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...
