Published: 5/31/13
The Shirojo Times, #4
TL: Mezase, Yuritopia
We’re quite late to the party, but happy one year anniversary, yuritopia! This is The Shirojo Times, issue #4. As always, I have to thank you all for the large amount of submissions we’ve received. Well then, Sachi-san, Megumi-san, please start us off with our first submission!
From: Kanae the First
Late congratulations on Kindred Spirits’ one year anniversary! But we’re getting even more pages?! When you say that, I can’t help but look forward to a jam-packed anniversary issue!
Sachi: “Thank you for the congratulations.”
Megumi: “I’ll cur—I mean, I’ll congratulate the game, too!”
Sachi: “This time, our issue’s double-length—it’s four pages long!”
Megumi: “We’ll make sure to answer lots of your questions!”
Sachi: “But first, let’s start with the congratulatory messages...”
From: Yamada (pseudonym)
Happy one year anniversary, Kindred Spirits! I’ll be wishing the best for future developments in yuritopia... magnificently!
Sachi & Megumi: “Magnificently!”
From: Migura
Viva yuritopia~♪ I loved everyone’s beautiful outfits—they were such a sight for sore eyes! But wow, it’s already been one year since release, huh...
Sachi: “This must be their comments about the last issue. I had a fun time trying on all those different outfits.”
Megumi: “Kainamutsuki-san and Yuuki-san also told us that they really liked our idol outfits! Thank you!”
Sachi: “But a year really goes by so fast, doesn’t it?”
From: Nico
It’s been more than one year since release... which means that, recently, I’ve been biding my time, waiting for a Kindred Spirits fandisc to come out. Liar-soft management, please!
Megumi: “Please!”
Sachi: “I’m sure they’ve been hearing everyone’s wishes, so we just need to sit back and trust the process.”
Megumi: “We’ll make sure to make an announcement if anything happens!”
Sachi: “Well then, we’ll now be moving on to answering your questions.”
Megumi: “We’ll keep answering until we run out of space~!”
From: Shiki
One year passes by so fast... When I think about how the third-year girls are going to be graduating, I feel happy for them, but I also can’t help but feel sad that they’ll be gone. On the topic of graduation, does Shirojo have any graduation-related events or traditions?
Matsuri: “Our school’s most distinctive thing would probably be the graduation outfits. The graduating students all wear hakama to the graduation ceremony.”
Miyu: “The sight of Shirojo students in hakama is said to be one of the local features of the season, after all—so much so that the newspapers come over to take pictures. Matsuri, your hakama looked surprisingly good on you.”
Matsuri: “What do you mean, ‘surprisingly’? That’s so mean..”
Miki: “Fufu, I thought it suited you. As for school traditions, they mostly seem to be individual ones held by different clubs or committees.”
Miyu: “Our track team has the sending-off relay.”
Matsuri: “Mhm, the obstacle course that stretches all across the school. The younger students plan the course, and the graduating students compete in it. It gets pretty hardcore!”
Miki: “Things got fired up this year too, didn’t they?”
Miyu: “I would never have expected that they’d stick a three-legged race in the middle of it... How about the committees? Do you girls do anything?”
Miki: “We mostly just go and clean up the committee room for the last time. It seems like the disciplinary committee girls hit shimedaiko drums at the main gate’s watchtower though.”
Matsuri: “Drums, huh? I ended up getting stuck with drum duty once back during my first year.”
Miyu: “Ah, as punishment for being late, right?”
Matsuri: “It was pretty fun.”
From: Tagosaku
To the Kindred Spirits: how many different anniversaries do you have between you two?
Megumi: “We have three big ones, and thirty-six smaller ones~”
Yuna: “That many?”
Megumi: “The three big ones are our confession anniversary, my birthday, and Sachi-san’s birthday.”
Sachi: “There are a lot of different smaller ones. Hmm, for example, there’s blood-writing day.”
Yuna: “Eh?!”
Sachi: “It’s the day that Megumi first used her blood-writing powers. She wrote me such a beautiful message on top of the white snow.”
Megumi: “Isn’t it romantic?”
Yuna: “Y-yeah...”
Megumi: “Other than that, there’s also knocking sound day, the anniversary of our first date, main gate appreciation d—”
Yuna: “H-hold on. We still have more questions, so let’s leave the rest for some other time.”
From: Yuritopian the Third
I can’t stop fantasizing about which girl would be the strongest at the pocky game. Nena-san probably wouldn’t feel a thing while the game’s going on, while Ano-san would get all flustered even before it started, etc... I’d think a couple of the girls would miss the point of the game entirely and go straight for a kiss instead, too.
Umi: “Well then...”
Sasa: “Wait, why’d you suddenly pull out a box of pocky?”
Umi: “We’re the strongest of friends, right? Then, it only makes sense that we’d be the strongest at the pocky game too!”
Sasa: “No, that doesn’t make sense at all...”
Umi: “Plus, Nena’s here, and she’s good at games, right?”
Nena: “Party games aren’t really my...”
Umi: “C’mon, let’s do it together~ Here, Nena, this one’s for you, and Sasa, this one’s yours.”
Sasa: “Hm? Wait, we’re doing this with all three of us?!”
Umi: “Of course we are! Okay, triangle pocky game, start!”
Sasa: “Mmh... (Urgh, her face is so close...)”
Nena: (How are you supposed to win at this, again...?)
Umi: “...Ihm gyunnha dmhoo mhy mmest...”
Sasa: (Umi, I have no idea what you’re saying—and also your face is way too close... I-I can’t move. What should I do... what should I do...?)
From: Hirarin’s Mom
Yuna and Huna, what are your fathers like? I’d like to know what they do for work, or what their personalities are like, especially since they both have hard-working nurse wives and daughters at sensitive ages... Thanks for your response!
Yuna: “My dad works at a medical equipment company. He’s usually busy with business trips, so I don’t see him at home much.”
Ano: “He does stuff like repairs and inspections, right~? He’s quite the technician, isn’t he?”
Yuna: “He certainly likes tinkering with machines.”
Ano: “As for Hina-chan’s dad, isn’t he...”
Hina: “Mm, he works for a highway maintenance company. He’s good at driving.”
Yuna: “Your dad laughs a lot, doesn’t he?”
Hina: “Mm. Wah-ha-ha.”
Yuna: “As for how they act toward us, they’ve been taking some distance from us ever since we got around this age.”
Hina: “They said they didn’t want us to end up hating them. They’re weird.”
Ano: “Oh my, being a dad must be hard work~”
From: K-ko
Aki-san, I know you like ice cream, but what types of ice cream are your favorite? Are you the type to try out gimmicky ice cream flavors? I’d like to know.
Aki: “I usually go with ice cream cups, as they’re easy to eat while you’re thinking about things. As for gimmicky ones, I can approve of miso flavored ice cream, but no more than that.”
Youka: “I’m a fan of ice cream cones.”
Aki: “The triple scoop’s ‘rock’ because of the thrill you get while balancing it, yeah?”
Youka: “Gettin’ to pick out three flavors is fun too. As for weird flavors, that crushed up soy sauce rice cracker one we had before was pretty good.”
Aki: “The rice crackers acted as a good substitute for wafers. It was an interesting experience. We should go there again sometime.”
Youka: “Ah, um, d-does that mean we’re goin’ on a date?”
Aki: “Yeah, it’s a date.”
Youka: “Heck yes!”
From: Mocchi
No way... am I just too slow at peeling potatoes...?
Hina: “Yuna-nee told me that if you take your time and peel them properly, you’ll keep getting better.”
Yuna: “It’s really just a matter of getting used to it.”
Yuna: “Mm, I got faster after I got used to it.”
From: Sana
This question is for the disciplinary committee’s gate guard, Ariu-san. Back during the summer camp, you asked Yuna-san to join the disciplinary committee, but got rejected. Have you given up on her, or are you still trying to get her to join?
Ariu: “Yeah, I gave up on her. Besides, I can still count on her for work even if she’s not a member.”
Kiri: “Does that really count as giving up on her...?”
Tsukuyo: “Now that you mention it, I have been seeing Toomi-san more often during event preparations.”
Kiri: “Oh, I saw her helping out with the pamphlet prep for the graduation ceremony, too.”
Ariu: “During times when the disciplinary committee’s simply too overwhelmed with work, we end up having to rely on her for help.”
Kiri: “She gallantly arrives in times of crisis, resolves the situation, and then takes her leave. I’ve heard that some people have started calling Toomi-chan the disciplinary committee’s temp member, or even the specially assigned member of the committee.”
Tsukuyo: “Whoa, that sounds so cool!”
Kiri: “Tsukuyo-chan, you’re so cute!”
Ariu: “She’s such a capable worker, after all—I’m not surprised that she’d end up earning names like those.”
Kiri: “She’s certainly great at work~”
Ariu: “As she’s said that helping us out is better than doing nothing, we’re expecting to rely on her more in the future.”
Tsukuyo: “If she’s wanting to volunteer, I think it’s a good thing that she’s helping out. After all, it’s Yuna-san we’re talking about. I’m sure she’d just refuse if she wasn’t interested.”
Ariu: “If I’d known about her during my first year, though, I would’ve had her join the committee even if I had to force her to.”
Kiri: (She’s still bitter about it, isn’t she...)
From: Tagosaku
To the Kindred Spirits: if you were to join a club, which club would you want to join?
Sachi: “The broadcasting club, maybe.”
Yuna: “Oh, that’s a bit unexpected.”
Sachi: “I’ve seen their activities through the window every so often, and I’ve always wanted to try using that machine that they have. It seems like it would be fun to use.”
Megumi: “As for me, I want to join a bunch of different clubs and do a lot of different things~!”
Sachi: “That’s a beautiful idea!”
Megumi: “Shooting arrows at the archery club, making sculptures in the art club... I’d switch clubs every day and keep trying new things!”
From: Yurikamome (pseudonym)
I’d like to see how the broadcasting club would react to riding on a roller coaster. I have a general idea in my head about how things might go—but on the contrary, isn’t that situation the perfect opportunity for a gap moe-type reaction instead?! I just can’t stop thinking about it!
Nena: “I-I’m so tired...”
Sasa: “W-well, yeah, we’ve been staring at each other while holding pocky in our mouths for 30 minutes... So what are we talking about now? Roller coasters? Umi’s loud on them, as usual. Also, she grabs onto your arm and doesn’t let go.”
Umi: “They’re called thrill rides for a reason, you know! You’re supposed to be thrilled, so you have to scream! It’s impolite not to! Anyways, when Nena’s on them, it’s not like she falls asleep or anything, but she just acts the same as usual. She just spends the ride looking out into the distance.”
Nena: “Well, you say that, but I’m not all that good with the spinning sensation they give you~ But, well, I do like rides with good views. As for Sasa, she’s weak on the ones with the big drops. She ends up screaming.”
Sasa: “L-like Umi said, it’s rude not to scream on thrill rides, you know! Also, they mess up my hair, and it’s a pain to fix...”
Umi: “Exactly! And through screaming, I train my vocal cords, which then lets me develop into an elite broadcast—hm? Nena, what’s up?”
Nena: “They’re saying it’s time to start wrapping things up~ Here, read off what this says.”
Umi: “Okay! Let me show you what this scream-forged throat can do!”
Nena: “Sasa, this one’s for you.”
Sasa: “Mhm.”
Nena: “Well then... Three, two, one... beeeep.”
Umi: “...Thank you, everyone, for all the messages celebrating Kindred Spirits’ first anniversary. This yuritopia blossoms through everyone’s support, and we’re doing our best work to bring about developments that will let those blossoms bear fruit. We hope for your continued support in the future as well.”
Sasa: “Now, due to the upcoming overhaul of the fanclub newsletter, the next newsletter will mark the final issue of The Shirojo Times. We’re still accepting submissions as usual, so we’ll be waiting for your questions about the characters and setting of Kindred Spirits, illustration requests, etc.!”
Umi: “Well then, we’ll see you next time! ...wait, there are so many things I want to comment on here...!”