Mahoraba: Heartful Days manga

[Vexx]

Bleh... kind of sad this seems to have turned into a personal blog for such a great series....

I got my copy of Mahoraba 12 and the epilog Art/Fan Book today. It is the last book of the series (as released in japanese).

Buzzing through the pages --- Mahoraba 12 looks to be outstanding both in presentation of the story (the techniques used to present the dilemmas) and in the ending. A very satisfying ending.

This has been such a good manga series, I'm very disappointed no one has picked it up for english distribution (or the anime for that matter). I may write a few letters just to make sure no one can say they missed it. Looking at the stuff Tokyopop is picking up --- I can't believe this isn't amongst their listings.

The Tarot card bonus is No. 21 (The World) --- with Kozue as the illustration subject.


The art/fan book follow on is a high quality manga sized bit of wonder. High gloss color images, artwork, sketches, and chunks of omake. Very nice endpiece.

[Kamui4356]

Originally Posted by Vexx

Bleh... kind of sad this seems to have turned into a personal blog for such a great series....

I got my copy of Mahoraba 12 and the epilog Art/Fan Book today. It is the last book of the series (as released in japanese).

Buzzing through the pages --- Mahoraba 12 looks to be outstanding both in presentation of the story (the techniques used to present the dilemmas) and in the ending. A very satisfying ending.

This has been such a good manga series, I'm very disappointed no one has picked it up for english distribution (or the anime for that matter). I may write a few letters just to make sure no one can say they missed it. Looking at the stuff Tokyopop is picking up --- I can't believe this isn't amongst their listings.

The Tarot card bonus is No. 21 (The World) --- with Kozue as the illustration subject.


The art/fan book follow on is a high quality manga sized bit of wonder. High gloss color images, artwork, sketches, and chunks of omake. Very nice endpiece.

Now now, just because not many people are following it doesn't detract from the quality.

As for why it has't been licensed, well perhaps it's in negotiations? I have to think it's just a matter of time for the manga at least.

As for volume 12, I haven't gotten it yet, but I will as soon as possible. I don't know about the fanbook though. I don't generally buy things like that. But it is mahoraba so...

[Vexx]

I can't emphasize enough the quality level of the art book ... its about twice as much as the normal volumes (952 yen versus 562 yen) but if you buy them both at once to save shipping costs --- worth the expense for the pics (it includes a large omake and a archive page of the entire tarot set).

ah well.. off to a detailed translation .... there's a serious pack of exposition in some sections of volume as the puzzle pieces fall into place, but even without understanding a word the story comes through nicely.

That also concludes my Mahoraba series donation to my son's JP teacher for her library for now (though I'm having her look over Azumanga and Yotsuba this fall).

Now if I could only figure out how to get the *rest* of the tarot card deck.

[rooboy]

Originally Posted by Vexx

This has been such a good manga series, I'm very disappointed no one has picked it up for english distribution (or the anime for that matter). I may write a few letters just to make sure no one can say they missed it. Looking at the stuff Tokyopop is picking up --- I can't believe this isn't amongst their listings.

I believe it's because it's published by Square Enix. I believe only three Square Enix titles have ever been licensed: Kingdom Hearts and Spiral were done by Tokyopop, and Fullmetal Alchemist is done by Viz.

I emailed Viz about it and posted on Tokyopop's message board (they have a thread there about what you'd like to see get licensed).

[Kamui4356]

Originally Posted by rooboy666

I believe it's because it's published by Square Enix. I believe only three Square Enix titles have ever been licensed: Kingdom Hearts and Spiral were done by Tokyopop, and Fullmetal Alchemist is done by Viz.

That thought had crossed my mind as well. I think there are a few more series, but not many. Perhaps square-enix charges a high licensing fee? Still, some have been picked up, so I have hope. I'd rather see it licensed by broccolli than tokyopop though. I always get the feeling tp uses the cheapest paper they can find.

[Shiroth]

I'd say that Del Ray would do a pretty good job with Mahoraba.

They're known for always doing a perfect job, & for picking up series' that not many companys would. Mahoraba sounds perfect for them if you ask me.

[Kamui4356]

Originally Posted by Vexx

I can't emphasize enough the quality level of the art book ... its about twice as much as the normal volumes (952 yen versus 562 yen) but if you buy them both at once to save shipping costs --- worth the expense for the pics (it includes a large omake and a archive page of the entire tarot set).

Well, I don't usually get those, but it is mahoraba. 952 yen is a reasonable price for an art/fanbook after all.

Originally Posted by Shiroth

I'd say that Del Ray would do a pretty good job with Mahoraba.

They're known for always doing a perfect job, & for picking up series' that not many companys would. Mahoraba sounds perfect for them if you ask me.

I wouldn't mind del ray, but they charge a bit more, and broccoli uses the highest paper quality. Check out a copy of galaxy angels, and you'll see what I mean. Besides del ray's already getting enough of my money. Tokyopop on the other hand, I'm always covered with these little bits of paper, like a paper dust really, after I read one of their releases.

Though it's much more likely del ray, viz or tokyopop picks it up.

[FatPianoBoy]

Wow, I didn't know there was a Mahoraba manga thread here

It's one of the most genuinely interesting manga to come along in a while, so I'd really love to see it licensed. I went through withdrawl when Hiyoko no Gao dropped it, then several months later I found another group doing it (and doing an inferior job, sadly ), but they've only released one chapter in the last month. Not being able to finish it is killing me

[Vexx]

I don't know that Hiyoko no Gao *dropped* it so much as its backburnered for an indefinite time ... they did say they were looking at volume 11 back in May.... but then that was back in May.

I'm interested enough to take a stab at translating 11 and 12, but not in actually doing a scanlation. My translation skills are still pretty abysmal when kanji are involved (though the furigana in Mahoraba speeds it up a bit).

Like most hobbies, it has to sit in between all the "must do" items from RL.

There *was* a *huge* set of threads for the anime and the manga before the Great Hack of last year that destroyed everything (an eternal pox on the slime that perped that).

[Kamui4356]

Originally Posted by FatPianoBoy

Wow, I didn't know there was a Mahoraba manga thread here

It's one of the most genuinely interesting manga to come along in a while, so I'd really love to see it licensed. I went through withdrawl when Hiyoko no Gao dropped it, then several months later I found another group doing it (and doing an inferior job, sadly ), but they've only released one chapter in the last month. Not being able to finish it is killing me

That other group released chapter 52 a day or so ago. It should be mostly 4 komas. I've not checked their version out though. Is it very bad? I'll download it one of these days...

[FatPianoBoy]

Originally Posted by Kamui4356

Is it very bad? I'll download it one of these days...

It doesn't have any of HnG's wonderful translation notes, and it's definitely not revised by a native English speaker. Also, a lot of the characters sound the same, which I know isn't the case in the original Japanese.

[Kamui4356]

Originally Posted by FatPianoBoy

It doesn't have any of HnG's wonderful translation notes, and it's definitely not revised by a native English speaker. Also, a lot of the characters sound the same, which I know isn't the case in the original Japanese.

Ah, I know what you mean. It's not horrible, but it lacks those finishing touches.

[relentlessflame]

Originally Posted by Vexx

I can't emphasize enough the quality level of the art book ... its about twice as much as the normal volumes (952 yen versus 562 yen) but if you buy them both at once to save shipping costs --- worth the expense for the pics (it includes a large omake and a archive page of the entire tarot set).

I have to agree with you there - I was very impressed with that illustration/4koma book. I wasn't expecting a book that cheap to be full of so many nice extras. Definitely worth the purchase for any Mahoraba manga fan, I'd say.

[Shinji103]

So, anybody care to post some spoilers of the ending? I'm a sucker for those.

[rooboy]

Originally Posted by Kamui4356

That thought had crossed my mind as well. I think there are a few more series, but not many. Perhaps square-enix charges a high licensing fee? Still, some have been picked up, so I have hope. I'd rather see it licensed by broccolli than tokyopop though. I always get the feeling tp uses the cheapest paper they can find.

Actually I think it's because they don't have any kind of affiliation with any of the major manga publishers (a la Kodansha with Del Ray or Shueisha with Viz) - so a lot of their second tier offerings get overlooked. Fullmetal Alchemist is a no-brainer - Mahoraba not so much.

Originally Posted by Shiroth

I'd say that Del Ray would do a pretty good job with Mahoraba.
They're known for always doing a perfect job, & for picking up series' that not many companys would. Mahoraba sounds perfect for them if you ask me.

My impression has been more that Del Ray just picks from whatever Kodansha releases (not that that bothers me - personally I love a lot of Del Ray's series from Negima to Nodame Cantabile). I think for it to get released it's probably going to have to be either Viz or Tokyopop. But sadly I think it doesn't have much of a chance one way or the other. If the anime was coming out I would think Tokyopop (they seem to release a lot of series about the same time the anime airs in Japan or is released in the US), otherwise I would think Viz. Either way it's a slim chance at this point.

Personally I'd kind of prefer that it not be Tokyopop (I get that paper dust thing too), but other than that I really don't care. The extra translation notes are worth the buck extra Del Ray charges (to me). I'd even be willing to buy it as part of their "mature" line (that somehow includes Suzuka) for 12.95 in the oversized volumes.

[Eleutheria]

The ending is very good with exhaustive detail, although the "welcome home" scene at the end is rather shocking. It introduced me to the word スケコマシ, which Tamama uses to describe Shiratori... and yes, I'd agree.

Never would've thought the "shorty" had the virility in him...

[Vexx]

Everyone gets their story arcs tied up nicely (though they do have to cover a lot of ground). I'll say in spoilerage later after I finish reading it for details.

[Riker]

New Mahoraba addict reporting. :x

Bought and read up to vol.11 of the manga from Tong Li (Chinese translated version) and I'm hooked. It's been a while since I've last read a series that can make laugh, and yet at the same time reduce me to tears. This series has a large cast of characters, but I feel that the mangaka did a great job fleshing out their personalities.

So now I'm going through withdrawl because Tong Li just released vol.11 recently. That means I'll have to wait a few months for the last volume. It also doesn't help that vol.11 ended with a cliffhanger. ;__;

Well anyways, I saw the artbook at Kinokuniya and I'm interested in purchasing it but I have some questions:
- Does the artbook contain spoilers from vol.12 or is it meant to be viewed after you have read vol.12?
- Anyone knows if Tong Li intends to translate the artbook? (It seems to be the logical thing to do, but you'll never know...)


Oh btw, does Mr Yukio have a backstory explaining why he only speaks through the puppet in vol.12? Or was he ignored again? :x

[Vexx]

Yes... the puppetmaster gets his backstory in volume 12 ... best as I remember there are no spoilers per se in the artbook but then I've not "read" it, just looked at the nice pictures.

[panzerfan]

I fell in love with Mahoraba the manga. I am not ashamed to admit that when I read about the resolution to Sayoko + Asami's arc I was really touched and actually cried.

Art book... last I remember no spoiler.