★Melonbooks Limited Short Story “Guys Desire Lap Pillows”
“Um, Mister Pig?
Why do men desire older or younger sisters?”
Jess abruptly inquired while we were still walking,
leaving me confused as question marks filled my head.
(Well… I don’t think all men desire for an older or
younger sister, but… what made you suddenly ask about that?)
“You were emphasizing how great sibling relationships are last night… and Mr. Nott kept calling out ‘Onee-chan’ in his sleep, so…”
With Mister Pig's deductive reasoning proven correct, stairs appear around the mountain base for Mister Pig and Jess to climb. What awaits them as they proceed towards their destination?
If you've read my past episode review blog posts, you should know by now that this post will contain my thoughts as a novel reader, although I will take care to not spoil anything in the story beyond what has already been covered in the anime. You'll find any news regarding the series in the update section at the end as well.
★Special Short Story “The Reason Flowers Bloom Is”
“How would you feel if the flowers in the vase were
still buds?”
I was told this over and over again when I first
arrived at the Quiltlin mansion.
No one leaves flower buds in a vase when inviting guests over. It is common courtesy to only display those that have flowered. The same applies to maids. Just as one would put blooming flowers on display, I must make sure to smile. Even if I am not feeling happy, I must smile out of courtesy. This was what my master, the lord, taught me.
After last episode’s pretty disastrous adaptation in which the anime changed the entire pacing of the story; which in many ways was just so they could make Brace’s death seem more impactful by leaving at the end… I feel like had the anime stuck to the novel’s approach where she would’ve died early in the episode and not been drawn out, it would’ve hammered in how dire the situation was when they were caught by the Yesma hunters, as well as how unrelentingly cruel the world was. Anyway, with the release of PV3 and a new key visual, I’m hoping these final 3 episodes do the novel justice in its adaptation, as we’re back to just our two protagonists as they near their destination.
This post will contain my thoughts on this episode as a source reader, and at the end, there’ll be a news update section detailing any new info regarding the series I find noteworthy.
After the information bombshell that is "there’s no entrance to the capital," how will our party of Yesmas find their way inside? But before worrying about that, they still need to get past the Forest of Needles... Just 4 episodes left to go (including this episode), so we'll be reaching the climax of this story soon. You'll find my thoughts on the anime as a novel reader below, and any news released over the past week regarding this series in the section afterwards.
What did Nott mean by "Are you prepared to die?" What's this man to man conversation going to entail? This post contains my thoughts about this episode, alongside what I consider noteworthy changes compared to the light novel source material. If none of that interests you, at least check out the news update section at the end of this post.
I enjoyed this broadcast segment from Heat the Pig Radio way too much to not want to translate it and share it with you guys. I literally couldn't stop myself from smiling no matter how many times I listened to their reactions. And if you haven't already seen the bed sheet sample image, head over to the anime's Blu-ray & DVD page to check it out yourself.
I also changed how I captioned this video, as the broadcast/radio format means multiple people might speak at the same. Please let me know how you liked it. Thanks.
Here's episode 2 of Retrospect the Pig Liver, which covers episodes 3 to 6 of the anime. I made some adjustments to the subtitles since last time, so please let me know your thoughts on them.
You can find the original video uploaded on Aniplex's channel by clicking here.
Time to figure out who this mysterious voice that calls themselves Brace is. This post will contain my thoughts as someone who has read the light novel source material, and will cover any changes that the anime has made. There's also a news update section at the end which you may skip to if you're not interested if my writing bores you.
Chapter 22 - With this, we've reached the end of volume 1. I've also been thinking about this for a few weeks now, but I'll be stopping my translations for Mako-san.
I picked up this series on a whim, and worked on it mostly as practice for a certain other series; but instead of translating, cleaning/redrawing ate up the majority of my time on this project (I'm clearly not efficient at this), and I'm not quite that devoted to handle the rest of the chapters (as you can tell by the upload slowdown). If anyone else wishes to pick this series up instead, you're more than welcome to.
Thanks you again to S4NN3R for providing vol 1's raws, and thank you all for reading "Mako-san Would Rather Die Than Be Independent" up to this point.
Final P.S. If you haven't done so already, make sure to check out the voice over videos that are uploaded on Shounen Magazine's YouTube channel.
Preview:
Will Nott accept Mister Pig's request? What about Celes and her unrequited love? All that and more this episode! As per usual, this blog post will contain my thoughts on episode 6 and will cover any changes that have been mode from the light novel source material. If you're just interested in the recent news, feel free to skip to the news update section below.
I wasn't planning on translating this, because I half expected Aniplex USA to have already done so and uploaded it onto their YouTube channel, given that they even uploaded a cast comment video which was exclusive to their channel. But since it's been weeks now, it doesn't look like it's going to be translated. I went ahead and tried my hand at captioning because I had fun watching this and wanted to share it.
Not sure if I'll post any more of these subtitle translations as I'm not really experienced with video editing and just working on this was tricky enough. We'll see.
And please let me know if you have any feedback or noticed any mistakes.
You can find the original video uploaded on Aniplex's channel by clicking here.
Episode 5 sets the stage for what's to come next for Jess and Mister Pig. This blog post especially will contain a lot of notes on the changes the anime made from the novel, and there may be some vague future volume spoilers that hopefully aren't too apparent. There wasn't much new news announced this week, so the news section will mostly contain comments about the series' recent merch announcements and this episode's PV.
Episode 4 is the beginning of a journey. This blog post will contain my thoughts about this episode alongside some context that was left out from the novel while avoiding any future spoilers. At the end, there'll be a news update section with whatever was announced regarding Heat the Pig Liver since my post about the previous episode.
With episode 3, we're finally wrapping up chapter 1 of the novel. I had expected them to take 4 episodes to finish chapter 1 after seeing episode 2's pace, but it looks like I was wrong. As mentioned in my episode 2 thoughts post, I think those who have not read the novel or manga before should watch the anime up until this episode to really get a feel for what the story is really going to be about. The news update section will be somewhat lengthy as well, with some anime and non-anime related content.
Happy Birthday Mister Scrawny Four-Eyed Shitty Virgin!
Not much news to talk about, but I will mention that the anime website appears to have recently updated its books promotion page to finally include the latest light novel volume (vol 8), and the manga adaptation.
Anyway, here's something Asagi-sensei drew as part of the anime's artist support promotion tweets recently.
Episode 2 aired, and we finally got our visuals for the anime's OP and ED. As with my previous episode's blog post, this'll include my thoughts on the episode as a light novel reader, and at the end, an update on whatever extra anime news was posted recently.
Let's start with showing off the opening and ending, as aniplex has kindly uploaded both of them (without credits too!) to their YouTube channel.
I figured, since I already translated the opening, I would do the same for the ending which was released for streaming just yesterday. This was a bit trickier to do, so it may have some mistakes in phrasing. I hope you enjoy this full version of Heat the Pig Liver's ED ひとりじゃないよ (I'm not Alone) by Myuk.
Since its streaming release, I've been listening to the full version of Heat the Pig Liver's OP 私が笑う理由は (The Reason I Smile is) by ASCA a lot. Due to it being so catchy, and probably because of its message in relation to the story, I couldn't get it out of my head, so I decided to translate it. Here you go.
P.S. Let me know if there are any mistakes, thanks.
So episode 1 finally aired, and there's a number of things I would like to talk about. This'll not only include my thoughts on the episode itself, but also a brief update at the end on whatever extra anime news was posted recently. I'll try to avoid spoilers, but just in case, you've been warned that I may include minor ones if I slip up. Feel free to skip the thoughts section as well if you just want the news.
Here's the final pig trivia, which was released alongside the anime pre-screening event. We got a bunch of other news as well which I'll be covering in this post; and be sure to let me know if I've missed anything.
Don't forget to check out this trivia's video with Matsuoka's narration.
Chapter 18 - This is part 1 of a four chapter story that were all published together.
Also, it says #19 here because some chapter orders were rearranged when they were being bundled into volumes after their initial magazine publication. You usually don't see it because only the book's pages are used, but in this case only the magazine version had the color pages.
Preview:
Mimicry is an essential act for any civilization. For example, babies learn to speak by
imitation. When it comes to martial
arts, fine arts, and even skills as advanced as magic, we need to first mirror
the foundations laid out by our predecessors before being able to master them. No matter what it is, it’s only after
mimicking are we capable of developing our own style.
Though there are plenty of things to imitate, living
beings are the most likely subjects. That’s
because these organisms, which have evolved in the face of extinction over the
past billions of years, hold hidden wisdoms in their bodies which far exceed
our surface-level knowledge that only amounts to a hundred years at most.
For instance, while morpho butterflies don’t contain any
blue pigments, their wings utilize an incredibly fine structure to radiate a
brilliant blue. Just by copying this
mechanism, it’s possible to create textiles with a blue metallic sheen that
magically seems to never fade.
Another example is that the surface of the cocklebur
plant’s seeds are layered with hooked spines that will entangle on the fur of wildlife
passing by, allowing them to be transported long distances and expanding the
cocklebur’s habitat without having to move themselves. Velcro was created by imitating this – by
covering one layer’s surface with fine hook-like bristles, and another with
fiber for entangling with the barbs, it became possible to repeatedly stick and
peel the two apart.
As such, there’s certainly meaning in imitating living
beings. Which is why I proposed this
kind of practice to Jess, and definitely not because of my personal interests.
– Despite meticulously explaining so to her, she didn’t seem to buy it at all.
“But is there really anything to learn by wearing such a revealing outfit with bunny ears and tail…?”
Haha, what a way to mark the 1 year anniversary of this blog.
J-Novel Club just announced that they've licensed Heat the Pig Liver!
It's a bit disappointing that they didn't keep the eye-catching title of "Heat the Pig Liver," and instead stuck with the honestly very generic-sounding title of "ButaReba - The Story of a Man Turned into a Pig-" that the anime is also being marketed with. That being said, congratulations!
And now that the series has been licensed, all things must come to an end. I have a little bit of volume 4 that I would like to post as I don't want the small bit of work I've done to go to waste, but after that, I will stop posting future volume translations. As for the existing translation posts, my plan is to leave chapter 1 for each volume as preview (similar to what's available for preview for the original novels on digital stores), and take down the other chapters as the anime covers them (with everything else removed after the anime finishes airing).
Thank you all for having stuck around for the past year, and make sure to pick up the official English release when it does come out!
11/18 Edit Update:
Seems like JNC got the rights to the manga serialization as well, so you'll be able to enjoy Minami-sensei's art adaptation too!
Chapter 16 - This plus the next chapter are definitely best enjoyed while listening to the voice over videos for their chapters on Youtube.
Preview:
Aniplex Online Fest 2023 dropped a bunch of new content for the upcoming Heat the Pig Liver anime, including the second promotional video!
One thing I had been worried about which this PV addressed is that I wasn't sure whether they would keep Jess' outfit change that she wore only in volume 1, especially given how they simplified a lot of the characters' outfit textures (Celes was especially noticeable given that her dress no longer had any patterns on it and was just plain brown), but there were a couple frames like at 1:05 which showed it off, so I'm glad that wasn't changed.
The livestream has been privatized.You can check out the English subtitle livestream from Aniplex here for those that want to see the entire segment (some of the translations are a bit off for the PV, but that's because the Japanese lines are taken out of context): https://www.youtube.com/live/g7ytgD5_LA4?si=X5-kfXqUzLi0FH8R&t=9995
They also released one more key visual after airing the second PV (the two subtitle lines have been translated below).
Two new posts regarding the anime dropped earlier.
There'll be a pre-screening event showing episode 1 & 2 on September 30 at United Cinemas Toyosu. If you'll be in Tokyo and want to enter the ticket lottery, feel free to read the details on their post here.
Next, they've announced two new cast details; and if you've read the first volume, I'm sure you know who they'll be...
Here's trivia 2 of the three trivias planned for promoting Heat the Pig Liver's anime adaptation! As usual, let's start with the new key visual.
Chapter 14 is the long awaited "catching a cold" chapter. I especially like the interlude page at the end of this chapter, it's very cute.
Preview:
Dengeki Bunko's annual Summer's Super Appreciation Fair has begun!
Hey everyone, it looks like quite a bit of news about the anime adaptation of Heat the Pig Liver has dropped, most of which you can find on its website. To start, here's the first PV! And as written in the video title and announced during the broadcast, it will air in October of this year.
Chapter 8 - A sudden confession from Masuzawa?! Oh, never mind, it's just a cooking lesson.
Preview:
Chapter 6! Not much to say, so I'll just provide a link to this chapter's voice over youtube video as a reminder for everyone to check it out.
Preview:
As mentioned in my previous blog update post regarding the new promotion visual from Heat the Pig Liver anime, today is Jess' birthday!
Dengeki Comics NEXT is also celebrating their 10th anniversary, and have put many of their vol 1 manga on sale for 11 yen... including volume 1 of Heat the Pig Liver's manga. Now's a good chance to pick it up if you've been meaning to take a look at it.
Don't forget to mark 7/15 on your calendar, as Heat the Pig Liver will have a 1 hour ABEMA program around 7 PM.
And here's something Asagi-sensei posted on March 10 2020 to promote the very first volume of Heat the Pig Liver. This is where it all started.
It's been a while since I last posted about Heat the Pig Liver, hasn't it. At least a month and a half, or even longer depending on which post you want to count. Today, I bring you some new promotional material from the anime's twitter account!
First, let's start with the new key visual.
Here's chapter 2!
And don't forget Shonen Magazine's YouTube channel uploaded voice overs for all of Mako-san volume 1 (Ch 1 - 22). I probably won't post a link to the corresponding video each upload, but here's a link to the chapter 2 video.
Preview:
So I came across Mako-san Would Rather Die Than Be Independent (マコさんは死んでも自立しない) earlier this month and kind of binge read all the chapters. Around that time, I checked out the author's twitter and noticed they recently posted an unofficial chapter 109 on their pixiv fanbox. I was kind of surprised considering the series ended back in 2019. Anyway, since the timing of it lined up perfectly with me finishing the story, I decided to do a quick translation. It's available for free, so definitely give it a like on fanbox if you had fun reading it. Enjoy!
P.S. Since this is supposed to take place just a couple chapters before the final one, it'll contain some spoilers. Not that it's a big deal, since this is just a 4-panel romcom gag manga, but I figured I should give a warning anyway.
Hi everyone! While waiting for news updates on the upcoming anime, I decided to try my hands at cleaning up volume 1's illustrations to see how they would look. I think they turned out okay, so I've updated the original v1 illustration page with them (don't worry, both versions will be there so you'll be able to judge my poor redrawing skills). And that's about it, thanks for stopping by.
P.S. Don't expect me to do the same for any other volume. I don't have anywhere near the skills to be able to do that. This was a one time deal, you got that?
Looks like Heat the Pig Liver will be receiving a photo boot area for Anime Japan 2023. I don't expect there to be any news, but you never know. Just wanted to share this because they said it's okay to ride Mister Pig! We all know what that means...
Heat the Pig Liver Volume 1 was released on March 10, 2020. Today marks 3 years since its debut, with a current total of 7 light novel volumes and 4 manga volumes. Here's to a wonderful anime adaptation! Hope we get more news soon. I wonder who'll be voicing the rest of the cast...
Just wanted to let you all know that the April 2023 Dengeki Maoh issue is on sale now, and Heat the Pig Liver has returned with chapter 23 on there. It continues after volume 4 of the manga (which was also released today), and picks up from the start of volume 2 in the light novel.
Yahallo!
This should be my seventh blog update? After finishing up volume 2, I felt the need to follow up with with a quick volume 3 translation. Knowing how the story was going to develop this volume, I didn't want to leave you all hanging.
For those who haven't finished vol 3 yet, please read that before reading any further as I'd like to talk about my thoughts on it, mainly back when I first read it…
Once upon a time, there were three virgins at a
certain somewhere.
One was a hot-blooded virgin who lived doing what he
wanted to do earnestly. He excelled in
martial arts, was very brave, and was popular with everyone. However, he didn’t have a lover.
Another was a serious-minded virgin who lived doing
what he should do quietly. Though he
possessed mysterious powers, he was humble and respected by all. However, he didn’t have a lover.
The last person was hard-working virgin who lived giving it his all doing what he could do. He didn’t excel at martial arts, nor did he possess any mysterious powers. That’s why he relied on racking his brain to live. Even so, he didn’t have a lover. In fact, he never had a lover.
Hortis’ funeral was attended not only by the members
of the royal family, but also by Nott, the leader of the Liberation Army.
The Golden Sanctuary was restored by the person who
destroyed it, and the beautiful afternoon sunlight shone through the stained
glass windows in primary colors.
Although Nott and Markus didn’t smile towards each other in the quiet
space where the calming incense smoke floated, at least they didn’t glare at
each other.
Hortis’ shocking death had a significant impact on
Mestria’s governing.
King Markus pardoned Nott and the other officers of
the Liberation Army, and they also forgave the king. The alliance between the royal dynasty and
the Liberation Army was realized in the truest sense. Shulavis had been chosen as the two’s
mediator to carry out reforms, and slowly but surely, changes were beginning to
take place.
As the first step, the royal dynasty announced a new
law across all of Mestria that Yesmas were not allowed to be killed.
This doesn’t reform the underlying foundation, and I think it’ll take quite some time to thoroughly abolish this unreasonable, antiquated structure, but just the existence of this law that should have been there to begin with was a big step forward.
The structure of the capital, which had been
reinforced over the course of 100 years, was much stronger than the man had
imagined.
It was impossible even for this man, who proclaimed to be Mestria’s most skilled mage, to slip through the king’s surveillance and rewrite the information. Not only was his eldest daughter taken “underground,” his second daughter was as well. They won’t even receive any special work privileges, and will live as Yesmas like every other daughter of the capital’s citizens. This way, no one would know that they carry the blood of royalties.
“What’s your name?”
It was a quiet night outside
the ship. Hortis, whose hands were
wrapped in bandages, called out to the person through the cage’s bars.
Inside the ship’s heavily guarded prison, an old man with his hands and feet bound looked back with his golden eyes. The skin exposed from the grey robe was so pale it didn’t make him seem alive at all, but it was also charred black and in tatters. His current state might as well be considered a mummy.
“Sorry, I’m… really sorry…”
The innocent Yesma shed large tears and apologized to
her once beloved family from beyond the cage.
“Dad, this is absolutely crazy. Come on, it’s not too late-”
Even though the black-haired boy complained with
vacant eyes, his father slowly shook his head.
“Rules are rules.
As someone who serves this country, I cannot go against them.”
Despite the father’s eyes being wet with tears, he never wavered, and looked down at the crying Yesma.
“I want you to meet someone immediately.”
King Markus reluctantly agreed to Shulavis’ request. Although he’s not normally that benevolent of
father, he couldn’t disregard the words “He seems to know how to kill the
surreptitious sorcerer.”
While Shulavis went to pick up “that guy” from outside the capital, Markus
sat in the same throne from when he welcomed Nott at the Golden Sanctuary
previously, and kept bouncing his leg impatiently. Wies sat next to him in a wooden chair; Jess
stood next to Wies; and I sat next to Jess.
That being said, when Wies and Jess are side by side, I can’t help but think about beauty. A straight nose; and a small, round nose. Eyes brimming with mature confidence; and eyes filled with youth that appear anxious. Long, elegantly flowing hair; and short, tidy hair. A bold dress that exposes her shoulders; and a firmly defensive outfit. And above all, a pair of big boobs; and a pair of modest boobs. Regardless of which point, most will probably prefer the former, but my opinion is the opposite for all of them. It’s not that I’m a lolicon, but if it’s between an older sister attribute and a younger sister attribute, I would ultimately choose the younger sister attribute. Because to me, a younger sister is-
Amidst the large crowd
surrounding the sand-filled arena stage was a chained wild animal.
He was an animal that came
from another world. His knowledge was
valued, and he was now a prisoner.
The animal’s eyes widened at
the girl who had been brought along with the pitiful swordsman. Her hair was long and disheveled, and her
face was expressionless, but she was clearly familiar to him.
Nuris! So you were still alive…? But why are you here?
After a nap, it was evening. Jess and I waited for Shulavis to finish his
training. He came out of the large,
solidly built training ground wearing a loose navy blue robe. Despite the cool breeze, his fair face was
drenched in sweat.
“What’s wrong?
Is it something urgent?”
Shulavis asked while walking briskly.
“Yes, we wish to talk to you about that history book
for a bit.”
“Can it wait?
Father’s calling for me.”
(We want to ask that father of yours for something.)
At the end of his journey, the still immature boy
arrived at a place that was a dark and narrow room with a lot of blood in
it. The floor and walls were all made of
flat, black stones, which appeared to have been occasionally washed with water;
but even so, it was impossible to make it such that all the blood, which had
flowed in this room, unnoticeable.
The boy pressed a plump man against the smelly floor,
and held a dagger to the man’s neck.
“Tell me the truth, or else I’ll slice your throat.”
“Mister Pig, have you heard the story about the three great
treasures slumbering in Mestria?”
I looked up from the carpeted floor, towards the cute
blonde girl’s face that peered at me from the bed.
(No, I haven’t heard of it before.)
There’s Jess’ left and right breasts… and what’s the last one?
The other party’s target was the young man. The reason was obvious. It was because he was a mage.
However, the life that was about to be lost was not
the young man’s, but his best friend’s.
“Please let me go.
I haven’t done anything.”
A woman in a black robe walked up to his friend, who
was lying on the muddy ground and begging for mercy.
“Magic that makes people’s minds unreadable, and magic that eludes detection. I cannot overlook either of them. Unfortunately, I have judged that you must die.”
Markus
– The current king of Mestria, succeeding Evis.
He’s been called the strongest mage.
Kento
– A high school boy in modern-day Japan.
He transmigrated to Mestria again alongside the other pigs.
Litis
– A Yesma that’s under the Liberation Army's protection. Her original name is not Litis.
Hortis – Markus’ biological younger brother. He left the capital, and his current whereabouts are unknown.
Hey there, Hayane here to bring you an update on volume 3.
Obsessed? What do you mean I'm obsessed? I swear, I can stop translating when I want to!
Translations should start being posted some time between the middle and end of this month. Look forward to it, and see you soon.
