. Michi struggles accepting her love for a dead girl, Honda's openly crushing on that same dead girl. This new arc will likely help Michi come to terms with her feelings for Aizawa like how volume 2 did using Kasumi and Sayaka.

Something tells me that the "white text on a black background" boxes aren't just Michi referring to herself in second-person.

The challenge with those is they have no pronouns. It's impossible to tell if it's Michi's internal thoughts, her subconscious speaking to her, or some omniscient narrator. Their repetition is such a distinct choice I expect them to show up in future chapters but I can't guess what they represent for now beyond Michi's fractured mental state. Could again be Michi's subconscious or something more supernatural.

Chapter 18 is out and translated.
I've opted to still typeset it but with filters, leaving the art only visible enough to act as a guideline. This was the best method I found to read it naturally(?), capturing all the SFX and little details. The idea is you'd still need to subscribe but could read along back-to-back instead of having to constantly decipher what lines went where from a text file.
Translation
Raw chapter

As mentioned, new chapters are set to release the 1st week of every month and the cheapest tier only gets you access to the latest chapter. Still a good bargain but you'd have to stay on top of it.

Gaaaah
First, a cliffhanger with a month of nothing after a slap, and now a cancellation + move to fanbox. I hope that at least the continuation will be from this more detailed version rather than the twitter one...

There was a chapter this month, I'm just slow at translating it because I'm feeling devastated.
The fanbox continuation will follow where the serialized version leaves off. The announcement confirmed the twitter version is discontinued.

Important details this chapter:

• Ange is confirmed to have been possessed.
• Tear both understands something unnatural is happening and has had a closer encounter with it than we've seen. There's a brief panel of what could be blood she's standing in.
• Being Sayaka is suffering.
• Reona's gearing up for her subplot. I strongly suspect the girl she planned to meet is Non. There's the awkwardness surrounding the friend not being from another school, and whoever it was cancelled last second. Not to mention how much emphasis is put on sending them a picture of Michi. Non was at the festival but ran out, knows Michi and will react badly to seeing her right now, and she's vital to understanding Michi and Aizawa's past and therefore needs to get more involved soon. The plot threads are all in the right place, not to mention Reona and Non are the only girls without a pairing.

This manga's always refreshing with how readily it tackles yuri. Kasumi and Sayaka already being in a relationship, Kasumi not dodging the topic of being a lesbian, Michi's only internal struggle over loving Aizawa being the fear of falling for someone who's already gone. Understandable really. But too late.

I'm excited for where this takes their relationship now that Aizawa must be getting a sense of reciprocity. The wall between them is paper thin but still insurmountable, which is sure to lead to some interesting interactions. Michi likely still can't directly address Aizawa without tripping spookiness, but the important part is both parties admit they love the other, both recognize the other loves them, and this story's nowhere near done. Good place to be in a romance. Things might seem doomed right now, but with how lacking Michi's knowledge of ghosts is there's always hope for a more stable solution to her and Aizawa.

Reona is a megaflirt, making passes at just about any girl though never seeming quite serious. Aside from with Aizawa where she was absolutely crushing on her. I don't get the feeling her relationship with this "friend" is romantic yet. And if it is Non, maybe Reona doesn't even realize that? Maybe they met online as fellow Honamin fans and this would have been their first real meetup? That would explain the awkwardness over clarifying their relationship.
Whatever the case here, I'm confident it's leading to the next side couple.

Also while on the topic of relationships, on the platonic side of things, it's nice to see De:Lphinus do all care deeply about each other. From the brief glimpses the cracks used to look wider than they are. Tear has a heavy sense of responsibility for the others, Non comes to her for comfort even if they fight. Ange's characterization is a bit lacking but that's unavoidable when she literally hasn't been herself for 3 chapters.

Dorothy said next chapter should be a return to more everyday SoL, so I expect volume 4 to lay off the ghost drama a little while the new status quo settles in.

I wonder if balloons (especially red ones) are used as metaphor for death/dead people in Japanese literature 'cuz I've seen some uses of it in other media

I found it significant there's 2 balloons shown drifting away together at first. The lost balloons seem to represent something unattainable, but not as straightforward as simply Michi being unable to reach Aizawa. It could be both of them detached from the world together, caught in something beyond their understanding or control. And balloons don't fly for long. Balloons are associated with happiness and festivities, but a lost balloon becomes a much bleaker symbol of good times gone.

This manga's a little dense as it turns out.

And volume 1 was mostly just character introductions, though ch6 raised all kinds of questions. Volume 2 used Kasumi's drama as a decoy to spring 3 twists on you at once in ch12. From there it's been nonstop laying heavily into the mysteries. Kind of a bait and switch but the setup was always there. While I don't blame anyone for getting lost in the months between chapters it's a real shame not to be appreciating all the layers to the story, so this recap felt a little necessary and was also just a fun exercise organizing it all together. I can't wait to see where it goes now.

On a reread, the 3 biggest details I'd missed were

• Sayaka remarking on the abnormal number of ghosts before Aizawa died
• Karasuma faintly recognizing the mark but definitely recognizing Little Michi
• The dark shadow over Aizawa reaching for Michi in the volume 2 extras spread

The first 2 require a reread regardless, the kind of thing where you get an overlooked answer to a question you don't even realize you should be asking yet. I like that in mysteries. From that we can extrapolate there was some really bizarre stuff happening with Aizawa already, or potentially Michi since Aizawa wasn't coming to school? I'll admit Karasuma isn't all that direct with her warnings. Point 2 tells us Little Michi has probably been around a lot longer than just this incident, maybe since whatever traumatized Michi originally.

Point 3 is something no one can make any sense of yet until we understand more of the threat, but it's interesting that it paints a target on Michi rather than leaving her an accessory to Aizawa. Like whatever it is that killed her also wants Michi dead, or was maybe even going through Aizawa to get to Michi in the first place.

I intentionally left out some questions about volume 1 because they're potentially early inconsistencies, but considering this is based off an older twitter manga and everything else seems consistent, I doubt Dorothy wouldn't have thought things through:

Aizawa kissing other girls at first would completely rule out she and Michi were a couple, probably that she wasn't in love love with Michi yet too. Though obviously she gives her special treatment from the start.

Also Aizawa acting as though Michi can't see her, despite me being unable to drop the theory she knows all about Michi's powers, or at least by all means should be aware Michi can feel her touch by now. Maybe Michi's powers were meant to be sealed too? Which is why Little Michi is picking up all the slack. Then Aizawa would think Michi's a completely normal girl at first. Though she did show shock right from the first chapter when Michi was reacting to her. Then there's the whole mystery of why Aizawa's so immature in ghost form that I didn't even want to touch on because it could just as easily be her inner self released from the pressure of idoling.

Whatever I'm rambling again because I really can't help myself.

Also, unless I missed it, was there no significance to how Aizawa seemed to not want to possess Kasumi? (chapter 15 pages 29-31)

I decided for now I could file that under Aizawa losing control of her powers. It's still weird and we don't really know the rules of possession, like why Aizawa got booted out seconds later, but whatever. Like maybe she intentionally left after getting unintentionally pulled in but still wanted to kiss Michi but then felt disgusted with herself? Who knows. There's so much I want to hear of Aizawa's perspective.

I didn't want to complicate things too much, just keep it simple yet thorough.

Just let us be with you a little more. I know we keep making it harder for you. I'm sorry.

Interesting that mini-Michi said "us" and "we" referring to herself and the star seals placed all over.

Just to clarify, that should be in reference to mini Michi and Aizawa. She refers to "That girl and I"/私とその子 in the previous line and I decided to carry it over into the next, though it's a bit ambiguous and she could have simply meant herself. The montage of the stars could have been to signify she's the one who made them, not Michi, but it's hard to guess her nature yet.

The other Michi being treated as a wholly separate entity was the 2nd biggest surprise for me, the 1st being Sayaka and Karasuma's connection. Nothing about Sayaka can surprise me anymore. Most of the rest of the chapter feels like the culmination of everything already set up this volume. And I can't wait to see where the next one goes with Michi coming to terms with being in love with Aizawa. She spent way too long denying it.

I'm also considering making an unofficial extra with the 3rd volume, re-examining the details of the story so far as objectively as I can, since a lot of people seem lost. The first two volumes really trick you into thinking you aren't reading a complicated mystery about memory loss and esoteric ghost rules.

Though I think it's fine to be lost so long as Michi's just as confused. All this will have to be explained to her at some point.

I'll write up what I think is happening in chapter 16, since it's fairly confusing. The manga doesn't expect you to know all this yet, so if you're confused that's perfectly fine. But there's been enough hints that some very reasonable guesses can be made. This is a dense manga and I think on a re-read you'll notice many details that bring this all together.

An abridged(lol) speculative summary of the story so far:

Aizawa and Michi met and became best friends during her brief time at school. Aizawa was busy as an idol but also sick with what might have been a curse. She likely met Michi through her investigating this curse, which would allow most of their meetings to happen outside school. This is important because practically no one has seen them together.

Michi was a fledgling exorcist and connected with Karasuma. Something happened at the Obon festival 2~3 months ago, where she took Aizawa, and Aizawa died a few days after. This is one of the hardest periods to guess now, but Michi seems to have drawn up the marks around school to bind Aizawa's spirit, establish a barrier that kept powerful ghosts out, and then lost her memories. It's important to note she was trying to protect Aizawa from something, and it's debatable whether losing her memories was a result of the binding or part of the same curse that killed Aizawa.

There is also something preventing Michi from acknowledging Aizawa. If she tries to speak to her, reality breaks down, Michi suffers physically, and her memories are erased again. (However this could be a safeguard of Michi's creation, which I'll get to later.) There is also a younger version of Michi who appears when she's unconscious and protects her/Aizawa. Young Michi seems to be some kind of independent guard system possibly embodying Michi's unused/sealed exorcist powers. But whatever power she was given is finite and running out.

Now that her powers are fading, the marks around school are also disappearing, including the one binding Aizawa to Michi. This could potentially limit her to the classroom again, where the original mark was. But the barrier is also broken, allowing stronger and more dangerous ghosts through. The ghost haunting De:Lphinus seems connected to Aizawa, since it reacts to her being forgotten and Non thought its voice sounded like Aizawa. It's currently possessing Ange to reach Aizawa.

As a lingering spirit, Aizawa has an unfulfilled desire trapping her in the world of the living. Hers is to be an immortal idol, never forgotten. Being forgotten triggers an extreme response, and she struggles to control her emotions. In chapter 15 she unconsciously possessed Kasumi after Michi called her her best friend, likely because Aizawa was Michi's best friend before. In chapter 16 Michi denies ever knowing Aizawa, causing her to become grotesquely misshapen, her features dissolving away.

While this frightens Michi out of her mind, I don't think she was in any danger. Rather, Aizawa was truly dying here. Being forgotten by the person she cares about most was too much for her spirit to survive. Different to what happened in chapter 12, this started with Michi denying knowing her, not when she acknowledged her. If it weren't for Young Michi Aizawa might have slipped away into nothingness.

Which brings me back to Michi being unable to speak to Aizawa: if Michi knew this could happen, her being unable to acknowledge Aizawa might be a rough safeguard to prevent Aizawa from finding out she'd been forgotten. Michi didn't seem to have a plan beyond keeping the status quo as long as possible.

Sayaka is another spiritualist at school with no connection to Michi. She has no idea what Michi and Aizawa have been through, but recognizes Aizawa is a ghost and that Michi made the marks binding her. It's purely speculation, but my guess is she plays dumb when it comes to ghosts to treat them like normal living people. This would prevent cases like Aizawa from being shocked into formlessness or worse. I think she's still not the brightest though.

It's also worth mentioning Aizawa seems to remember everything from the start, unlike Michi. She also likely knows Michi can see her, or at least does after this chapter. Though I'm not sure if Sayaka is aware Michi can see ghosts.

The play at the start of the chapter is a blatant parallel to Michi and Aizawa's situation. Aizawa came back out of a desire to be remembered. If Michi fails to remember her, terrible things happen.

Karasuma is a professional exorcist who perhaps took Michi under her wing. She knows the whole situation with Aizawa and recognizes her as a unique and potentially very dangerous ghost. Her visit in chapter 13 likely came after learning that Aizawa was causing harm and on her way to turning wrong. But she admits there's still hope for something better with Aizawa, which all depends on Michi's influence and protection. The end of the KogaFes arc will be Michi's big test on whether she can protect Aizawa, both from herself and predatory ghosts.

But all this pales in comparison to the revelation Seta indeed has 2 moms.

last edited at Feb 13, 2024 8:34PM

Aizawa-san has been nominated for 2024's Manga You'd Like To See Animated Ranking.
You only need to check the series (42 for Aizawa), fill in your name, email address, check the little box, then submit your vote.

Only one vote per person. It's not like the winners are guaranteed an anime, but it shows interest. And with how long anime spend in production it doesn't matter much that Aizawa's only on its 3rd volume now.

For full disclosure, here are all the yuri nominations you might be inclined to vote for.
12: Kitanai Kimi ga Ichiban Kawaii
13: The Summer You Were There
17: The Fed Up Office Lady Wants to Serve the Villainess
29: Takane-san and Arashi-chan
42: I See You, Aizawa-san
48: Can't Defy the Lonely Girl

I'm not feeling the best so I'm just going to be open.

I don't want this manga to get axed. That would probably be the end of my career as a scanlator, because I don't have it in me to watch a 3rd series I'm passionate about translating from a passionate creator get cut short. So buy it. It's the whole reason why I do this, to give you the same opportunity the Japanese audience has. That includes the responsibility of supporting it.

I really don't know what to do about putting the twitter extras on Dynasty. I have a slight grasp of how things work here but I'm in the dark a lot more than you might think. I don't want the chapter list flooded with random art at least. So for the time being you can read them on Mangadex. It'll give you a slightly better understanding of chapter 12's newcomer.

I also tried getting the (significantly) higher quality volume 1 scans uploaded here, but it never went through. You can read that on Mangadex too.

Sara's suicidal ideation is such a serious and raw theme running through the twitter version, damn. I wonder if it's something that started after that seed was planted in her, or if it's been going on for even longer...

I didn't translate the prequel doujinshi where Sara takes Sylpheed, but it's clear from there she was already suicidal after her abusive father disowned her and she became a nun. This doesn't seem to have changed at all in the new version, she's just better at hiding it. But if you match them side-by-side Sara's already showing greater suicidal tendencies early on in the serialized version. She seems to have issues with self-worth she masks under self-suggestion - constantly telling herself she's perfect as motivation. The little glimpse of her backstory before chapter 10 suggests that used to be real pride that might haunt her now.

How many chapters does the twitter version have?

34 chapters. We're in the last stretch but far from over.

last edited at Dec 8, 2023 11:53AM

The author on Twitter is telling us to buy the comic if possible. And from the look of it, they are probably serializing their work by themself. I hope that maybe we can contribute some and not just read the thing. I really don't want this adorable series to be axed because of the artist not getting enough food to live...

Edit: the thing is published by... KADOKAWA? Uhm, so still the calling to buy the comic holds.

Easiest way to buy it would be something like CDJapan if you want it physically or Kobo if you want it digitally.
Both accept foreign payment and CDJapan ships overseas.

Saying that, I think Kamejiro is a pessimist and it's not that at risk. But every little bit does help.

Also it's published by Dengeki Comics Next, which is a subsidiary of Kadokawa, who control like half the manga industry. New chapters are digital only which is both a blessing and a curse, but Kamejiro did say simply getting physical volume releases was a milestone of success that wasn't guaranteed at first.

I really hoped the sleepover scene would be in this because across all works of this it's the best scene of them all, but you can't have it all I guess.

I wouldn't write that off just yet, considering before the flashback Natalia made arrangements so Sara would be staying the night in the castle with her. Even if Snake Princess is on board after hearing Sara's story (which I doubt since she likely thinks the danger outweighs keeping Sara alive regardless, though probably won't be so aggressive anymore) there's no reason for them not to stick together.

It'd be a good opportunity for Natalia to dwell on how she feels about Sara, since Natalia's been out of focus for a while, but also provide a moment of calm before presumably we start dealing with the wall falling apart.

The Princess of Sylph started in early 2019 when Kamejiro began sketching out ideas for a fantasy romance between a nun and princess. Over the years it developed into a proper story, and in 2022 when the 1st major arc concluded Kamejiro was given an offer to officially serialize it. One of the publisher's only demands was that the story be started over from the beginning.

So what you're reading here is essentially a rough draft. Kamejiro's stated several times the new version is meant to follow the same plot, and as of the serialized ch11 most elements are set in place for that to happen. There's also a few hints in the serialized version's future extras that line up with the ending of the indie twitter version. Basically everything that happens here should be treated as spoilers.

The differences are stark however. It's important to keep in mind the indie version took 3 years to make and is around 300 pages (34 chapters total). Many of these chapters released months apart. The serialized version is 1 year old now at roughly 500 pages, only adapting to around indie ch11. I expect the new one to pick the pace once the plot starts—maybe adapting the entire twitter version by volume 5—but it's dedicating serious time to establishing the setting and Sara and Natalia's relationship.

Probably the most notable change is how the indie version was told entirely from Natalia's perspective, while the serialized version is more of a 7:3 split favoring Sara. Sara's motives used to be treated as a mystery, though she had some side material explaining what she's going through. The serialized version is also more whimsical and lighthearted early on, gradually ramping up the tension in the most recent chapters (ch11).

Since the manga already had a following, Kamejiro consciously wrote the serialized version to be enjoyable for both new and old audiences. That means a lot of detours, but also careful layering of details you might not recognize on a first time read. It's a story designed to be read twice.

Does the princess have other siblings?

In this version she had a sister who died young. That was likely changed for the new version, maybe because it didn't fit with the royal family being treated as superhuman. It's also stated Luis died to monsters in this version, but that probably doesn't fit with the new version either.

I'm going to try to have the original twitter manga fully translated before December's over. I might wait to upload it on Dynasty until it's done, just because I don't want to flood submissions daily, but I'll be trying to put out a chapter every day on Mangadex. It will have heavy spoilers, since the story seems to be following the exact same path, but it's different enough.

I'm not sure if it's better or worse that she wasn't chosen by a True Fae with an alien viewpoint but actually the brother on a weird whim...

It's not impossible the sylph did intentionally give it to Sara. Luis wasn't responsible for giving her Sylpheed in the first place, but he took full advantage of a bad situation, if for a noble purpose. Save his sister and disregard Sara's will, or let Sara sacrifice herself and abandon Natalia to the full responsibility of a position she never wanted.

This whole chapter is two people with their minds made up from the start making excuses. It's heavily implied Luis was lying about pulling the sprout killing you; he shows shock initially when Sara chooses to take her own life but calmness as she does it, and Sara's confusion that pulling it out didn't kill her indicates the same. Also one of the flower meanings of snapdragons is deception, along with good intentions going wrong. Luis likely wanted to test Sara's character first and didn't want her accidentally starting the ritual. Though I doubt he ever would have let Sara die.

I don't think this is worth spoiler tagging, but in the original the only way to transfer Sylpheed was for the former host to die. Sara sees it as a noble sacrifice, but she's choosing to irrationally ignore the pain she sees Natalia in. Luis isn't willing to sentence a good person to death to increase his sister's burden. There's a lot of hints about Sara's deeper personality here, from how she keeps framing the situation as her needing to be punished to her complete willingness to die. It's not as obvious yet, but Sara is someone who needs to be saved just as much as Natalia.

While Luis was blatantly setting up flags with the whole 300 years of peace talk, from their perspective there's no reason to believe anyone's being endangered by Sara keeping Sylpheed. Chapter 2's little monster intrusion hadn't happened yet.

I think this chapter also interestingly re-contextualizes many earlier scenes. Sara's wistfulness at realizing her resolve is failing because she's falling for Natalia, or her willingness to throw herself into danger because she's convinced her death is the best outcome.

This page right here is going to be the crux of the upcoming conflict. We're leaving the story's intro and it's time for our heroes to start making choices for themselves. Luis's early line about the weight of personal choices building on you is something to bear in mind, as it sets the tone of the story. Along with good intentions not always having the best outcomes.

Wait what’s this about michi’s memories being gone? When did that get established?

At the end of chapter 12 when Michi couldn't remember going to the summer festival.

She also doesn't remember

• Talking to Kasumi before they became friends
• Apparently being close with Aizawa before
• Knowing Neo
• That she even attempted to speak to Aizawa last chapter

The last one is her getting her memories wiped in real time, so we can assume it's all related to Aizawa, the seal, and her younger self. We do see young Michi's shoes as she's running away from Aizawa.

Though it's fine to be lost on this stuff. It's all minor details without much context that I'm sure will get explained in greater focus later. It's not necessary to the story right now.

I can never repeat enough how impressed I am with Aizawa setting the mood of the manga. Her dorkiness keeps it all afloat, and when she's terrified it all comes crashing down. Her heartache and despair is as vivid as her playful joy. She's full of mysteries but her emotions are as loud and clear as can be.

Michi's profile is low-key concerning... maybe it's just because she's been too busy dealing with ghosts, but it's like the girl has been living her life on auto-pilot. Detached from earthly existence.

I see it as evidence she's a shell of a person after getting her memories sealed. From middle school to high school, Michi went from outgoing and sporty to a reclusive stuttering mess. Even she seems confused by the transformation sometimes, and there hasn't been a decisive incident it's pinned on. Or there's plenty room to believe the change happened after she entered high school, with how she forgot speaking to Kasumi and Aizawa. Though at the same time she was likely still a bit distant considering she didn't have any close friends that would have wondered why her whole personality changed. Maybe everything related to her powers is blocked which rewrote a lot of her identity.

I could also maybe tie this into Michi's constant repetition of wanting to help Aizawa despite always reminding herself she's powerless. It's like she has the muscle memory of knowing there's something she should be doing here. Her avoidant attitude towards ghosts might not have always been the case, considering how upset she gets feeling like Neo is mistreating them. She might have been an exorcist herself, one that worked to save ghosts more peacefully.

lol same, If figured ol' multieyes was a primary antagonist. Honestly still kinda conflicted about the rather extreme deescalation of tension that comes with Girl Neo coming through and bullet timing all the ghosts in the school. Wonder if we're going to end up rebounding hard from this in some way.

I think if anything the potential tension just rocketed up. This chapter shows none of the ghosts we've seen so far were a serious threat, but there's something out there Neo (and Michi?) can't handle still putting Aizawa in danger. And with Michi being given the means to defend herself, confrontation is inevitable. Like when a survival horror game hands you your first weapon and you know it's not any comfort.

And if I had to guess about primary antagonists, this dark figure could be the same as the conspicuous one on the left here that appears to be making a little eye collection.

Neo also comments young Michi's(?) powers are failing which might be why ghosts are getting in. We did see she couldn't do anything to the shed ghost. Neo's exorcism shouldn't be a permanent solution and more ghosts will likely get back into the school. I'm also thinking back to that ghost seemingly going for the mark on Michi's neck, as if that's what attracts them.

Also interesting is that Neo herself couldn't enter the school — it seems like she needed to use her crow familiars to break open a spot at the 3rd floor window. So my guess is the barrier around the school is keeping powerful ghosts out but weak ones can still slip by, and as Neo said Aizawa's(?) presence makes them more aggressive. This would also imply Neo isn't fully human, which might explain her eyes.

Neo also alludes at the very end to there being something unique about Aizawa, and how Aizawa has the potential to go very right or very wrong. Aizawa does seem to be a pretty unusual ghost, with how quickly her powers are developing over the past two months.

(Something maybe important to keep an eye on is I don't remember Aizawa ever being shown along with another ghost? The shed ghost was oddly gone the moment she came in to save Michi.)

To speculate, I think Neo came here fully intending to put Aizawa down after hearing she'd become dangerous. Which means Aizawa might not just be sealed for protection, but for everyone else's protection from her too. It's almost certain Neo knows about the circumstances of Aizawa's death and sealing, considering how she comments on failing Michi in some way. It's important to note Michi only got called Kurotori-san in her presence this chapter, so it's certain they knew each other, and she recognized the school at the start despite sounding like she'd never been before.

Wait if the exorcist new Michiru when she was young why didn't she say anything to her when she went through that window? Or even react at all? Throughout the excorcism she didn't act like there was anything special with Michiru or that she knew her at all until the very end.

I'm positive she knows Michi lost her memories. She turns right to her and essentially asks "It's been a few months. Do you know how this all started?" When she doesn't get a response she moves on. She was very likely checking to see if Michi's memories came back and keeping her distance otherwise. It's also the only other time she opens her eyes a bit, when she first sees Michi. It's hard to notice until you know what her eyes look like.

Would any of this be remotely relevant? Probably not. But hell, maybe Michi had a near death experience that created a ghost of herself without actually killing her. It'd be a better plot than some kinda split personality-based concept at least. Another possibility I can imagine is that "young Michi" is not actually Michi but a dead twin sister she blocked out the memories of or something?

Young Michi is something I can't even begin to guess at this point. I initially thought she was something like the embodiment of her repressed spiritual powers when they first awakened, but just about anything could be the case. It's also weird we're first introduced to her with Michi becoming her in a dream, but everything else suggests she's autonomous.

I love all the extras she writes. There's so many. I know it must be a slight hassle to figure out which are ok to include and which would be too spoilery.

This one was borderline. I translated it more because its omission would break the pattern and it's already a slim month with work on volume 2 needing to be done. It didn't tie in too much to the interlude, and I'm leaning a bit on everyone acknowledging by now that Natalia and Sara's updated designs means this is describing the future once the plot gets going.

Not that I don't love it. It's exciting to see Kamejiro taking a serious look at the nitty gritty details of adventuring. There's also some bits that will probably stand out more on a reread; Kamejiro's puts a lot of effort into making things interesting for both new and old readers. Though a hidden detail that might stand out to anyone is them only packing a single sleeping bag.

I'll be translating the original twitter manga in the next few months so hopefully I won't have to worry as much about spoilers. I'll probably have to start submitting all the one-off art Kamejiro draws as images rather than chapters on Dynasty. Never done that before, but it can't be too complicated. Just complicated condensing all this material into one location.

Aizawa-san's been on a 2 month hiatus now; it's not that I've fallen behind. Nothing to be concerned about either, just a standard volume break. Apparently chapter 13 is done but just missed the October deadline. Dorothy said she's "excited/scared" to see everyone's reactions to it.

Also volume 2 is on November 8th. Back cover is a super cute Kasumi getting princess carried by Sayaka.

Rereading the series, and a few mysterious reactions stuck out to me:
1) In chapter 8, when Honda sees Michi pinned under the shelf in the gym storage shed, she does not shout "Michy!" as you'd expect, she shouts Michi's last name, "Kurotori!". She's right back to calling her Michy again the next panel, as she helps Kasumi pick the shelf up. What's up with that? Given that was a reflexive shout in panic compared to everything else, it makes me wonder if her apparent closeness to Michi something that she's forcing to some degree.

I think Reona just drops her silliness when things get serious. Though there's room to suspect she'd get a subplot later related to why she's hanging out with the unpopular kids. I think we are due for a Reona arc soon since she's the best gateway into De:Lphinus.

2) When Senpai arrives at the nurse's office afterwards, Michi and the possessed Kasumi are behind a curtain, with Honda on the other side. What's she doing out there, separated from the others? And when Senpai tells her to go find the nurse, she's got sweatdrops and seems really nervous. It's just kinda weird. Why was she still hanging out in the nurse's office but not with Michi and Kasumi? Why was she scared of Senpai?

She knew about Sayaka's reputation as an unpredictable weirdo so didn't want to go near her. But since she's the one who told the teachers, she was probably stuck explaining to Sayaka (since she helps the nurse) and Aizawa wouldn't leave Michi's side.

3) In chapter 10, when Aizawa helps Senpai find the sulking Michi in the stairwell, Michi is shocked to see Senpai talking to Aizawa as if she's normal- and I am too, considering this scene has Aizawa floating around (it's even got a "float..." sound effect to emphasize it. And the "weird guy" she threw ink at in the previous chapter's flashback is obviously inhuman as well, given his shape: Does Senpai just think it's totally normal for some people to fly or have wounds that never heal forever on their bodies or have monstrous shapes?

I don't like attributing everything to memory loss or curses, but since they're in play, it's possible Sayaka is also cursed to somehow not recognize ghosts. Or there's the line of thinking that Sayaka is actually the special one for not triggering Aizawa's ghostliness. I wouldn't bet on it—I think it's extremely likely she's just a big gay dummy—but until we know what kind of ghost Aizawa is or more about ghosts in general it's a possibility Michi isn't the unique one getting spooked by her.

Also I'm not sure how literal the floating is. It's a consistent SFX Aizawa gets but it could be more of a metaphorical thing with her being lighter than a physical body. Normally she's running around on the ground except in gag panels where she might come out of top frame or something.

4) In that same conversation, Senpai waves to Michi, who plays dumb and says "maybe it's a ghost then I dunno lol". Senpai laughs it off, who would believe in ghosts at their age? And Aizawa breaths a sigh of relief for some reason. Why was Aizawa relieved? Did she want Senpai to think she's a normal living student? If so, why'd she float in front of her lol.

Sayaka had just asked if Michi if she was ignoring Aizawa because they were fighting, so I imagine that's what she was sighing in relief at. Which is interesting if we assume Aizawa hasn't lost her memories, doesn't know that Michi has, and thinks Michi might be mad at her for something.