Watashi no Arika - Vol. 6 Ch. 62 - Overture

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While it is nice to see that Arika is alive & staying at the temple to live her life away from the nonsense, it feels bittersweet that Nana & co don't know that she's still alive. Maybe the extra chapter will help but we'll see. Still amazes me that Arika was able to escape death twice now even with all that suspension of disbelief (seriously how is someone with a head wound able to survive being buried alive even if it was a shallow grave?). It is also good that Yume managed to continue her idol life with the other members that weren't complicit for the crimes (although they were witnesses to how toxic Ruri is to others but kept quiet about it). I enjoyed this story & glad that at least both Nana & Arika are able to find happiness in their lives. Thank you for the translations.
 
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Arika must be the long lost descendant of Rasputin with how difficult it is for her to be killed.

Though I'm glad to see she's alive.

Kind of sad that Nana decided to quit being an idol. Though maybe now she can team up with Arika to make a new unit. Imagine the reaction when the public finds out that Arika's not dead.

At the very least Arika would need to come out of hiding. Now that she knows the truth, it would be illegal and immoral to pretend to be dead, especially since the police are involved and Chihiro is possibly getting the death penalty.
 
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While it is nice to see that Arika is alive & staying at the temple to live her life away from the nonsense, it feels bittersweet that Nana & co don't know that she's still alive. Maybe the extra chapter will help but we'll see. Still amazes me that Arika was able to escape death twice now even with all that suspension of disbelief (seriously how is someone with a head wound able to survive being buried alive even if it was a shallow grave?). It is also good that Yume managed to continue her idol life with the other members that weren't complicit for the crimes (although they were witnesses to how toxic Ruri is to others but kept quiet about it). I enjoyed this story & glad that at least both Nana & Arika are able to find happiness in their lives. Thank you for the translations.
Don't worry, there's 1 extra chapter. Idk if they have the raw version for it tho lol

Edit: Nvm they do have the bonus chapter, let's goooo
 
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Thank you for the translations. It was such a journey to be able to reach the end.

To be honest, a few chapters ago I couldn't handle the tension so I decided to read the raw even though my Japanese is almost nonexistent. I was so angry because I thought Arika died and that was the ending, but now after reading it properly with a translation, I'm so glad that she is actually still alive.

I'm glad everyone got a proper ending. The guilty ended up in jail, while the non-guilty still got a chance to make another group. I feel bad for the non-guilty members if they also got caught in the fire that was not their fault. Also, I'm happy that Nana had good friends; without them, I'm sure she would quickly follow what she thought was Arika's fate.
 
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Yeah I can understand how fans who followed the entire Lyritri journey would tear up when the new gen kept the name and released a song called Rainbow Comes After the Rain … Yume really fighting her best out there and I'm glad she's still constantly in touch with Nana.

Also really happy that Nana remembered that she kept her promise to Yume, though it's kind of bittersweet that it's her parting note.

It's been a helluva journey. Can't wait for the bonus chapter. Thanks for the TLs!
 
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Honestly, and I know this isn't the generally accepted take, but - this manga didn't make me give a shit about Arika. She didn't show up, we didn't get to know her - I would much rather have an ending where any one of the main cast got a happy ending than the useless symbol Arika (and that goes partly for her fans - can't sympathize with the fans of a cardboard cutout). The shitty moralizing / fantasizing about drugs didn't help, but the main problem was the lack of characterization for Arika. I didn't dislike her in any way, it just felt absurd that the manga would think I cared what happened to her when she was a complete non-entity...
 
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Honestly, and I know this isn't the generally accepted take, but - this manga didn't make me give a shit about Arika. She didn't show up, we didn't get to know her - I would much rather have an ending where any one of the main cast got a happy ending than the useless symbol Arika (and that goes partly for her fans - can't sympathize with the fans of a cardboard cutout). The shitty moralizing / fantasizing about drugs didn't help, but the main problem was the lack of characterization for Arika. I didn't dislike her in any way, it just felt absurd that the manga would think I cared what happened to her when she was a complete non-entity...
You pretty much described what a mcguffin is, a plot device meant to drive characters but is generally unimportant overall. We didnt need to care for Arika (at least not directly), we needed to care about the characters who care about her. Not to say the author didnt try to characterize Arika, but any characterization she was given served as more motivation for Nana.

The early parts of the manga made Arika more interesting with how she was this haunting figure over all the characters. But the more we knew about her, the less impact she has (mostly because the list of suspects lessens for every new reveal) until there was only one person we care about caring about Arika, Nana.

Because of how indirect being invested in Arika was, whether you care about her or not really depends. I care about Arika, but mostly cause I want Nana to be happy. Hopefully some extra chapters pop up.

As for Arika's fan? Yeah... The fact they barely showed up near the end, and this chapter focusing more on them being Nana's friends than Arika's fan (Arika being a reason they became friends) just adds more to Arika being a very good mcguffin.
 
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I just hope it isn't that Arika forgot all her memories including Nana, but that they conveniently meet and can connect once more
 
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Many thanks to our scanlator, keiksycake, for sharing this series with us! I appreciated all the extra little touches that were added, like the character guide at the beginning of each chapter, and the title references and other notes at the end. Really highlighted the amount of care and attention that was put into scanlating this series.

The writing in this story did had some flaws, but it was an enjoyable read overall, and I was always excited to see new chapters posted. Looking forward to the final, bonus chapter!
 
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Honestly, and I know this isn't the generally accepted take, but - this manga didn't make me give a shit about Arika. She didn't show up, we didn't get to know her - I would much rather have an ending where any one of the main cast got a happy ending than the useless symbol Arika (and that goes partly for her fans - can't sympathize with the fans of a cardboard cutout). The shitty moralizing / fantasizing about drugs didn't help, but the main problem was the lack of characterization for Arika. I didn't dislike her in any way, it just felt absurd that the manga would think I cared what happened to her when she was a complete non-entity...
I'm personally invested in her because I don't think she deserves what she went through. Her fellow idols just betrayed her twice with each instance caused her "death" (granted in Chihiro's case it was just an accident, but from her PoV it might as well be betrayal and likely why she didn't bother with the group anymore and went into hiding). So when I know she's alive and can live away from these people who harmed her it just feels cathartic.

And honestly this chapter shows the impact she brought on people, the way she is as an idol become a way for these 4 strangers to connect and form a camaraderie, which I think it's a good way to show the positive side of idols and entertainment industry amidst their internal toxicity.
 
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My goodness what a ride. Very interesting how fast paced the finale arc was, but I think I’m leaning more towards it than against it tbh. Ends (mostly) with a “good” ending, seeing as the “bad” side ended up getting what they deserved and the “good” side won. However, it really is kinda bittersweet how the Nana gang’s acting all happy reminiscing about each respective “my Arika” (title drop wtf) all while oblivious to the fact that she’s not actually dead! Hopefully the bonus chp somehow mends this last bit of the story, but we’ll see :eek:

TY FOR TRANSLATING 🙏
 

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