(The episode page features Nobue and Chika playing cards under the kotatsu. Nobue seems worried about her hand. There's a bowl of tangerines on the table; apparently, this is a traditional food eaten whilst sitting at/under a kotatsu. Miu and Matsuri are lying down on their bellies underneath. Matsuri seems to actually be asleep, while Miu is in a transitional state, either falling asleep or waking up. She appears to have Matsuri's glasses on her forehead.)
Nobue is writing/reading/both about the American Declaration of Independence (hey, if I'd posted this a week ago, it would've been timely and stuff, huh?), though she doesn't understand what she's reading.
(This was originally posted during the week after July 4th, which is why I said it'd be timely.)
She gets a call from Miu, and wonders why she calls when she could walk ten feet. She answers it, and hears Miu claim that Matsuri is her prisoner. Nobue asks, "Miu, what is this?" and Miu says she's tying Matsuri up with a long rope, so if she doesn't bring 5000 yen to her room, she'll hear Matsuri scream. Miu tells Matsuri scream that it hurts, which she sort of does. Miu tells her to tell Nobue about the pinching, so she does. Nobue tells them she has homework, and doesn't have time for that. (Ahh, but when it's Chika who has homework...) Miu asks if she doesn't care what happens to Matsuri. Miu threatens to take off Matsuri's panties. Nobue says "Gross," and says she's coming over.
As she goes, she complains about them giving her no choice, even when she tells them she doesn't have time for it. She swiftly slides Miu's window open. "Matsuri! My belovéd! Are you alive?"
She finds... Matsuri drinking something at Miu's kotatsu, Chika holding the phone... and Miu tied up. Miu tells Nobue to give her the money. Nobue asks incredulously why she's the one tied up. She comes in, takes Miu's wallet out of her jacket pocket, removes a 5000 yen bill, and leaves, Miu telling her she's not playing right.
extra stuff
The next page is nearly blank, except that it shows Nobue on her back, holding Matsuri up with her feet, as on pg. 55.
The next one is also nearly blank, except that it shows the bottom right panel of pg. 82, the one with Miu sitting, with one of those cute eyes-closed smiles, and with a traditional heart shape floating by her arm.
The next page uses the image from episode 22. It lets on that the next volume involves sleepovers, ninja, and Cinderella.
The first ad is for Someday's Dreamers: Spellbound, sequel to the Someday's Dreamers series. Well, the girl seems cute. I guess she's Nami, a teenage magic-user who wants to help people, except herself. And then there's the new boy. Mysterious past? Check. Jerk with a Heart of Gold? Sounds like it. The text calls them opposites, so is Nami actually a jerk underneath? Probably not what they intended...
Next up is something called Soul Rescue, about a powerful angel who has to save 10,000 souls as punishment for going too far in a battle against demons.
After that, Little Queen, in which we have class rival in contention for the position of Queen of Light, but there's a possibility of jealousy and a cute boy interfering with the Queen's duty to protect the school from the King of Darkness. Apparently the artist is Korean.
The final manga in this volume's ad lineup is for Nosatsu Junkie, which it says is "America's Next Top Model — manga style!" Given that I've never been interested in ANTM, this does not recommend itself to me. I suppose ANTM doesn't have the twist that one of their models has a face that becomes "a terrifying spectacle" when she becomes nervous, but that's even less of a draw for me.
The next one is not for manga, but for The Right Stuf International, Inc., an online anime superstore. And it throws in an ad for the anime Ninja Nonsense, which became available on DVD back in '06.
There's also an announcement for the launch of Tokyopop Music. Wait, manga has soundtracks? Are you... supposed to listen to them as you read?
Next to last is Tokyopop.com.
And finally, the instructions for reading manga. Okay, from now on, you can just assume that it's there, right?
Next time: Volume 3's preliminaries!
