Together on Sunday 4.1

*Only for use by Lazy Ass Scans

tl by JinHea

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Creator’s Afterword

Ichijou Yukari

Yeesh… the women I create are pretty brawny, if I do say so myself…

I guess it’s true what they say about characters you create resembling you… I still don’t like the idea, though…

Anyhow, even though “Together on Sunday” is the characters’ story, when I went back and read my original work, I realized – they really do resemble me… Furthermore, there’re a whole lot of traits one can’t be proud of…

Stubborn, with a big appetite, a sharp tongue, inconstant moods, and a fiery spirit, leading such a forthright life that even after falling down she’ll swiftly stand back up, having been born full of life and determination… oh my, seems like I can be proud of them. That’s good, keep up the positive thinking, Ichijou!

Now that I think about it, it’s impossible to stay depressed for a long time on a full stomach. When I’m depressed, it saps

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[cont] my strength, stamina, and concentration leaving me completely worn out. I wallow in a bit of self-pity and passing time becomes a chore. During all this, for some reason I get angry: “What, how am I supposed to do something like this?”, and it stops.

Also, due to stinginess, the things I’ve done refuse to take on substance – what a waste. Whether my experiences were bad or good, they must have some use… and time passes by.

Ichijou’s positive thinking is also known as: don’t be wasting time.

The story had a lot of focus on it, but I wonder why so many middle-aged men in this world are so fond of baseball? I also had to watch it many times, to the point where my eyes started hurting, but I lived through it. That experience isn’t wasted – I’m using it productively. Now that’s positive.

Cheery and lively kids are okay too, but I like to draw about tall, bright girls and girls who are rotten to the core, which is why the world of showbiz holds plenty of charm for me.

How nice… The ambition and fundamental personality that enable one to climb ever higher without regard for others who have fallen along the way. The brightness of the spotlight and the shadows cast. No matter how fake the story I draw is, it seems plausible when it takes place in this superficial world. It’s a world far removed from daily life, and they do say we’re only interested in what we don’t know. It tickles my author’s fancy.

I wrote about this before: I have a policy that mysteries are out of the question because they’re in poor taste. The world of showbiz

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[cont] fits pretty well with that policy, don’t you think? A mystery in the dream-filled showbiz world… I wonder if I went overboard? Oh well, it’s not a bona fide mystery, so it should be fine. I wanted to draw something like this for once.

An ultra-normal girl with the usual nice personality gets fed up with the world of showbiz and considers quitting it all, when suddenly the chance of a lifetime lands in her lap and dazzles her. She abandons her man and gets swallowed up by that world… hmm I suppose I’d do the same…

At the life’s turning point, the choice you make will change your fate. Whether that choice is good or bad cannot be known until after it’s chosen, though, so whichever one you choose you’d probably end up thinking “man, if only I’d chosen the other one then…” once or twice. In any case whichever you do choose, just do the best you can and try not to regret anything, don’t you agree?

Be positive. It’s the only way!

Now then, “I want to dance with you tonight”. It’s a somewhat different and heart-warming story.

I was aiming for a youth genre filled with old country stereotypes and a Western undercurrent. Leisurely and carefree scenes that rarely come up in my manga, and the typewriter I used to yearn for.

When watching foreign films, I notice typewriters appear a lot. Even though there’s no longer any use for it,

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[cont] I kept on wanting it. After getting into trade school, I had time to type, so I’d often tap away, secretly humming a Beatles song. How nostalgic…

We’re now in the age of word processors and PCs. How far will civilization advance, I wonder? Incidentally, I’m tapping out this manuscript on a word processor.

Speaking of foreign influence, it’s got to be dance parties. They pop up without fail when reading foreign junior novels. I’ve done folk dance, but that’s different. I’ve also danced the Bon-dance wearing kimono, but that was together with the middle-aged people in the neighbourhood… it was good… but I’m still unfulfilled…

Young boys and girls dancing together as couples, that sweet feeling when happiness and shyness coalesce. Aah, youth – kyaa, it’s slipping away…

Since I’m from the country, I don’t really yearn for any part of it, but I wanted to try drawing the innocent and perverted yet totally loveable boys.

Boys on the cusp of youth are cute, awkward, unattached, and comical. Compared to girls the same age, they really are just kids.

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The next story is about a rather dangerous kid. The rich, aristocrats, castles, the upper society, I longed for them very much as a child. Sitting in a salon, going to a Swiss boarding school… aah, none of it was meant to be.

To me, a lovely angelic child innocently killing people is much more terrifying than a evil person committing murder. Except in reality, it’d be pretty scary whichever one you’re facing. Come to think of it, the former is quite evil too.

I’ve had an interest in the mind’s sicknesses since a long time ago, and I liked “Lament of the Lambs” and such. As I’m super healthy physically and mentally, perhaps I’m attracted by what I don’t have? …having an interest in this kind of thing isn’t a good sign, I guess.

I hope everything stays just that – a story. Regarding the spiteful little sister’s wardrobe. I sooo want to try them on! I like the clothes from the Art Deco age. I also like the riding outfits from the earlier days.

Wavy blond hair with an apron dress. If I had such a doll-like appearance my life would likely be very different. At the very least I wouldn’t have become a manga creator…

Even so, these four stories are quite diverse. I collected them with

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[cont] the hope that you’d be able to enjoy them a lot. What do you think? I’m blowing my own horn here, but Ichijou has wide-ranging hobbies.

I have a rule that I won’t draw contemporary or science fiction (I have drawn them though, a long time ago). Artists should have the desire to draw many kinds of stories, after all.

For some reason, my interest in a lot of things has been ebbing lately, that’s not good…

Maybe it’s not a good thing to attain peace and happiness so half-heartedly. Maybe it’d be better to face it head on, no matter how much it hurts. I suppose I just don’t have any ambition.

Aah, artists… using their own misfortune as seeds that bear fruit to their work, it’s a sickness…

Isn’t it enough to wish fervently for peace and happiness?

However, if I do achieve them, no doubt I’ll stop working…

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- “Together on Sunday”, weekly Margaret, issues no.38-42 1987
- “Cinderella’s Stairs”, Ribon Original, autumn issue 1985
- “I want to dance with you tonight”, Ribon, November issue 1984
- “The angel I loved”, Ribon Original, winter issue 1984

- “Together on Sunday” in August 1988,
- “Cinderella’s Stairs”
- “I want to dance with you tonight”
- “The angel I loved” in February 1986,
- each were published by Shueisha.