Grand Comic Reading Project #12: Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms

[feihong]

Welcome to yet another Grand Comic Reading Project! Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms (风逝的城市-樱花的国度) is a touching family drama set against the backdrop of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. Each of the three chapters focuses on a different generation of a single family, tracing the effects of Hiroshima from the immediate aftermath to the present day. This particular version is a fan translation of the original Japanese comic, and therefore has a few rough edges. However, other than a few questionable character choices, it is largely understandable.

As for difficulty, I think it's somewhere in the middle of the comics we've already read. Harder than Ranma but easier than Ravages of Time.

You can also access an official translation here. Note that the official translation is in traditional characters, and the characters in the scans are rather small.

Read online: http://iibq.com/comicinfo/9039.html

Jump to first page: http://iibq.com/comic/8201219039/viewcomic110473/

Read offline (CBZ file): http://www.divshare.com/download/14993224-bf3

Profile: http://grandcomic.wikia.com/wiki/Town_of_Evening_Calm

Word list: http://grandcomic.wikia.com/wiki/Town_of_Evening_Calm_Word_List

[skylee]

风逝的地市

It is 城市, not 地市.

I visited Hiroshima a few years ago, and it was a likeable place.

[skylee]

That is a good story. I enjoyed reading it. Thanks for posting it.

But there are plenty typos and learners might find part of it hard to understand. Don't miss the explanations and epilogue at the end. I like the verticle printing too.

[jbradfor]

But there are plenty typos and learners might find part of it hard to understand

In the fan-translated simplified version or the official traditional version? I would assume you read the traditional version, but I'd be surprised to see many typos in that.

[skylee]

Oh I just read the simplified version at the first link (I was not sober enough to realise that there were other links, haha). The official version does not have the last bit.

[jbradfor]

Could someone kindly explain something to me from page 13?

She says "閃閃發亮" -- I assume referring to the rain drops falling on (in?) her house. Then to clarify she says "都是鼻涕虫的足跡" -- "they are all the the footprints of slugs?" huh?

[skylee]

if you read the simplified version, it says 蝸牛 snail.

[feihong]

I actually think the fan translation is a little clearer on this particular exchange:

http://iibq.com/comic/8201219039/viewcomic110473/?p=15&s=1

[jbradfor]

I still don't get it :blink:

[feihong]

It was raining the previous night, which caused the snails to come out, leaving gleaming slime trails everywhere.

[jbradfor]

Sigh. It's the end of the month (well, a bit past...), and I haven't finished this yet. Actually, that's not quite true. I'm mostly done with my second reading, and plan to give it a third.. For me, this is the hardest one yet. [i haven't read [i]Ravishes of Time[/i], though.] The language is not really that hard, but, unlike most others, you really have to follow every part of the story, and get most of the nuances, to understand what is really going on. I read the wikipedia summary after each reading, which really helps.

[feihong]

You're reading the traditional version, yes? Come to think of it, there were a few things I didn't quite understand in the simplified version, but I just ignored them and moved on. It's too sad a story to read multiple times in a row.

[jbradfor]

Funny you should ask. I started reading the traditional, but then something went weird with the site and I switched to simplified about half way in. The second time is all traditional. The third time will be all simplified.

It's too sad a story to read multiple times in a row.

Only if you understand it the first two times....