center>
Volume 1 Chapter 1
** means there is a note on this at the end,
please read.
Page 1:
The Italian manga opens with a pretty full
length picture of Nanako holding flowers and wearing a very long frilly dress,
with profile pictures of Kaoru and Henmi in the background.
Page
2:
In truth, it was not love at the time! I was absolutely not in love at
the time. My heart was full and I was indifferent to love. It was at this time I
saw him. He seemed to have a polished sparkle to him, as if from a magical
light. I wish I could go back to that time.
Page 3:
Back to
that time when we students were preparing to disembark from our Jr High years
and move on to High School.
He is the student of sociology, his name is
Takehiko Henmi. Though he was in the position of our teacher, he would still
stumble every time he got up to the blackboard.
BONK Bang!Ahh! Henmi
trips and falls.
Clapping her hands together and laughing Nanako says,
"Congratualtions! Seeing as how it is your last day, that makes 83 falls besides
the one at the begining of class." Henmi responds "Dirty cow! Uh...it hurts!
Ouch! Have any of you others anything to add? I give up! I didn't try to fail in
this way, I still have my chance with sociology!"
Page 4:
The
class is all in an uproar now, Henmi goes up to a boy and bonks him on the head.
"Ok, and now lets continue! Lets continue the discussion! Girls and boys please
put everything aside.
Nanako suddenly gets a dreamy look on her face and then
her eyes start to water and she looks paniced. She looks hopefully up to Henmi
and thinks- A...Attachted...to him...now. attachted to him
now..."
Page 5:
Henmi's blond haired friend walks in(I'll refer
to him as Henmi's Friend of HF for short until I come to a part where we learn
his name) "Hello Henmi! Are you going? Are you finished?" Henmi looks up,
"Already, it's time now!" He thumps his head onto his friends shoulder as though
he were crying, "The girls and boys are terrible this time of year! But I'm all
free now and there will be no exceptions!"**
Nanako come up to Henmi with her
eyes lowered and looking very shy and cute.
"Huh?!" Henmi says. "Do you want
to appologize for before? Today is my last day. Ask any questions you want to
know now so you have no regrets later."
Nanako looks surprised, her eyes
begining to water, "Pl...Pl..p...ppp..." she stutters.
HF with a sly look
says "You wretch! You made this poor defenceless child cry!" Henmi nervously
responds "St..stop joking..."
Page 6
We see Nanako with her
eyes closed looking very calm nad sweet and surround by pretty flowers. "Please,
will you become my brother?
Henmi is absolutely shocked, we see him sort of
fainting to the floor and grabbing onto the desk. "B...Be...become your
brother?! Ah! Ahh!! AHH!"
An absolutely cute picture of Nanakao with her eyes
as stars holding a cross up to her lips as if she were praying for him to say
yes. "Be my brother, be my brother! The situation is terrible!"
Page
7
Taking a handkerchief and whiping his forhead Henmi says, "Very well
then, ahem...what is your name?"
"N...Nanako Misonoo" she says looking very
embarrassed.
Henmi is in total shock he thinks "MISONOO??!!" He says to
Nanako "Misonoo...are you the daughter of Professor Misonoo at the
University?!"
"You know my father?"
"Yes...I've read some of the books he
has written!
Page 8
"This is my address. I'll probably hear
from you in April when you're back at school."
"Then I can really write to
you?"
"You aren't having troubles at home, are you?"
"Certainly
not!"
"Good!" he says handing her the paper with his address. "Then the first
letter will tell me how wonderfully you did on your enterence
exams."
Page 9
"Y...Yes!" Nanako says with happy tears in her
eyes.
We see Nanako in a beautiful dress running happily through a forest.
She's daydreaming and she's thinking, "Brother, my brother! Finally, I too will
be able to say the word! I've always dreamed of having a brother! Ahh, my
brother! There is not another word in this world that sounds as
sweet!!
Page 10
HF come up behind and says,
"Henmi."
"Hmm...?" Henmi is off in his own little world remembering the past.
"She must be the daughter of the woman who my father married after he divorced
my mother. Even if there isn't a blood connection, I'm glad she is my sister."
We see a little Nanako playing in her yard and a young Henmi watching her.
"By this time you must have no memory of the day. I was behind the hedge near
the gate and you held a dirty red shovel in your little hand." Little Nanako
looks up and sees him "Who are you? Who are you?"
"Who are you?" Henmi's says
to himself as if he is trying to think of exactly who he really
is.
Page 11
Nanako stands in her room wearing a slip and
holding her new school handbook.
"But why Mamma?! It's not wrong! You should
have said something yesterday evening before I went to all the trouble of
picking out an outfit. The uniform is not required! I read it here in the
information book written for students. They won't repremand me for wearing my
own clothes! It was one of the reasons I choose Seiran High School!"
Mamma
comes up and snatches Nanako's dress from her. "Ahh!" Nanako cries.
"It's
formality to wear the uniform on the first day. If you don't understand this
common sense, then go ask your father!" her mamma says.
Page
12
"Put the handkerchief here, and put on this pair of shoes" Mamma says
as Nanako nervously dresses. "Yes! Yes!" she yells at her mother.
"I'm going
to stay and talk to Tomoko and ask her to come home with me after school.
"Do
you know when the bus is leaving? Go say goodbye to your father"
Nanako's
father is sitting reading the paper and smoking a pipe. He looks up and sees
Nanako. "Dad, I'm leaving now."
Hello! Hello Nanako! Very pretty! Don't
change a thing! Very sensible and pretty!"
Page 13
"Good job
Nanako, very proper!" Nanako's father says.
"In that case, I'm leaving!"
Nanako says as she runs out of the house.
My dear brother...My father's words
made me feel wonderful! I was surprised that in my uniform I didn't look so much
like a little girl. Today the birds are singing and I want to grasp and breath
in the fresh beautiful world!
Page 14
My father is not my real
father. My mother remarried when I was 5. My mother respected dad for the work
he had established teaching at the university, I also respect him.
Nanako
runs to catch the bus. "Oh wait! That's my bus!"
She makes it onto a very
crowded bus and is shoved to the back. "Excuse me I need to get off soon!" she
yells at the people around her.
She looks very sad, people are pushing her.
The bus stops suddenly and she is sent flying into someone.
Page
15
It's a very tall woman with blond hair who is reading a book. She
doesn't even notice Nanako bumped into her.
"Oh excuse me..." Nanako
says.
"Hmmm..." the woman says not paying attention.
The woman is wearing
a beautiful bracelet. "What a beautiful bracelet..." she thinks.
Page
16
"Seiran School east enterance. Seiran School east enterance.
Passengers getting off here may now exit."
"Ahh!" Nanako cries in panic.
"Please let me through! Please let me through! Please I need to get off!
Please!"
Suddenly a hand reaches out and grabs her arm. Nanako screams and
she is pulled off the bus by the beautiful tall woman.
Page
17
The woman lets her down safely on the ground as the bus zooms
off.
"I'm very sorry. Excuse me for holding on so tight, um...um...I'm not
use to taking the bus yet."
"You droped this when you fell." the woman says
handing Nanako a book. Nanako just looks at her very nervously.
Page
18
Nanako is daydreaming about the woman. "Her voice was warm! Mmm! I can
still hear the sound of it in my mind! So elegant and deeply solemn. Amazing! It
penetrates my mind still!"
Page 19
We see Seiran school and the
students crowding into the hallways. Nanako is all alone and looking sad.
"Tomoko and I were not placed in the same class."
In the background she hears
the other students talking- "Hello! Have you seen the carnival of Takarazuka?"
"Rika and I had a wonderful time!" "When is the next concert in Tokyo?" "Hello!
Want to see my picture of Tsukiko Sotoori?"
Nanako looks around at all the
other girls. "Look here, it's all your fault Mamma! No one is in a
uniform!"
Page 20
A beautiful girl with long black hair and
very red lips comes up to Nanako. "You haven't attended this school before,
right?"
"Huh?" Nanako says surprised.
"Ah...well, it's unusual for
students that go here to wear the uniform. Students here never wear those
clothes. I saw you and thinking you were new, I thought I'd give you my friendly
wishes and welcome you. Look here! I'll show you one of my secrets. On this hand
I only put polish on my thumb. Look at the brilliant red! Beautiful, huh?" She
grabs Nanako's arm and pulls her close. "My darling, I think you're very
charming! Let's become friends, ok? My name is Mariko Shinobu, what's
yours?"
Page 21
"Nanako Misonoo."
"What an unusual surname!"
Mariko says.
All of a sudden the other girls in the class start yelling.
"Look! Look! Prince Kaoru! Ahh! Look! Look there! Prince Kaoru! How graceful!
Ahh!" The girls in the class crowd around a tall girl with dark hair.
"She is
in our class this year! It's true! Look Prince Kaoru! Wow! Than she's not
leaving our school after all! How beautiful!"
"Tsk, how impertinent..."
Mariko says snobishly.
Page 22
"Kaoru!?" Nanako thinks and we
see that same pic you see in the anime that is from the Tale of the
Genji.
Page 23
The students are grabing onto Kaoru's arms and
asking her tons of questions. "She's like a jewel, Prince Kaoru! You're
completely recovered then? We were so worried for you, we were scared you'd
leave Seiran for good. Oh Prince Kaoru..."
"Yes, from today on we are going
to be in the same class, section B."
"There she is! There she is! Prince
Kaoru! Kaoru, are you going to be able to participate in the activities of the
club?"
"Naturally!"
"AHH!!!!" the students yell out happily.
Mariko
says to Nanako, "That's Kaoru Orihara. Her education was interupted by illness
last year and she had to stay at home. She hopes to continue now in our
calss!"
The students are stilling all clinging to Kaoru. "How awful you were
sick, are you physically healthy and strong now?"
Nanako thinks to herself,
"A year of illness then..."
Page 24
Someone calls out, "Come
along to the welcome ceremony!" The girls all go into the auditorium. "The
president of the student council, is to give her greeting to the new students."
The is a lot of noise and comotion going on in the auditorium, someone is
calling out "SILENCE! SILENCE!"
"Look!" Mariko says excitedly to
Nanako.
Nanako sees a beautiful girl with long blond curly hair and very full
lips. she thinks to herself, "WOW!"
Page 25
My brother...would
you believe me?! She is one of the most beautiful girls I have ever seen! Her
lips were glistening like early morning dew! I must admit she is
beautiful!"
Nanako has stars in her eyes and she puts her hand up to cover
them. She looks very scared or nervous. She says, "C...Calm...I'm calm. I feel
so inferior in a school with such high standards of feminine beauty!"
All
the students are very excited to see the beautiful girl. "LOOK!" Mariko is very
excited. She says to Nanako "Oh, Look! She is Fukiko Ichinomiya, our Lady Miya!
She is a member of the Sorority. It is my greatest desire to be admitted into
that society...by whatever price! This year I think I have a good chance to be
among the candidates! All girls in this school are delirious to get a place in
the Sorority. Have you thought of it?"
Nanako looks sort of confuse and
timid, she asks, "The Sorority?!"
Page 26
Mariko explains to
Nanako "Well, the best way to explain it to you is that the Sorority is an
association of female students, that began at universities in the United States.
Only the most elegant students are selected to join. Selection is based on
propriety, social postion, family social standing, good breeding, beauty,
personality, health, and physical excellence! Also much more formality; to be
selected you must participate at the sorority party and meeting. Those who enter
the sorority here on campus have the oportunity to obtain advise on how to
become more refined and to be presented to the most wonderful people."
Miya
who is speaking to the girls while Mariko was telling Nanako all this is saying
"There are traditions started by the earlier students of our school many years
ago...For that reason we have permisson to either wear the uniform or regular
clothes! In our school you can pass from the average to the superior, you all
have the chance to be selected as a candidate and then admitted to the
sorority!"
Page 27
Mariko says to Nanako, "Ahh!! It practically
means you'll be living the best life you can at this school. For that reason all
the girls who only have a little confidence in their looks and personality rely
upon the sorority to elevate their social position, there is quite an uproar
here to become a candidate and be among the most elegant students."
"N..Not
all those things...!" Nanako says with stars in her eyes.
Miya is still
talking to the girls, "This year the senior members have numerous new students
to choose from. The most qualified candidates for Seiran Sorority will attend a
party to determine the final selection! This year the number of new members will
be limited to 10!"
The girls in the auditorium are all shocked by this and
there is a lot of noise.
Page 28
Tomoko and Nanako are walking
home from school together. Tomoko says, "Only 10! And this year there is well
over 150 new students! And then only 15 get to go to the party! And listen to
this Nanako, in my class there are so many daughters of important fathers: the
daughter of a president of industry, the daughter of a member of the counsel,
the daughter of an ambasator, the daughter of the owner of the country club, the
daughter of a famous university professor...and even you are the daughter of a
university professor!
Nanako starts laughing, "My father, don't make me
laugh! And I don't have the important background or any other apparent
qualities, do I? Anyway I'm too preoccupied about coming back tomorrow! Ah! And
I have such a craving to make a cake, how about the end of next week?"
Tomoko
grabs ahold of Nanako's arm and says "Yes, but this time we'll only use a little
angelica, eh?
"Ok, then I'll ask Mamma to prepare the good darjeeling
tea!"
"WOW! Super!" Tomoko says happily.
Page 29
Nanako is
at home writing to her brother.
My dear brother...for girls that want to
enter the sorority, why do they all openly sound so nervous? They all seem so
beautiful and enchanting... But I know they don't have as much regard for me, my
apperance is nothing to brag about, nor my social position, or family herediage,
and my education has never been particularly diligent. But I am not on bad terms
with anyone and I live a very tranquil life... Ah yes, the president of our
class counsel here is Kaoru, who was forced away from school last year due to
health problems. And imagine she is also the capatain of the basketball club!
Then...
end of part 1
**Henmi says something here about being
22 I think, I left this out because I couldn't get it to translated quite right.
It was only one sentence and I don't think it was anything super important. 22
would be just about the right age for him, considering Nanako was 5 in the flash
back and he looked to be about 11 or 12.
**Instead of Kaoru no Kimi like
in the anime the girls at the school seem to call her Prince Kaoru, I don't know
if this is just a thing in the Italian manga or if she was also called this in
the original Japanese manga. There is a note on this in the Italian comic (I'll
be traslating these later) that basically says she is called Prince even though
she is a girl to give her a ambiguous persona of neither male or female.