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

====Volume 2 – Yugao====

Now, Yugao is the next volume of this series, and this is where I admit I got slightly glued to the series (given that I have the attention span of a housefly). I will discuss further regarding the characters Yu and Tojo, but in the sense, it does feel like the story of a rich kid who had everything in the world except for the girl he liked, and the girl so happened to be wooed by someone else.

Rain is the prevalent weather in the story, to reflect accurately Yu’s name, which means ‘evening rain’. As a translator, I really want to play music and imagine the story to understand how the story flows, how I should be conveying things. It is probably an aftereffect of my upbringing where I attended drama classes, but I do prefer not to read stories for their details and events, but to vividly embrace the happenings that occur, and to resurrect them in my mind. For this reason, I chose to play the piano piece by Yiruma, ‘Kiss the Rain’, which I feel accurately reflects the loneliness both Koremitsu and Yu had. Sure, I do feel that Yu’s isolation in her room for so long seems a little exaggerated (Her name Kanai is a pun of kanai, ‘in the house’), but I also do feel that by killing off emotions and shelving everything deep within, we are killing our worths as humans, for humans emote. Of course, neither Hikaru nor Yu had the guts to actually stand up to their troubles, but as much as Koremitsu can try to be the catalyst, it is character development in a sense. Even if Hikaru did mention that he could never change, he certainly showed change in this volume.

Of course, we can never forget about how the volume started off. First, there are rumors of Hikaru being murdered, and then Hikaru hinted that yes, he was really murdered. If I were to say that the events that transpired thereafter was a mood swing, well, that would certainly be an understatement, and I do make a lot of these.

In this volume, we are also confronted with the fact that yes, the reset button after a date does not occur at all. This is not ‘The World God Only Knows’, though the premise may be similar to the first phase of the aforementioned title. Whatever cheesy things Koremitsu did for Aoi and Honoka will certainly linger in their hearts, and in ours (to our amusements).

Another important issue, besides the character interactions, is how Koremitsu is trying to express himself. One of the most frustrating things in the world is to be unable to get your to be understood by others. It already is a problematic theme for most of us, but for a guy who practically had no interaction with anyone other than his family members, the events that transpired after his meeting with Hikaru would be the best thing that could happen in his life, for it broke him out of his comfort zone, and that he had to adapt accordingly.

However, he never had proper guidance in how to talk to others, and perhaps it was due to his loner days that he seemed so unfettered, so decisive when making things happen. I do find the development of Koremitsu’s ability to converse remarkable, given how little support he had (most of the support useless anyway). Honestly, the only actual lesson Hikaru would actually give him is a stupid guide on how to woo girls (in volume 5) and ends in a lot of hilarity for the readers. While it is obvious that Hikaru really cares for his friend, Hikaru himself is also flawed, and due to him being so different from everyone else, I do feel it is difficult for him to empathize with how a commoner would think, causing him to act like a bumbling teacher at times, unlike Toko Amano from the ‘Bungaku Shoujo’ series. He does give the instructions, and naturally, Koremitsu is supposed to be the messenger, but it is the earnest attitude of Koremitsu, despite what Hikaru or anyone else would think, that drives the story on and brings the happy endings (well, mostly. Volume 10 has lots of heartaches).

The other form of support would be Honoka, and even then, she did not really help Koremitsu out (though the umbrella scene was sweet). In fact, she provided more help in resolving Yu’s situation than Koremitsu’s own, without them even meeting each other. I do like how this girl is also as bumbling as Koremitsu, haha. Two tsunderes, two people trying to act cool when they’re so hopelessly immature deep within, and the end result is the primary source of comic relief in this story. She however does seem like a satellite character until much later in the story, and when I first read this volume, I felt that her character was quite a waste for this story, given that she was not one of Genji’s heroines, but an avatar of the original author herself. She does fulfill her role in the volume however, and then some at the end.

This is the story of a boy who cannot truly express himself even though he wants to, and a girl who shuts her emotions in for she chooses to.

This is, what I think, the main theme of this volume, and I had to think a lot more over this volume, wondering what sort of feelings all the characters would have. Koremitsu the healer, Hikaru the client, Yu the patient, and Honoka the love counselor (I still get a kick out of seeing Honoka whenever she has to maintain her blog).

If I have to be honest, I do think the budding romance between Koremitsu and Yu was too sudden, probably because I do have a traditional mindset of letting love develop over some time. Perhaps it was due to the medium (hey, we have only 303 pages for this volume), but I still do feel that it was abrupt. It does leave a sweet aftertaste, though I do have complaints from people that this volume was too emotional for them. which I think was the point of the volume in particular.

When the rain parts, so do the lovers. Well, we cannot anchor a ship firmly when the story is supposed to continue on, but Honoka’s confession to Koremitsu at the end certainly took my editors by surprise. The return of Aoi too was quite cute as well, but unfortunately for them, they do have to make way for the next heroine...