Ring 24

AAaand at long last, I am DONE with Ring! Woo! Man this last chapter posed a lot of challenges. But I got through them all. I even did the 7 pages of "Here's how I went to a sports store and bought round things and then just did whatever made sense for the rules" segment. Okay, so high8sky is working on typesetting V2 now and then we'll try to get V3 done soon after that. Now that this is done, I finally have time to go back to a bunch of other stuff I put off since last November or so. I did really like this manga. It's kinda sad it never continued. Or at least doesn't look like it's gonna continue, given that this wasn't all that popular and Toriko is, Shimabu will probably tend more towards that sorta manga in the future. But as a short manga, I thought it was really good. The jokes were always good and the characters all felt like they were their own human beings with their own personalities, ideas and goals. And the sport itself seemed pretty cool and exciting.

Welp, that's that. At some point, I would like to do at least a little of Seikimatsu Leader Den Takeshi. That series is EXTREMELY long so I can't make any promises about it. I'd rather finish some more things I'm currently doing, and most of those will probably keep going all year or longer, depending on how much time I end up being able to dedicate to them. I hope everyone enjoyed this series as much as I have! Go read it if you haven't yet!

[Ring 24 Translation by Kewl0210]
Page 183:
Izumi: Tokita!
Change out!!
Toki: !
SFX: AA AAA
Somebody: Ooooh! Number 12, Tokita is heading for the *substitution line!
Looks like Yamagaku is making a sub here!
Asterisk: The entrance and exit for players subbing in and out. By the way, this doesn't require the referee's permission.
Izumi: Okay, well done!
You'll get another chance, soon!
Don't let it get you down!!
Toki: Isu.
Title: Ring24:
Victory Shot!
Guys: Number 12's moves have definitely been solid!
Though he must not have good peripheral vision with bangs like that, right?
Who's the sub?!
Izumi: Is... Is this really a good idea~~?

Page 184-185:
Sum: UoRAaaa! Sorry I kept you waiting, guuuys!!!
Yamagaku's true ace has entered!!
Guys: It's Summeeeeeer!!!
Title: Ring24: Victory Shot!
SFX: AAAAAA

Page 186:
Sum: Hey!!!
Ikki: !
SFX: BAN
Sum: Now, your defeat is certain!
You guys...
I really feel sad for ya.........
Ikki: ............
Aka: C'mere, idiot!
Sum: GUE?!
SFX: GUIH
Aka: What'd Sensei say to you?!
Sum: WHAH?!
Aka: He gave you some instructions, right?
Ikki: Mm...
I guess that's what you call a person with a screw loose...
Daimon: .........
Now then...

Page 187:
Daimon: Now that I get a good look at him, that guy......
kinda reminds me of somebody...
Sum: Instructions...
that Sensei gave me?
He said to make a comeback with a long-distance shot...
I think.
Aka: You liar!!
You: I'm beggin' you, please don' do anythin' reckless...
I don' wanna be humiliated...
Aka: Seriously, what'd he tell you?!
Sum: Really...
he told me to stop that baldy once and for all...!
That's it!
Aka: Oookay. Listen close, Summer... You're gonna follow Sensei's instructions, and that's it!
You don't have to do anything else, okay?
Sum: Mu?

Page 188:
Ref: Play is resuming!
Anri's Ring!
SFX: PIIIII
Yumi: OOOOOOKAY! Let's stop a point here!! [First sentence big.]
Don't back down just because your opponent's big!!
Aka: Keep on them, guys!!
Sum: ........
I don't have to do anything else, but...
I don' wanna!
Handwritten: HMPH
Guy: Stir things up, Ikki!
Ikki: Ui!
SFX: BASHI
Ikki: !
Sum: Just like I was instructed...
I'm gonna stop you...!
SFX: ZAH

Page 189:
Sum: And
I'm gonna get points, too!
In Bubble: Around 50
Ikki: ............
Sum: ?
SFX: GAN

Page 190:
Sum: HWAAAAA?!
Aka: You idiot!!
Don't take your eyes off the opponent!!
Ikki: HAHHAH! What an easy bastard!
I'll be taking a 4th point!!
SFX: BAH
Guys: Yumiba!!

Page 191:
Guys: !!
UWAaaaah!
What an incredible pass!!!
You: Thanks, a lo~~t! [Note]
SFX: BASHI
Guys: WHUAAAA
Saori!!
SFX: GAH

Page 192:
You: Ah!
Guy: Little 1st year,
you'd better not get cocky!!
You: Damn...
SFX: GABA
Aka :Bastard.
SFX: DAH
Yumiba: Don't be too rough, Red!!
You'll get another card!!
Aka: !
Gu...
Yumi: Aaaa! Don't slam into him, Aka!!
Aka: ........
Guy: URAA!
Somebody: They're gonna make their way in for a 4th poiiiiint!!
Aka: I'm not...

Page 193:
Aka: gonna let that happeeeen!!
Guy: GUoA?!
SFX: DOGA
Guys: UGYAAAAAA! It's Summeeeer!!
What sorta block did that guy just doooo?!!!
SFX: WAAAAAA
Ref: Charging! Yamagaku #15!
A clear foul!!
Sum: WHuh?!
SFX: PIPIPI
Ref: 1 free-throw to Anri!!
Guy: Hngh...
Is that guy a newbie?
SFX: AAA
Asterisk: If the defense performs a foul within the goal area, then the offense is given one free-throw.
Sum: Basta~~~rd! Doin' that to my nice defensive play...
Aka: What the hell was a nice defensive play, moron?!!
You: Don't do anythin' yer not supposed ta!!
Sum: Whu?

Page 194:
Sum: But if I hadn't fouled him they definitely would've gotten a point...
Aka: I don't wanna hear that shit from you!!
Did you forget what Sensei told you?!
Sum: Hm?
Aka: Listen up!
SFX: GAH
Aka: All you should be thinking about is how to stop that baldy!!
Forget about everybody else! And you don't need to be part of the offense, either!!
Just stick to that guy like glue!! GOOOT IIIIT? [Last sentence big.]
Sum: GUMU~~~...
SFX: GAH
Somebody: He got the free-throoooow!!
Anri scores its 4th point!!
Their momentum is unstoppable!!
SFX: WAAAAAA
Aka: That idiot!
We'll take that point right back!!

Page 195:
Daimon: Press him!!
Don't let Aka just do whatever he wants!!
Guys: Hm?
!!
SFX: BIH
Guys: Huh.....?
He...
He shot it?!
He's way outside the area!!
Is he going for a bonus shot?!
Izumi: You idiot!!
He's letting them get to him!!
Daimon: Good.
That Aka kid...
is getting hasty...
Take a good look! Those don't go in that easy!! [First sentence big.]
And that's an easy rebound for Anri!!
SFX: BAM
Aka: Anri may have the height,
but we've got the jumping power...!!
Jump, Yousukee!!

Page 196:
Guy: Ouh!
You: URAa!
Sum: Leave it ta meee!!
SFX: BABABA
Aka: Uh, hey!
You: Hey, wha...
Yer in tha way!
Sum: Ah?
Isn't it better to have more people?
Guy: Allll right! Got it!
Somebody: Aaaah! I knew it, Anri got the reboooound!!
Aka: Heey, SUmmer! What the hell are you doing over there, you idiot!!
Guy: Run, Ikki!!!

Page 197:
SFX: BUN
Aka: Dammi...
SFX: KIYA
You: -----
Sum: Ah...
Wait, you bastaAAARD!!! [The a's start small and get bigger.]
SFX: GYAOA

Page 198:
Date: Oh?
That 1st year's pretty fast!!
Daimon: ......!
Fuji: .........
Hm......
Tokita-kun...
Get ready.
Toki: Ah... Isu!
That was fa~~~~st!
Sum: Gu...

Page 199:
Somebody: I knew it, it's no good!!
There's no way he can catch up to Ikki!!
SFX: GRIN
Sum: !!
Bastard...
SFX: BASHI
Someone: BAM! He scooored! 5th point!! [First sentence big/bold/weird font.]
Nobody can stop them now!!!
The speed star Imagawa Ikki sure is living up to his reputation!!!
SFX: WAAAAAA

Page 200:
Aka: Summeeer!!
Why don't you ever listen to people, you fucking moron!!! ["you fucking moron" big/bold.]
Izumi: Hey, switch out, Summer!
Step out!!
Sum: Hu~~~h? No waaaayz!!
Aka: 'A course! Go cool your head a little, idiot!!
SFX: GABIIIN
Somebody: What's thiiiiis?! Number 15 from Yamagaku that only just joined the game is stepping oooout!!
It's like he only entered the game to cause problems for his teaaaam!!
How embarrassing!!
SFX: WAAAAAAAAA
Ikki: KAKkAKKA! Ma~~~n, this guy's entertaining!
He's a total clown!
Sum: GUNU...
Remember this, bastaaard.
I promise I'm gonna leave you speechless...
Ikki: Heh...... Go ahead...
If you can, that is...

Page 201:
Sum: Hm...
Ikki: Huh?
Asuka: Okay, Summer-kun!
In Bubble: Here's a towel!
Good work out there!
Sum: AA~~~~ You've got it all wro~~~ng! Ashuka-senpai~~~ I'm really not that ba~~~d!
Handwritten: I'm really good!
I'm really much, much
Asuka: Don't worry about it! We've still got plenty of match to go!
Let's just do our best!
Fuji: Hanagata-kun, please come here a moment.
Sum: !!
SFX: BIKUH
Sum: I am sorry,
Supervisor!
Handwritten: Look how sorry I am!
Fuji: Hm.....? About what?
Sum: Wha...?
You don't know...?

Page 202:
Fuji: This was your first match, but you weren't nervous or stiff......
You stayed positive and your movement was sharp, too, Hanagata-kun...!
Sum: ........
Huh.....
For real?
Fuji: Yes......... Some errors in judgement are to be expected for someone without any real game experience...
Sum: Er~~~~ I guess you really were watching me then!
In Bubble: Should've thought so.
Aw ma~~~~n! I thought he wasn't going to put me in anymore...
Fuji: However...
Sum: Nu?
However?
Fuji: As far at the game goes, as things currently stand,
we're gonna lose.

Page 203:
Someone: Scoooore! That's the 6th point!!!
And it's Ikki agaiiiiin!!
SFX: WAH
Sum: ......
That guy...
Someone: 6 to 2!!
Looks like the difference in the teams' ability is starting to become apparent!!
Fuji: You don't like losing, right, Hanagata-kun?
Aka: S...
Supervisor!!
To somebody as 'addicted to winning' as Hanagata Natsu...
that's a silly question!
SFX: GOGO...
Fuji: Very good.
SFX: NIKO (Smile)
Fuji: Okay, listen closely to what Sensei has to say.
We're counting on you, Hanagata-kun.

Page 204:
Narration: And after that-----
The back-and-forth of scoring between the teams continued...
The Yamagaku 1st year ace Saori scored
and even Date, who was distracted from the match because of his attention on Nobumi...
scored a bonus-shot that would turn out to be very painful for Yamagaku...
But without hesitation, they were able to rally with Aka's individual skills, but...
just as the 1st half was ending
Ikki was able to score a crippling 9th point.
And here......
SFX: GLANCE

Page 205:
Ref: Time up!!
9 to 4!!
Somebody: The 1st half ends with Anri having a 5-point leaaaaad!!
Sign: Yamagaku [Left side]
Anri [right side]
Bubbles: HAA HAA HAAA
SFX: PIPPIIIH
Daimon: All right! Well done, boys...!
You got 4 more points scored on you than you should have in the 1st half, but
Yamagaku should slow down in the 2nd half... There's no way they have the strength left to win back 5 points...
Huhu... This match
it completely ours!
SFX: GRIN
George: Heey, Aka!! What're you doing! You're losin', ain'cha?!!
Nobu: Aka-kuuuun! Nice work out theeere! [Heart]
SFX: WAH
George: We came all the way here ta cheer you guys on, ya know!! Be a little more serious out there, dammit!!
Aka: Sheddeeeep! And your breath stiiinks, George!!
Nobumi: Aka-kuun! Please eat the lunch I made you! [Heart]
Aka: I don' want it!
Handwritten: Stop talking!

Page 206:
Aka: Damn... That Anri 1st year...
He got most of those points on his own...
Yumi: Red... Don't forget you've been given a card.
If you get kicked outta the game, we're done for...
Aka: Yeah, I know.
Seki: Sensei.
Fuji: Hm?
Seki: Honestly, it's really hard to keep up the defense with just Kiyokiyo and I...
Maybe we should have just one more person change positions...
Fuji: You've got it backwards, Seki-kun... We need to stress offense in the 2nd half.
I'd really like it if both you and Kiyomizu-kun heartily participated in our team's attack, too...!
Seki: Huh?! But...
Fuji: A 5 point difference is really tough...
Even if we keep our opponents from scoring a single point in the 2nd half, we can't win unless we score 6...
Seki: Can we really just ignore Anri's attack?
That 1st year is...
Fuji: We can stop him.
With Hanagata-kun!
Guys: Heh...?

Page 207:
Sum: Guys!
You guys can relax! I got this......!!
Guys: Y... You idiot!!
It's practically because of you that the gap in scores is so big!!
Sum: Wh-Whaat?! Don't pin all this on me, you pieces a crap!
You: Sensei, this guy's just gonna make the same mistakes again!!
Fuji: Hm?
I hope all of you would think of the "fear" of making mistakes is the worst mistake.
What's important is not to give up.
No matter how big and complicated a maze you're in, there's always an exit...
As long as you don't give up, you can be certain you'll eventually make it to the goal......
Understand......?
Losing means giving up......
Hanagata-kun has that tenacity not to give up.

Page 208:
Fuji: Anyhow, the theme for the 2nd half will be scoring points...!!
I want everyone to concentrate hard on offense and attack...!
Ref: It's time!
The 2nd half is starting!!
SFX: PIH
Aka: Oookay! Let's gooo!!
All we can do now is trust Sensei and fight!!
Ou!!
Ken: Don't count on Summer!!
Sum: SHUT UP!!
SFX: OOO
Daimon: Ookay, go deal the finishing blow, boys!!
Don't go easy on 'em!!
Let's make the lead even bigger in the 2nd half!!
Ikki: Got it!!
SFX: OOH!

Page 209:
Izumi: Is... Is he gonna be oka~~~y? That Summer kid...?
First of all, I don't even know if he was actually listening to you.
Fuji: He'll be fine.
His dad was a selfish guy, too...
I know how to convince him......
Izumi: Huh?
Ref: Yamagaku's Ring!!
Throw-off!!!
SFX: PIIIH
Aka: URAA! Let's gooo!!
Someone: Get fired up, everybodyyy!!
Ou!! Let's make a comeback!!
Ooooo!! Yamagaku!!
Are they all going for an attack now?!
SFX: WAH
Daimon: Well, that's only natural..... if you consider the point difference.
But I'm actually thankful that that's their strategy...!
Because it'll be easier
for us to counterattack!

Page 210:
Aka: All riiight!
Someone: UWAaA! Aka's afaaaaast!!!
SFX: BIH BABABA
Date: That form was awkward as hell!
No way it's goin' in!
Someone: Ook!!
Aaaaah! So close!!
SFX: GAH
Someone: It's obvious where it's
gonna bounce!
Anrei's good!!!
Quick attaaack,
IkkI!!
SFX: DAH
Aka: Damn!
Get back!!

Page 211:
Someone: Here it coooomes! Anri's specialty counter!!
Looks like Ikki's gonna be the star of the show in the 2nd half, tooooo!!
!!
SFX: BAN

Page 212:
Aka: !!
You: Summeeeer!!
Dai: Hm...?
Ikki: Bastard...
Aka: Heh.
You ain't getting by me...!
Fuji: FIrst,
you can't let "him" run!
Aka: You mean that bald bastard?
Fuji: There's no need to actually take the ring from him...
just focus on stopping his movement.
The most important part of defense
is preventing your opponent from getting past you...!
Ikki: .......
Damn.

Page 213:
Noguchi: Ikki!
Ikki: !
Ah!
SFX: BYU
Misugi: ORAA!!
Noguchi: !!
SFX: BAKOH
Kuri: He intercepted it!!
Oookay, now go for a counter!!
Someone: UWAaaa! This time Yamagaku countered!!
They scored!
They beat Anri at their own game!!
SFX: WAAA
Guys: All riiight! Nice one!!
Ou!
SFX: BAN
Izumi: O... Oo...
Fuji: What we need to prevent first and foremost
is the one-man quick attack where they have a clear chance to score.

Page 214:
Fuji: If the rest of the team can make it in the time Hanagata-kun has stopped him in place...
Anri's specialty quick attack won't be quite so fearsome.
Ikki: Don't look down on me, dammit!
SFX: DON
Daimon: It's man to maaaan!!
Has he totally sealed Ikki off?!!
You really revised your strategy from the 1st half fast. I should expect nothing less, Fuji-chan.
You've touched one of our vital points quite accurately...
But...
will you really be able to stop our ace as easily as you planned?

Page 215:
Ikki: Stupid bastard!
Do you seriously think you can keep up with my speed?!
SFX: DAH
Fuji: But you can't settle down
and move in-step with him.
You just want to focus on keeping him from getting past you.
If the opponent tries to force their way through,
you need to be nimble in blocking their course.
SFX: DON
Sum: Block the course!!
Ikki: UOH!
SFX: BAN

Page 216:
Someone: UWAA! What the hell?!
That was fast!!
Did he warp or something?!!
SFX: WAH
Fuji: If they ran a 100-meter dash with Imagawa-kun, it's likely nobody could beat him.....
Even Hanagata-kun......
But in a 5-meter dash, I'm not so sure...... ["5-meter" italics.]
Hanagata-kun is a player that's truly great at going from standing still straight into a sprint.
In a match of explosive power, Hanagata-kun has the clear advantage...!
In other words, if he doesn't give Imagawa-kun a long enough range
to reach his top speed, then we have nothing to feer.
Aka: Got it!
Ikki: Ah!
SFX: GAH
Sum: All riiight! Aka-chin, goooooo!!
Go score in my place!!

Page 217:
Date: Like I'm just gonna let you!
SFX: DON
Nobumi: Aka-kuuuun!!!
Ram right into that guuuuy!!!
Handwritten: WAh!
Date: HAH!
Handwritten: Ram into...
Aka: Mu?
SFX: POH
Aka: You're open!!
Date: !!
SFX: DAN
Someone: UWAaA! Aka scooooored!!
It's 9 to 6!!
Yamagaku slowly but surely closing the gap!!
SFX: WAA
Daimon: Nuu... Date's movement is unusually bad in this match......
He should still have the stamina even considering he's playing 2 matches in a row.....
Narration: It's because of Nobumi...
SFX: IRA IRA (Annoyance)

Page 218:
Guy: Kinda..... feels like Yamagaku has the momentum now, doesn't it?
Sorta. Or rather
Anri's momentum's gone down a little.
You: ...........
Handwritten: HAA HAA
You: It's Summer....
By Summer stopping Ikki, the flow's naturally goin' our way...!
Now's our chance ta catch up...!
Actually, if we don't catch up now...
the point difference is gonna really lay heavy on us with the little time we've got left......!
Sum: C'moooon! Come get us, ANrI!!
I'll stop every last one 'a you!!
Ken: Even though Summer's usually so sloppy, he's putting up some solid defense.....
Unbelievable... He'd usually be going for all kinds of weird shots at this point......
Kuri: Sense, how on earth did you persuade him...?
Fuji: Hm?
In order to achieve victory, you have to both change your plays and how you think about them...
I told him that if he wanted to win, that's what he had to do......
Hanagata-kun really hates losing, you see......
Toki: ........
Is that really all.....?
Summer, the king of selfishness...?

Page 219:
Sum: And what about attacking---- sensei?
Can I shoot, too?
Fuji: No.
I want you to focus on defense.
Sum: I don' wanna~~~ I wanna shoot, too~~~~!!
I wanna look good for Ashuka-senspai~~~~!!
Fuji: I didn't say anything about defending for the entire time.
Sum: Huh?
Fuji: If even you're able to do a good job stopping Ikki-kun,
if I'm behind honest, the odds of us winning will still be low.
Sum: !
Fuji: Technique, stamina, spirit, strategy, teamwork......
In pretty much all of them, Anri is a level or two aboce us......
Going into the 2nd half, this gap in points will probably only become more pronounced...
That's where you come in, Hanagata-kun.
We're betting...
on you!

Page 220:
Guy: If Ikki can't do it, then I'll go all the way myself!!
URAaA!!!
Narration: Yamagaku Anri
6-10
Guy: URAaA!!!
Someone: There heiiiis! Uematsu with a direct scoooooore!!!
SFX: DOGON
Guys: That guy's strong!!
Ue: Don't look down on Anri, the kings!!
Somebody: Anri still has it!!
They won't give up the momentum!!!
Yumi: Damn.
They're a stubborn bunch......
Aka: Don't get quiet on mee!!
Ih?!
SFX: GUH

Page 221:
Aka: --------!
Ahtah...!!
SFX: PIKI
Aka: Aw man...
Take it!
You: Hmmmm? What's wrong, Aka?!
Izumi: He sounds like he's in trouble!
Aaaaah! Aka hurt his leeeeg!!
Aka: Ku...
Izumi: I guess playing 2 matches in a row is really taking it's tollllll!!
SFX: WAAAA
Izumi: Get ready, Tokita!
Toki: Isu!
Izumi: Muu...... Saori's played in both games, too...
And not just that, our opponent is Anri...
Everyone's probably reaching their peak of fatigue......
Shit...... At this point, our lack of bench strength is really hurting us...!!

Page 222:
Daimon: Now's your chance!!
Now's the time to finish them!!!
Aka: Shit...
Hang tight, you guys!!
Izumi: Hey, how many minutes are left?
Ref: 7 minutes and a little.
Izumi: 7 minutes left and a 4-point gap...
We may not make it...
Guy: They're totally out of it now!
This'll be an easy victory!!
SFX: ZUBAH
Guy: This'll finish it!!
SFX: BAH
Sum: I can't just let you end it like that!

Page 223:
Guys: WHAAAAAAH?!
Whaaaat?! It's Summeeeeer!!
He took iiiiit!!!
SFX: WAAAA
Summer: We've still got one guy bursting with energy!!
Right here!!!
Asuka: Gyaaaaa! Summer-kuuuN!
George: Nice goiiiin, Summeeeeer!!
SFX: WAH
You: Give it here, Summeeeer!!!
Guys: UWAAA! It's Saoriiii!!
With all his might, he got a 7th point!!
Narration: Yamagaku Anri
7-10
SFX: AAAA
Guys: They've sunk their teeth in!! Don't give up, Yamagaku!!!
Ikki: You should just drop dead and make it easy on yourselves!!
SFX: GUH

Page 224:
Sum: You should drop dead, moron!!
Ikki: UWAH!
SFX: BAH
Sum: I just remembered...
Huhu...
The book you ripped off from that store back then...
It was a porno mag, wasn't it?
SFX: DOKI
Sum: Theeeere, got it!
Ikki: !!
SFX: GAH
Someone: UWAAA! Summer took it agaiiiin!!
Daimon: Wh... Whaaat...?
What the hell's he doing...!!
Stop him!!
Coach: It'll be fine, Supervisor.
It looked a little scary there for a minute, but...
there's no time left... We've won this.

Page 225:
Sum: Move up!!
We've gotta counter, oraa!!
Misugi: .......
Sum: Hey, dammit!
Freakin' run, long hair-kun!
Don't get worn out yet!!
Misugi: There's just under 3 minutes left............ A 3 point gap...
We've got one more play... and Aka-san's out of it......
Handwritten: HAA HAA
Yumi: Even if by some miracle we got a bonus shot,
that wouldn't be enough.....
SFX: HAA HAA
Seki: It's no good...
We're gonna lose...
Handwritten: HAA HAA
You: Naw, not yet!!
We can't give up, guys!!
Keep running till the end!!!
Ken: Saori!!
Kuri: That's right!!
Asuka: Don' give up!!
Yousuke!!
You: We can still make a comeback!!
We can still...
SFX: HAA HAA HAA
Asuka: Yousuke...!!
Narration: But----
Everyone felt it......

Page 226:
Narration: How very difficult it would be.....
to catch up now...
Except for one of them-----
Fuji: If...
there's 3 or so minutes left.....
and we're 3 or more points behind...

Page 227:
Fuji: You can shoot...
Hanagata-kun.
Sum: !
Fuji: Not allowing you to participate in offense is a strategy...
Right now, no one on Anri is thinking about you shooting.
So we can be certain you'll be able to shoot unguarded.
A *Victory Shot.
If you can score one of those, you get 5 bonus shots... in other words
Asterisk: *A shot from your own goal area.
Fuji: We can comeback.
Sum: For real?!
That sounds even more impressive than a regular bonus shot!
Fuji: If you can score that, then
you might become a legend.

Page 228:
SFX: SU...
Guys: !
Daimon: Hm?
What's he doing?
You: He's...
Date: Huh?
Izumi: No way...
Asuka: Summer-kun!
Aka: Hey, hey...
Sum: Really, Ring's.....
just a big ring-toss, right?

Page 229:
Toki: ...........
I get it...
So you wanted to do that, huh...?
Ikki: ...Huh? He's passing it, right?
Is he trying to shoot it?!
Is he an idiot?!
Coach: Supervisor! Should we just let him shoot?
Daimon: Of course, don't mind him!
This is just their last-ditch attempt. No way in hell can they score a Victory Shot...
Think about it.
Even in the pros, there's only a single person
who's... ever...
Hm?
Sum: I used to
do those with my dad
a lot as a kid.
Fuji: Hey.....
Are you watching...?

Page 230-231:
Narration: This is..
just a beginning-------

Page 232:
Narration: Of Hanagata's history with
the Yamakawa Academy Ring Team-----
and the beginning of just one.....
of the many that one beginner would leave behind......

Page 233:
Narration: legends-----

Page 234:
Narration: The next day-----
Guys: Good morniiing!
Iiissu!
Wahhahha! It really suits, you, Summeeeer!
Sum: Sheddep!!
Well...
At least it feels cool!
Bottom Right: End [Big]
Part 1
[3] RING (End)

Page 235:
Shimabu's Story
(Until I made Ring (12))
Well, I said I was gonna go look for a hoop, but they didn't exist (hehe), so I had to just look for a ring 'close to the ones used in RING'. The first thing that came to mind for me was a "hula hoop". The first thing I had in mind when I was first thinking about RING was a hula hoop, so I figured I'd start by testing it out with a hula hoop... So I went to a large sports store and looked for a hula hoop. I never expected to be buying a hula hoop at this age... At that time, I was still writing Names in Okinawa, but I came across a nearby large (really, it was huge) sports shop. So I went there and found one pretty easily, a hula hoop. But! I thought at the time, this was really totally different from what I imagined!! How was it different...? Well first, it felt too slender when I gripped it and the ring itself was huge! And when I threw it on the ground, it didn't bounch as high as I expected it to... Mmm, this is frustrating... I'd had memories of hula hoops sprining high into the air when I threw them on the ground... And it was plastic, so it felt like if you threw it too hard it would break. I tested it out in the shop before I bought it, and I had been thinking it wouldn't look too good if I broke it before I even bought it... (Hehe). So it turned out there was too big gap in what a real hula hoop was and what I'd imagined... That was unavoidable.
Okay, so with the hula hoop being off from what I'd imagined, what should I try next... Thinking about it, the next thing that came to mind was bicycle tube. Those are made of rubber, so they should bounce, and their thickness and texture should be just about right, I thought. So I looked around that same sports shop and there, I found it, a tube. But there were all tubes for adult bicycles which were too big, also way off from how I'd imagined them. But when I tried grasping the tires full of air for stuff like mountain bikes, they felt like they matched the rings from the RING I had in my head perfectly! The thickness was perfect, too. There was just a problem of size, and of course it was a bicycle tire, so they had a thing sticking out to put air into the tube. That thing was really gonna get in the way, and if it were just the tube, that would be facing outward... So at that time I bought a tire cover sorta thing to cover the outside of the tube. Or, not so much a cover as an actual tire. The type that have no tube inside.

Page 236:
Shimabu's Story
(Until I made Ring (12))
Those are also technically rubber, but it was the outside of a tire so it had the gouged-out inside shape (Like a handle cover in a car). So of course it didn't bounce, even if you threw it hard on the ground, it would just go limp so it was totally different from the image in my head. So basically in a "this'll be fine for now" way I bought it.
Okay, okay, time to start a game of RING (hehe)! Yes! With that tire!! Though I actually didn't have any rules decided yet. So I ended up just tossing the ball, or rather the ring, back and forth with my brother (Like, a pass facing each other). We did it in a vacant lot nearby the house we grew up in, but if anybody had seen us there, they were probably wondering what the hell these guys were doing (Hehe). Because at first glance it looks like we're throwing a frisbee around, but upon closer inspection, it's 'These guys are throwing a tire back and forth!!' (Hehe). So what we did was we gradually got further and further away from each other and we passed it back and forth at a maximum of 40-50 meters and me and my little brother were able to pass it directly to one another at that range. But when we caught it, it actually kinda hurt. I guess that was because of the rotation. If the sport of Ring really existed, if the pro-level players threw this Ring, the speed of the rotation would be nothing like this, right...?, I thought. It was at that point that I decided to give the players gloves. I felt like RING was finally starting to take form, and I remember getting pretty excited then... Kyahaha (Hehe).
The next thing I tried to do was 'shooting'. Of course I've said this hundreds of times (No you didn't!), that a RING goal poll doesn't exist in this world, so I just used an iron pipe that was sitting around in the vacant lot that had been used in a construction site and used it like a goal. That was where I tried throwing it using the sort of tricks you use in a ring-toss. But these didn't really go in (Hehe). Even if I really tried, I still couldn't get a ringer. Man, that's hard!! If I got close enough I could get it in, but when I got just a bit further away, around 5~6 meters, it really got pretty difficult! But! BUT YOU SEE!! Sorry, I got kinda heated here., (hehe) but please listen!!

Page 236:
Shimabu's Story
(Until I made Ring (13))
The joy I felt at the moment I did get it in seriously felt great!! I was pretty casual about that joy, but it was pretty intense (Hehe)!! It was incomparable to the feeling for getting a 3-pointer in basketball!! If I had to compare it to something it would be like getting a goal in soccer or at least close to it in terms of tension. That's how happy I was from that! I mean, it was just my little brother and I there with nobody else around, just throwing a tire so it went around a pipe, and I felt that excited... In a way, it was a real shock... Kinda like I'd found some sorta jewel in a place nobody else knew about (That's an exaggeration for ya!) Hehe. But really, that's what I thought at the time. Aah... I want to convey 'RING' with this... I thought. The characters and the story and the subject matter would all be fictional, but that one thing I actually felt was real. Just the idea of throwing a hoop onto a poll really made electricity flow in my body. Like around 2 volts worth... (Geez, that's not much!) Hehe. It's kinda hard to communicate, but... or rather it's impossible, but just having been able to physically experience that made me feel like there would be meaning in drawing 'RING', I thought, and somehow or other my courage increased 100 fold...
And so, getting wound up over that, I decided that the next thing I'd try would be playing around with the Ring, or rather the hoop (tire), and what sort of plays I could do with it... basically. But this was kinda like a street-performance juggling trick, so I couldn't really do any plays that were all that impressive without practicing... That was another thing I felt out there... However, on the other hand, if I had the premise of people who'd been playing RING for a long time ever since they were kids, then a whole lot of plays would be possible, wouldn't there? It felt like there were quite a lot of possibilities. But again, for that, all I could do was imagine...
The thing that frustrated me the most... I guess would be dribbling. When I was thinking about the rules, this was honestly the thing that I was worried over the most. What do I do about dribbling... I thought about it in a whole bunch of different ways. Should I restrict it to the "number of steps", like in basketball, while carrying the Ring...? Or should I do it like in handball where the "time" you can carry the ring is restricted... This caused me a great deal of frustration. And when actually carrying the ring, (tire) there was a lot of trial and error in trying to move with it...

Page 236:
Shimabu's Story
(Until I made Ring (14))
Dribbling is decisively one of the more major means of approaching an opponent's territory, so it has to carry a considerable risk with it, I'd say. All sports have a risk like that as part of the rules, after all... But one thing I had made up my mind about was "Simple is best!", so I wanted to make the rules as simple and easy to understand as possible. So I wanted to leave out complicated stuff like time and number of steps if at all possible. I was creating something that had no real "right answer" to it, so I decided I'd just go with simple! Yeah!! I could attach anything else I need later on, anyhow... You might ask why it is I thought that way... You see when I was making 'Ring' I read lots of different sports' rule books. And what I learned from them was the rules of pretty much every sport change little by little every year. Even sports that've been around for over 100 years are still having revisions to the rules. In other words, rules themselves are things that change with the era, so it's essentially impossible to make perfect ones right from the outset. With that in mind, there obviously was no way some average guy like me could make perfect rules. You could call this a form of dodging responsibility... (hehe). But thinking that made things a whole lot easier, and so I divided the work so I'd start with just trying to come up with the bare-basic rules. ...By the way, I read a whole bunch of rule books, and rugby and basketball seriously have too many fouls (hehe)! In my mind, soccer has the ideal rules! Among all these sports, soccer's rule book is extremely thin and there are few actual violations you can perform. Also, what I think is really amazing about soccer is that even if you don't have a ball, just something round, anyone can play it anywhere. In other words, kids can play it no matter how poor their country is. I don't think sports that cost money to play are necessarily bad, not at all, but people all over the world can enjoy the game the same way. I think that point is what makes soccer such a great sport. And soccer is undoubtedly the king of sports (Though I'd really like it if RIng became at least a foot-soldier of sports... hehe).

Page 239:
Shimabu's Story
(Until I made Ring (15))
Okay, about the rules, I decided on simple. So with dribbling I ended up with no restrictions on it. Run with it in your hand (hehe)! You can run all you want!! is what I went with... To be honest, I only decided this after Ring was already serialized (Hey, hey...). So I did stress over that quite a bit. In place of it, I decided to implement the 'Over-Keep' rule which is a lot like something they have in rugby (See 'RING' volume 2). There are a lot of things that get called violations, aren't there? Frequently, they're things to "limit dangerous play" and limit "stalling for time". So from there, I figured that in sports where scores you earn determine the match, there's really no need to "stall for time", right...? Like in volleyball or tennis or badminton or table tennis, there's really no meaning in "stalling for time", pretty much... So what I stressed over next was since Ring is a field sport, so if I made it something like whoever gets to 10 points first wins, then nobody would be thinking about time, right (Hehe)? So it's possible the game could keep going for over 3 hours or even end in 15 minutes... When I considered that, I decided it would feel way more natural to make RING a game that ended when time ran out. I had come to a pretty clear answer, there. So then you had the problem of what to do if a winning team did things to delay the game in order to run away with it... Right, so there I referenced the rules of soccer, but in soccer you have the concept of 'ungentlemanly conduct', in other words plays that the referee judged as unsportsmanlike were then given that label and considered a violation. In other words, there are some strictly established rules, but beyond that there were things the referee could judge depending on the individual situation. It's quite a compromise, or rather a convenient rule, huh? At that point I say 'That rule rocks!' (Hehe). In ring I decided on some rough rules, but everything beyond that I decided would be up to the referee (hehe)! Mm, I've gotta say I took the easy way out... 'Hmph' I thought. (What the hell do you mean 'Hmph'?!)

Page 240:
Shimabu's Story
(Until I made Ring (16))
There was still a lot to come up with, but this next one was straight and to the point! What do I do with the uniforms?! Yeah... For this, it was really strange, er, there were times when I said 'Woa~h'. In every sport, you could tell which sport it was just by looking at the uniforms. This is an offhand remark, don't you think that's incredible? In judo, kendo, American football, and ice hockey, just by how they look, well I guess those are pretty obvious, but even in sports like soccer and rugby and of course baseball and basketball, everyone can tell what sport the players are in without even seeing them play. Ideally I'd like that kind of simplicity to be in Ring, too, but this was another thing that was surprisingly difficult... Every sport's uniform, much as you'd expect, was an outfit made to suit the sport they were going to be played in. So then we have RING, a sport played outside with some degree of physical exertion. So then the shoes would have to be spiked. I figured 'Okay, I guess' on that one, but the important part is the design of the uniforms. So of course, I was gonna have to reference other outdoor sports like soccer or rugby. So then how do I go about differentiating them... The first thing I thought of was since RING was something I had thought up, and I'm Japanese, the sport of Ring in the manga would be a sport with Japanese origins... So then maybe I could give it Japanese conventions like something familiar like a 'sash' around everyone...? Yeah, like around the waist. I mean karate and judo are both sports with a sash of some sort, and I wouldn't be overlapping with them too much, I thought. Also, since it kinda looked cool visually, or maybe it's just me that thinks they're cool, I thought about putting something high-neck at the throat... I thought about the undershirts that they have in baseball, like Ichirou or somebody wearing those high-neck undershirts was kinda cool. In Ring I would put pads in there and in the unlikely event that the ring went around your neck, pads would have the protect your throat, so it would serve that purpose, too (Though that was a reason I came up with later on...). I figured that would be the limit as far as uniform design went. I mean I'm not all that good at that sorta thing. If it were up to me I would be pretty 'whatever' when it came to the clothes, so I figured that was pretty okay... (Yeah, that should be good). I kinda followed myself up there!

Page 241:
Shimabu's Story
(Until I made Ring (17))
Gumu~~~, I still have a I haven't finished with my 'Until I Made Ring' (What?! You do?!) and there's tons of things I haven't written enough about, but I don't have enough pages left... (Hey!). By the way, about the hoop used in Ring, after that I tested it out on a bicycle tube and just as I expected, it didn't really work. Believe t or not, the closest thing I could find was (I touched a bit on this before) was a car's steering wheel cover!! The feeling of grasping it, the weight, and the texture were all perfect!! Also it bounced so it made a perfect ring! There's a lot of other stuff I'd like to talk about, so until an opportunity arises when I get another chance... that's all.
Lastly, I didn't write this manga called 'RING' because I wanted to show people the sport of Ring... Ring is simply the theme. The star of the show is without question the characters!! What I wanted to show everyone was Summer, Toki, Saori and the rest!! The stars of any manga are always the characters. If I'm able to draw their incredible stories of what comes after this, I'd really like to! To all the staff that went through great pains since this manga called 'RING' was announced, to all my editors that I bothered by always handing in things right at the deadline, to all my assistants that helped out without complaining even in the difficult times, to my family that's always supported me, and most of all all the readers that've supported me, you have my deepest gratitude. This manga is for all the people I hold dear, my readers, and all of my loved ones up in heaven. See ya later~!

2005.5.9 Shimabuu