u/WriterSharp

The latest chapter of One Hundred Songs and One Hundred Pages has been released in Japan, and is free to view for a limited time (in Japanese of course). This chapter depicts Hinagiku and Sakura >!at the Spring Town before making their escape to summon Spring for the first time. You can guess from Hinagiku's embedded picture how well things have been going for them there. Responses to this chapter on the JP side have been, in summary: "Death to the Town of Spring." !<One Hundred Songs has also received a full reprint in Japan, as have at least certain volumes of Komatsuda's Dance of Spring manga as well.

On the English side of things Bookwalker is currently running a Summer Sale for the next month with some chapters of One Hundred Songs free and others at a discount for a limited time. ("Summer" chapters are free, if you wanted to know. And unsurprisingly an Agents manga has a few of those.

(Moderator's Note: Various translations and international releases have advanced, and I'm sorry for not keeping track of them on the FAQ and also not keeping up with my promised discussion and analysis posts, but life has continued to be hectic for me this past month.)

The Los Angeles branch of Animate, the anime and manga goods store, and its online American branch now have Agents of the Four Seasons merchandise available. They are also running an associated campaign with giveaways, which unsurprisingly depends on purchasing said merch. I saw the merch earlier but it was all sold out. However, as of writing this it is back in stock. I also spied a similar event and merch offering at their Kuala Lumpur store, so don't despair if you aren't in Japan. Offerings may be limited and stores few, but at least it's something you don't need a proxy service for.

To commemorate Letter Writing Day ふみの日 in Japan (July 23) and the Tenth Anniversary of the publication of Violet Evergarden, KA Esuma Bunko, the publishers of the Violet Evergarden novels, have made the letter included in the limited deluxe edition of Violet Evergarden: The Anniversary ~Flower~ available to the public for the next month. It's in Japanese of course but hopefully someone can try their hand at an English translation here. It's pretty short.

As this is the first weekend after the last episode of Dance of Spring aired (unless you are watching the dub), I thought I would make a post on my vague plans for the future of the subreddit. Then if you have any ideas on how to improve the subreddit, please mention them below too.

There has been no announcement of a Dance of Summer anime yet, but I expect there will be one sooner or later. For where to read more official material after the anime, see my previous post. Since then, we've had another chapter of the English translation of One Hundred Songs drop. (It's a big one for you IteSaku fans.) But in the meantime, I can think of a couple ways to keep the subreddit alive and useful to anyone who drops by.

First of all, the lifeblood of the r/VioletEvergarden subreddit is posts and reposts of fanart (with sources attached and as long as the creator permits reposts, of course), so I welcome sharing any of that great Agents art you find to this sub. I have seen a ton of it from the JP side with a notably smaller amount from the international side, but that's just how the fanbase is currently.

Next, some posts, either essays or questions, I have been considering writing are:

• Themes, Visual Language, and Overlooked Narrative Elements of Agents of the Four Seasons - I really would have loved to do weekly posts on these topics while the anime was airing, but unfortunately I have been way too busy. (I really wish I could have made these posts in rebuttal to those who consider this series just holly trauma porn, but alas, better late than never.) I may just post this as unpolished notes just to get my thoughts out there.
• Analysis of the Official Soundtrack and Its Use - with the OST now streaming internationally we can take a closer look at how music was used in this series, including various motifs which tracks were left unused and speculation why.
• Thoughts on the Series as a Whole and What You Thought Could Have Been Done Better - what worked for you, what didn't, what would you have changed, etc.?
• Names, Flower Language, and Japanese Lost in Translation - I can assemble everyone's name together in a post (with kanji) and provide some guesses at their significance, but I can't say much on the formal or archaic Japanese used other than saying that it exists. I think Nadeshiko's speech patterns went over a lot of foreign viewers for one thing.

I'll see if I can drop a new post every Saturday. But obviously you are more than welcome on posting on these things yourselves, especially if it's on the music. I'm hopelessly musically illiterate. And then, if you see anything that needs fixing in our out-of-date FAQ, let me know, whether it's incorrect or outdated information or a potentially useful Q&A. (I'm sure some new translated volumes have dropped recently.)

If you're coming here after the finale of the anime, welcome. Here are some pointers on where to go next if you're looking for more Agents of the Four Seasons.

You're welcome to check out the FAQ for details too, especially on the state of various translations. Just keep in mind it's a work in progress

The main story of the novels continues in Dance of Summer. This is another two volume arc, this time focusing on the Hazekura twins. It's then followed by Archer of Dawn, the two-volume Dance of Autumn, and then the Archer of Twilight. We are awaiting an announcement of the presumed Dance of Winter novels, but nothing is official yet. By the way, the English translation is currently up to the first volume of Dance of Autumn. Translations in other languages are in various states, for both the novels and the Komatsuda manga.

Dance of Summer vol 1 cover

(Be warned: as of my writing Amazon has mistakenly placed a volume of the manga where Archer of Dawn should be in the novels' series page. So double check everything if you're buying from them.)

The Agents of the Four Seasons: Dance of Spring manga by Komatsuda Nappa, is as you can guess, an adaptation of the Dance of Spring arc of the novels (ie the first two volumes). It's nearing the end of that arc, so the anime has actually overtaken it. Still, if you want another version of the story, this time in manga form, you can check it out. It has good paneling and artwork, but it's fairly concise, so if you really want the full in-depth version of the Spring arc, then you will want to read the novels.

Dance of Spring manga (Komatsuda) - an alternative telling of Dance of Spring

Agents has another manga, however, which is One Hundred Songs and One Hundred Pages. This is a side-story manga that adapts a few of Kana Akatsuki's side stories that she regularly publishes on kakuyomu. There are three volumes and 16 chapters out now, and while each volume is themed after a season and focuses on its agent(s) and guard(s), and you will be introduced to characters, plot threads, and themes from the later arcs, nothing in here is really a spoiler. In fact, I think these serve as both a good primer for the later novels, and light-hearted break from the heaviness of the main series. So you can read all three volumes after finishing Dance of Spring. Unfortunately, you can only purchase the chapters individually at this time, so the price may run a little steeper than normal. (Detailed write-up here.)

One Hundred Songs and One Hundred Pages side story manga

Agents of the Four Seasons has two manga currently running alongside the novels. One is a fairly straightforward adaptation of the Dance of Spring arc, that is, the first two novel volumes, which is being published in the shoujo magazine Lala and is written by Komatsuda Nappa. The other is One Hundred Songs and One Hundred Pages, and this is a seinen manga published online at Comic Walker under DengekiG's label and drawn by Asami Yuriko. Rather than being a straightforward adaptation, this manga is a collection of side stories, and now that I've read every chapter out so far, I thought I would write a short review and explanation.

One Hundred Songs and One Hundred Pages is a side story manga that picks up right after the conclusion of Dance of Spring. Now recuperating in the hospital, all of the agents and guards may freely relax, talk, and reminisce on events of the past, and these short episodes, whether organized in mini-arcs of one, two, or three chapters comprise the content of One Hundred Songs. The manga's tone of can shift chapter-to-chapter from serious to light-hearted in the way you would expect of Agents. One chapter someone is in the throes of soul searching about her new role; the next everyone is taking and exchanging goofy pics on Line. One chapter a guard recalls their first meeting with their agent; the next everyone heads to the pool for some summer fun tactically necessary swim training. It's a similar mixture of drama, comedy, and romance from the novels but definitely leans more toward comedy and light-hearted romance.

Vol 1, Chapter 1

The author of the novel series, Kana Akatsuki, loves writing side stories to her works. Violet Evergarden had around a dozen of them, mostly given away as omake for the two movies. For Agents, Akatsuki now publishes her side stories and sample chapters on kakuyomu. The One Hundred Songs manga adapts several of them, and the anime even incorporated a few.

Each volume of One Hundred Songs is also loosely tied in with a seasonal arc, but not in a "spoilery" way either. So we see more of Spring and Winter, then the Hazekuras and their fiances by volume 2, and then Nadeshiko and Rindo in volume 3. Characters and themes prominent in later volumes show up here, but nothing I would be spoilers for later arcs, at least not yet.

Vol 2, Chapter 6 - Things can still get serious

Every chapter was entertaining in its own way. Some were cute and funny; others concentrated the inner turmoil; Some chapter showed character interactions that you really don't see much of in the main story (e.g. Ayame and Rindo having a heart-to-heart about their agents). The art is very nice, as you can judge from the attached panels. Just don't expect anything in here to radically change your understanding of the world of Agents; all major events and revelations will still be found in the main continuity. But as supplementary material, this was excellent.

So, if you are looking for where to continue after the first season of the anime, One Hundred Songs, may be a good choice. Eventually, you'll want to continue with the main story, and currently you can only do that by reading the novels, starting with Dance of Summer, but One Hundred Songs makes a great companion piece.

Currently One Hundred Songs is at three volumes and 16 chapters in total. The tankoban of the third volume came out recently in Japan, and the Japanese chapters can be found digitally at ComicWalker, The English can be found at Bookwalker (and INKR, I guess), and will seemingly be caught up with the Japanese by next week. It is not translated into any other language as far as I am aware. Unfortunately, the English manga can only be purchased chapter-by-chapter at the present. Hopefully now that we're caught up with the third volume, they allow volume purchases, since that would make buying them a more appealing proposition.

Vol 1, Chapter 1

Sorry for the brief, somewhat shallow "review," but for a short anthology series like this it's tough to say much without going chapter-by-chapter. It just strikes me that most people overseas who have read or watched Agents haven't even heard of this manga, or if they have, they don't know what it is.

To my knowledge there aren't really any review and analysis series in progress for Agents of the Four Seasons: Dance of Spring on the English-speaking part of the internet. (ShoujoTube get on that.) There are a handful of reviews of the novels and So I thought I would point your attention to one analysis series I found on youtube. He's called "Chappy" (チャッピーちゃんねる), and he does "anime analysis for adults" and this season he's focusing on Agents of the Four Seasons. Unfortunately, the channel is only in Japanese with no subtitles. So, despite it inflicting pain on every fiber of my being, I suggest using the AI dub if you want to listen and aren't nihongo jouzu yet.

There's also Yukitomo who is a rather big Japanese LN youtuber, but I haven't watched much of his videos. He seems to be focused more on comparisons to the LN.

I would be doing write ups myself for each episode but unfortunately my life got extremely busy just as the anime began to air, so this is as much as I can do at the moment.