Sakura no Sono 4

[boke's comments in brackets like this]
[Thanks to NaweG for proofreading]

[ver 1.0, Oct 19, 2009]

Page 133 panel 1 Flower Storm

135-1 I don't know when it started, but I always find myself unconsciously slouching in photos with my friends

136-1 Huh?

136-2 What? What's wrong?

Eh? Ah... nothing. Just wait a sec.

136-3 Something's written on my desk...

136-4 Blown by the wind, the flower petals land on my sleeve. Reminding me of traces of you.

137-1 Ah... I bet this is from

The Manyoshu [An ancient collection of poems. Italicize "manyoshu"]

Yeah, this poem was in there

137-2 I didn't notice...

And it's my own desk

Blown by the wind, the flower petals land on my sleeve. Reminding me of traces of you. [on desk]

137-3 I wonder who wrote it.

A poem about secretly loving from afar

I wonder how long it's been here. The pencil lines are thin and have almost vanished

137-4 Cho!
I'm going, ok?

Ah, Wait, wait! I'm coming now!

sfx: skrrrch [chair being shoved in]

138-1 I wonder who they were thinking of when they wrote it

138-2 Morning

Morning

Secret love

138-3 [Going across R to L, then the bottom]

Whoa, this is still tight

Come here for a sec

Must be nice

Whoever wrote this

Must be wonderful, I bet

Ah, someone zip me up, please

Huh? Where's my ribbon?

Oh no, the thread's fraying

139-1 Sensei...

139-2 Um, this is still pretty tight across the chest...

Oh, really?

Well, we've already let it out a lot

139-3 But we don't have time to fix it
Can you tolerate it somehow?

Y-yeah

sfx: press

139-4 But you girls nowadays sure have nice bodies

In the old days it would have been really baggy

hahaha

139-5 Whoa, Cho, you're pretty stacked

Wh-what are you talking about?

139-6 Okay, let's start from scene one

This is icky
My bust seems to be too obvious...

140-1 Kurata-san! Come on already, you're slouching!

Straighten up already!

140-2 Five more days left, huh...

140-3 I'm starting to get nervous

Hey Atsuko, is Shin-chan coming?

Mm, it seems that way

140-5 He said he's bringing a friend

Ooh? If he's cute, introduce us

141-1 Ah, that's right. My sister said she's coming. With Yamamoto-san too.

Ah, her fiancé?

Yeah

141-2 I'm afraid to stand on tiptoes

141-3 When I see "him" my body always shrinks, and I slouch without realizing it

141-4 sfx: slide

I'm home

141-5 Huh? Dad's home?

142-1 Oh geez, look at this!

142-2 C'mon Dad! Don't just leave the window open!

Ah, flower petals all over the place

142-3 Aah, clean up's gonna be a pain...

Mom's gonna get mad at him again...

142-5 But it's beautiful...

143-1 Hey, did you hear about Shimizu-san?

Sakura no Sono [paper. Sakura no Sono is "the cherry orchard", a play by chekov]
Cast List

Ranevskaya - Kurata Chiyoko

Anya - Nakano Kyoko

Vanya - Inoue Mi

Duniasha - Shimizu

Yasha - Sugi

...efa Ta...

143-2 Mm?

143-3 Shimizu-san was called in for disciplinary action

143-4 Wha?
No way!

Shimizu-san!? What for!? [bottom right]

Mm, I only heard a little from Chika-chan

I don't know the details

143-5 Something about coming to school with a perm

And that it was completely obvious [perms are not allowed in many school dress codes]

Shh

143-6 sfx: shut

144-1 It's true...!

Yeah, no way to hide that one!

144-2 Whoa! What happened? You look great!

144-3 That's nice! It really suits you

144-4 Recently those two have been close

144-6 But somehow, Shimizu-san's gotten prettier

145-2 Huh? She's looking at me again

145-3 I saw him. That despicable fellow.

So it's not my imagination

Recently, she's only been looking at me

Why? Did Keiko pay?

The Cherry Orchard. Vanya and Anya's conversation. [under frame]

145-4 Oh geez, what's going on?

It makes it kinda hard to perform

Makes me self conscious

145-5 Good day

Good day

146-1 That costume

146-2 Eh?

146-3 It looks tight in the chest

146-4 Ahaha...
Despite how I look, I have pretty large boobs

146-5 Lemme see

sfx: squeeze

146-6 Oh, you're right

Shi-Shi-Shimizu-saaaann!!

146-7 About the same as me

I'm relieved

147-1 Eh?

147-2 Kurata-san

I thought you were like a guy

147-3 But you're really feminine

147-4 Oh, what's wrong?

147-5 Nothing...

148-2 Listen, I...

148-4 I think I may quit the drama club

148-5 Eeh!?

148-6 I might... ok? [italicize "might"]

149-1 No way...

149-2 If you quit, Shimizu-san

Who is going to be bucho? [club president]

149-3 What about you?

149-4 Why don't you do it?

Wha? I can't! No way!

149-5 I don't have it together like you, Shimizu-san

I'm pretty sloppy...

I couldn't get people to follow me...

150-1 I...

I don't have it together

150-2 Really

150-4 I don't have it together at all

Even if you think so, it's just appearances

150-5 Good bye

150-6 click

151-1 "Really"

She said that like she was singing

151-2 But appearances are important

151-3 After all, I fell in love with a guy who's like an idol. Like a star.

152-2 People have said I was like a boy since I was young

Before I knew it, I started to believe it too

152-3 God is so cruel

152-4 Before I knew it, I developed really nice boobs, but I don't think they don't fit with this body... with this face

I can't stand it. It's like I'm a scrawny little tree with one nice big apple.

153-1 Aa-ah

It would have been better if I was a boy

153-2 I wanna get married... to someone I love...

153-3 Morning

Morning

154-1 Hey, did you hear?

Shimizu-san told sensei she didn't want to be bucho anymore

No way!

154-2 So she was serious

154-3 So what are we going to do about the bucho position?

She'll still participate in the play, right?

Look, sensei probably said something to her about her perm

But, I can't believe it

154-4 Shimizu-san

154-5 Hey, you really gonna quit?

No way, right? You've done it all this time!

155-1 Finally. You stopped using polite Japanese.

155-2 Hey, c'mon already! I'm asking you seriously here!

Come with me!

155-3 Mmm, as far as I'm concerned, I'd continue, but...

Sensei said...

155-4 Sensei said something?

155-5 Look

My hair

155-6 "As bucho, you need to be blah blah blah"

That's total nonsense!

155-7 Who cares about a perm nowadays!

Is he stupid, or what!?

156-1 I really think you should consider being bucho

156-2 Eh... me?

Naw, it wouldn't work... I...

156-3 'cause it's a pain?

Mm-mn. More than that, it's...

156-4 It's like it's too much of a fit

156-5 I'm not trying to be conceited...
We go to a girl's school, right?

There's only a couple people who can pull off boy's roles

And the underclassmen get all crazy...
I don't particularly want to be in the Takarazuka or anything [an all girl's drama troop, where even the male roles are played by women]

157-1 I see...

157-2 So you're a girl after all, Kurata-san

That'd be a pain, alright

157-3 Ok, then

That's how it is

So what should I do...

I used to get some pleasure out of it back then

157-4 I'd get a attitute and act like a boy

157-6 "Kurata-sempai, I'm a huge fan!"

"Please accept this chocolate"

158-1 "I love you"

Ambiguous words that can be offered up both to girls and to boys

158-2 "Reminding me of traces of you." [this is the ending of the poem]

158-3 Those girls, thinking of someone like that, might have ended up crying

And then...

159-1 God is cruel after all

159-2 Huh? That guy...

Let's take the road over there

Eh?

Come on already, let's go that way

159-3 Ah...

159-4 That guy...

Hey, don't stare like that

Aaah, that's...

159-5 Don't worry, that's gotta just be his friend!

Or maybe it's his sister

Shh

159-3 Please. Don't notice me.

Please. Just continue on your way.

160-1 I don't want to see what kind of girl she is

Just seeing the back of her head is more than enough

160-2 I'm going to get a look at her face!

Stop it!

160-4 Ah...

160-5 I don't want to see
I don't want to see

Sorry

I don't want to see her face

Sorry, it's nothing

161-1 If I see her, I'll end up hating her

161-2 A short girl better suited to you

161-4 Compared to when all the feelings were piling up

Snuffing them out is simple

162-1 Ah, great. You haven't gone home yet.

Hey, Kurata-san...

162-3 Mn

Ah, what?

My eyes are hurting a little...

162-4 Hey, won't you join me on the roof for a bit?

I brought something nice

Something nice?

What?

162-5 It's a secret

Bring your costume

162-6 Hey, what's the "something nice"?

162-7 Here, look

Wow, that's cute

163-1 If you wear this as an accessory, your bust won't be as noticeable

163-2 Let me have that

I'll sew it on for you. I brought needle and thread

163-4 My breasts are pretty big too, so...

It's been a pain in my ass since I was little

163-5 They say "she's developed for her age"...
And guys I didn't even know started pawing my breasts

163-6 I thought it was nothing but
Trouble

164-1 Slumping when I walked, and stuff

164-3 Well...

I have my height to deal with as well...

164-4 When I'm with everyone, I feel I stick out even more

164-5 As for me
I'm jealous of you, Kurata-san

164-6 Whaa?

Look, you're cool like a guy...
And that makes you look all indifferent, I think

165-2 I...

Wish...

165-3 I had been born a little more feminine...

Like Atsuko, or you, Shimizu-san

165-4 Me?

165-5 I've never been called feminine or girly even once.

I'm always being told "you've got it together"

I've never wanted to be called that. Not even once.

166-1 Ok, it's done!

This will make it less...

166-3 If I was smaller and more feminine

Then maybe someone would love me

166-4 ...does it have to be a guy?

166-5 I love you, Kurata-san

166-6 Maybe I'm not good enough

167-1 Mm-nn. That's not true.

167-2 I love you, Kurata-san

Yeah

167-3 I really love you

That makes me happy. Say it more.

167-4 I love you

I really love you

Really

Yeah...

168-1 I loved you.
Really.
Even though it never worked out, but
I'm happy now

169-1 Wow, Cho, You look great!

169-2 Really! Since you're tall, that looks great on you

I'm jealous. Must be nice.

169-4 Anya, Duniasha, how do you do?

That dress is sooo nice. I have the only guy role...

How do you do, mother?

How do you do, mistress?

170-1 Everyone! Hurry! 10 minutes till curtain!

Okay

170-2 I wonder if Shin-chan came

Ah, him

Hurry up and clean up that cord!

People at stage front, all ready?

170-3 Almost time

Yeah

170-4 Let's do it

Waaah, lot's of people! [bottom right]

Yeah...

Whoa... What am I gonna do? [bottom left]

171-1 Ladies and Gentlemen. Thank you for waiting.

The High School division of Oka Academy is proud to present Chekov's "The Cherry Orchard" on this anniversary of our school's founding.

171-2 Briiiiing

172-1 Briiing

Ah

172-2 Oh, no

I knew I was off by 30 minutes

Ah, Atsuko is going to flatten me

172-3 Can we get in?

Yeah. Once they start, the main doors are locked

172-4 But, don't worry

There's a door in the back

I did go here for 6 years, after all

172-5 Amazing cherry trees, huh?

Yeah, right?

Each year the graduating class adds one

173-1 And it's a tradition for each year's Founder's Day to put on the play "The Cherry Orchard"

Whoa...

173-2 Actually, I was in the drama club too

I joined as soon as I got into high school

173-3 Taking the hem of that dress

Bending my knees into a curtsey

When the wind starts to scatter the last of the cherry blossoms [I think these are lines from the play]

173-5 Gazing at the dancing petals in each other's hair with a bittersweet feeling

Saying "I love you", "I hate you"... ten times, a hundred times

It's strange

All I remember is the unimportant stuff like that

174-1 It's a place where only feelings rule

A country ruled by unmarried queens

These cherry blossoms

174-2 Are decorating our crowns overhead