Manga Time Kirara - General Thread

Aoi is the one with the sidetail and the green hairband. It's the other one I wasn't sure about, but apparently that's Ena.

I was confused since Ena is a Blue Oni-type character who always wears cool colors like greens and blues, but they have her bundled up in a big orange scarf like Nadeshiko would wear, which also hides the length of her hair.

I thought that was Nadeshiko...

The fact that I require the hair color as a visual indicator of who's who probably doesn't say anything good.

isn't it the norm?

Like I already subscribed the notion that the only way to tell apart anime charterers is by hairstyle and clothing if possible. Only Six Faces tend to lead to everyone blurring together in general.

Is the Order a Rabbit? recently (well, I say "recently", it's been like five years now) introduced a character named Fuyu Fuiba who looks identical to Maya, except — get this — her eyes are blue instead of yellow. Good luck telling those two apart at a glance.

Given the rise of modern moe/waifu culture, I think publishers want predictable results, and appealing anime designs have been basically machined to perfection at this point. Kirara in particular, given moe is their whole business model. But I suppose the anime studios want predictability too — it's less effort to train animators how to keep characters on-model if they all look the same.

But I think that may be changing now. I moved on to Help me Relax, Yui-San!, which is published in Kirara proper, and it's got a very loose, sketchy style that's cartoony and simple, but also really appealing in a relaxed way (fitting, considering the title).

Edited by WarriorsGate on May 11th 2024 at 11:37:19 AM

HoshiTele, chapter 50 (Korean MTL ver.):

I was a little concerned after the last chapter. It seemed to be backsliding into a kid's educational show. The RRA shout "We're going to put a camera on our rocket!", and there was a truckload of expositional diagrams and info-dumps about balancing a model rocket. I have no interest in model rocketry whatsoever, except for how it relates to the character arcs. And since this is a character-driven story with some model rocketry tacked on (probably at the suggestion of Okuma-sensei's editors after they decided to serialize it), model rocket otaku-appeal stuff felt a little beneath Okuma-sensei at this point in the manga's run. I thought we were well beyond that kind of stuff now.

But now that Haruno has declared, "It's my destiny to edit videos as a social media manager! And also to put cute effects on all of them!" I'm like, "Okay, manga. Now that you've explained what this means on a character level, now you can dump exposition about attaching cameras to model rockets on me. Give me all you got." Not only is this a great way for Haruno to get her dreams in order, Okuma-sensei also introduced that map in her grandfather's journal. I have a hunch the plot of the fifth volume will involve aerial surveying to find out what her beloved grandpa was trying to accomplish. If that is where things are going, that's the kind of clever writing I expect from Okuma-sensei.

Elsewhere, Okuma-sensei continues to be a master at effortlessly switching between comedy and drama, with this very emotional conversation between Yuu and Matataki. I barely understood what it was about since the MTL sucks, but it was very nice regardless. There's also a sweet little look back at the very beginning of the series, probably because it's hit the big 5-0.

While it doesn't have the hard-hitting psychological drama of volume 4, otherwise it's everything you could want out of Hoshikuzu Telepath. Here's hoping for (at least) 50 more!

Hoshitele Ch 46.1 (extra): This chapter was a little different, dropping the 4-koma format, as we delve into a Honami-focused chapter, specifically what she thinks of Umika. And...it's every bit wholesome and heartbreaking at the same time, a Hoshitele staple. Very sweet to see the Konohoshi sisters truly care for each other, and also Honami being supportive and showing genuine concern for Umika.

That said...Umika is TERRIFYING when she flips her lid. Those bullies never stood a chance.

And Umika was wearing a crime prevention buzzer, which means she was in elementary school when she scared those bullies off.

Help me Relax, Yui-san has been breaking the 4-panel format lately, and I wish HoshiTele would too. Those panels where Umika and Honami are standing in the galactic void look really moody and atmospheric.

Bocchi the Rock! is also no stranger to 4koma panel breaking, especially during big performances. They haven't done it in a while though, would love to see it again.

Admittedly I do think that the BTR manga is beginning to stale a bit, but that's a story for another time.

x18 Finished all ten chapters of Happy Sepia, and it does indeed end on a cliffhanger . The manga was actually pretty good for only ten chapters - it had your usual friendship-that's-thinly-veiled-yuri, although not much else that made it really stand out. I did like the implication that Kaede mucking about in the past might have consequences, but it looks like we'll never get a resolution to that.

For all we know Happy Sepia happens in the same universe as Hoshitele. If aliens exist, I doubt time travel is out of the question either. I wouldn't be surprised if the Doctor shows up in the future, to be honest. Or that Yuu is actually a Time Lady.

I'll pass, then. I don't mind samey as long as the jokes are funny, but I do mind lack of a proper conclusion. Especially after Musunde, Tsunaide.

As for aliens, I think it's more likely Yuu'll turn out to be the David Morrissey Doctor than The Doctor. I'd fit the themes of the series more if her persona was revealed to be an extended fugue state she created to cope with some kind of trauma, just like Haruno did, but to a greater degree.

As for the voice on the radio, I think it's more likely Okuma-sensei will reveal Kei Akizuki was secretly ham radio friends with Haruno's grandpa and Yuu when they were little, and this is some kind of game they made up. Kei is secretly helping Yuu cope with her tragedy. Based on my experience with Kirara, I think it's more likely they'll do a contrived-but-emotionally-satisfying reveal about living on Earth instead of "Aliens are real, wow!"

Chimidoro Ice Cream, chapter 14: Manga Time Kirara continues to shed its image as the home of pure, innocent, pixie-like little sister types with this harem comedy-grade ecchi chapter. If you've ever thought to yourself, "I like Kirara, but it could really use more girls kissing and getting into bathtub accidents that expose their wet, naked bodies with only tiny puffs of steam for modesty," have I got a manga for you!

While I don't mind ecchi, I'm not sure Kirara heads even fit atop these lovingly detailed bodies. Everything about this feels off somehow.

Edited by WarriorsGate on May 21st 2024 at 7:57:01 AM

Bocchi the Rock! Ch 77: Nice and sweet Nijiryo chapter showing their graduation, although the jokes are really starting to stale at this point. Right now BTR isn't any different from any other Kirara manga, and I'm silently hoping that it at least picks up a little bit - I'm a little tired of Bocchi being teased and mocked every single panel she appears in.