Suzuka Manga Overview

Suzuka, a shounen series with theme of romance and high-school track team. The hero of the story is Yamato Akatsuki and the horine is Suzuka Asahina. The anime covers the story up to chapter 72.


Volume 1

Suzuka 00 涼風 The arrival of Yamato in Tokyo and encounter with Suzuka
Suzuka 01 大和 Yamato went shopping with Suzuka and ate croquet at the shrine
Suzuka 02 服部 Yasonobu visited Yamato and Yamato praised Suzuka
Suzuka 03 萌果 First day of school and Honoka approached Yamato
Suzuka 04 見舞 Honoka visited Yamato who was sick. [1st collapse (egg)]
Highlights:




Volume 2

Suzuka 05 片鱗 Yamato impressed everyone with his track speed
Suzuka 06 春嵐 Yamato walked Suzuka home in the rain. She held onto Yamato accidentally [1st hug]
Suzuka 07 秘密 Suzuka told Yamato not to tell people about the hug. [2nd collapse (egg)]
Suzuka 08 空轉 Honoka, Yasonobu & Yamato went to karaoke. Miyamoto tried recruiting Yamato.
Suzuka 09 自覚 Suzuka approached Yamato due to a blackout. [2nd hug]
Suzuka 10 恋患い Yamato realized that he has fallen in love with Suzuka and wanted to tell her
Suzuka 11 約束 Suzuka invited Yamato to the amusement park after he lost his coupons
Suzuka 12 告白 Yamato and Suzuka had fun at the amusement park and Yamato confessed to her
Suzuka 13 失恋 Suzuka rejected Yamato and Yamato cried back in his room
Highlights:




Volume 3

Suzuka 14 出発 Saotome encouraged Yamato and he proclaimed that he would not give up.
Suzuka 15 決意 Yamato approached Miyamoto and wanted to join the track team
Suzuka 16 距離 Yamato first day at the track practice and met Miki.
Suzuka 17 片想い Honoka told Yamato that she wanted to join the track team
Suzuka 18 焦心 Honoka became the manager of the team. Suzuka acted cold towards Yamato
Suzuka 19 拒絕 Yamato achieved 10:98s in 100m dash. Yamato confronted Suzuka on her attitude
Suzuka 20 相似 Yamato practiced hard. Miyamoto commented that Yamato was like Kazuki
Suzuka 21 写真 Yamato accidentally saw Kazuki and Suzuka photograph. He went to Yokohama
Suzuka 22 恋敵 Suzune brought Yamato to Kazuki grave where Suzuka was paying respect to



Volume 4

Suzuka 23 和輝 Suzuka and Kazuki’s past
Suzuka 24 馬鹿 Suzuka confronted Yamato who had been absent from practice and argued. [1st slap]
Suzuka 25 挑撥 Arima made Suzuka cried with his sarcastism and Yamato confronted Arima
Suzuka 26 矛頭 Yamato realized his opponent’s time record while Yasonobu talked to Suzuka
Suzuka 27 勝負 Yamato overtook Arima after hearing a shout from Suzuka
Suzuka 28 決着 Yamato slipped and lost. Suzuka attended to his injury and told him to go to practice
Suzuka 29 好轉 Honoka tried to find moments with Yamato. Suzuka helped Yamato with strecthing
Suzuka 30 視線 Honoka invited Yamato to swimming. Miki wanted to join and asked Suzuka as well
Suzuka 31 花火 A day at the swimming lagoon. Yamato and Suzuka stunned by fireworks at night





Volume 5

Suzuka 32 宣戦 Honoka told Suzuka that she has fallen in love with Yamato
Suzuka 33 口唇 The track team went to Hiroshima for competition. Honoka kissed Yamato [1st kiss]
Suzuka 34 揺動 Honoka apologized the next day while Yamato felt saddened by Suzuka’s rejection
Suzuka 35 目撃 Yamato kissed Honoka and Miki saw the scene [2nd kiss]
Suzuka 36 発覚 Yamato asked Honoka to go out with him. Miki told Suzuka about Honoka and Yamato
Suzuka 37 祝福 Honoka told Yamato that she loved him. Suzuka asked Yamato if he was dating Honoka
Suzuka 38 霹靂 Yamato and Suzuka failed to board the bullet train
Suzuka 39 二人 Yamato’s father came to fetch them and he told Suzuka to stay over at their residence
Suzuka 40 実家 Yamato argued with Suzuka and later she agreed to stay for one more night
Highlights:




Volume 6

Suzuka 41 蛍袋 Yamato brought Suzuka to the fireflies location and showed his first confession
Suzuka 42 彼女 Honoka went to fetch Yamato at the station [3rd kiss]
Suzuka 43 衝動 Honoka cooked for Yamato and he tried to advance the relationship further
Suzuka 44 後悔 Yamato apologized and they reconciled. Yamato promised not to hurt her anymore
Suzuka 45 秋雨 Suzuka waited and gave her umbrella to Yamato.
Suzuka 46 白川 Honoka introduced Yamato to Nana at a karaoke centre
Suzuka 47 彼氏 Nana had a talk with Yamato regarding Honoka
Suzuka 48 相談 Yamato asked around for a birthday present suggestion.
Suzuka 49 新宿 Suzuka and Yamato went to pick Honoka’s present. Honoka saw them while shopping
Highlights:




Volume 7

Suzuka 50 贈物 Yamato gave the present to Honoka but she rejected it after he talked too much
Suzuka 51 無視 Honoka ignored Yamato
Suzuka 52 別離 Yamato confronted Honoka and ended breaking up but she accepted the gift [4th kiss]
Suzuka 53 最低 Yamato lied to Suzuka about the break-up reason and Suzuka despised him
Suzuka 54 決心 Honoka regained her composure and decided to confess to Yamato again in future
Suzuka 55 応援 Miki confronted Yamato and Yamato told her the real reason
Suzuka 56 本心 Miki helped Yamato with his relay practice and suggested that he told Suzuka the truth
Suzuka 57 仲直 Yamato told Suzuka the truth and later Suzuka told him to work hard on the relay race
Suzuka 58 洗濯 Yamato encountered Suzuka at launderette and realized he still liked her
Suzuka 59 覚悟 Miyamoto told Yamato about Kazuki and Yamato proclaimed his ambition
Highlights:



Volume 8

Suzuka 60 成果 Yamato achieved 10:81s in his race
Suzuka 61 本気 Suzuka congratulated Yamato but he replied that he only got the second place.
Suzuka 62 彷徨 Nana asked Honoka to spend a day with her
Suzuka 63 加速 Suzuka got agitated and emotional with Yamato’s effort and ambition
Suzuka 64 激励 Yamato got pissed with Suzuka’s attitude but she apologized afterwards
Suzuka 65 落穴 Yamato failed to qualify in the preliminary round with his 11:70s
Suzuka 66 誤算 Suzuka went to console Yamato. Yamato got emotional and confessed to her again
Suzuka 67 失踪 Yamato reminded Suzuka of what Kazuki had said. Honoka found her at the shrine steps
Suzuka 68 喪失 Suzuka reminisced Kazuki’s death and his confession
Suzuka 69 本心 Honoka approached Suzuka and told her that Yamato had been waiting for her all the time
Highlights:




Volume 9

Suzuka 70 相思 Yamato found Suzuka and kissed her by force. Suzuka slapped him [5th kiss + 5 slaps]
Suzuka 71 墓参 Yamato confronted Suzuka and she asked him to follow her
Suzuka 72 相愛 Suzuka remarked that she liked Yamato in front of Kazuki’s grave. They started dating
Suzuka 73 岐路 Yamato didn’t check his phone and Suzuka ended up waiting 2 hours for him
Suzuka 74 光輝 Honoka & Yasonobu learnt of the dating. Nana told Honoka of the modeling opportunity
Suzuka 75 重圧 Suzuka was tense before her competition and Yamato got her the wrong char
Suzuka 76 船出 Yamato was worried and went to visit Honoka. She told him about the modeling chance
Suzuka 77 名前 Yamato wanted to call Suzuka by her name rather than Asahina but failed
Suzuka 78 横浜 Suzuka needed to return to Yokohama and Yamato tagged along
Highlights:




Volume 10

Suzuka 79 夜景 They decided to go sightseeing but in vain. They ended enjoying night scene together
Suzuka 80 看病 Miho was sick and wanted Yamato to attend her. He cooked okonomiyaki for her
Suzuka 81 信頼 Megumi asked Yamato to accompany her. Suzuka was selected for intensive training
Suzuka 82 肩幅 Suzuka hugged Yamato to get his shirt size
Suzuka 83 大切 Yamato and Suzuka agreed to celebrate Christmas on the 21st due to her training
Suzuka 84 計画 Yamato thought of the Christmas plan. He tried to get a kiss but was rejected [7th slap]
Suzuka 85 結衣 Suzuka was late due to a meeting. Yasonobu dragged him to a gathering and met Yui
Suzuka 86 喧嘩 Suzuka saw Yui hugging Yamato. Suzuka and Yamato had an argument
Suzuka 87 返信 Yamato kept sending sms to Suzuka and waiting for her reply
Highlights:



Volume 11

Suzuka 88 接近 Yasonobu, Yamato, Yui and a friend went to the Fantasy Land
Suzuka 89 回想 Yamato and Yui watched the night procession. Both mentioned their past experiences
Suzuka 90 本音 Yamato went to see Suzuka. Yamato made her a promise [6th & 7th kiss + 8th slap ]
Suzuka 91 初詣 Yamato and Suzuka went for New Year shrine visit
Suzuka 92 先輩 Saotome dragged Yamato to meet Sasaoka
Suzuka 93 子供 Saotome told Yamato of her past with Sasaoka
Suzuka 94 特注 Sasaoka went to visit Suzuka at school
Suzuka 95 再戦 Miho gave her chocolate to Tsuyoshi
Suzuka 96 秘密 Yamato found out that Suzuka wanted to go overseas
Highlights:




Volume 12

Suzuka 97 留学 Yamato decided to let Suzuka and said that he will support her
Suzuka 98 面接 Yamato went to find a casual job and met Yui again
Suzuka 99 和解 Yui visited Suzuka and Suzuka agreed to let Yamato work at Amami café
Suzuka 100 初日 Yamato first day at Amami café
Suzuka 101 腕前 Yamato working at Amami café and showed his okonomiyaki
Suzuka 102 安心 Miyamoto took over the captainship and Suzuka comforted in Yamato
Suzuka 103 将来 Suzuka and Miki visited Yamato at Amami café
Suzuka 104 洗濯 Yui returned Yamato’s clothes and realized Yamato has a girlfriend
Suzuka 105 擦違 Suzuka had a date with exhausted Yamato and ended in displease
Suzuka 106 不满 Suzuka not happy with Yamato pushing himself to limits and had an quarrel
Highlights:



Volume 13

Suzuka 107 追打 Yamato promised to reduce his working commitment but Yui was hospitalized
Suzuka 108 病院 Yamato went to visit Yui at the hospital
Suzuka 109 隙間 Yamato tried to make up with Suzuka but she shunned him off
Suzuka 110 明日 Yamato found out that Suzuka would move out the next day
Suzuka 111 最後 Suzuka remembered Yamato’s birthday and took him out for a date
Suzuka 112 沈黙 Suzuka initiated a break up
Suzuka 113 公园 Yamato told Miki about their break up and cried
Suzuka 114 空港 Yamato went to airport and told Suzuka that he didn’t want a break up
Suzuka 115 浴衣 Yui went to visit depressed Yamato in her yukata. She tried to comfort him
Suzuka 116 鼓動 Yui threw herself at Yamato but was rejected
Highlights:




Volume 14

Suzuka 117 再会 Yamato gave away his salary as offering and met Honoka
Suzuka 118 洗練 Honoka visited Yamato after school and had a talk
Suzuka 119 主将 Yamato encouraging Honoka for her interview
Suzuka 120 決断 Yamato was informed as the next captain and Sasaoka visited Yamato
Suzuka 121 归国 Suzuka return from US
Suzuka 122 友達 Honoka asked how Yamato felt towards her at the beach
Suzuka 123 質問 Yamato found out Suzuka had returned to her room
Suzuka 124 夕飯 Both Honoka and Suzuka asked Yamato out
Suzuka 125 悔恨 Honoka told Yamato that she has a boyfriend and Suzuka burnt a fish
Suzuka 126 咲希 Yamato childhood friend, Saki came to Tokyo
Highlights:




Volume 15

Suzuka 127 爆弾 Saki exposed Yamato’s confession to her
Suzuka 128 推薦 Yamato received two university recommendations
Suzuka 129 一緒 Yamato and Saki visited Taidou university
Suzuka 130 理由 Suzuka told Yamato why she went abroad and Saki told him to choose Seijou
Suzuka 131 兄妹 Saotome had another failure confessing to Sasaoka
Suzuka 132 返答 Yamato brought Saotome to airport and Sasaoka said that he has engaged
Suzuka 133 咄嗟 Yamato confessed to Suzuka again (2nd confession)
Suzuka 134 暗雲 Suzuka was happy to hear the confession but rejected Yamato
Suzuka 135 不意 Suzuka told Yamato the reason but he couldn’t accept it. He hugged her [3rd hug]
Suzuka 136 我慢 Suzuka and Yamato reconciled and kissed [8th kiss + 9th slap]
Highlights:




Volume 16

Suzuka 137 三人 Suzuka knew of the beach outing and wanted to go with Yamato next time
Suzuka 138 不安 Arima approached Suzuka to convey a message to Yamato
Suzuka 139 先生 Suzuka gave tution to Yamato and ended sleeping side by side
Suzuka 140 選抜 Yamato went for Seijou selection competition
Suzuka 141 浪人 Yamato asked around for opinions on ronin. He was accepted by Seijou later.
Suzuka 142 御祝 Suzuka brought Yamato to a baseball match. They met Mr. Asahina at a park
Suzuka 143 父親 Yamato visted Asahina residence & told Mr. Asahina that he would take care of Suzuka.
Suzuka 144 一歩 Yamato tried to advance further on Suzuka but was rejected [10th slap]
Suzuka 145 決裂 Yamato confronted Suzuka
Suzuka 146 序章 Yamato apologized to Suzuka. Suzuka gave her consent at that moment.
Highlights:



Volume 17

Suzuka 147 体温 Yamato and Suzuka had an intimate night
Suzuka 148 再始 Suzuka remarked she wanted to witness Yamato’s achievement
Suzuka 149 手製 Suzuka cooked a decent meal for Yamato except for the salad. [3rd collapse (salad)]
Suzuka 150 計画 Yamato and Suzuka thought of a holiday
Suzuka 151 口裏 Yamato and Suzuka asked Miki and Yasonobu to keep their secrets
Suzuka 152 決行 Yamato and Suzuka went to Hakone. Mr Asahina came to fetch Suzuka later.
Suzuka 153 断絶 Yamato scolded by Ayano. Suzuka was forced to move back to her house.
Suzuka 154 谢罪 Yamato went to visit Suzuka. Mr Asahina was impressed with his action [4th hug]
Suzuka 155 結実 Yamato was late but Mr Asahina forgave him. Suzuka found out she was pregnant
Suzuka 156 無理 Both Yamato and Suzuka were troubled. Kinugasa invited Yamato to dinner
Highlights:




Volume 18

Suzuka 157 期待 Yamato confided in Arima and they ended up beating each other
Suzuka 158 願事 Yamato and Suzuka went for New Year shrine visit and he prayed for safe delivery
Suzuka 159 吃驚 Suzuka told him of the difficulties ahead but also agreed with his decision
Suzuka 160 両親 Yamato and Suzuka conveyed the news to Akitsuki family
Suzuka 161 家族 Yamato and Suzuka conveyed the news to Asahina family
Suzuka 162 仲間 Yamato and Suzuka conveyed the news to the school and the track team
Suzuka 163 就活 Yamato had no luck in job finding. Suzuka asked Sasaoka to help Yamato
Suzuka 164 卒業 Yamato and friends graduated and they held a wedding party [9th kiss]
Suzuka 165 求婚 Yamato and Suzuka moved in Ayano residence. Yamato proposed to Suzuka
Suzuka 166 凉風 Finale. Yamato and Suzuka’s wedding & appearance of daughter Fuuka [10th kiss]
Highlights:





Merchandises:
Manga:




JP Available at AJ
CH available at Yesasia or Bookcafe.

Anime


JP Available at Playasia or AJ
Comments: EN version can eaily be found at Amazon.

OST:

OST 1 available at Playasia or Yesasia
OST 2 available at Playasia or Yesasia or AJ.
Comments: Some people argued that there're songs which are not heard in the anime. They have forgotten that there're usually character collection for anime. For Suzuka anime, instead of releasing in singles, character songs were compiled in the OST, making it more economical and convenient for Suzuka fans.

Figure

Available at AJ
Comment: Please be aware that AJ does not ship figure outside Japan.

Calendar

Calendar 2006 Available at AJ
Calendar 2007:NA
Comment: Many thanks to Eric for his Suzuka calendar scans. Click on the picture to access Elitist Wannabe.

Novel:

Available at AJ

Guidebooks:

Guidebook 1 available at AJ or Yesasia
Guidebook 2 available at Yesasia or AJ

Related Links:
Kouji Seo website
Suzuka Manga website
Suzuka Anime website

Suzuka Manga Aftermath

It has been an enjoyable journey blogging Suzuka manga for 71 chapters, accounted for more than 20 months. It was said there's a chapter on the wedding eve and I postponed this post until then. But it turned out to be a Suzuka-mon chapter.

Blogging Suzuka:
My first Suzuka post was on Suzuka OST back in December 2005. I started blogging Suzuka because I loved the story and I wanted to share Suzuka to the EN manga readers. At that time, there was no EN translation nor scanlation so I decided to promote Suzuka to the EN fans who couldn’t get their hands on the latest news. As I'm not fluent in JP and I did not want to infringe copyrights, thus I decided to write summary of the manga weekly. I started with chapter 96 on the 22nd February 2006. However, writing a summary isn’t easy and I’m not fluent in JP. I rely mostly on CH scripts and double checked with JP raw. I couldn’t remember when some EN groups decided to scanlate it. However, since I have started the task, I told myself to continue it rather than dropping it. Throughout the years, there have been several groups that started and dropped the series. This also encouraged me to continue with the blogging.

It was interesting to meet several people who has common interest in Suzuka manga, both here and at animesuki forum. Many were Honoka lovers but I’m more on Kouji side than Suzuka side. Most of the time, visitors would see that I encourage them to support Kouji by purchasing the manga, whether JP, EN or CH. Many might not know I joined 3 different forums and gathered information on Suzuka to present the latest to my visitors. There are some people who whine during my Suzuka blogging. Some wanted to have the raw or the source. Some said that they were desperate but I was able to find both raw and scanlation easily. There’re also times when I gave clue of the source and they just didn’t bother and kept asking about the source.

The highest pageload for Suzuka blog was chapter 147 with 2381 pageload and 1276 unique visitor on the 15th April 2007. It was the chapter where Yamato and Suzuka spent the night together ^^. Chapter 155 which featured Suzuka being pregnant attracted 1762 pageload and 1142 unique. It has the most comments with a total of 40 comments. In the past, the post with the most comments was the Ichigo 100% ending post.


About the series Suzuka:

Suzuka is a romance manga between two high school students involved in track activities. Yamato who came from Hiroshima went to Tokyo to further his study. He went to have a look at his school and saw Suzuka who was practicing high jump. He fell in love with Suzuka on the first sight. He later found out that they lived at the same residence, Yamato’s aunt, Ayano san’s bathhouse residence. There was a few misunderstanding which made Suzuka grew dissent with him at Ayano residence. However, because of tremendous pressure and expectation of others on Suzuka’s achievement she was dehydrated in the sauna and Yamato saved her. From then, they became friends. However, Suzuka was a perfectionist and Yamato who was casual and fell short of her likings. The story can be separated into a few main arcs and several minor arcs. I would consider the 1st confession, Honoka relationship, Suzuka relationship and 2nd confession as the main arcs.


My favourite characters in the series would be Yamato and Suzuka, after all they are the main characters. Arima of course would be the least favourite character. I liked Yui but she could have play more role but to have herself thrown at Yamato and rejected, it's quite illogical for her to make any significant role later on. At least Kouji let her appeared in the last 2 chapters. Saotome is another interesting character to read especially on her relationship with Sasaoka. I liked how Kouji potrayed Honoka with her new confidence when introduced after chapter 117.

My most favourite chapters


1. Chapter 41: Yamato and Suzuka with the fireflies
2. Chapter 72: Suzuka accepted Yamato
3. Chapter 166: Finale, wedding and appearance of Fuuka
4. Chapter 90: Yamato went to see Suzuka and she gave him a kiss and a slap
5. Chapter 158: Suzuka agreed to give birth to Fuuka

My least favourite chapters

1. Chapter 156 & 157: Dinner, Confide and fight with Arima
2. Chapter 165: Yamato proposed to Suzuka (Could have done a better job)
3. Chapter 95: Miho gave chocolate to Tsuyoshi (seem like a filler)

My unexpected events:

1. Chapter 112: Suzuka initiated a break up
2. Chapter 132: Sasaoka told Saotome he was engaged and was slapped
3. Chapter 155: Suzuka found out she was pregnant (Didn't expect that soon)

There were some redundant characters and under-utilized characters. However, they did play a significant role in some development. I consider Saki and Yui pretty redundant. Saki didn’t play a part in Yamato’s decision making to pursue Seijou university. However, we got to know that she was the girl that Yamato had confessed to at childhood and she told Yamato to choose Seijou as well. As for Yui, she did show us that Yamato had deep love for Suzuka and make Yamato casual work more interesting as well. Other than that, having Yui in the story plot won’t make much difference. Though having Yui being rejected by Yamato after going such length broke my heart even though I have expected that Yamato would reject her. I tend to find Megumi and Saki quite redundant, in fact Saki might serve more purpose than Megumi

There were a few things that I didn’t expect. The first was the exposure of all characters, all the female characters have been exposed, including Suzuka. And it was the exposure of Suzuka during her holiday with Yamato that told me that Suzuka was approaching the finale. I also didn’t expect Suzuka’s pregnancy to be such an early plot. I didn’t anticipate it but many fans had speculated that in the forum. I partially accepted the speculation but I really didn’t except it to be that early as I though Kouji would write the university story plot.


Another disappointment would be the competition between Arima and Yamato. I have never expected Yamato to beat Arima but at least another head-to-head race would be nice. However, it might be better to leave their race untold since Yamato's not attending university.

I have speculated a finale ever since Suzuka was exposed in chapter 152. Since the first chapter, almost every of the female characters have been exposed except Suzuka, even when she was at those particular scene. Kouji leave it to Chapter 152 where Yamato pulled of her bikini while having a holiday at Hokane.

It was also fun to see how Suzuka grew more attached to Yamato in the last three chapter. Some have said it's not Suzuka's style or characteristic. People grow and mature, friends. At the wedding, Suzuka even told Yamato how grateful she was that Yamato has not given up on her no matter what had happened. Seeing the wedding was nice but having seeing Fuuka made the conclusion even more enjoyable.

Suzuka has been a great manga to read and collect. In my opinion, Suzuka has been quite logical and realistic in the development (It should be noted that anime and manga has never been realistic unless it's based on real-life story). As suzuka ended, I'm anticipating for Kouji's new work in Spring next year.


As an epilogue, I strongly recommend that you support Kouji Seo and Suzuka by purchasing the manga and related merchadises.

**************************************************************


*Do not read below if you don't want to spoil your mood. Highlight if you want to read rants

Grumbles:
Over the 20 months of blogging, I also have the "opportunity" of meeting irrational and ridiculous people. Pardon my language or rants.

1. I really loathe the people who kept cursing Yamato and Suzuka for no apparent reason. There were also people who said that they hated the series but every week they read and came back cursing the characters again. Would you be happy if someone called you a b****, f****** or w****? Yes, it’s manga, manga has its up and down, and fans are entitled to criticize it. But to call Suzuka a b,f,w just because she didn’t react to your liking, it’s not rational. One even called me a baby saying I can’t take it. I replied that he/she was worse than a baby to swear at a manga character.

2. To those who like to initiate Arima and Suzuka, you better go and see a psychiatrist. I never even consider that option, it’s just so stupid. After Suzuka came back from US, most fans accepted that nothing would have happened to them. But there’re still some people who either deliberately or just naturally stupid to suggest that Suzuka’s baby belong to Arima. Are they idiot or they just want to agitate Suzuka fans. It would be irrational to suggest that the baby didn’t belong to Yamato. To suggest that it could be Arima's, these people were not Suzuka fans but idiots, and I made no apology for saying that.

3. Someone keeps bringing up Arima and gave these reasons:
Ridiculous 1: He was seen suspiciously talking to Suzuka at the shoe lockers and immediately left when Yamato showed up.
Ans: Arima wasn't suspicious at all. He left because Yamato came and he hated Yamato. He was just forwarding a plead from his senior asking Yamato to join his uni. Suzuka also told Yamato that she dislike him as well.

Ridiculous 2. Arima went to America with Suzuka for a year
Ans: So what. There dozen of boys who went to America to train. Suzuka even mentioned that Arima put her off while in America. If you put two enemy together in a training camp abroad, they would be boy/girlfriends?

Ridiculous 3. Other characters (the old captains) keep bringing him into the story for no good reason.
Ans: So what. He is the only rival character for Yamato and a great athlete. Who else would Kinugasa and Miyamoto bring? Honoka? Saki?

Ridiculous 4. They were walking down the street together at the end of the last chapter.
Ans: Yamato walked in the same direction as Arima in chapter 157, so they are lovers as well? So what if Suzuka happen to be walking in the same direction as Arima. They didn't even talk to each other apart from asking why he's going in the same direction.

To have suggest Suzuka and Arima has affair, these fans are idiots beyond repair. They have not rationality at all. Suzuka suffered the humiliation caused by Arima. Arima is the rival to Yamato. Suzuka loved Yamato and had her first experience with Yamato. With all these, anyone who suggest the possibility of Suzuka and Yamato deserved to be called an idiot, a true idiot.

There's too many immature readers who only ask stupid questions. Even up to last two chapters some people wish for the death of the baby. If you have suggested that, I hope that the curse will happen upon you for suggesting that or wanting Suzuka to die.

Anime Shopping Stores

It's end of the year, the season where merchandises overflow and wallets shrink. These are some of the vendors that I have patronaged or visited. Maybe these information might an extra bit of knowledge on online purchases. I mainly purchase my anime related merchandises from HLJ, Yesasia, Play-asia and recently Bookcafe.


Let's go shopping....



HobbyLink Japan
Link: HLJ
Establishment: 1997
Location: Japan
Credibility: Very High
Popularity: Very High
Ideal for: Gundam kist, figures, crafts and anime collection. Minimal selection for books, CD, fun goods and apparels
Features:
*Economical and offer SAL shipping
*User friendly navigation
Limitations:
*Poor at combining orders for shipping
*Slow processing due to large amount of orders
*Slow shipment (SAL)
Personal experience: > 13 orders
Comments: HLJ has been a great place to purchase figures until my recent order seem to be lost.


Yesasia
Link: Global
Establishment: 1998
Location: HK, JP, Korea,
Credibility: Very High
Popularity: High
Ideal for: CD, DVD, Book, Movies & Dramas, Games
Not ideal for: Toys, Gundams or figures, Manga
Features:
*User friendly navigation
*Decent customer service
*Allows order amendments
*Support several languages website
*Free shipping for selected items
Limitations:
*Slow in acquiring, processing and shipping
*Expensive shipping cost
*Inconsistent product handling
Personal experience: 12 orders
Comments: Yesasia used to offer free shipping to manga and books but dropped it last year. You cannot combine manga with other products to be eligible for free shipping as well. Thus it loses the effectiveness of the free shipping offer.



Play-asia
Link: Play-asia
Establishment: 2002
Location: HK
Credibility: High
Popularity: Medium
Ideal for: DVD, CD, Games and minimal selection of toys
Features:
*Economical shipping
*User friendly ordering system
*Several choices of shipping method
Limitations:
*Rather new and less appealing
*Self-advertisements prone website
Personal experience: 5 orders



Bookcafe
Link: Star Bookstore
Establishment: 2003 Dec.
Location: TW, HK
Credibility: Good
Popularity: ---
Ideal for: Manga CH, Novels & Magazine CH, Minimal selection of JP Artbooks
Features:
*Economical price for CH manga (mostly range from HK28-30)
*Fast processing
Limitations:
*Shipping charges at 500g bracket
*Order cannot be amended
*Chinese language only website
*Harder to navigate, less user friendly
*Less payment option
Personal experience: 2 orders (27 manga)
Comments: Guess what 2 days to process my order and shipped already. Yesasia can never do that.

Other Stores:

Amazon Japan: Giant amazon store in JP. Offers a large variety of anime-related items. However, it only offers express shipping after March 2007 and items such as figures are not shipped outside JP. Only books, CD and DVD are permitted to be shipped internationally. Thus, becomes less ppopular due to shipping and variety. Personal experience: 1 order

Hobby Search: An online store specialize in anime figures. Base in Tokyo, JP. EMS shipping only. More information. Personal experience: 1 pre-order

Angloz : A hongkong based online store dealing in a variety of goods including figures and gundam kits. More information. Personal experience: 3 orders

Animaxis: An online store based in Tokyo, JP and incorporated in 2002. Offers many anime-related accesories and fun goods not available in other online store. EMS shipping only. More information.

CDjapan A Japan based online store specializes in CD, DVD and collectibles. This is the only online store (among above) that ship any first print bonus to the customer, which is important!.


Practical Examples:

Case I: Yesasia Vs Bookcafe
Product: Manga
Yesasia: US$4.49 (HK 35) + Shipping (Shipment + Unit)
Bookcafe: HK 28-30 + Shipping
Average unit cost [5 units + shipping] is $8.48(Yesasia) and 7.58(Bookcafe)
Average unit cost [12 units + shipping] is $9.01(Yesasia) and 6.64(Bookcafe)


Case II: Yesasia Vs Play-asia
Product: GSD Alliance VS ZAFT II Plus PS2 Game
References: Yesasia and Playasia
Yesasia: $62.42 (Discounted) + Free shipping
Playasia: $64.90 + 3.10 shipping


Case IIIa: Yesasia Vs Play-asia
Product: Jyukai AMG OP ED Single
References: Yesasia and Playasia
Yesasia: $11.25 + shipping
Playasia: $9.90 + 2.60 shipping

Case IIIb: Yesasia Vs Play-asia
Product: Aria The Natural Vocal Song Collection
Yesasia
Playasia
Yesasia: $27.25 + shipping
Playasia: $28.90 + 2.60 shipping


Case IV: Yesasia Vs Play-asia
Product: Suzuka DVD
References: Yesasia
Playasia
Yesasia: $53.25 + Free shipping
Playasia: $57.90 + 3.10 shipping


Case Va: Yesasia Vs HLJ
Product: MG Strike Freedom Gundam
References: Yesasia and HLJ
Gundam Kit: MG Strike Freedom
Yesasia: $99.99 + Free shipping
HLJ: $43.46 + $28.97[EMS] or $15.21[SAL]

Case Vb: Yesasia Vs HLJ
Product: 1/8 RAH DX Lacus Clyne Figure
References: Yesasia and HLJ
Yesasia: $61.99 + Free shipping
HLJ: $36.22 + 20.10[EMS] or 9.78[SAL]

Random Thoughts

Manga:
Hatsukoi Limited 7: A chapter on Bessho and his sister Koyoi who has a serious brotherly fancy. She checked on Bessho who met out with Yamamoto but was relieved to learn nothing between them.
Tsubasa 172: Kendappa told Tomoyo to set a barrier so that Syaron could duel against Seishiro. Yui realized that Tomoyo had paid the price so that they would appear in Nihon after Celes.
Tennis 365: Golden pair's up for the double match. Momo thought of a way to revive Ryouma's memory.
Cross Game 103: After paying respect to Wakaba, Koh encountered the Wakaba look-alike girl in yukata.
Air Gear 184: Finally the match's over. What a waste of chapters!

Purchase:
1. Three orders on the way to my doorsteps; Final Fantasy Mini Trading Figures,, Suzuka guidebook and 3 clear Bandai action bases.
2. Place the ARIA the Origination Punit Figure Akari and Alice with Hobbysearch.
3. I've placed a pre-order at Play-asia with comprising just the Ah! My Goddess OP & ED single by Jyukai.
4. I've placed an order with bookcafe for 27 mangas comprising; Cross Game 9, Suzuka 16 & 17, Pastel 17, Conan SP 10+ & 20+, Ichigo 100% 17 and Tsubasa Chronicles 1-20. I had to use a visa card since I couldn't get through the transaction with both mastercards.

Ne.. Kwaii Desu.. Ka

ARIA is going to empty my pocket again! Megahouse ARIA The Origination Punit Collection!!!





They are rather expensive, each cost around 5087 円 or approximately US$45 or AUD$49. The 16cm tall figure are scheduled for January 2008 release. Will be getting both of them, who wouldn't since it's so kawaii, but it'll hurt my wallet!!!

P/S: Alicia and Aika Punit collection will be released in April 2008.

Aside: For those who want to get the ARIA Company with Aria President, Alicia and Akari collection released in May 2007, Hobbysearch has it at discounted price of 2320 Yen (~50% off). Please note that Hobbysearch only offers EMS shipping.

Random Thoughts

Purchase:
My Final Fantasy Mini Trading Figures is now processed for shipping. It got discontinued the moment it was in stock. I don't have any problem of getting it because I have pre-ordered (early bird) very early. Currently two orders on the way to my doorstep; Suzuka guidebook and 3 clear Bandai action bases.

I'll change the shipping for AMG Belldandy Kotobukiya figure to EMS to avoid the incident with ARIA Solidworks collection and also to avoid the busy end-of-year peak postage.

I'll be getting the Ah! My Goddess OP & ED single by Jyukai together with the OP single for crescent love. Waiting for my new credit card before I place the order with Play-asia. The order will comprise Crescent Love OP and AMG new single.

I have 6 manga that I want to place order with Bookcafe but still wondering if I should get Tsubasa Chronicles manga 1-20. A large order would reduce the cost of each book from AUD $7.77 to $6.74 including shipping. But of course, I'll be spending over AUD$175 on 26 manga which is quite significant (insted of $47 for 6 mangas). I have also intended to get Prince of Tennis manga once it's finished, currently the CN's up to 38 volumes!


Manga:
Hatsukoi Limited 5: Terai was weak in physical activities. His friends suggested to Dobashi in training him and she agreed. After slurring out that he rather be weak so that she could continue teaching him, she suggested of dating. Terai got third in track and gave the medal to her. She gave him a hug as consolation. However, the relastionship sort of hang on a cliff without a clear indication.
Hatsukoi Limited 6: Arihara told Bessho about his sister Ayumi and ended up arguing. Chikura suggested that they should check out each other's sister. Compared to Arihara, Bessho's sister, Koyoi is more fond of his brother. Later, Ayumi told Arihara that she's in love with Zaitsu. Arihara wanted to demonstrate something to Bessho and ended up sticking a chuppa chup into her mouth.
Tsubasa 171: Kendappa told Tomoyo to set a barrier so that Syaron could duel against Seishiro. Yui realized that Tomoyo had paid the price so that they would appear in Nihon after Celes.
Tennis 363: Fuji gained 6-5 against Niou who imitated Tezuka. Fuji remarked that Niou is far from Tezuka's level. Niou then changed his illusion to Shitenhouji’s Shiraishi who had beaten Fuji in the semi-final. Fuji countered by saying that he won't lose to an opponent twice.
Tennis 364: Fuji beated Niou 7-5 with his 6th counter, Hoshi Hanabi.
Cross Game 102: Koh pondered on the Wakaba look-alike girl. Aoba also saw the girl as she ran to meet her friends. Summer festival coming and eveyone felt uneasy possibly because it reminded them of Wakaba.

AMG 230: Welsper told Keiichi and Belldandy their real names. Belldandy commented that she still like him even then. The cue of goddess prompted Keiichi to remark the wish that he had made before. This cause an activation and their memory were restored. I wished this arc has never started, what a waste of time.
ARIA SP: A special chapter of the orange princess, Alice being lonely and couldn't find an excuse to see Akari and Aika. One night Aika and Akari appeared in her room eating banana. They came to eat the new pizza together with Alice. Alice told them about her schedule and how she couldn't think of any reason to meet together. Akari told her that she didn't need any reason since she is Alice. Alice got revived by Akari and Aika's companion.


P/S: Sent an email to HLJ last week regarding the MIA order;
With reference to the email and reply dated Thursday, 18 October 2007 4:20:13 AM, provided below. I was advised to wait 90 days before HLJ would take action for order 774212.

However, I have just received a second parcel from HLJ. The order with invoice 784928 was sent on the 5th Oct and I have received it on the 27th Oct, taking around 3 weeks. I have mentioned that it took around 3 weeks for order to reach me from past experience.

Now my order with invoice invoice 774212 is already more than 52 days and it does appear to be lost. Please advise what appropriate action would HLJ take in relation to this, instead of just asking me to wait till the full 90 days.

HLJ Response:
Thanks for writing.
We still have to ask you to wait the 90 days, as we do with all our customers. Because SAL goes space available, there's no way to predict in what order packages will arrive, and if it is on its way back to us for some reason, that will take longer.

Alicia Florence Goodsmile Figure

I had hope it was ARIA Solidwork Collection but it wasn't, it's the Alicia Florence 1/8 figure from Goodsmile. Well, at least when compared to the the gashapon, I rather have the gashapon MIA instead of this Alicia figure. The figure is released early this month and it's out of stock at HLJ and in most places.

The Alicia Florence figure is around 18.5cm tall with a distinct pose. She came with ARIA sachou figure, around 5cm tall. The figure is quite delicate as it has 4 pieces of plastic to protect certain parts; the back hair, tip of hair, back of figure and the right heel. The left heel has two screw attached which is good. Reference: Promotion picture.




Some photos of Goodsmile 1/8 Alicia Florence Figure


Goodsmile 1/8 Alicia and BEAT 1/6 Alicia. The colour scheme for GS Alicia is a better and smooth. The toning of the hair looks fabulous in photos, looks golden.


Three of my favourite anime heroines; Alicia Florence from ARIA, Belldandy from Ah! My Goddess and Lacus Clyne from Gundam Seed.