Marmalade Boy Volume 8, Bonus section pages 163-177 Written and illustrated by Yoshizumi Wataru Translation & editing by : Craig Nishida Additional translation by : Paul Hirose Additional editing by : Jeanne Hedge Last revision : 98-02-10 Comments? Corrections? Suggestions? Please send them to: mboy-trans@soyokaze.biosci.ohio-state.edu --------------------------------------------------- p 163 1 [Wearing a sweatshirt with a large "Y" on the front, our smiling, pigtailed manga-ka addresses us.] Yoshizumi Wataru: From here on, it's bonus pages! First of all, a collection of the magazine 1/4-space comics announcements. I wonder if there were a lot of people who were looking forward to these announcements, which Mr M, who was kindly in charge of the serial from the 14th chapter to the present, planned and prepared each time? Since he went to the trouble, I decided to choose and publish some. caption with arrow pointing at 3rd part of dialog bubble above: Just Tomii (the editor in charge of the magazine's readers page) and me? (^_^) caption with arrow pointing to comics announcement at left: <--- This is an item that appeared in the Sept '93 issue. 2 [Announcement 1.] banner: [top] Ribbon Mascot Comics RMC The latest publications. Highly acclaimed, on sale now!! Miki: Yuu! How many issues... Miki: ...of Marmalade Boy have come out so far? Yuu: [flashing a "V" sign] HA! HA! 2! text at bottom: Yoshizumi Wataru Marmalade Boy 1~2 - Wataru-kun's somewhat heart-throbbing story! - Price 390 yen (tax --------------------------------------------------- p 164 1 [Announcement 2.] banner: [top] Ribbon Mascot Comics RMC The latest publications. On sale October 15 (Fri). Miki: He-e-ey, Volume 3 is about to come ou-u-ut! text at bottom: Marmalade Boy volume 3 is coming out! I want to read it... Yoshizumi Wataru Price 390 yen (tax included) Katchan: [waving Japanese flag] that means "to-buy". In other words, he's saying, "Buy-chan. Just joking."> caption with arrow pointing to announcement: November '93 issue ---> 2 [Announcement 3.] banner: [top] Ribbon Mascot Comics RMC The latest publications. Highly acclaimed, on sale now!! Ginta: [hands on Miki's shoulders] Tell me what's in volume 3, Miki! Ginta hand FX: Yuu: [clapping hand on Miki's mouth] No-o-o. text at bottom: For folks who want to know, buy it, 'kay?! "MARMALADE BOY" The acclaimed vols 1-3 are on sale now! Yoshizumi Wataru Price (tax included) 390 yen caption with arrow pointing at announcement 3: <--In volume 3, let's go and look for Miki-chan looking like this! caption with arrow pointing at above caption: <-- December '93 issue 3 [Announcement 4. This one has been rotated, so turn your book sideways.] banner: [top] Ribbon Mascot Comics RMC The latest publications. Highly acclaimed, on sale now!! text at top: "Marmalade Boy" comics The acclaimed vols 1-4 are on sale now! By the way... Happy news! hand puppet captions: [far right] Youji Rumi text at middle: "Marmalade Boy" volume 5 is... Scheduled to be on sale, Sept 14! Miki FX: Miki: [far right] Ohhhhh, thank you, thank you. text at bottom: Anyway, if you don't buy volume 5... Miki-chan will again... <--Look, just like this. IF YOU DON'T LIKE THAT... ...hurry to the bookstore! hand puppet FX: [far right] caption at bottom of page: Sept '94 issue. --------------------------------------------------- p 165 1 [Announcement 5. This one has been rotated, so turn your book sideways.] banner: [top] Ribbon Mascot Comics RMC The latest publications. On sale September 14. narration: I wonder if I have 390 yen... Miki: Yuu... text at far right: Miki, Volume 5 of "Marmalade Boy" is on sale September 14 (Wed). Well, let's go buy it together... caption at bottom of page: Oct '94 issue. 2 [Announcement 6. This one has been rotated, so turn your book sideways.] banner: [top] Ribbon Mascot Comics RMC The latest publications. Highly acclaimed, on sale now!! text at far right: In "Marmalade Boy" volumes 1 - 5, hey, once in a while cheer for Rokutanda-kun, too, won't you?! Yoshizumi Wataru In bookstores nationwide! Price 390 yen each (tax included) Tsutomu: You're wrong! The hero... Tsutomu: ...is me! Ginta/Miki: [inset] (I wonder if that's so...) caption at bottom of page: Dec '94 issue. 3 [Announcement 7.] banner: [top] Ribbon Mascot Comics RMC The latest publications. On sale August 8 (Tues). text at top left: [Arimi] I want to receive a present of "Marmalade Boy" Volume 7 that's on sale August 8 from you, Ginta... text at top right: [Ginta] When you buy "Marmalade Boy" Volume 7, Arimi, I'll get you to lend it to me. text at bottom: "Marmalade Boy" Volume 7 goes on sale August 8. Please don't forget! Yoshizumi Wataru (Price 390 yen, tax included) caption at bottom of page: Sept '95 issue. --------------------------------------------------- p 166 1 [Here begins some sketches of characters who only appeared the anime. Our manga-ka appears in an inset panel and points down to the circled "Anju" below. The designs show Anju, wearing sailor suit, in various poses and facial expressions.] Yoshizumi Wataru: I took the trouble to draw this, so... Yoshizumi Wataru: The 4 pages beginning here are a special public presentation of rough sketches of original anime characters that I did the designs for! 2 circled text: Anju. text beneath: Yuu's childhood friend. text with arrow pointing at Anju's face: Eyes slant down a bit ---> --------------------------------------------------- p 167 1 [Here's Michael, the annoying kid from New York.] circled text: Michael. text at top right: An overseas exchange student from America. He's homestaying at Miki's place. text at top middle: Why stay at a home like that before visiting Touryou High School...? (^_^) caption: [pointing at eyebrow] <--His eyebrow is raised in a manly way. caption: [pointing at eye] <--Cat-like eyes. caption: [pointing at nose] <--Nose also rises a tad. caption: [pointing at lips] <--Lips rise mischievous-like at both ends. text at bottom left: Even though these characters that I designed did not appear in the original work, sure enough, I'm attached to them. Even with Ryouko-sensei and Yayoi-chan, if it's true that they'll appear so much (in the anime), then I wanted to be allowed to design them... That's because the way their eyes are drawn is the same as Meiko's . (Sorry, Magoshi-san. It's hard to design new characters in the pattern of someone else, right?) --------------------------------------------------- p 168 1 [Sketches of 3 characters appear on this page.] circled text: [top] Will. text at the right: The roommate when Yuu studied abroad in New York. circled text: [bottom] Brian. text to the right: Yuu's friend in N.Y. Michael's older brother. circled text: [bottom] Doris. text to the right: Yuu's friend in N.Y. --------------------------------------------------- p 169 1 circled text: Jinny. text: [at right] Yuu's friend in N.Y. text: [with arrow pointing at one of Jinny's pics] I wish they'd used a hairstyle like this, too, but they didn't...---> 2 Yoshizumi Wataru: Now... The next 4 pages are an essay comic that appeared for fun in a special issue. Yoshizumi Wataru: It's a "Marmalade" original inside story. Yoshizumi Wataru: Take a look, 'kay? --------------------------------------------------- p 170 title: The Other Marmalade 1 [Our smiling manga-ka appears wearing a shirt with a hiragana "yo" on the front. Off to the left and behind her are Miki, Meiko, Yuu and Ginta, all in their high school uniforms.] Yoshizumi Wataru: Hello-o-o. Yoshizumi he-e-ere. Well, this is "Marmalade Boy" which was published serially and ran for more than 3 years... shirt: Yo Yoshizumi Wataru: To tell you the truth, there were great differences between what I'd originally thought about doing at the start of this story and what was actually drawn. Miki: Huhhh? Meiko: What? What was it? 2 [Miki's pov. Yoshizumi Wataru casts an ominous look over her shoulder at her. The background turns dark.] Yoshizumi Wataru: As to that... I intended at first to make the characters' genders... Yoshizumi Wataru: ...completely OPPOSITE from how it is now! Yoshizumi Wataru FX: 3 [Her hand extends into this panel, finger pointing directly at a surprised and bug-eyed Miki.] Yoshizumi Wataru: In other words, Miki, you were really supposed to be a guy! Yoshizumi Wataru finger FX: 4 [Whoo-ee! Here's what Miki should have been. A boy with light hair. He holds a basketball and gazes back at us. Off to the side, Miki stares and sweats at this other-version of her.] narration: The hero who would have corresponded to Miki is a very ordinary guy like this. narration: Simple - Spirited - Naive - Purehearted - Immature with a quick-temper text in upper left corner: I lost the rough sketches I'd drawn at that time, so the faces of all 4 are roughly as I remember them. Miki: Huhhh . --------------------------------------------------- p 171 1 [Whoo! "Yuu" is a cute cute girl here, with long black hair. Yuu stares blankly at this new version of him.] narration: And the one who would have corresponded to Yuu is a girl like this. Super-cute but one doesn't know what she's thinking. narration: A charming girl whom others label as "a bit devilish." Yuu: Ohh... 2 [Continuing the gender-bender trend, Ginta's opposite is a cute, short-haired girl. Ginta stares up at her, sweating and looking a bit ill.] narration: The one who would have corresponded to Ginta is a bright and steady girl who's a class committee member type. caption with arrow pointing at "steady": <-- With Ginta, his established character is a bit different. Ginta: Ahh... 3 [A portrait of a guy. Meiko sweats and stares up at him, pondering.] narration: Meiko is a guy like this. narration: Clear-headed, reticent, poker-faced; he's going out with a schoolteacher. Meiko: Hmm... 4 [Sweating, Miki stands beside Yoshizumi Wataru, who crosses her arms and appears to be thinking hard.] Miki: Then, why did you turn it around? Yoshizumi Wataru: Mnnn. There were a lot of reasons for that... 5 narration: For instance, before the serial began there came a supplementary request with the premise that "the hero be a woman" and... [Flashback. Hair sproinging, Yoshizumi Wataru forces a smile as she talks on the phone.] voice: [phone] It's a Mother's Day set with "Magnet". The contents haven't been settled on, but if all that's decided on beforehand is the heroine's face and name you can write it, right? caption with arrow pointing at above speech bubble: Though it really isn't like that... Yoshizumi Wataru: ...... --------------------------------------------------- p 172 1 [Yoshizumi Wataru talks to an editor who has a letter "T" for a face.] narration: At that time... editor: If a woman writes about a guy as a hero the guy's apt to turn out unmanly... I don't much want to read that, huh. narration: ...is what was said by the editor-in-charge... Yoshizumi Wataru: (That might be true...) 2 [A blank panel.] narration: Well, in the end, I thought that "sure enough, Ribbon readers will be happier with a girl as the herione," so it turned out in its present form. 3 Yoshizumi Wataru: Incidentally, the title was "Marmalade Boy" from the start... And, originally, it was an expression to indicate the hero, to whom was attached the meaning of "a spoiled boy who's still a child." Yoshizumi Wataru: That I decided on a girl as a heroine, but didn't change it to "Marmalade Girl" is 'cause the image of "Marmalade Boy" as this story's title was already crystallizing within me and I didn't want to change it. 4 [Sweating, Miki confronts the manga-ka, holding "Marmalade Boy" volume 1 in her hands.] Miki: Huhhh?! Then, what about that time in the comics on page 89 of volume 1, when I'm saying about Yuu, that "he's a Marmalade Boy who has bitter points, but everyone's taken in by his sweet exterior, so they don't notice"...? book: Marmalade 1 Yoshizumi Wataru: Ohh, that... 5 [With a wide wide grin, Yoshizumi Wataru flashes us a "V". In the far background, Miki and Yuu stand with sick looks. Miki tosses aside the manga.] Yoshizumi Wataru: THAT'S A STRETCHED MEANING I thought up later on. Yoshizumi Wataru FX: Yuu: What's to be proud of...? --------------------------------------------------- p 173 1 [The four fictional characters are struck by a fit of existentialism.] Miki: Then, if we had made a single misstep, we would have been characters who would not have seen the light of day, huh... What a tangled feeling... Meiko: Really... Ginta: It's great that the writer changed her mind, huh... Yuu: (Although I sorta feel that maybe I didn't really want to appear in a manga like this...) 2 [The four are overwhelmed by cackling off-panel.] Rumi/Youji/Jin/Chiyako: [off] HO-O-O HO HO HO HO HO!! 3 [Rumi, Youji, Chiyako and Jin wave fans and make merry.] Rumi: Whether the protagonists were guys or girls, we four were DEFINITELY appearing!! Rumi/Youji/Jin/Chiyako FX: Chiyako: It is we who are the true key people in "Marmalade"!! We are the true sta-a-ars!! Rumi/Youji/Jin/Chiyako FX: 4 [inset] [Miki, Meiko, Ginta and Yuu have sick looks on their faces and have hairs sproing loose.] caption at bottom: The Other Marmalade/The End --------------------------------------------------- p 174 Title: The Other Marmalade II 1 [Our merry manga-ka stands with a sweatshirt with the letter "Y" on the front.] Yoshizumi Wataru: Hello everybody . Yoshizumi here, who just got back from New York. Yoshizumi Wataru: That's what I say, but I only went to play for just 10 days about 2 months ago. Yoshizumi Wataru: I had fun . Yoshizumi Wataru: I'm thinking of doing a sort of inside story of "Marmalade Boy," continuing from the last time... 3 [A white panel.] narration: Marmalade ended happily where Miki and Yuu ultimately weren't brother and sister. narration: But actually, at first, I was thinking of making "the two really be brother and sister, and having them split up in the last chapter." I'm serious. 4 [Tears pour from Miki's eyes as Yuu walks away into the sunset.] narration: The final scene is the graduation ceremony... narration: A tearful farewell between Yuu, who decided to go to a university out in the countryside in order to forget about Miki, and Miki, who remains behind in Tokyo... --------------------------------------------------- p 175 1 [Miki is surprised to see Ginta beside her, offering her his handkerchief.] narration: But, Ginta, who's had his eyes on Miki all along, is there, and... Ginta: I'll wait... Until you forget about Matsuura. Yoshizumi Wataru: [off] Or with words to that effect. 2 narration: Four years later, Yuu and Meiko (when he graduates from college and returns to Tokyo) agree to meet again. [Yuu and Meiko stand in the old library, exchanging glances.] narration: They're characteristically the same type and are two like-minded people who each went through loves that were painful, so it could be that they can make a fine couple in the future... 3 [Our manga-ka tosses up her hands and drops her gaze. In the background, Yuu, Miki, Meiko and Ginta stare at her, glumly.] Yoshizumi Wataru: ...is kinda the way I wanted it to go, leaving them with hope, and eventually end it seriously. Yoshizumi Wataru: Even though it's a comedy... Yoshizumi Wataru: At the time, there wasn't a plan for Ginta and Arimi to get together, and for Natchan and Meiko to exert their utmost... --------------------------------------------------- p 176 1 narration: But when I was about to write my 3rd series I had a change of heart... [She sits at her desk, writing on a notepad.] Yoshizumi Wataru: (If it ends this way, maybe the parents turn out to be awfully cruel people...) Yoshizumi Wataru: (The readers might also find it extremely stressful... And in the final analysis, if I think those readers aren't gonna get together and keep writing, then it'll seem kinda empty for me, too.) 2 [Portrait of the editor with a "T" for a face again.] narration: So I decided to talk it over for a bit with Editor-san. caption box with arrow pointing at the man: The then-editor, Mr T, of whom it was said the last time that "he looks just like that!" I wonder if that's so... All I did was draw a T! (^_^) 3 Yoshizumi Wataru: Umm... I'm thinking of doing such-and-such like this at the end, but... narration: At a restaurant on the way home from the Namco Wonder Egg interview. Yoshizumi Wataru: Yoshizumi Wataru: Won't that be some joke? 4 [Seated across the table from Yoshizumi Wataru is Mr T, sweating.] Mr T: NO, IT WON'T!! Mr T: YOU WERE THINKING OF DOING SOMETHING LIKE THAT?! Yoshizumi Wataru: Yup... Yoshizumi Wataru: Sure enough... --------------------------------------------------- p 177 1 Yoshizumi Wataru: For that reason, I decided to make a happy ending after all, but... They're brother and sister so they split up --> They were mistaken --> They got back together again, and in a while... ...is what I was thinking, so... Yoshizumi Wataru: After having them once come to the conclusion that "it doesn't matter even if we're siblings," I then made it so they came around and revisited everything and made it morally okay. 2 [She smiles and waves back at three couples, Ginta and Arimi, Namura and Meiko, and Suzu-chan and Kei. All smile back, except for Kei, whose face is flushed and angry.] Yoshizumi Wataru: I'm glad the ending for you guys turned out happily, too... May you find happiness . narration: I didn't think it was necessary to have the entire cast end up as couples... narration: Something like that is all too common, and done too often, and is stupid...is what I also think... narration: But they're cute characters after all, so I wanted them to have as much happiness as possible. Kei: I'm different! 3 [In an inset, Miwa Satoshi and Rokutanda Tsutomu stand. Miwa sweats with eyes closed. Rokutanda looks angry.] narration: Around 2 people were left over... Rokutanda: I got a girlfriend in the anime, so that's okay! 4 [Smiling, Yoshizumi Wataru extends her arm out to a portrait of Akane, the main character of her next series, "All I Want Is You" . Akane is cute, like Arimi. Wai wai! ^_^] Yoshizumi Wataru: So then... I truly thank you for your support of "Marmalade" this long while! Please continue your kind regards towards Akane, too, the heroine of my new serial, 'kay? caption at bottom: The Other Marmalade II / The End ---------------------------------------------------