перевод. 'koushaku reijou no tashinami' / '公爵令嬢の嗜み' / "Начинания юной дочери герцога"

Внезапно захотелось вместо того, чтобы учить японский, как все нормальные люди, переводить вот это. Перевод текстовый и в скан вставляться не будет.

Что за манга вообще?

Интересный подход к «попаданству»: тут не просто героиня из нашего мира попадает в другой и вынуждена к нему срочно адаптироваться, а героиня из другого мира обретает память о своей прошлой жизни в нашем. Причем в новом мире она становится правителем региона, а в прежнем очень удачненько работала в налоговой. Сюжет состоит в основном из того, как главная героиня самоотверженно работает на благо обществу и у нее, конечно же, все получается, несмотря на препятствия со стороны коварных врагов. Но я вот за нее очень рада и хочу поделиться этой радостью.

А чего не новеллы?

По всей видимости, мангака добавила некоторые сцены и детали, которых не было в новеллах, и как по мне – манга от них только выиграла.

Почему мой перевод?

Потому что я самая умная очень стараюсь. По крайней мере не допускать откровенных ляпов. В конце концов, что за «благоустройство дочери»? «Кто девушку обедает, тот ее и танцует»?

Изменит ли это что-то принципиально?

Нет. Человеческий мозг, слава богу, воспринимает слова не буквально и умеет пользоваться контекстом, так что даже при неточном переводе сможет уловить общий смысл.

И что, прям идеально будет?

Нет. В этой манге есть свои сложности. Более того, не существует единственно «правильного» перевода, и мой – это всего лишь один из возможных. Примечания к переводу см. далее.

И что тогда лучше читать?

Изучающим японский отчаянно советую читать оригинал. Наличие красивых картинок сгладит ужас от большого количества сложных выражений. Манга содержит множество полезных слов в самых разных сферах – экономика, политика и управление, история, есть большой пласт вежливой лексики и грамматики. Интересно, что многие слова, которые в современных текстах зачастую пишутся каной, в этой манге даны иероглифами, но текст сопровождается фуриганой, что облегчает поиск их значения. Из переводов – читайте то, что вам больше по душе.

Что еще из моих переводов можно почитать?

Все по тегу translation.

Что можно делать с этим переводом?

Все, что вам позволяет ваша совесть. Просто имейте в виду, что для коммерческой публикации он не предназначен.

О переводе.

Перевод делается по тексту манги, не новелл. Прямая речь передается обычным текстом, звуковые эффекты, размышления и пояснения выделяются звездочкой (*) с двух сторон, при этом, если этот кусок текста большой и требует нескольких абзацев, вторая звездочка будет только в самом конце. В тексте встречаются места, где подряд идут то мысли героини, то «закадровый текст», все это выделяется звездочками одинаково. Разбираться, где что, предлагаю по контексту. Текст из одного текстового облачка в основном оформляется одним предложением, но при необходимости разделяется. Текст из одного кадра пишется в одну строку, из разных – на разных, кроме случаев, когда текстовое облако заходит на несколько кадров. Перевод делался как самостоятельный текст с упором на гладкость и не адаптирован для вставки в мангу, в частности, не подгонялся по размеру к размерам текстовых облачков и может иногда разбиваться на части не в тех же местах, что оригинальный текст.

Пара слов об именах собственных.

Коллекция персонажей и территорий в манге представляет собой типичную для японских авторов сборную солянку по мотивам Европы. Дойдя до середины манги, я убедилась, что большинство имен и названий – это настоящие европейские имена собственные, заметны следы английского, французского, итальянского, немецкого, испанского языков. Исключением является имя главной героини игры Юри, которую автор назвала японским именем, как это принято в играх для девушек, чтобы покупательницам игры было легче отождествлять себя с героиней (а именно в этом заключается прелесть жанра). При выборе транскрипции я лично отталкивалась от следующих позиций:

·                    при наличии реально существующих эквивалентов я использовала именно их (например, Айрис, Эдвард)

·                    при передаче вероятно вымышленных имен, которые я так и не смогла нагуглить, выбирался просто благозвучный вариант (например, Драмбард – по аналогии с Ломбардией…)

·                    имена, написание которых точно известно (например, Армерия – это было написано в главе 6 на карте латиницей через r, хотя я подозреваю, что это может быть engrish и имелась в виду Альмерия) или понятно из контекста, передавались по стандартным правилам

·                    двойная «л» при транскрипции на японский передается только одним слогом (Веллингтон – ウェリントン, Стелла – ステラ), поэтому при обратной транскрипции два японских слога на «р» подряд обозначают именно два слога, а не удвоение (отсюда エルリア – Элурия, а не Эллия, к тому же, есть такое слово в повести Кинга)

·                    удлинение гласной в японском является обозначением либо долготы, либо ударного слога, поэтому такую гласную ни в коем случае нельзя выбрасывать при транскрипции (например,アイーリャ – Аилья, а не Арья, не говоря уже о том, что буквы «Аи» из ее имени были заимствованы в другом имени; エドワード・トーン・タスメリア – Эдвард Тоун Тасмерия, возможно – Тон, но не Том)

·                    имена, имеющие в японской записи на конце слог на «и» + слог «а» переводятся при помощи окончания «-ия» (по аналогии с такими словами как Индонезия – インドネシア, Валенсия – バレンシア, отсюда Армерия и Тасмерия), а имена на маленькую «я» – при помощи «-ья»: (アイーリャ – Аилья; ルターシャ – Лутасья); эти имена на самом деле можно было бы тоже закончить на «ия» по аналогии с такими европейскими названиями как Каталония – カタルーニャ, Кастилия – カスティーリャ, Греция – ギリシャ (в японском они пишутся с маленькой «я»), но дабы передать всю прелесть звучания этих слов, я остановилась на мягком знаке

Смыслу имен много внимания я не уделяла. Некоторые имена, возможно, и имеют особое значение, скажем, «монеда» с испанского «монета» или «валюта», а «айрис» – это отсылка то ли к цветку ирису, то ли, может быть, к кварцу-ирису… Но про остальных ничего особенного не найдешь. Если имена принцев в японской манге еще более-менее разнообразны, то среди горничных вполне может найтись Таня, а дворецкий ну просто обязан быть Себастьяном – я не знаю, у них там методичка что ли на этот случай…

При переводе титулов и обращений я ориентировалась в большей степени на английскую систему, так как про нее довольно много информации в интернете и она мне лучше известна.

Однако перевод все еще в процессе и подлежит пересмотру.

Манга в оригинале

Перевод

 

IMHO. Wataru Hibiki ~ how each next work gets worse and worse

It's just probably better to describe my impressions of all works together than one by one, as I usually do, since this is not a case of a single work I like or dislike, but a process of my disillusionment.

'Hanatsuki hime'
The first work by Hibiki I have read and the one that made me think Hibiki might become one of my favourite authors of all times. Hibiki uses her favourite fanasy-middle-East setting with fancy costumes with a lot of necklaces and hair decorations, turbans and veils covering the lower half of the girls' faces, curved sables and flowing fabrics, dancing, jinn and flowers in the desert. It seems Hibiki is very fond of such designs since she ruthlessly exploited the same in her other one-shot stories, haha.
The storyline is smooth, the characters are given enough depth and there are several really impressive heart-rending scenes that convey the characters' feelings straight from the screen of my computer (since I'm reading only digital manga) to my heart. The female lead is your typical overly-positive-and-never-giving-up kind of girl you will find in most shoujo manga. Now, I've met some likeable overly-positive-and-never-giving-up girls in manga and anime and it has been proved in practice that such girls can sometimes even become my favorites. Lys is one of the likeable ones, even though she doesn't really change much throughout the story. As for the male lead, he is calm and composed, usually gloomy, but his caring, tender side does not contrast with his usual composure to the extent that would make the reader feel cheated. His outbursts of anger look natural, too. The side characters are also credible, full of life and blend seamlessly into the story. While the plot is very simple and the big scary problem in the end is solved in a snap of a finger by introducing an absolutely author-led contrivance, I didn't mind, because the mangaka managed to make me sympathise with the characters.

'Shounen dolls'
The second longer work of Hibiki I partially enjoyed. Sometimes side panels in manga with the author's comments can be very, very informative. Hibiki admits herself that she had plans to expand the story and she wasn't sure what to do with 'Shounen dolls' next. As a result - the pace is jumping from slower to faster, the story flow feels disrupted, and even though every story requires several everyday episodes as well as building menace that will strike in the end, 'Shounen dolls' was hardly an example of how these two factors should be intertwined. Hibiki also shared that out of all the male characters, Yuki, the composed and tender guy, was the most popular. It's no wonder since Leo, the male lead, was a perfect tsundere, and even though you possibly won't take him as a textbook example of a tsundere, he is certainly a graphic example of such, and the problem is - there was hardly anything else in him except for being tsundere. Compared to him, Yuki was a character who could be more widely accepted, and he was given more detail, at least some 'tragic past' one had to consider. Since Ageha is nothing more than a generic shoujo heroine, there is nothing special to say about her.

Most of the problems were solved with a wave of a magic wand, and that was surprising - Ageha was shown to work harder backstage that she did in times of trouble when the manga closed-up on her. Her reaction to the imminent threat to her beloved was supposed to feel fresh, if only it were my first shoujo manga ever. The female lead saying something down-to-earth to the mighty enemy instead of trembling with fear or bursting into tears, is no longer original or impressive.

The last 'big scary problem' was again solved with a simple change of mind of a side character who, after threatening the good guys team, suddenly decided not only to spare them but even to help them live happily ever after. In fact, I might have enjoyed the 'slice-of-life' segment of this work more than I enjoyed the general storyline.

'Oiran girl'
The last of the three long works by Hibiki and the one that made me understand how vain my expectations were. It seems Hibiki prefers that the mystery encompassing the first chapter stays in the first chapter, and this is hardly a spoiler. Just like in 'Shounen dolls', where the missing character Yuki was found quickly, thus making the story so-not-about-searching-for-him, in 'Oiran girl' one has to be very dumb or very poorly acquainted with Japanese manga to fail to understand that the celebrity courtesan Takao is no other than the male lead. Now this attempt by Hibiki to make her characters original failed in an even more epic way than in 'Shounen dolls', to my taste. So, in the very first chapter the female lead learns that: 1) the guy she likes spent 8 years trying to avenge her family; 2) the guy she likes had not only to cross-dress but even to become a top courtesan; 3) the guy she likes does not hate her, but cares about her deeply and protects her constantly; 4) the guy she likes gathered money to buy her freedom. And what does she have to say about all that? 'I haven't beaten you as a top courtesan yet'. The most important thing to say at such a moment. But despair not, she and the male lead are two peas in a pod, and he has something to say: 'Go on and beat me, if you can'. You know. A girl he likes. Staying in a brothel.
Well, Tsubaki is just another 'strong-willed' girl who 'hates to lose'.

It's actually a type I like and respect. It's usually very funny when such girls take on a silly bet or take part in a silly game simply because they hate to lose. However, it's only nice when this bet or game is dictated by certain circumstances and leads to a favourable result. It's also very, very touching when a strong-willed heroine discovers something she can't cope with alone and changes from a strong confident woman to a fragile girl who needs help. It's just that it's not cool when this change is not written out properly, leaving a taste of artificiality.
Just a month or two ago I discovered a hot discussion of a certain Japanese TV drama. Poor viewers from developed western countries, they mistook it for a serious artwork and were expecting credibility and realism from it. They were complaining that the main characters were solving their psychological problems by the expense of each other rather than applying for qualified help of a medical specialist. I wanted to burst into the discussion and tell those people they probably don't know about the Japanese pleasure-oriented entertainment industry. You don't go to a maid café to eat something especially delicious. You don't compare eroge to classic literature. From shoujo to smut and to teens love, manga encompasses all genres of female-oriented fanservice. There's no escaping it. The trick is how to use that fanservice. If fanservice is sugar, it's good to use some flour and eggs as well, when you're baking a cake.
The first volumes show more or less absurd developments, while the characters behave as if it's OK. The heroine thinks her beloved is homo, and her beloved denies nothing 'cause he doth-not-dare. That does not, however, mean there are no doki-doki moments. My heart was supposed to flutter upon seeing the male lead hugging, carrying the girl (that's still okay), sleeping in one futon (that's still okay too), and then some really-really unnecessary licking. And an awkward yuka-don (floor), instead of a kabe-don (wall). 'cause he doth not dare anything else, you remember. By the way mangaka teaches the readers some basics of the Japanese superb service industry - treating all customers equally, serving them with sincerity and striving for excellence.

Somewhere around volume 2 or 3 I realised 'Oiran girl' made me one of those angry commenters. I could say the same thing to myself - why be so mad with these characters if they simply follow the necessary tropes? But that would mean I admit that this manga is fanservice only, that I allocate it to the section of 'loveburgers' you don't take seriously.
It's been a while since a shoujo manga made me feel nauseous like this. It's not a bad work I can read and dismiss, it's nauseous because it had potential and didn't live up to it. Again, most problems in 'Oiran girl' are solved with a single kick of a 15-year girl wearing a kimono. Those that are not, because the bad guy is too strong physically, are solved with a single word from the same girl. The enemies mostly freeze and let her pass because she said something unexpected. Troubles are far-fetched and fall apart if you simply start thinking. It looked as if mangaka herself was forgetting what she had been writing previously.

Just to remind you that Shin actually was able to buy Tsubaki's freedom in the first chapter.

Just to remind you that they could have plenty of opportunities to leave before Tsubaki offers her body to someone. Just to remind you that Tsubaki was the one who decided to stay in the brothel. AND to remind you that Shin was the one who let her stay there.

In volume 4 mangaka starts to shove in every story twist possible, as if it could make the manga more credible. Instead, this made it a soap opera on paper, with all those secret police, forbidden love, hidden past, betrayal by best friends which is so completely ill-disguised... and all of these twirling within the boundaries of 10 chapters or so. The characters go on making decisions that can only be explained by the will of the author to create moar drama and tradjedie. Again, those developments devaluated absolutely what has been built in the previous chapters but no one seems to care.
By the end of the manga I didn't give a damn about what happens to any of the characters. When the main characters finally kissed not a single heart-string of mine was touched. The rest of the events were like blank pages, not sweet, not bitter-sweet, not intoxicating. And I was not happy, not delighted, not relieved.
If I paid money for this manga I would probably demand it back, and I'm not sure if I wouldn't ask for a compensation for my non-pecuniary damage.

IMHO. 'Kyou no Kira-kun' ~ 'there is no greater happiness than to be needed by the person who's precious to you'

I stumbled upon the 'Kinkyori' movies when I was browsing through a website with Japanese TV dramas and full-length movies. Then I read the manga. Though it was different in many aspects, I enjoyed it even more than the screen version. It's a well-known fact that best things come unexpected. I was not aiming for that, but I thought I found another mangaka to add to my top-mangakas list.

Just as the unexpected things are good, the expected things may turn up not quite as you expected.

story and characters

Now promise me you don't mind a lot of crying, especially on the part of men. You don't? Good. Because this story is tear-squeezing. The Hero cries,

 the Heroine cries,

 the Hero cries many times,by the way

 and their friends cry, too...

Their parents cry very much, too, if you wanted to know.

But the strangest thing is, the author made me cry as well. I just couldn't stop when I reached volume 9, the last one.

I must admit, before volume 9 there were 8 volumes of ms. Mikimoto repeating herself. Yes, again we have a strange girl who doesn't get along very well with her classmates. Yes, she falls in love with a very popular guy who, under his mask of a careless person, has deep wounds. Yes, she gradually develops relationship with other people and makes true friends. Yes, she has a slightly unusual family with a very young mother (who's a cosplay-lover, by the way, in this case) and a caring father.

We even hear some Russian again! ^___^

Okay, it was not the main point...

However, this is where the common points end. I must admit, if you asked me what manga I prefer among these two, I'd name 'Kinkyori', because it was just what I wanted, but 'Kira' would be the one I'd recommend sooner to others. What crossed my mind while reading, was that 'Kira' is extremely educational. In fact, it's like a good story for adolescent girls. It's more decent and slightly less passionate than 'Kinkyori', with first volumes only showing occasional cute scenes. The following important moments in 'Kira' were more about growing up, overcoming hardships, philosophical things like life and death, rather than sheer romance.

And it's kinda educational in many ways

The usual sense of humour of Mikimoto-sensei is not absent in 'Kira', too. Though she doesn't insert any crazy parodies any more, the humour became more lambent, and is expressed in the forms of whole characters - Nino's bird, Sensei, or Rei, her friend. At times, I was astonished at how unusual the reactions of the characters were. Kira decides to work part-time to save up money. What does Nino say? 'Then I'm going to become a girl who looks good in bikini so that your fatigue would fly away!'

This was my favourite moment. Kira says something touching. Nino's reaction - 'hehe, you're so cute...'

I'm not sure if it's just me, but I've never seen such a realistic, credible reaction in manga. It's just what I would do if I were in her place. What those girl usually do is to blush and cover her face, or punch the Hero. Or both.

And I loved those subtle moments when the author described the small happy things that filled the life of Nino. It is that kind of 'everyday happiness' that does not sound like it's the end of an interesting journey and the beginning of dullness.

At first, when I read people say that the characters in this manga make good couples, I couldn't agree. I thought they still lack something to become a solid unit. However with time, I couldn't help being surprised with how much they really complement each other. They were all doing exactly what was necessary to their other-halves at the moment, and in each couple both participated actively in developing the relationship.

Graphics

For somebody it might be a negative thing, but for me it's what I require from a mangaka - not simply showing some fancy tricks or ideal lines, but being able to convey the characters' emotions, even if it may look too obvious and intentional.

Not all frames were equally good, but it's a great progress as compared to 'Kinkyori', and some are just ideal.

language

Again, it's educational even in this aspect. 'Kira' was one of the easiest mangas I've read, and I highly recommend it to girls who started learning Japanese. Maybe boys, as well? It's a story about modern Japan, schoolers, their everyday life and so, the words learnt from it would be more helpful than in other works (like shounen fantasies or manga that concentrate on some particular topic).

conclusion

Comparing ms. Mikimoto's works to others, I have to say her ending of 'Kira' was maybe just too more abrupt than I'd want it to be. But as it is, it's not bad in any way.

Now will follow a big spoiler so don't read it if you mind.

Ask me who my favourite character was and I won't hesitate for an answer. Parting is always very hard. The story of Sensei reminded me of my own experience. Those who have ever had a pet would understand. But I will have to believe in this, too, like Nino - one happy moment is more important that 10 sad ones.

IMHO. 'Shiori ojousama wa shiitagerareru' by Takamiya Satoru ~ Shiori young lady It is oppressed

That's what the cover says. Engrish, you know? And the story went just as the title was: completely wrong, but probably they did not aim for anything better anyway.

story and characters

The funniest thing is that Sakae, our Hero, is completely right - if a guy teases the heroine constantly, and then suddenly becomes all tender and caring, this gap is what's so precious and wonderful.

By the way, this gap is not limited to only one kind of story. It can be a cold-blooded knight who seems not to care about love or romance, but then finds his fair lady and swears to protect her. It can be a playboy who looks like he doesn't want any serious relationship, but then finds his only one. It can be a proud lone wolf who initially hates the Heroine, but after knowing her better, gradually grows to like her. It can be a perfect guy who shouldn't be interested in a girl like the protagonist - because he can easily find a 'better' one, but actually wants exactly her. Or a positive boy who looks carefree, but turns out to be too shy to express his real feelings when the time comes. And I, being a very narrow-minded person, always believed that this sudden change in the Hero's attitude was the best thing in shoujo.

There is that wonderful word in Japanese I like very much: 'yoyuu', which means 'having enough' of sth, like time or money or possibilities. It's also used to describe a person who looks like he's not bothered at all by the problems that lie in front of him and dealing with them is a piece of cake for him. I thought we, female readers, want to see the Hero lose his 'yoyuu', or  'freedom', when he falls in love with the girl in focus.

But what we have here in 'Shiori ojousama' is actually a girl who, after some inner struggle, admits that she loves being teased, to such an extent that she eventually finds herself unable to judge the feelings of her partner other than by his teasing. Sometimes she reaches her limit and snaps at him, but it's enough for him to say he was doing it for her sake, and she's again satisfied. So when he finally starts treating her gently, she deliberately refuses.

Basically, it's not a problem that he teases her. And it's not a problem that she likes it either. After all, who would read a manga where the characters simply get along very well from the beginning to the end with no development, misunderstandings or obstacles. The problem is, Sakae never had to put up with anything, and his occasional confessions were absolutely unrealistic and uninspiring (Stanislavsky would say 'I don't believe you!'). In other words, I wouldn't want to have such a guy by my side, and I cannot imagine a girl who would, either.

Graphics

This is obviously not a manga for admiring, it's a manga for reading. This itself is no disadvantage, I know many a manga where art was nothing special, but the story made up for that. However, 'Shiori' looks like it's made by a graduated-from-being-an-amateur-month-ago.

Conclusion

After reading another short story by Ms Takamiya - 'watashi no okusuri', I thought I was about to discover a new solid source of shoujo manga. However after 'Shiori', I guess I will be reading this author no more.

'Kinkyori ren'ai' ~ please, try to keep up with me

'Wowow, slow down!!!'
my friend said to me when I showed her this frame from 'Kinkyori ren'ai'

story and characters

So, after I watched the movie, I expected to see something similar but more elaborate. And because of that I was disappointed with the 1st volume, because its ending was already making a decent happy end. However, my opinion was changing for the better with every new volume. By the 2nd volume I understood that even if the kissing scene seemed less romantic to me than in the movie, there were plenty of other things to make up for that. In the beginning I was seriously thinking it was nothing more than a light comedy, but then I noticed that I was more and more often holding my breath, and it was not because of my Autumn catarrh. Then I made myself read slowly so that I wouldn't let it end too fast. It was dangerous to read fast because I would simply explode. You could cook pancakes on me because I was probably hot enough.

When there were still 3 volumes left I already felt the end was close and it made me very empty. It's a kind of feeling that only arises when I feel extreme attachment to the characters and their story. There is a good Japanese word for this feeling - 'munashisa'. It's when you see something different and then realise you don't want anything different, even if it is by the same author.
Now this is where I must stop pretending that I'm writing an unbiased review considering all pros and cons. I just loved the way the characters' relationship developed - and by the way, not only the main couple. Just to maintain justice I must note that all characters were lovable and, running a few steps forward, I was very happy to see that all of them were doing fine in the end.
But speaking of those two, I just love it when the guy is passionate, if not too impatient, and expresses his feelings in a straightforward way. And I just love it when he makes such painful expressions when there happens something unpleasant about their romance.

Citing myself, I love it when guys "dry up" (in other words, slobber over, dote on and suffer from their love). And I love it when they suddenly get all serious. I mean, really, what girl wouldn't want to hear 'I told you I'm doing it so just stand still here' having his head just 10 cm away?

You might have guessed, but I consider the Hero hot. If you haven't seen lots of shoujo manga heroes I shall tell you they are not always, 100% hot, but this one is. But I just wanted to present you a quiz: what keeps his pants from falling considering that nothing actually protrudes in the pants below the shirr?

Um... And if I created an image in your head that this manga is your pure romantic story, then I'm sorry. It's not entirely. And it has another side... How should I put it... Well, just imagine that in order to scare her daddy the Heroine makes a crab position and drives him to the edge of the roof until he almost falls down but then rushes to save him. 'Is it only me or this kind of situation is strange? And how am I supposed to react?' Exactly the Hero's thoughts.

And if you agree with him, the author asks you to keep up with her. You see, the vertical line under ※ mark in the left.

As you can see, Ms. Mikimoto is very well aware of what she's doing and has enough self-criticism, which she never fails to express - I think by her ? she meant something like 'I drew a saliva drop on her mouth to show that she herself is eager to see the Heroine wear the clothes, but you would probably say 'what's that?' so I'm putting this ? mark here'.

Oh, this is my favourite moment: the Heroine accidentally sees the Hero topless while he is changing his clothes, and her reaction is not your simple blush or KYAAA or running away. Her reaction is natural. Just what I would do if I were her.

By the way, if you wonder what it means, it says 'A dog was biting Ivan'. In Russian. I wonder why in Russian, but no matter what the reason I was happy to see some accidental Russian in a Japanese shoujo.
'Wha? Is it ok just to do it simply like this? It's strange, isn't it? It must be strange!' - says the Hero when simple cosplay of a doctor made it possible to enter the hospital. Again ※ mark answers us: 'just interpret it like it was ok'.

Now that I talk about it, I can finally articulate the second reason I enjoyed this manga, the first being the passionate romance: the mangaka's sense of humour was close to how I usually fool about with my friends, the same kind of imagination running wild and brain recalling absolutely irrelevant things.

language
I would recommend this manga to all young students who learn Japanese and want to read something in Japanese. School romance has never been a difficult genre, but I guess 'Kinkyori' is even easier than average. The only hardship you'll face is that the manga contains a lot of author's associations that require thorough knowledge of Japanese pop-culture, from the 'Great Teacher Onizuka' live-action (by the way, the first one, not the new ones you might know) to T. M. Revolution's songs, from Battle Royale II to to Momoe Yamaguchi's last concert.
Like I said, Mikimoto's imagination flies up to the sky every time she notices she herself created a situation that induces associations with something well-known, like a phrase that matches a quotation from some popular song, or resembles its title, or the performer's name, or a character gets into situation that reminds something well known. I can totally imagine how this was created: the mangaka makes her heroine say 'I cannot even tell him what I want to say so much', and then suddenly the song 'Poison' from GTO starts playing in her head, which she immediately puts down to paper.

graphics
It certainly takes some time to get used to it, and it certainly grows better with every new chapter, though it does not change drastically like it does in works of other authors I've read. What I appreciated most in this manga is that the mangaka was able to convey very strong feelings with just one or two frames, and make me, the reader, feel the whole situation, not just one simple emotion.
She looks aside. He looks at her. Suddenly the wind brings sakura petals through the window and inside that pick whirlwind she seems to be very different and specially attractive, just for a second. What would be his unconscious reaction?

Even though Mikimoto only used the usual tricks widespread in all shoujo manga, she used them so wisely that every time she did, the time seemed to slow down giving me more time to fell the moment through.

Ms. Mikimoto developed a style that made it possible to feel a second like it lasted for much longer when it's necessary, and enabled the readers feel the situation the way the characters felt it. Just look how wonderful she drew the scene of falling down the stairs.

Or this awkward moment when no matter how you try all your creations look the same, while this pro made only one picture and managed to show how the heroine changed very slightly, subtly, when she had natural makeup applied, which made her look certainly cuter even though there were nothing special done about her.

Ms. Mikimoto is obviously very fashion-conscious, because she didn't simply create something simple and easily forgotten, but rather developed a full set of clothes for every new situation that allowed it (read: except for school uniform), and I do cherish such efforts, it's always pleasant to see that the author puts a lot of thought into her work including even chapter covers and backgrounds.

And basically, the same wonderful mangaka is actually capable of creating something like this. A-ha.

I don't know, maybe she had her unlucky days, too. But I won't get angry at her. Who cares about such things if the next page gives you this:

I know I showed it. I can show it many times you know? And never get tired of it.

conclusion
I must add at least one fly into this ointment. When I read to the end, I was not very happy with the kind of story when the Hero deliberately pushes the Heroine away so that she wouldn't end up sacrificing herself. At first I was angry. For about half an hour. Then I thought of something that made even this flaw disappear. While as a girl I usually put myself into the shoes of the Heroine, I imagined just for once what I would do if I were in the same kind of situation as the Hero, having someone I think dear and seeing I'm not the best variant for him right now, even though hoping that he wouldn't change his mind after some time passes by. This is what we, people not having the natural aptitude to understand our own and others' feelings and emotions, do: we cancel our relationship altogether and then wait, and when we get sure we do love the partner and the partner returns the feeling, we come back. And then I stopped being angry. All the more he became honest with himself very quickly.
To sum it up, you should read this manga because... you know, I'll just repeat the words from the very work in focus: cause it's funny, why else?

p. s.
Don't make the same mistake as me and don't buy 'Genshoku Tsundere Danshi. Ikenai Sensei' that contains a special chapter of 'Kinkyori'. This chapter is included in the end of volume 4. Instead, read 'Sensei to kinkyori', which contains another special chapter. It was really cute and filled the gap between the graduation ceremony and Uni's departure to America.