shounen-ai

Hi everyone,

Wow! It’s May already! Time flies. Well, here’s the fifth Chapter of Ima Ichiko’s Five Box Stories, “A Warm Box”. You can download it here at the web page.

I feel like this one has been neglected for a while. I didn’t have a regular editor for it so different people were doing chapters whenever they had time. I’d translated the fifth chapter a long time ago, but no one was available to work on it, so I kinda forgot about it. Then, out of the blue, someone sent me an email and offered to help get the ball rolling again. So please thank Liz for volunteering to edit. She did a great job and she’s hoping to do the rest of the volume, too, as soon as I translate it. (Hahaha… that’s the hard part for me.) Well, I hope you enjoy this story. It’s not one of Ima’s more dramatic and gripping works, but I was a little surprised by the serious tone in parts.

Hi everyone,

New releases can be downloaded at their respective web pages. Please read the FAQ before posting info or sharing in other places:

Sakae Kusama, The Constellation Shine in the Sky, Chapter Four
Setona Mizushiro, The Cornered Mouse Dreams of Cheese, 2nd Edition, Extra

So, finally, we have a new chapter from Sakae Kusama’s The Constellation Shine in the Sky. It’s a oneshot called Summer Landmarks. I thought it was quite sweet. A good way to close off the summer. Like the first chapter in this collection, this story has a page of notes that will probably be helpful, especially if you don’t read kanji (or only know the easy ones, like me. ^__^) This story assumes you know kanji, or at least understand how it’s read, so you might be a little confused at the end. My notes are fairly brief, but there’s plenty of information online if you’re interested in how Japanese is written. I think it’s fascinating, personally, but I don’t want to overwhelm anyone with boring details.

Speaking of kanji, I want to talk a little bit about the title of the Mouse Extra and Carp, Chapter 3. As you know, Carp, Chapter 3 is called “Owl.” Why? Other than the fact that all the chapters are named after animals, I had no idea… until I saw the second edition of Mouse. The new extra is called “The Mouse, Thinking at a Dead End.” The interesting thing is, the word for “dead end” in Japanese is “fukuro.” The kanji for “owl” in Japanese can also be read “fukuro.” Coincidence? Maybe… but I’m guessing not.

I think she used the kanji for “owl” so that the chapter title would continue her animal theme. However, because that particular kanji sounds like “fukuro,” it implies the meaning of “dead end,” even though “dead end” is written with a different character. (Unfortunately, my website won’t allow me to use Japanese characters, so I can’t show you the difference.) Chapter 3 is called “Dead End” because, well… if you’ve read it, you know why. ^__^

So, basically, they’re homophones, two words that are written differently, but sound the same. If I just said the word “fukuro,” and you couldn’t see how it was written, you wouldn’t necessarily know whether I meant “owl” or “dead end.” In this case, she meant “dead end,” but wrote the word “owl.” Maybe, something similar would be, if I used a deer (the animal) as a mascot for my website since it’s called PresenceDear.

This might apply to the word “koi,” as well. “Koi” means “carp” and “love,” but the words are written differently.

Thanks, everyone, who contributed to this! GB, Txilar, Reppu, Y-san and all of you who have been sending moral support… ^__^

Winter Walk | Sakai Kunie

Genre: Drama Length: Oneshot Shuuhei has to see his ex-lover one last time. While waiting for him in the park, he meets a strange little girl who won’t leave him alone.

Download: Direct | Mediafire | Badongo