Mahoraba: Heartful Days manga

[Vexx]

We may have better luck in the fanbooks and epilog artbook.... I'll browse around in there as well. I really don't care if it is a he or she as such, but it seems clear the woodcarver has feelings for Sayo as things progress

[Dream Project]

I readed this part of of your site:

Welcome to the Prutser.com manga tracker. On this site you will find some torrents from manga scanlations I've recently read and enjoyed. By providing them here, I hope to help out the scanlation groups and fans alike, as some are only available through IRC (which even if you know how to use can be troublesome) or use lots of bandwidth when offered as HTTP download from the scanlation groups' sites.

What goes on the site
Some people have contacted me and asked me to put specific manga on the site. Unfortunately my site doesn't really work that way: I only put up manga that I have read & liked myself. Also note that I do not try to keep this site up-to-date all the time. Updates are added in batches, so be patient.
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I understand that you put up that you have readed & liked yourself but you and I have 1 thing in common, we both love Mahoraba ~Heartful Days~ great manga I recommanded to everyone. I read vol.1-10 and I with all the fans in these boards: http://boards.fansub.tv/index.php?sh...=0&hl=mahoraba & http://www.hongfire.com/forum/showthread.php?t=30407
are waiting for vol.11,12, & what are those other unnumbered vols next to vol.9 &12 in this site http://www.square-enix.co.jp/magazin...ics/index.html ?

Saki & Chiyuri Chan are my favorate like in vol.10 when Chiyuri said to Ryuu "You are not a male nor a female...but in the middle! So for Ryuu-chan, we must go unisex casual!" lol

Are there any plans to translate the last volumes? I can't wait to read them!

[CrowKenobi]

I just read chapter 55 and whoa! Talk about it coming out of left field! But, you could see it coming:

Spoiler:

Momo's boyfriend popping the question (imho) is the only way to end Momo's story and is an excellent bookend to how they met in the first place.

Can't wait to read more!

[Vexx]

aye, the closeout stories for the last two volumes are some of the most satisfying manga readings I've ever had and I'm still not *quite* sure about about some of my translations... just really good stuff.

Given the crap that does get licensed, I really have trouble understanding why this series is such an abandoned property.

[FatPianoBoy]

Originally Posted by Vexx

Given the crap that does get licensed, I really have trouble understanding why this series is such an abandoned property.

No kidding. Mahoraba is made of win and good, and it makes me sad that I can't hold an official English copy in my hands. Maybe this'll be the thing that finally gets me into importing...

Spoiler for 55:

I almost cried... Momono was my favorite, and now she's gone
There's a moment like this in everyone's life when things you thought would always stay the same suddenly change forever before you can even blink. It's quite a shocking realization, and this chapter really drove that feeling home. It almost has that 'beginning of the end' feel to it, in that maybe this is the point in life that everyone realizes just how much they've grown up. Being at that "early adulthood" stage myself, this kind of thing really hits me hard.

[MugenIchiban]

I just finished watching Mahoraba and i'm HOOKED!

Does the manga go past that of the anime?

[Riker]

Actually the last part of the anime was original material (because the manga hasn't ended yet at that time) but yes, the manga has a solid ending with satisfying conclusion for everyone.

So go hunt for the scanlations. :3

[CrowKenobi]

Volume 11, chapter 57 is out!

Spoiler for chapter 57 comments:

A cliffhanger! Who'd thought?

It was real interesting to move from a mundane task into where Kozue-chan's MPD really came from! Man, Ryushi is going to be kicking himself because of this and I can see where a lot of volume 12's drama is going to come from.

One thing I can see happening is that somehow Kozue-chan is going to get told of her MPD and Ryushi is the one to not only tell her, but apologize profusely for being the cause of it. But I can also see (when all is said and done) Kozue-chan forgiving him (or at least telling him it's not his fault) and if it wasn't for his inspiration for her to make those characters, she could be worse off.

Volume 12 is looking really interesting...

[Ice Climbers]

I quite enjoyed this manga series and anime, but the end, though not sad, made me kinda shed my tears (i have no idea why )

The manga, as Riker said, finished with a satisfying end (though I want to see more :P)

Spoiler for brief summary:

Okay the personalities of Kozue all said thier final goodbye to Ryushi before all merged together into one (this is the part I cried), and Ryushi finally proposes to Kozue <3 All the residents eventually leave the place, but they all came back in the last chapter for a party. We see Kozue and Ryushi have 4 kids together, each of them apparently carrying one of the split personalities Kozue had. Series ended with Kozue saying to Ryushi "I am very happy with the life I have right now"

Ahh, can't summarize the finale of a great series in mere few words, so go read it yourselves ^___^

[Risaa]

I haven't read anything before this page of posts, so please excuse my question if it's already been asked. Does anyone know where there are pictures of the MahoTarot cards? I bought the entire manga series (Kinokuniya ftw) but I only have a couple of the cards... Actually, I'm not even sure that there are any more cards because I haven't seen/heard anything of them.

Originally Posted by FatPianoBoy

No kidding. Mahoraba is made of win and good, and it makes me sad that I can't hold an official English copy in my hands. Maybe this'll be the thing that finally gets me into importing...

Spoiler for 55:

I almost cried... Momono was my favorite, and now she's gone
There's a moment like this in everyone's life when things you thought would always stay the same suddenly change forever before you can even blink. It's quite a shocking realization, and this chapter really drove that feeling home. It almost has that 'beginning of the end' feel to it, in that maybe this is the point in life that everyone realizes just how much they've grown up. Being at that "early adulthood" stage myself, this kind of thing really hits me hard.

Spoiler for Momo And The Ending (dundundunnn):

Ahh, ahh, ahh!!! ...Ahh!! I couldn't believe that! Even when she was at the airport I was so sure she'd turn around and go back to her "family" at Naritakisou. I was so much, "Momo, how COULD you!? Do you know what I'd give to be in your place!?" That scene alone depressed me for the longest time.

I liked but disliked the ending. It's very happy, but I have trouble with characters I love, love, love actually growing up. Although.. Kozue-chan's kids made me LOL! I totally didn't see that one coming.

The very end made me happy and sad at the same time... Yes, this is one series that has taken me through much happiness and angst.

As a side-note, I really do love the artwork and am looking forward to seeing more Kojima works in the future (*crossing my fingers that there will be more*).

[Vexx]

I tried desperately to acquire all the cards and had NO luck whatsoever. Some of them were dispensed in other products (CDs, etc) but I've seen not a thing in ebay, etc.

I DO have a picture of all the tarot cards though (I have the artbook) ... I'll try to scan it later tonight. Yell at me if I forget.

[Vexx]

Here's the promised scan of the tarot card page from the artbook (final omake volume). Unfortunately, its about the best I can do without damaging the spine :P



Hopefully, that's good enough to see what you're missing at least (I only have the cards from the manga volumes as well).

[Risaa]

Originally Posted by Vexx

Here's the promised scan of the tarot card page from the artbook (final omake volume). Unfortunately, its about the best I can do without damaging the spine :P



Hopefully, that's good enough to see what you're missing at least (I only have the cards from the manga volumes as well).

Agh-!! There are so many! I'm fond of The Chariot down in the lower left-paw corner. (Thank you for the scan.) I admit... whenever I went to buy more volumes of Mahoraba, I would peek inside the books first to see if they contained a MahoTarot card.

Your scan also helped me with one more thing. Now I know how to spell "Maho Taro" (I've tried "terotto", "tarotto"... ) and shall look and see what I can find... [*hold music*]

D: ...Looks like there are some people on Y!J selling the original manga and magazines that came with cards, but they would be way, way pricey, what with having to pay the regular price, shipping, and for an agent in Japan to bid on it and send it to you...

You know, for such a great series, I'm surprised there wasn't more hype about it. It's definitely one of my favorite anime and manga series out there - the story is well thought-out, it's funny, yet heartwarming, even weird at times, the art is nice, and the characters are all loveable and deep... and I love the random 4-panel comic layout thrown in the manga every so often. As for the anime, while I was following it I often thought, "this is such a good series, it's going to get licensed before I get to finish it". It just makes me wonder, jeez, what happened?

Edit: Oh yeah. You have the artbook. I'm jealous. (No really, I am.)

[Vexx]

My speculation has long been that it just didn't get the merchandising pizzazz or whoever was marketing "stuff" just mishandled it. It is a rather unusual little story.
The big mystery for me is that neither the manga nor the anime have been licensed. Looking at the pile of manga at B&N, I would think this would be quite a hit. It isn't like it is controversial and it has a wholesome feel to it (compared with much of the stuff that is being sold).

I think the artbook is still available via amazon.co.jp (as are the other volumes)... rather than being a large format art book... it was just an "epilog" volume (same size format as the series... kind of like that wierd advert volume that was released in the middle of the manga series).

[FatPianoBoy]

Originally Posted by Vexx

It isn't like it is controversial and it has a wholesome feel to it (compared with much of the stuff that is being sold).

Which is exactly why I think it hasn't been licensed.
No taboo relationships (since Koi Kaze, cousin-love doesn't seem to rattle any fences), no fanservice, no moral ambiguity, no pseudo-philosophical/religious themes (Mephisto Burger doesn't count), no robots, no action, no harem, and no magic. The largest market for manga exists with 12-18 year-old females, with males the same age coming in second. Most older people aren't going to look twice at it, no one younger would 'get it,' so what is going to sell it to the people?

Of course, I'd enjoy nothing more than to eat those words one day.

[Risaa]

Originally Posted by FatPianoBoy

Which is exactly why I think it hasn't been licensed.
No taboo relationships (since Koi Kaze, cousin-love doesn't seem to rattle any fences), no fanservice, no moral ambiguity, no pseudo-philosophical/religious themes (Mephisto Burger doesn't count), no robots, no action, no harem, and no magic. The largest market for manga exists with 12-18 year-old females, with males the same age coming in second. Most older people aren't going to look twice at it, no one younger would 'get it,' so what is going to sell it to the people?

Of course, I'd enjoy nothing more than to eat those words one day.

Yeah, but Azumanga Daioh and Yotsuba& are doing well, and they're also easy-breezy-Japanesey slice-o-life-type series. (All right, bad examples as they're both by Azuma Kyohiko... I've felt weird about the guy since reading that he used to draw hentai. That's OK, but how do you go from hentai to Yotsuba&? /end random)

In contrast, Miyuki-chan In Wonderland had plenty of scantily-clad girls, loads of panty and bra-shots, and magic, but that flopped. (Of course, the "story" sucked, which would explain that...)

My initial thought was that maybe Mahoraba hasn't received a lot of attention because Akira Kojima is an unknown artist... but I can think of plenty of counter-examples for many series that are utter crap.

...I also would've thought that the largest market would exist for males above females... Back in high school, all my geek anime friends were guys. *shrugs*

(Ah.. shipping is still crazy on Amazon.co.jp since last I checked. )

[Kamui4356]

Originally Posted by FatPianoBoy

Which is exactly why I think it hasn't been licensed.
No taboo relationships (since Koi Kaze, cousin-love doesn't seem to rattle any fences), no fanservice, no moral ambiguity, no pseudo-philosophical/religious themes (Mephisto Burger doesn't count), no robots, no action, no harem, and no magic. The largest market for manga exists with 12-18 year-old females, with males the same age coming in second. Most older people aren't going to look twice at it, no one younger would 'get it,' so what is going to sell it to the people?

Of course, I'd enjoy nothing more than to eat those words one day.

Back on page 2 rooboy suggested Mahoraba hasn't been licensed because square-enix simply doesn't have a contract with a US manga publisher. Considering what has been published in the US, I'd have to agree with it. US publishers are either owned by or in partnership with a Japanese publisher, with the vast majority of their new releases coming from that. It's unlikely a US publisher will spend the money to pick up a series like Mahoraba. It's simply more profitable for them to release another manga from their Japanese affiliate's catalog, even if it's crap.

Still, I'm hoping someone will pick it up.

[Riker]

Originally Posted by Risaa

Agh-!! There are so many! I'm fond of The Chariot down in the lower left-paw corner.

You mean this?




I seem to have collected a number of such wallpapers. I'll upload them if anyone's interested.

[Vexx]

Originally Posted by Kamui4356

Back on page 2 rooboy suggested Mahoraba hasn't been licensed because square-enix simply doesn't have a contract with a US manga publisher. Considering what has been published in the US, I'd have to agree with it. US publishers are either owned by or in partnership with a Japanese publisher, with the vast majority of their new releases coming from that. It's unlikely a US publisher will spend the money to pick up a series like Mahoraba. It's simply more profitable for them to release another manga from their Japanese affiliate's catalog, even if it's crap.

Still, I'm hoping someone will pick it up.

What Kamui says is 'great truth'. I think many avid book readers would be appalled to know the criteria by which books are selected for distribution anymore (hint: the contents are secondary to the cost of creating a new relationship -- the accountants and the short-term hold sway over any "quality" decisionmaking).... what am I saying, its the way most corporations have been run since the late 80s.... :P

Sadly, it means that many works will just remain "our little secret" as foreign readers. OTOH... it may be that a very small outfit like SevenSeas might be interested (given some of their other recent niche acquisitions).

[FatPianoBoy]

Originally Posted by Risaa

Yeah, but Azumanga Daioh and Yotsuba& are doing well, and they're also easy-breezy-Japanesey slice-o-life-type series. (All right, bad examples as they're both by Azuma Kyohiko...

Exactly. Yotsuba& was probably only licensed because Azumanga Daioh did so well, which could be used as a selling point.

How do you go from pr0n to the daily adventures of a slightly eccentric five-year-old?

...I also would've thought that the largest market would exist for males above females... Back in high school, all my geek anime friends were guys. *shrugs*

The problem here is that guys only want bewbs and action (in the minds of the industry) and usually don't go for non-moe cute stuff. Again, Azumanga drew a wide fanbase, but I think it's still regarded as something of a fluke.

Originally Posted by Kamui4356

Back on page 2 rooboy suggested Mahoraba hasn't been licensed because square-enix simply doesn't have a contract with a US manga publisher.

I'm 90% sure an anime by Square Enix was licensed just recently. I wanna say it was Higurashi, but I know that's not it. Grr... I can't remember which one it was...