Sket Dance 51

1
[insert text: The three Sket-dan members have formed a new band!! But what about ← this guy...?!]
Tsubaki: One song? // You want to enter the festival to play a single measly song? / Ridiculous. Denied.
Bossun: What the hell?!!
Tsubaki: At any rate, the application period for participation in the festival is long over.
Bossun: Tch... // You're just as stubborn as ever, aren't you... // Is your brain made of some superalloy or something?
Agata: Hahahah... / Now, now, you two... // Let's not be petty here. Tsubaki, surely it wouldn't be too much trouble to allow just one more band to participate. // If they want to give it a go, then why not let them?
Tsubaki: P... President!!
Agata: Let's not forget, though... attendance at this event is by no means compulsory. / There's no guaranteeing the audience will actually stay for your entire performance. // If you don't make it a good one, they could all just leave.
Bossun: Yeah. // I know that. // And there's at least one person I want to stay to the end...

2
[Text: And so... the day has finally arrived!!]
Sket Dance
Chapter 51: Funny Bunny
[insert text: The festival begins!!]
Himeko: It's almost time...
Bossun: Yeah.
SomeGirl: Wow... there are so many people here already! // And I must say, it sure was a surprise... you, the big classical-music fan, saying you wanted to come to the Rock Festival...
Ayano: Yeah... / I guess so.
Flashback!Ayano: A new band?

3
Flashback!Bossun: Yeah. We're gonna be playing live at the festival. You'd better be there, yeah? // Before you make your final decision about going abroad... / ...I've got a song I'd like you to hear. // A song for you.
Flashback!Ayano: For me...?
Flashback!Bossun: I just figured music might be the best way to really get through to you...
Yagi: Apologies for keeping you all waiting. // Now, without further ado... I declare this year's Kaimei Rock Festival... // ...open, you bunch of punks!!

4
Yagi: I, Yagi-chan of the Media Club, will be your MC today~!☆
Guy1: We just threw that script together any old way, but she's actually going through it word-for-word...!
Guy2: ...Yagi-senpai really is pretty popular, too, isn't she...
Yagi: First up, it's our "top batter"... // Date-kun, from Class E of the second year... // ...with his surprisingly full-blown Visual Kei-style band... // ...it's JardiN!!
Dante: Welcome to this Festival of Madness.

5
Bossun: ...Is that Dante...?
Himeko: He sure does change when he gets up on stage, huh...
[Text: The Rock Festival continued, with all manner of individual bands taking the stage... // The atmosphere was like nothing the school had seen before.]
Yagi: Next up, we have the band everyone's been waiting for! // The most popular, the most spirited, and most popular contenders for taking the festival'sgrand prize!

6
Yagi: It's "The Student Council Band"!
Machiru: Are you ready for this, lovely ladies?
Bossun: Tch... // Can't they stop screaming? It's screwing with my concentration...

7
Bossun: Well, at any rate... // ...We sure have managed to fit a lot of practice into a short space of time.
[bubbleSFX: thump]
Bossun: It's not so bad once in a while... // ...feeling all nervous like this.
[bubbleSFX: thump]
Switch: I wasn't under the impression you ever stopped being nervous, mind.
Bossun: Sh - Shaddup!!
Himeko: Hahahah!
Bossun: Let's do this.
Michiru: Thank you, my lovely ladies!
Tsubaki: Hmph. A last-minute band like that could never hope to win over the audience...
Agata: Are you sure? / [aside]we were kind of last-minute ourselves...[/aside] / I don't think you should underestimate them.

8
Agata: They do seem to be remarkably popular.
Crowd: [aside]Himeko-cha~n! // Swi~tch! // Bossu~n![/aside]
Yagi: And now, it's time for the final performance of the day. // A three-man band who entered the festival at the last minute... it's The Sketchbook!
Jougasaki: Wha?! Seriously?! THOSE guys are gonna play?!
OtherGuy: Huh? Jou-kun, didn't you know? Everyone's been talking about it...
Chiaki: Himeko-cha~n!!
SomeGuy: Switch-kun!
[TN: Seriously, should I know that guy? >_<]
Roman: My prince~! My prince~!
Agata: After all, they've helped an awful lot of people out one way or another. // And most likely they're doing this, too... // ...for somebody's sake, hm?

9
Bossun: Aah~ / Aah~ / Ahem... // Could I just say something? // There's actually only one song that we know how to play... // But we're going to give it all we've got. / So listen, and listen good.
OtakuGuy: Huh? Mr. Usui's actually playing the drums... a real set...
Otakura: Well, he is the hardest worker I have ever known...

10
Shinpei: Aniue...! / Those three are really pretty incredible!
Shinzou: Indeed. // I daresay they must have practised and practised for this moment... // ...Practised to no end...
Bossun: Ahh, you defied the voice of the King // And the night you were found out, you were smiling
Girl1: Hey, I know this song!
Girl2: It's The Pillows!
[TN: Indeed it is. Funny Bunny, by The Pillows.]
Bossun: Ahh, on top of that aurora-touched hill // You reached out both your hands to me
Ayano: It's beautiful... // (Such a soft style of rock...)
Bossun: The beads came apart and scattered everywhere // They were so beautiful, we made a present of them to the night sky

11
Bossun: Ahh, the clown, never showing his face // Like some kind of joke, was just gone one day // And today, too, the world / goes on turning so simply / at such a speed / that even tears are washed away, but... // When your dream comes true // It's not thanks to anyone else
Ayano: (This is... // ...for me...)
Bossun: You chose that day / with the roaring wind // and ran all this way

12
Ayumi: It's brilliant!!
Someone: ...He's absolutely nailed the mood.
[TN: Gah, I'm sure I recognise that guy... who is he? >_<]
SomeGirl: It's incredible! Ahh, I'm getting goosebumps just listening! // Right, Ayano?!! // ...Ayano? // Is something wrong?

13
Bossun: I wonder where you are, what you're doing right now // And as your trembling figure swims before my mind's eye // I want to see you // When your dream comes true // It's not thanks to anyone else // You chose that day with the roaring wind // and ran all this way

14-15
Bossun: Don't worry just because you can't fly // The ground spreads ever out before you // Go wherever you want to be // I know that you can do it // Whew... // Thank you, biby! / Uh, I mean "baby"!
Himeko: Why're you getting all nervous now?!
SomeGirl: Ayano... / What's wrong? Are you okay?
Ayano: Uh-huh...

16
[Text: And so, the curtain fell on this year's blindingly successful Kaimei Rock Festival. // In the end, "top batter" or no, the Grand Prize was taken by JardiN, whose skill and vision captured the audience's hearts. // By a narrow margin, the Student Council band were left to take second place.
Tsubaki: We'll do it next year...!!
Agata: Oh, dear...

17
Bossun: You sure look ready for this. // Well, you decided to do it yourself! // You wouldn't exactly be scared, would you!
Ayano: No...
Bossun: So what's it like in Germany about now? / You don't want to catch a cold!
Ayano: ......... // Bossun-kun... // Everyone... // Thanks to the song you all sang for me... I found the courage to walk my own path.

18
Ayano: Thank you so much...! [aside]*sniff*...[/aside]
Bossun: Whoa, whoa, hold it! / No crying allowed. This is your big departure!
Himeko: Yeah. / We did that song because we wanted to, an' that's that.
Bossun: Good luck.
Ayano: Yeah.

19
Bossun: I wonder... where you are~ // What you're doing~ right now~ // And as your trembling figure~ swims before my mind's eye~ // I want to see you~ // When your dream~ comes true~ // It's not thanks to anyone else~ // You chose that day with the roaring wind, and ran all this way~
[trophy: KRF / Kaimei Rock Festival // Best Song / The Sketchbook]
[insert text: Their feelings packed into a single song... And it resounded... in Ayano's heart, and in everyone's hearts...]
[TN: You think the author of this manga likes The Pillows? Just a little? Maybe?]