With the Natsuyuki anime currently airing on Noitamina, I thought a short snippet of an interview during the debut of the series would be an timely contribution.
Editorial Department: Congratulations on the release of Natsuyuki Rendezvous 1! This volume will be the starting series for Kawachi Haruka’s Five Publishing House Relay Fair, correct?
※Natsuyuki Rendezvous 1 (Shodensha) → Sekine’s Love 1 (Ohta Shuppan) → Engawa Gohan (Houbunsha) → Hate no Hana (Shueisha) → Shinkuu Katakoi Pack (Hakusensha)
Kawachi: Thank you very much. I think I was only able to do this because the editors from each publisher were laid-back about it. As for the fair, it couldn’t have been possible without the cooperation of everyone from the editors and designers, to the salespeople and booktsores. My heart’s racing, but I’m grateful. It’s as simple as that.
Editor: I’d like to inquire about the series, Natsuyuki Rendezvous. How did you come up with the concept for this story?
Kawachi: I wanted to draw something that would make the reader seethe with jealousy. Whatever the established relationships between the three of them are, I figured there was an uncertain balance there, so I wanted to take a good look and see how far I could take them. That was my little challenge.
Editor: What things did you have to take into consideration besides drawing Hazuki, Rokka, and Shimao?
Kawachi: I noticed this while drawing the characters, but all of them are so persistent. That’s their common feature. I draw with a view of which one can hold out the longest. I wanted Shimao to gradually feel more and more alive as well.
Editor: In this issue, Shimao has been acting really outrageous, hasn’t he? Let’s see, who did you use as his model?
Kawachi: I didn’t model him after anyone in particular, but I have a friend who is a store-owner, and several others who are in management, so it was easy to imagine a person whose lifestyle was centered on running a shop.
Editor: Even after his death, Shimao becomes a ghost who can’t move on from his wife. How about you, Kawachi-sensei? What would you do if you were in the same situation?
Kawachi: I’d love to be a ghost! Being a ghost comes right after wanting to own a stationery shop.
Editor: That must have had some influence on the the appearance of a ghost in one of the stories complied in the short stories collection, “Canned Strawberry Snakes.”
Editor: Up until now, is there a favorite scene or color illustration?
Kawachi: For some reason, I think love the scene leading into Chapter 2. The storyboard was very fluffy.
Editor: Please reveal some future developments.
Kawachi: It’s going to get messy.
The woman wasn’t lying. Some of that messiness is comin’ right up!
Natsuyuki Rendezvous Volume 2, Ch.8 – Shimao finally gets his hands on Hazuki’s body, in more ways then one. 😉
Download. / Read Online
Oh, hell! Let’s just make that double!
Natsuyuki Rendezvous Volume 2, Ch.9 – Hazuki’s eyes get in the way of Rokka and Shimao’s touching reunion?
Download. / Read Online
Thank you Lilanar, niflheim, and Lypiphera for pulling through on these chapters. Oh man, oh man. Things are getting sooooo good!
Thanks for the translation!
Kawachi Haruka is like my fave mangaka these days. Her stories are interesting and not too cheesy.
I was so surprised that she wanted to be a ghost O.O
Thank you for the new chapters and also for the interview!
And, happy early anniversary!
First, Thank you for translating the short interview and for the release of two chapters ( I will abstain myself to read it further more because I want to enojy the anime more ><).
Second, I like the new layout! But I just wanted to point out that the previous one is slightly more easy to navigate because we could easily see the release of the post.
Thanks again!
I’m like that too, where I either choose the anime first or the manga first. In rare cases, I end up going at both simultaneously (Victorian Romance Emma, Honey and Clover, Planetes, Princess Tutu) because they are just that good. In Natsuyuki Rendezvous’ case, I would actually be watching the anime as well, but with a sucky internet connection (which has to be shared) I find it hard to do so. I hope that it gets more than a digital release from Sentai Filmworks. I’m a DVD buyer. But if it doesn’t get a DVD release in the States, I’ll probably have to spend a ridiculous amount of money to import it from Japan. 🙁
Btw, thanks for the feedback on the layout. We’ll take that into consideration as we work on ways to make it more easy for the readers. 🙂
I ended up reading the chapters! nooo, but I couldn’t hold myself back after the latest chapter! x-x
I’m sure it will eventually get liscensed, but I wonder how long itwould be to wait for it… :S
Oh thanks a bunch for the interview translation, looking forward to more of it. I’ve found last year’s worth of Feel Young magazine scans and at least now they make a bit more sense after reading these two chapters… not much though lol.
I haven’t been on the website recently but the new layout looks great! 😀
Thank you very much