Short chapter of Himawari-san doing things and Matsuri-chan being Matsuri-chan.
Miss Sunflower Chapter 31 [Kawaii-Scans]
Some TL notes after the break.
I find myself feeling an urge to try pinching it with a ticket punch.
This is a quote of Motojirou Kajii, a poet from the early 1900’s which gives an insight to what she’s thinking and shows her knowledge of classical literature.
Those ticket punchers don’t make a hole, but clip a small, unique shape off the edge of a ticket that identifies the station it was used at. So maybe not a brutish as it sounds, but all the same probably not PETA approved.
I think it describes the feeling of instinctively wanting to mess around with things that are fascinating for their own satisfaction and amusement and how this conflicts with the guilt of disturbing them.
Kawaii Scans 
Any chance of releasing two versions for each chapter? One with Himawari and one as Miss Sunflower? The new name makes for a very unpleasant reading experience. Immersion is lost now, which is sad for such a charming slice of life.
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Many thanks for all your work on this great manga – I loved this chapter 🙂
I have to say though I don’t agree with changing to Himawari-san – though I understand the reason to do so – After all, you don’t translate character names into English – I do agree Himawari-san is more accurate – but I feel ‘Miss sunflower’ is more of a title for the owner of the sunflower bookery.
Matsuri I well aware Himawari isn’t her real name – and if you use just Himawari-san it sounds strange to use a persons name for her that isn’t hers. I knew all along that was what she was doing (in Japanese) but for some reason, like I said, Miss sunflower sounds better as a ‘title’ rather than a name.
Are you going to start calling the shop Himawari bookstore too? I noticed on page p92 – a ‘plum bookstore’ – so It seems you will call it sunflower bookstore? But in that case it will be a bit odd to call the bookstore ‘sunflower’ but the woman given it’s name ‘Himawari’.
But I feel the biggest issue with altering the name is simply there are 30 chapter before it of ‘Miss sunflower’ – it seems really odd for the name to change that for in. I have been calling her miss sunflower for 7 years or whatever it is – that is who she is. Not sure how long this manga will run, but even if it lasts another 30 chapters – I don’t think Himawari can supplant Miss sunflower in my brain – it is too ingrained – and every time I see it, it will trip me up and pull me out of the story a bit.
Anyways, that’s my reasoning for why I wouldn’t have changed it – but either way I love the story so thanks a ton for all the work on it!
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Hi,
The main reason for the switch was not over-Anglicising the text. From my perspective, it wasn’t at all about the Himawari/Sunflower,although ‘Himawari’ is an actual Japanese name, and Sunflower’ isn’t an actual English name (unless you are a Hollywood celebrity’s child), it’s about the Miss/-san. (For that reason I don’t think the name of the store is as important.)
Because the use of titles is so much more prevalent in Japanese than English, it seemed overly formal in the English translation for characters like Matsuri and Ayame to be calling her ‘Miss’ all of the time. Himawari-san’s name becomes more of a prevalent plot point in volume 5, particularly at the end.
I agree that it’s not good to change translations, but since we re-started after a long break it was as good an opportunity as we are going to get to make any big shifts. In a few other series (particularly in Rui Rui), the names of some things kept changing back and forth in the translations, which we were a bit slack on, so this time we’re trying to do one big change and stick to it.
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Thanks for explaining your reasons. TBH Miss sunflower doesn’t sound formal at all to me – in fact I’d say it seems less formal than Himawari san – even if it’s not, simply because I am less used to ‘san’ and the san isn’t used if you are really close to someone so It kinda don’t feel as right with Matsuri even though that IS what she calls her. Just ‘Miss’ would seem more formal, but miss Sunflower doesn’t for whatever reason – maybe because sunflower isn’t a name really?
But also if her name is going to be a bigger plot point in the next volume I can also see why you’d want to switch.
p.s did you catch the other cat literary reference on the same page?
I thought you might of mentioned it in the TL notes but you didn’t.
If you didn’t, The bookstore owners cat – when asked it’s name she says it doesn’t have a name yet –
not sure if she was serious or just joking with Miss sunflower because she’d get the reference – the famous book I am a cat’s opening sentence is ‘I am a cat, and as yet, I have no name.
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That’s the issue! “Miss Sunflower” is clearly a nickname taken on by the character and an English speaking audience can see that but Himawari doesn’t feel like a nickname at all. That’s why it feels so jarring.
And I have to agree here with Ele that “Miss” is not a title in this usage. That’s why it’s spelled out. “Ms.” is a title, but “Miss” is used as a name.
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The cat reference went totally over my head! I feel like there are probably a few literature references in the series I’m not picking up on, but it’ll have to do with just noting the overt ones.
I agree the English translated name has a different feel to the Japanese name, that’s why we changed. In everything we do, from phrasing dialogue to choosing fonts, the primary goal of the Anglicised translation is to preserve the tone, style and meaning as close to the Japanese one as possible. That’s way even if the change seems jarring, if it’s a change towards having the same tone as the artist’s original intention, it’s a change for the better.
The difference between Ms, Mrs and Miss is do with Marital status.
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Thank you very much for this chapter. It made my day. : )
I wish you the best, and more of miss Sunflower for years to come. : )
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Eeee! Most adorable Himawari-san (character) ever! Thanks!
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