Haikei, Arishi Hi ni Saku Hanatachi e - Vol. 4 Ch. 16.2

[dqvdqv]

Uh oh. Back to the toxic craziness.

 

[Taw]

Jesus Christ

 

[Boltage45]

Lord, if you hear me, please give this Kasumi girl nothing but sweetness and happiness, that is all I ask of you...

We have to remember that Kasumi is a very fragile girl and the only reason she has been so stable of late is because of Haruyo. Think back to the early chapters. Especially the one where Kasumi steels her courage to meet her Onee-sama (Haruyo) and Haruyo doesn't show. Kasumi was devastated there.

In this chapter Kasumi takes the plunge and goes to meet her senpai without Haruyo, because she wants to be there as soon as possible in consideration of the feelings of her senpai, and she gets burned badly. I hope in the very next chapter she runs into Haruyo, because otherwise this story might get the "tragedy" tag.

 

[Oldfatbubba]

It will be interesting to see who's crazier, Aoyama or Yurika-senpai.

 

[DentalCow]

Timeline was bugging me so I tried to sort it all out in my head. Near as I can figure it this is the timeline. Unless I'm mistaken Yamabe found the letter in her third year of middle school. If the letter was written after Yurika graduates then the relationship had to be happening during the previous year (Yamabe 2nd year of middle school) Aoyama is a year younger that Yamabe so it sounds like it was a relationship between a first year in middle school (12-13) and a third year in high school (17-18). One of my assumptions might be wrong here but its only closing the gap by a year if so. Definitely deserves sexual violence tag in my eyes and adds additional context to her trauma.

 

[Rand00m]

I know Igarashi won't let us savor the wholesomeness of Yamabey and straight up write this shit

 

[feignedremoteness]

Where do you guys get the idea that Aoyama was sexually assaulted? It seems to me she was played by Yurika but that is not sexual assault even if its a scummy thing to do.

Well I'm looking for Yurika senpai, it seems she will be most menhara of them all.

the comment above me from DentalCow sums it up, but with the timeline that we know so far, the age difference would be quite large. (because Aoyama wrote the letter that Yamabe saw AFTER Yurika graduated, but Aoyama is still in school.)
that, and her ignoring Kasumi’s signals, pushing physical contact on her, and brushing off having upset her as not a big deal suggests that she has a warped view of consent. so readers are drawing on the facts we know so far to guess that her senpai is the one who…gave her the messages she’s repeating

 

[sebaasdf]

1 Wholesome couple - 1 Toxic - 1 Wholesome - 1 Toxic ... Perfectly balanced. Although I really feel bad for our little Kasumi

 

[gimme_yuri_plz]

Oh, she needed to freak out! You're a creep!

I guess we'll have another sad story about a couple after a surprisingly happy one.

 

[Descendent]

Oh boy, this is toxic yuri straight out of My Girlfriend's Not Here Today's current arc.

 

[strawberrymilk0192]

She's crazyyy

 

[Gubb]

Flashbacks to a certain Gundam Wing scene.

Aoyama's an odd character. She's desperate to talk to Kasumi about the letter, yet doesn't seem too happy to have it back. Of course we know in fuller context she never wanted to write the letter. Indeed she probably didn't want to find anyone using it, which is why 16.1 pointed out how direct its offer was and how it set itself up for failure. But after 3+ years of waiting the thought must have weighed on her.

I think we can establish straightaway she never intercepted any letters left in Hanamonogatari. She both doesn't know anything about Kasumi and acts embarrassed at the thought of eavesdropping on a letter, in contrast to her disrespectful punkish nature. And her tearing up the letter at the end makes you wonder what she was so desperate for in the first place. I have no doubt she would have always torn up the letter even if this meeting had gone better.

Frankly I don't think Aoyama knew what she wanted. She doesn't come across as calculated as Sayori, for example, but a more reactionary and volatile individual. And she's had years of emptiness, bitterness, and resentment to color her. But I don't think her desperation on the first page adds up with her wanting to ruin Kasumi's day either. She overreacted to 3 things:

1st, being told "Sorry." Kasumi was right—returning the letter only re-opened old wounds of being rejected twice. 2nd, I think she was honestly jealous of Kasumi being in a happy relationship with Haruyo. But she kept it down and indulged her kouhai at first. The 3rd straw was the juvenile/sanitized way Kasumi described her relationship. Aoyama suffered in part because perhaps her S relationship was a lot more physical than she could handle. And she convinced herself, if mine didn't work out there's no way yours will.

Aoyama was surprised at how poorly Kasumi took it, but that's not in her defense. There's no reasonable expectation Kasumi wouldn't be hurt here. And it was one of the more uncomfortable chapters I've translated in any series. We all know how fragile Kasumi is. Yet you can see how excited she was at a chance to actually talk about her girlfriend to someone both private and in-the-know. But she's still too reserved to talk about the emotional depth of what she has with Haruyo, how it's quickly grown beyond the structure of Class S, and how some very physical feelings are developing.

It's a horrible miscommunication that immediately puts Aoyama in the worst light. While the boxcutter senpais kept their evilry to themselves (Sayori tactfully sparing Kasumi any damage from their meeting as she guided her reconciliation with Haruyo) this is Kasumi's first exposure in a long while to the darkness of the world.


In the original draft, Kasumi was going to fall headfirst down the stairs. Igarashi's editor told her it was too much and Aoyama would show more concern, so they changed it to Kasumi falling on her butt. She still bumped her head though.

Doesn't really help Igarashi's case but as an author, pain's what sweetens relief. Or in other words, in the chemistry of writing, every action requires an equal and opposite reaction. Igarashi's confronting Kasumi with the supposition lots of readers might have had, diminishing her relationship with Haruyo because it's "only class S, not real romance." In a sense Igarashi is inviting the conversation of Class S vs yuri here.

I'm very interested where this arc takes us. It's so fundamentally different from the last two, directly involving Kasumi in the drama and the relationship being long buried. Is there even a chance to rekindle it? Would Aoyama want to? The focus is instead on Kasumi. As I suggested above I'm sure this will lead to a deeper bond with Haruyo. Their relationship trajectory has been so stable and positive, with Haruyo frequently thinking about the future, that Aoyama's warning is meaningless. But that doesn't mean Kasumi isn't badly hurt by it.

I really like the subtleties here too. Kasumi only didn't bring Haruyo because she didn't want to keep Aoyama waiting. She still had what Haruyo said on the mind, how lonely and desperate the letter sender must feel. It's tragic she only hurts herself further with how considerate she is (again something she fails to appraise herself for).

And it's impressive how awkwardness and uncertainty underlines their meeting without being too overt. You probably immediately felt it was a mistake not to get Haruyo—it leaves Kasumi vulnerable. Aoyama takes her to a secluded location, similar to Sayori who was much more intimidating at first. It's on-the-edge of breaking the rules yet not quite, maybe a meta metaphor at play. Between Aoyama's glare (which is an uncharacteristically dark panel in a spree of light pages) and the goofy scene of her being embarrassed over the letter your expectations are in flux. And Kasumi's sweetness blinds you before Aoyama drops the other shoe.

I was pretty conflicted on 'That really is some kiddy shit!' It is the 2nd time I've swore in this translation. A more literal TL would be, "You're like a couple of kids playing house!" But Aoyama's language is messy in general (she's a -ssu type) and the abrupt tonal shift demanded something heavy.

Oh and of course there's another letter. We're going all the way back to 1916 with this one.

Back when I was a kid, I always told myself that once I was an adult with a steady income I would try to support the authors whose content I read for free whenever I could. After reading your comment here, I decided that now's the time to make good on my words from all those years ago; I just went ahead and bought all of the digital volumes.

On its own, while I would definitely rate this manga very highly, I wouldn't say it's amongst my all time favorites. However, for me the discussions about the manga in the forum comments and the extra explanations that get added to the end of chapters are also an important part of the package. The effort you've put in not only to the translation but also for all the extra stuff, like this post, elevates the overall experience to another level.

In the webnovel scene, the rise of AI translation has resulted in a massive increase of the quantity of new series being uploaded. Unfortunately, the quality tends to be pretty poor, and the trend of mass uploading hundreds of chapters within a few days results in dead comment sections and a lack of any sense of community. Having read so much stuff of that sort recently has given me a new appreciation for works of passion like this, so I think it's more important than ever that I show my support in hopes that this series can continue for many more volumes to come.

As a final note, the little guide page from a few chapters ago made it super easy to buy the volumes. If I could add one thing to it, for anyone doing it on mobile the flag you touch to change the language is on the very bottom of the page, not on the top like it is on the desktop version.

 

[rudezki]

HOW DARE YOU DO THAT TO MY KASUMI-CHAN!!!

ahem

Who hurt you?

 

[RozemynePower]

the comment above me from DentalCow sums it up, but with the timeline that we know so far, the age difference would be quite large. (because Aoyama wrote the letter that Yamabe saw AFTER Yurika graduated, but Aoyama is still in school.)
that, and her ignoring Kasumi’s signals, pushing physical contact on her, and brushing off having upset her as not a big deal suggests that she has a warped view of consent. so readers are drawing on the facts we know so far to guess that her senpai is the one who…gave her the messages she’s repeating

I have read the chapter again and yes timeline does make it a large age gap for school girls and Aoyama brushing off Kasumi's discomfort is problematic. I should have read the chapter more carefully.

 

[yanderecoverl]

What a chapter.

 

[danny597]

alternating every other couple between cutesie and WILDLY toxic

 

[Angoldd]

I want first to thank @Beltaro for all your outstanding work and dedication. I've come to realise that I've read and followed 3 wonderful yuri series (this one, Aizawa-san and Usotsuki Satsuki) thanks to your work, and I probably wouldn't have known about them (less even read them) if not for your effort.

Your posts in each chapter bring me so much joy and enjoyment that I feel it's mandatory to commend your work. You can tell there's so much love and hard work put in the translations and analysis you do. You can feel the passion, without a doubt. As a fellow translator, please don't stop translating and making your comments. As long as you want to keep doing it, of course. It's exhilarating and refreshing when fellow human beings produce discussions of such high level.

My love letter to Beltaro aside, this chapter when from 0 to 100 in a few pages, lol. You can tell poor Aoyama was abused by her senpai. She probably wanted 'the kiddy shit' but got the physical assault from the senpai instead. Like, there was no middle point. That's why I think she's angry with Kasumi. Like, 'why are you enjoying this kiddy shit when I had to endure adult things from the get go?' type of feeling. That plus the ghosting from her senpai, of course.

That said, from the first pages I can tell she wanted to connect with someone, not just to belittle them. Maybe just to vent or hear another POV, but when she started to hear how wholesome Kasumi's relationship with her kouhai is... she couldn't take it. She thought she would find a kindred spirit in suffering.

Also, am I the only one who wants more info about Yoshimura-chan? (the girl with the fang in Yamabe's generation). She's cute and has that tomboy vibe.

 

[KZO]

As evil as this was, Kasumi really needs a push to turn her relationship more physical and this arc will probably be it.

 

[beThereShortly]

...man what a bitch.

 

[KitsuKyouno]

She made Kasumi crying is over the line, a little