Rin-ne Story Time

I have both VIZ's cultural note for this one.

VIZ:
"When [the transfer student] meets Sakura he says, "It's me. Me." In Japanese, he says, "Ore da yo. Ore.” 「おれだよ。おれ。」 Sakura doesn't remember who he is at first, and she asks, "Itsumi-kun?" but the original Japanese is 「俺田くん･･･とか?」 (Oreda-kun). So the joke here is that she thinks his name is Oreda, when all he's saying is "It's me." Now, "Itsumi" kind of sounds like "It's me," and "It's me" is indeed a translation of "Ore da yo." So, "Itsumi" was used for Sakura's guess at [his] name in order to preserve the joke."

You did fine, VIZ.

Per Furinkan: "Tsubasa's name is written on the chalk board revealing the deeper meaning behind his last name. "Jumonji" (十文字) means "cross or crucifix""

Also, they say that his first name (翼) means Wing.

Some might find this boring considering her past works, but I find the two mature and level-headed leads a breath of fresh air.

It can be rough.

Man, that shirt though.

Right? Something about it. Very charming.

Flashbacks are just that.

Gasp!

This chapter is set on the same day it was published. I can't read what the blackboard says otherwise.

What could he mean?

End of chapter! Want to write like Rumiko Takahashi? Have a love rival.

Originally had three pages of color.

September 9th, 2009. Author's note:
"Q: What’s one place you’d like to go at some point in your life?
A: Hawaii."

Original title was 楽しいデート. デート is a loanword from English and is just "date".

Furinkan says this was a double issue, so there was no Shonen Sunday the week after this. You'll see it in the dates I post.

September 16th, 2009. Author's note:
"Q: What is one advanced function you’d like added to cell phones?
A: They’re fine as is."

Been a bit since I've been on a roller coaster. Kind of miss it.

Remember the mirror guy? Pawned off.

Rika-chan continues her stingy ways.

Also, I don't know if that balloon counts as a reference to Shippo, but it does remind me of him.

I guess those are just churros. I wasn't sure.

I'm here
and you're here but not as early as that other time
I think that time you were over halfway done by this point

that pic

miroku jr from the opening is here too

Hm…

Also, Usui's name is 臼井 in the original Japanese. Furinkan doesn't mention a pun and it does appear to be a name, but if written as 薄い (both can be written as うすい in hiragana), it does mean thin, weak, pale, flimsy which seems appropriate for a sickly ghost boy.

Furinkan notes that:

"In Japan the term for crane games is "UFO Catcher". This name came from the popular claw/crane arcade game released in 1985 by Sega. Due to its popularity the title of that particular machine has been used as the generic term for any claw-based prize game. However it is not the first, similar machines appeared in Japan in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Similar machines developed in the United States starting as early as the 1930s and were based on the public's fascination with the cranes helping to dig the Panama Canal."

Hence the UFO motif on top of the machine. That explains a bit. I find that Panama Canal thing pretty interesting too.

Also, apparently the anime added a few more cameos in the toys, but the panda clearly resembles Genma even in the manga.

Yup! Hi! Sorry, my schedule just can't be consistent...

The dolphin does look like the one in UY, but there's only so many ways to draw a stylized dolphin. The eyes are a bit goofier.

Good job.

"Eat Spot" was in fact in English in the original manga.

I figured out what the cut off sign says. Well, some of it. After the cut off character, it says "クレープ" which means "crepes" (it is just a loan word kurēpu).

Money, money, money…

Camaraderie.

Hard to appreciate such a gesture. Also, the armband says 係員 which means "attendant".

You snooze, you lose.

(me)
I haven't watched the anime but I've seen the op and ed
op1 was pretty catchy
from there my only other knowledge is that inuyasha's va is the dad, and that interview on furinkan that mentions there's a homo in denial in this series

Q: What do you think are some of the true evolutions that will be made in the 21st century?

A: Probably the DVD.

like blu-rays?

The Transfer Student

of course
did the ghost write the note?

It's the guy from the volume cover.

I'm surprised he showed up in the first chapter of the volume

normal people aren't supposed to be able to see him

you underestimate miroku jr!!

Sigh…

It's over.

It is fun having some people completely new to the series reading along. And yeah, he wrote the note, it seems.

You know, reading this chapter again does remind me of Nozomi is Urusei Yatsura. Hers was also an amusement park date that ended when it got dark. I guess it is a common enough story. UY really did have a lot of ghost stories.

And yes, it is cute.

End of chapter. What can you do?

Original title is 10万円. It means exactly what it says here, just found it interesting.

September 30th, 2009. Author's note:
"Q: When you were a kid, what was your favorite giant monster?
A: Mothra."

In case you're curious, the term translated as "get-rich-quick scheme" is 儲け話 and it means "profitable proposal" or "money story". It can be translated to "money-making opportunity" but it seems like it does have the same shady connotations as the English term of "get rich quick scheme".

holy shit he really is miroku jr
he even threw an item with special powder like sango
wait the rope-weapon... didn't sango have one of those too?
but why was he carrying that photo...

She naturally has not adjusted her hairstyle over the years.

heh

Ghost photography is a common idea in Japanese pop culture.

ghosts photobombing pics comes up in just about any ghost movie here too
there's famously the photo of Lincoln's widow with good ol' honest Abe behind her

goes straight to the girl

that blush

no way miroku's blood is that strong generations later
lord miroku I kneel

October 7th, 2009. Author's note:
"Q: Please tell me if there are any sweets you recommend.
A: Blueberry pie at the Imperial Hotel."

I have VIZ's cultural note here:

"The evil spirit's name Toichi literally means "10 percent interest every ten days." It's a term associated with loan sharks in Japan."

That's a lot. I have Furinkan's note too, but I'll post it in a few.

Three pages of full color.

October 14th, 2009. Author's note:
"Q: If asked by a foreigner what a typical Japanese gag is, what would you tell them?
A: Atari maeda no cracker (This is a pun based on “Atari mae da.” or “Naturally.” “Maeda no Cracker” is a brand of crackers in Japan)."

Not the best gag for a foreigner but go for it, I guess.

Probably looked a bit nicer in color as far as spreads go.

a shame that tsa isn't a natural unit of sound in japanese
denied the chance to use itsami
get it?
mirokujr-kun...

his shirt has a cross on it

way to represent the family name
and why was that crashed noodle cart left there?

ran away to hokkaido

that's really far
they can go that far?

Flashbacks are just that

wasn't sakura looking at the flashbacks in the previous volume though?

go out with me

miroku jr adjusted for modern times because you can't ask women to bear your children as an opening line
equally as confident though considering he asked in front of the whole class

Skipped the art spacer.

Oh my god, it's a SNES-era video game boss!

October 21st, 2009. Author's note:
"Q: Do you have an embarrassing childhood memory that you can’t forget?
A: When I was in kindergarten it rained and I fell into the gutter. My chest got all wet."

Furinkan notes that: "We see a sign at the school announcing the school festival "Sankai Festival" (三界祭). Sankai in Buddhist terms is "the three realms (of existence)", that being the past, the present and the future."

They say it is the neighborhood's name, which I guess is a reasonable assumption. Tomobiki (and Butsumetsu), Furinkan and now Sankai. I wonder if all three are in Nerima? Maison Ikkoku had Tokeizaka which I didn't remember and apparently is a ward rather than a neighborhood, but I don't really get this stuff.

Lot more signs got translated here than usual. I was curious what term got translated into "furry" and it was キグルミ (kigurumi). Per Wikipedia: "In Japan The Japanese name for costumed performers is kigurumi (着ぐるみ). The name comes from the Japanese verb kiru (着る, to wear) and noun nuigurumi (ぬいぐるみ, stuffed toy)." So, it can refer to all kinds of costumes. Including those scary anime mask ones.

Furinkan lets us know that: "At school festivals themed "cafes" are a fairly common classroom or club activity. Maid cafes started to become popular in Akihabara around 2001 and then spread to school festivals around that time period."

Incredible.

Cute jack o' lantern. Another Rumic gesture.

October 28th, 2009. Author's note:
"Q: When you go to sleep, what’s a dream that you can remember having?
A: I’m faraway from home somehow and I have no money and I’m running out of time to get back."

I hate those kinds of dreams.

No cultural note for this one, VIZ? The "Mr. Lady Contest" as VIZ decided to localize it... for some reason, was referred to as a 女装コンテスト (josoukontesuto) in Japanese. This appears to be a pun. 女装コ (josouko) refers to a male-to-female crossdresser while コンテスト (kontesuto) is a loanword from the English word "contest". So, this creates a portmanteaux in Japanese. 女装 just means woman's clothing, in case you're curious.

Also, I love Sakura Mamiya's line here. You can see how differently these amateur boys are drawn compared to Mai from the last short story.

Summary page, but we get to see people stand guard while Rinne changes behind a school curtain, so that's fun.

I remember someone mentioned this scene in one of the Inuyasha threads.

The little face was in the Japanese version as well.

Whoops.

Hehehehe.

November 4th, 2009. Author's note:
"Q: What’s a film that you might say “is a difficult film to understand, but it’s one of my favorites!”?
A: Marie Antoinette."

Here's another bit from that same long interview in 2019:

"Furthermore, have you ever wanted to do a manga like Takahashi's School Ghost Stories?

Takahashi: Oh, of course: one complete story."

I don't really know what Takahashi meant by that (maybe "yes, but only as a complete story"), but I assume this comment by the interviewer is referring to a tremendously popular volume of ghost stories called 学校の怪談 (School Ghost Stories) released in 1990. They made it a movie eventually. Or maybe the interviewer was just referring to the word-of-mouth school ghost stories that seem to have been popular for decades in Japan.

Both Urusei Yatsura and Ranma 1/2 had ghost story chapters, so you could tell Takahashi loved writing them and Rin-ne allowed her to make a bunch.

!

Zooom. I don't know if it is always localized consistently, but in Japanese, it is always びゅ (byu or whoosh, zoom, etc.) for the sound effect and こわいー! (kowaii! or scaryy!) for the speech bubble.

As Furinkan notes:
"The spirit of faceless woman is a familiar ghost story in Japan. Traditionally these are call "Noppera-bo" (のっぺらぼう). Takahashi's previous series, Inuyasha had such a character, the Nothing Woman."

That does say something.

I don't know if the figures or drawings on the wall are intended to parody any actual manga or anime series.

I also really do like that the final panel has a very distinctly non-Takahashi manga face in it.

Also, I just realized he added a goofy ahoge (cowlick) antenna to her for no reason.

November 11th, 2009. Author's note:
"Q: Please tell us your favorite kanji character and the reason
A: The kanji for "tora" (tiger). We'll do it next year!"
Furinkan's note: "Webmasters' Note: Takahashi is referencing her favorite baseball team the Hanshin Tigers."

Furinkan had a note regarding clubs in Japanese schools last chapter that I forgot to post:
"After school clubs in Japan are known as kurabu (クラブ) and consist of extracurricular activities that students manage themselves. Another term frequently used is bukatsu (部活) which translates as "club activity." Most clubs have their own assigned room, along with a teacher who acts as advisor and are required to have a minimum number of members, usually five. Clubs can take a significant amount of time, sometimes as much as five to seven hours a week. Students who do not belong to any club or lack club activities are called kitakubu (帰宅部). The two main categories for clubs are undou-bu (運動部), sports clubs and bunka-bu (文化部) or cultural clubs. Examples of clubs are of course the traditional sports clubs, as well as arts clubs like drawing, which is featured in this chapter, cinema, dance, literature, Japanese cultural arts like flower arrangement, tea ceremony and calligraphy, or humanities clubs like history, philosophy and politics."

Fixed a few Furinkan typos.

Been a bit since I've been on a roller coaster

same
was pawning off the latest version of the mirror guy not enough to cover the tickets?

miroku jr with inuyasha ears, shippo balloon, and churros

speaking of churros, miho's name is funny to me because it's pronounced the same way as the Spanish endearment mijo which is a contraction of "my son" (mi hijo)
the contraction of "my daughter" (mi hija) is mija
besides your own kids, older adults can use it to young adults, in a similar vein as an old lady saying sweetie or hun

realizing i still have this hehe

picrel

happy boy, full of life and love

on the other hand...
grumpy boy, full of seethe and poverty

My raws for some reason don't have Volume 3's back cover, so here's Furinkan's scan of the Japanese cover for Volume 3. But it does have the sleeve illustration, which I'll post after this.

Here's Volume 3's inner sleeve illustration. As you can tell, these seem to always be a color cover from the volume but a bit smaller. Not sure what they do if there is no color chapter in the volume.

There was ZERO Rokumon in smol form this volume, 0/10

ginger seethe levels rising

top panel: ginger depression levels also rising

the rest of the page: ginger frugality levels skyrocketing

also picrel - which one would you prefer anons?

(me)

picrel - which one would you prefer anons?

also from these ones

Here's the cover of Shonen Sunday where this chapter debuted. Chibi.

The pig is damn cute.

right in the kokoro
he's doomed

smug.png

broke-fucking-ass...
aww
b- b- but if he drinks it... it would be an indirect k- kiss! AIIIEEE

it's time

owari?

nyahahaha suckers

when you get out of the hospital, let's come here again

she doesn't know...
owari... da

now that i look at it, this isn't very cute

n- nyo...