[Raiga]

Spoiler for Random thoughts on the Heart-Gata manga:

I dunno if anyone else has done the manga yet, but we got our hands on scans (as in someone actually went and bought a volume) and I'll be translating it eventually. Probably.

Read the first chapter tonight. Wow, it's certainly shoujo. Kanata comes across as quite likable here. It's Kanata, Acchan, Kojiharu, and Yuuko off on a mission to Whatsitcalled Academy of Art where the Academy's museum houses the uniforms of the original AKB senbatsu members (which apparently have magical powers. Just roll with it). They're there to prevent mysterious phantom thief Elixia from stealing them. I have no clue how to romanize all this crap. The academy is called テレプシコル and it's located on the planet of ウィーン. Um... Greek?

Right off the bat we meet bishie boy and bitchy girl. I'm sure plenty of people wouldn't even blink at these tropes, but I've clearly not read enough shoujo. Kanata has a pretty epic scene where she manages to pull off a smile and not lose her cool when bitchy girl tries to bait her. Acchan, who was all cynical and critical earlier on, is suitably impressed.

Bishie boy comforts Kanata afterwards. I kinda hope he turns out to be the mole or something. He's waaaay too perfect. They're not just playing the dreamy bishie straight, right? He must have a dark side or something...

Oh, we get a flashback to when Kanata left home, which brings up some issues that the anime hasn't really touched on. Kanata mentions how her mother had been working extra hours, barely having the time to sleep, just to support their family after their father died. Walking out on her family to pursue the idol dream, when their situation was that dire... that must have been a pretty damn big deal.

I also love how their mother just bluntly says, "Quiet down, Sonata. If they catch us, they'll kill us both." Sonata must be what, eight years old in that scene? Way to not shelter the kids from reality, Mom.

Shock and suspense, there's an explosion at the museum, all the uniforms burn. The end. Not. Kanata gets to save bitchy girl's life (they'll probably be best friends by next chapter) and it turns out the uniforms on display were fakes (the real ones wouldn't have burned. Because they're magical. Don't ask).

Oh yeah, and apparently "Kirara" has kanji to go with it. Namely, 精霊 ("spirits", "ghosts"). Hmmm...

In the anime they seem to mostly talk about DES and occasionally the D.G.T.O., but there were a lot more mentions of some sort of "Federation" (or "Union" or "League" or however you want to translate it) in the manga. A lot more, how say, "government and The Man" type feel?