Takane to Hana – thoughts

I noticed Takane to Hana (Takane and Hana, in English) when it began serialising but never got around reading it until… the first volume was free to read. It was absolutely amusing but I didn’t realise how GOOD it was until I took the jump to buy the ebooks with my twin and at the urging of a friend, Eden-san ww

My twin and I sniggered through each panel and scene. Nonomura Hana (16), is a high-schooler who had to replace her elder sister, Yukari (23) in a marriage interview with the heir of Takaba Group, Saibara Takane (26). He starts off the meeting by saying he dislikes women who dress up too much to impress men. Hana usually won’t take this lying down but since she’s in Yukari’s place, she has to hold it in.

Until she snapped, of course.

Hana pulled her wig away, throwing it in Takane’s direction and said, ‘Please don’t worry. I don’t have the slightest interest in the very fiber of your being” and left. Takane, crushed from what she said actually told Hana (through her father) that he’ll be picking her up the next day.

He showed up at her home with a huge bouquet of flowers and taunting Hana with lavish gifts. Takane thought it’ll make her fall to his feet and fawn all over him but sadly for him, that won’t be happening.

She isn’t at all impressed with his wealth (which Takane continues to flaunt until later volumes – this will later be an important and interesting plot point) and Hana can see him for who he is, not what he projects to everyone else. LMAO Anyways, it was Hana who kissed him first. LOL

We later see Hana and Takane’s friends who wonder at their budding relationship of ‘marriage candidates’. They are also an amusing lot and constantly ask Hana how both of them are doing (∀｀*ゞ)ｴﾍﾍ

I very much recommend this series for the humour and bantering between the characters. If only a Western publisher can pick up the series for an English release :3

Both of us are following the series digitally on eBookJapan with the 8th volume released recently on July 20. The digital release will follow in about three months.

Support the author by buying actual releases in your country or in Japanese!

August 13, 2017: Viz Media has announced an English release for Takane to Hana (as well as another series by Tanaka Meca I’m reading, Kimi no Koto nado Zettai ni)!! Read about it here.

✨Where to buy✨
eBookJapan
Hakusensha e-net! (listing)
Hakusensha e-net! feature
Takane to Hana special website
Takane & Hana (French release!)
Official merchandise (requires proxy services)

Kinoppy now available overseas!

Kinoppy is Kinokuniya’s ebook service and originally limited to those residing in Japan (I’m not sure whether it’s already news and I’m the one who’s late to the party 😂) is now available overseas.

According to the site, you can use foreign credit cards to purchase ebooks that are only made available for those outside Japan. This also reminds me of BookWalker, Kadokawa’s ebook retailer who also limits titles in the same way for their Japanese ebooks. (BookWalker now has a global store offering English ebook releases)

You can only search for the titles at a specific page and the main page meant for overseas purchase can be found here.

Kinoppy’s reading app is available on iOS, Android, Windows (desktop and Windows app) and Mac. Apparently, they also charge taxes/VAT for applicable countries.

This service is also not available for the following countries: South Korea, Mongolia, Philippines, Chile, Ecuador, Peru, Uruguay, Switzerland, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Serbia, Russia, Israel, Lebanon, Turkey, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Tunisia, Tanzania, South Africa, Zambia.

To be honest, I’m not sure what Kinoppy offers that would rival other ebook retailers.

Hakusensha had revamped their own ebook retail site and released an exclusive reader (they previously used Sharp’s book-in-the-box) on iOS and Android and made Shueisha’s Ribon, Margaret and Bessatsu Margaret titles available for purchase. If memory serves me right, their newsletters are interesting and also contain Q&As with manga authors. And they also accept foreign credit cards.

Guess it boils down to your preference. What device do you read on and what site is your go-to retailer for ebooks? (*‘ω‘ *)

Takagi Shigeyoshi (高木しげよし) – Itsuka no Haru (いつかの青春（はる）)

I haven’t read anything new from Takagi-san since Film Girl so I was super excited when I caught wind of the new compiled volume.

Itsuka no Haru was serialised in Bessatsu Hana to Yume and contains the title story (4 chapters + 1 extra) and a one-shot called Irotoridori no Sekai.

(The following is written probably a year after I read and from memory. Sorry if it’s incorrect anywhere but feel free to point it out!)

The story is set in a hot spring town in Ishikawa Prefecture and Yui is a regular high school student. One morning while she’s preparing for school, there’s a bell at the door for their usual soy sauce delivery.

Yui was surprised to see someone entirely unfamiliar but the man explained himself and left. A little later, she finds that Itsuka will be attending school as well as being in the same class as herself. Itsuka is 25 years old and dropped out of school to help his family’s soy sauce business. He didn’t have the luxury of experiencing a regular high school which is why he’s back now. Yui was told to look out for him and she decided that they should both experience their youth together!

Haru doesn’t fit well among the students who finds him odd. But a few things brought better understanding between them and they warmed to him. With his towering height, he served well in the baseball team but one of the guys were jealous of him which kinda made things a little hard for Haru ^^;

Turns out there’s a link between Yui and Haru back when they’re younger but being a short volume, Yui doesn’t remember |D Instead it’s mentioned in an extra after both of them started seeing each other. Really sweet <33

Irotoridori no Sekai is a one-shot serialising in the same magazine as Itsuka no Haru. It’s about a world where people are colours and has a very black and white view of other colours (people). Marrying colours who are too different from your own (for example, black and white) will either drain you because their colour is too strong.

Certain colours live to a certain age and goes through a ceremony which I assume, they are a sacrifice for. It’s a really interesting one-shot and I hope to see more shoujo manga from Takagi >W<

Buy links
CDJapan ♢ Amazon Japan

Where to buy Japanese manga

I used to buy physical copies from Kinokuniya (they had a one to two-week waiting period for out-of-stock titles and that my twin and I pretty much ran out of physical space) but now, you can simply buy the e-book right from the Internet, wherever you are.

Some sites might give away extras like points or digital signed illustrations and occasionally the chance to participate in their raffles to get an actual signed illustration (サイン入り色紙). But you still have to have a Japanese address to receive it, haha.

Note: This post only covers what I’ve looked up as well as from personal use. If I’ve left anything out, let me know.

Kisetsu’hazure no Higasa from Omoide no Toki Shuurishimasu

Was a little disappointed that this chapter wasn’t adapted for the manga but felt that this chapter was important, in its own way. Not a summary, just some highlights and excerpts.

Spoilers!

Omoide no Toki Shuurishimasu (思い出のとき修理します) by Tani Mizue (谷瑞恵)

I wasn’t sure whether I would finish writing this (Has a great deal of drafts but not much entries, laughs) and my previous entry signed off with a lovely weekend either… but here’s my take on Tani-sensei’s novel, Omoide no Toki Shuurishimasu.

Could memories ever be repaired…?

Tired of her work and love, Akari has moved to the town where she spent a little time of her life there. At the corner of the desolate shopping district, she meets the owner of a watch store that had a strange plate on the display window. With this, Akari starts her new life…