Editing Hikaru ga Chikyuu ni Itakoro:Translator's Afterword (section)

====Volume 9 – Rokujo====

...and heroine!?

Alright, I’m out. Too much for me.

I had apprehensions when I first touched this volume. It was obvious you-know-who would be the damsel in this volume, but I was really hoping for more than a punch in the face this time.

It’s sad for me that the two potential ‘nice boat’ moments in the story were ruined by comedic moments, both involving the only other guy in this story. Poor guy (okay, rich guy) ends up mistaken for a lolicon and doubted by the one little sister he really dotes on (too much, in fact). For such a guy who prides himself on being cold and collected, Tojo really is another Asa-chan at heart.

Of course, we can’t talk about this volume without mentioning a few things. The first of them is the royal rumble at Koremitsu’s house (which, though revealed to be planned by Michiru, doesn’t make it any less funnier). The BGM that immediately rang in my mind was the ‘Imperial March’, and that was the moment when Hikaru was about to welcome Koremitsu to the afterlife. It was just a moment of who was to begin the murder of Julies Caesar, only to end with the feeling as et tu, Asa-chan? Good thing Mark Antony was able to make it just in time to save Koremitsu, again. The new found confidence and aggressiveness shown by the girls is really refreshing though.

If there was a reason why the culprits failed in this volume, it is that they failed to understand the bonds the characters had with each other. While you-know-who tried to break the bond between Koremitsu, Honoka and Yu, he failed to understand that Koremitsu would always believe in them. Unfortunately, the situation was a lot most complicated than it should be because good girl Honoka decides to go out on an escapade alone to be Koremitsu’s Heliotrope.

Unfortunately for Yu, her reunion with Koremitsu went awry because of you-know-who, and to top it all, she betrayed Koremitsu’s trust because of her sense of duty even though it would end up hurting her. I do like the growth she showed however because it showed that she was willing to make decisions out of her own wishes, rather than how she was when she remained turtled in her room back in volume 2...by Toutatis, when she delivered that well deserved slap, one had to ask who that girl really is, and what has she done to Yu.

It is heartening to see that the main members of Koremitsu’s harem (and Hiina) was willing to help him with whatever means they could, tog Koremitsu would have wished that they kept him in the loop. This has the feel of Yuuji bluffing Akihisa over and over again while informing others of the strategy. ‘To fool others, first fool oneself’ is the name of the game...ah who am I kidding. The girls just don’t want Koremitsu to worry for them because they know he’ll just go&nbsp;about shouting “I’ll protect you!”

Speaking of which, if there’s something I like about this volume, it’s that it looks into the weight of the words. Too many times, we see protagonists go about shouting stuff like “I’ll protect this city, this world, you” or stuff like that, but while it’s definitely easy to say such words, not many do understand what it means to the ones who are supposed to be protected, because they don’t understand what the ones being protected need in the first place.

Take for example, any good parent raising a child. Yes, you’ll definitely want the best for your child, and yes, you want to protect him, to be there for him as best as you can, but how do you do that? You can guide the child along, but at the same time, you need the child to personally experience growing pains, and not do everything by yourself and coddle the child too much. What Koremitsu was doing to Yu wasn’t about protecting her, it was coddling her. He basically repeated the exact same mistake Hikaru did to Yu back in volume 2, and that fractured the relationship. This is the reason why Aoi chose to be independent, and why Yu was so torn on the situation.

I got weary when I realized I had to deal with you-know-who being the boss of this volume. Honestly, while I know that pretty much every reader wants something of a comeuppance, it’s never going to happen because of 3 reasons.

First, the rich can just weasel their way out of things. Look no further than the OJ Simpson case. The rich can pay for the very best defenses, and if that doesn’t work, they can bribe their way out.

Next, the theme of learning to accept. The main theme of the volume is to learn how to set aside differences, but honestly, I don’t like this one at all because of you-know-who, that we have to accept him. Call me a bigot all you want, but I’ll show the world how battered chicken is supposed to be done if you-know-who is within 1km from me.

Finally, author’s a fujoshi. Read any of her other series, especially the ‘Dress’ series, and you’ll realize that there’s at least ten instances of girls having fujoshi moments...and even some instances of girls love, notably the last volume of the Book Girl series. Sighs.

There are another two notable moments.

First is the confession Koremitsu delivered...or so it seems. I find it amusing that Koremitsu was worried of Honoka being another Hikaru, but it’s obvious that he treated her as a potential waifu, though Honoka ended up being so short of confidence that she ends up misunderstanding his words again (facepalm)

Next, Michiru as the final antagonist. I would say that I did expect it for a while, but many obviously didn’t expect it. I’ll detail my reasoning later on, but her being the antagonist will surely have everyone asking “her issues aren’t resolved yet?’

Well, that was a 12-6 to the groin for many, and this sets up the final chapters.