Tsukioka Tsumugi SSR - Embracing the Weight of Human Knowledge [Backstage Translation]

[mimosacafe]

I made a picture book about Zabi. I think it came out well, so I’m going to show it to him…!

"A Handmade Picture Book to Give for My Dearest You - PART 1”

Tsumugi: Hmm… Maybe it was under this cardboard box…
Huh? What was this book again… “Zabi’s Adventure”...?
Ah, this was the picture book I made back in grade school! This sure takes me back….
Tasuku: All done, Tsumugi?
Zabi: Woof woof!
Tsumugi: Oh, Tasuku. You took Zabi out for a walk, huh.
Tasuku: Granny asked me to, yeah. So? Did you find the textbook you were looking for?
Tsumugi: Ah, sorry… I got distracted after going all nostalgic over something I found.
Tasuku: You’re the one who said you needed the car because you wanted to grab your high school textbook from home. Geez.
Tsumugi: I did ask for it, but weren’t you the one who said you wanted to meet Zabi?
Tasuku: ……..Anyways. What did you find?
Tsumugi: Look at this!
Tasuku: A book? And what’s that ugly-looking thing?
Tsumugi: What do mean, it’s obviously Zabi!
Tasuku: Zabi…? This thing?
Tsumugi: Yes it is! Zabi, you can see yourself, right?
Zabi: ……..
Tasuku: See, even Zabi himself seems to be questioning it.
Tsumugi: Eeehh… No way…

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Tsumugi: This book is for Kumon, and I’ll bring this for the tutoring job next week…
Izumi: Hey there, Tsumugi-san.
Tsumugi: Director and Banri-kun. If you’re going through here, does that mean your practices for today are all done?
Izumi: Yep, just wrapped up the Autumn Troupe’s rehearsals.
Banri: What about you, Tsumugi-san? You’ve got a buncha high schooler textbooks here.
Izumi: Ohh, I haven’t seen this book in so long. This English textbook is the same edition that I used back then.
Tsumugi: Is that so?
Banri: But damn, this book sure has seen better days.
Tsumugi: Hey now, I know it’s old, but you don’t have to say it out loud…
Izumi: So what’s with all these? It doesn’t seem to be all for Kumon and the rest…
Tsumugi: The student that I’m currently tutoring is having some trouble with math, so I’ve been trying to find if there are any good textbooks for them…
That’s when my textbook from high school came to mind. I remember that it was easy for me to get through, so I was thinking of bringing it along the next time I go back to that student’s house.
While looking around though, I found a lot more books and dictionaries that I could use to help out Kumon and the others, so…
Banri: So you ended up bringing all of these too. That’s just like you, Tsumugi-san.
Tsumugi: You think so?
I had a lot more books in my room, but I figured I’d sort them back here instead. They might’ve gotten mixed up with the pile otherwise.
Izumi: So that’s how it is.
Huh? What’s this book—?

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"A Handmade Picture Book to Give for My Dearest You - PART 2”

Banri: “Zabi’s Adventure”...?
Tsumugi: Ah…. I didn’t notice I brought this one along too.
It’s a picture book that I made back when I was in elementary school. I made Zabi the protagonist.
Izumi: (So this drawing… is supposed to be Zabi…)
Tsumugi: Tasuku couldn’t see it as Zabi, though. He even said it was ‘an ugly-looking thing’.
Banri: I mean, I wouldn’t immediately think it’s a dog either if I saw it without knowing.
Tsumugi: I-Is it really that bad…
Izumi: Still, making your own picture book sounds amazing. Was it something you had to do for school?
Tsumugi: To be honest, I don’t exactly remember why I made this. But I do remember that I was particularly into picture books back then.
Izumi: Picture books may seem like just short stories, but they can get a lot deeper than you’d initially think!
Banri: Picture books huh… Don’t think I read those as much as I did with manga back then.
Tsumugi: Banri-kun with picture books… I guess it’s kinda hard to see that image.
Izumi: Ahaha, kind of, yeah.
Tsumugi: What sort of picture books did you read, Director? I remember for me, there was—...
Banri: …... Picture books, huh.

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Tsumugi: Aaaand there we go… I think this area’s all good now.
Banri: There you are. Knew I’d find you here.
Tsumugi: Ah, Banri-kun.
Don’t you think the warm sun and cool breeze feel really nice today? I figured I’d let these little guys get some sunshine for a while.
Banri: That’s our Garden Boss for ya.
Tsumugi: Fufu, I’ve taken quite a liking to that nickname now, you know.
Actually, I’ve been thinking of adding a few more decorative plants out here. Like yuccas or monsteras…
Banri: If we let you be, our garden might turn into a forest someday.
Tsumugi: Oh come on, I wouldn’t go that far.
Anyway, did you need me for something, Banri-kun?
Banri: Ah yeah… I found this pretty interesting shop. Care to join me if you’re free?
Tsumugi: An interesting shop…?

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Tsumugi: Now that I think about it, I haven’t gone down this route in a while.
Banri: Me neither. But this place seems like they’ve got some pretty good stores, actually.
Tsumugi: That so… Guess we better make the most of them.
Banri: Sounds like a plan.
The shop I was talking about should be around this area…
Oh, there it is.
Tsumugi: Is that… Director?
Izumi: Tsumugi-san! Banri-kun!
Banri: Huh, did you plan to go to this picture book café today too, Director-chan?
Izumi: Yep? Did you two have the same idea as well?
Banri: You could say that.
Tsumugi: A picture book café…?

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"A Handmade Picture Book to Give for My Dearest You - PART 3”

Tsumugi: Woah, look at all the picture books lined up here…
Izumi: Talking about picture books the other day suddenly made me want to read some again. That’s when I found out about this café.
Banri: I wasn’t particularly looking to read some picture books, but I did remember this place after seeing a review on Inste about how good their coffee is.
Tsumugi: Speaking of which, it seems to be pretty crowded. Is the place that popular?
Clerk: Thank you very much for waiting! Table for three?
Izumi: Yes, please. Your shop seems to be pretty busy today.
Clerk: Actually, we opened up our irregularly scheduled workshop of hands-on picture book-making today. It turned out to be quite a hit.
We still have some slots open, so please feel free to try it out if you’re interested. Of course, you can enjoy it while having coffee and snacks as well.
Izumi: I planned to just read some picture books at first, but it seems like a lot of fun to make your own books, too!
Tsumugi: Shall we take part in it then?
Banri: Well, they did say we can enjoy coffee while doing it. Sure, why not.

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Clerk: Please feel free to use any and all art supplies we have provided for you! You have the freedom to use any number of sheets and go with any kind of subject as you’d like.
Banri: Hard to think of something when you’ve got this much free reign. What sort of picture book are you making, Director-chan?
Izumi: A story about curry, of course!
Tsumugi: Hahaha, nothing else defines our Director like curry, after all.
Izumi: Have you decided on yours, Tsumugi-san?
Tsumugi: I did. I’m thinking I should make another book about Zabi again.
Izumi: Fufu, that’s just like you!
Banri: … And done.
Tsumugi: Eh, already!?
Izumi: How!? When!? You just said you had a hard time thinking about it!
Banri: It’s too tedious to think about the story and dialogue, so I just settled with making a pop-up picture book.
Tsumugi: Amazing. When you open up the pages like this, three-dimensional trees pop out!!
Izumi: At the starting page, you get one tree, but as you keep going the trees also keep adding up… Woah, and then it all becomes a forest on the last page!
Banri: I had this image of planting trees one by one, so this is what I ended up with.
Izumi: Somehow it kinda feels pretty stylish considering you made it, Banri-kun…
Banri: What do you even mean by that?
Tsumugi: Do you have a title for this picture book?
Banri: A title, huh… Lemme think.
…”The future of the dorm’s garden?”
Tsumugi: I’m telling you I won’t turn it into a forest!
Banri: Haha. Well, since I’m all done with my picture book, I’ll take my time enjoying the coffee I was looking forward to.
Tsumugi: Unbelievable… I haven’t even decided on the kind of book I want to make for Zabi, you know.


▶︎ CHOICE 1: Let’s take our time thinking about it.
Izumi: Let’s take our time thinking about it, then.
Tsumugi: Alright then. First, let’s try to decide on each other’s themes.
Ah, I’ve got an idea. Why not make a book about a personified curry, Director?
Perhaps something like them going on a journey to another country in search of their final ingredient and spices…!
Izumi: That does sound really fun! But, Tsumugi-san, weren’t you supposed to be thinking of the theme for your own book instead of mine…?
Tsumugi: Ah, you’re right. I was just thinking that since you haven’t decided on your theme that I ended up thinking of something about curry for you.
Izumi: (Tsumugi-san, your kindness knows no bounds…)


▶︎ CHOICE 2: Let’s try a fresh and novel idea.
Izumi: Once we come up with a novel idea, we should be able to start planning soon enough!
Tsumugi: An original idea, you say… I’ve read my fair share of picture books, but…
I don’t think any of them pop out in particular. Or rather, I may have read a few but I’ve forgotten all about them.
… Perhaps picture books are just like plays— They’re actually more memorable the less exaggerated they are.
Izumi: I see… So rather than trying to go with a novel idea, it might be better to draw out a straightforward story that would show off your love for Zabi!
Tsumugi: Yeah, I think I want to go with that kind of feeling in mind.
Izumi: (Tsumugi-san really does adore Zabi. It’ll surely turn out to be a good picture book, no matter what the drawing skill would be.)

Tsumugi: I know. I might try doing a pop-up book like what Banri-kun did.
Starting off with Zabi’s face… Let’s see… How about cutting the brown paper like this—
Izumi: (The… The sides have become all asymmetrical and distorted… I almost forgot that Tsumugi-san’s actually surprisingly clumsy.)
Kid: Mister, your cutting looks really bad…
Tsumugi: Uu………….
Banri: Tsumugi-san, I’ll teach you how to properly do it, so how about you put down the scissors for now?
Tsumugi: ……Okay. Please do.

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Tsumugi: Tasuku, are you going out?
Tasuku: Just going to drop by the family home real quick.
Tsumugi: I’ll come with.
Tasuku: What’s up, gonna look for something again?
Tsumugi: Not really. There’s something I want to show to Zabi.

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Tsumugi: Zabi, look at this! Now that I’m all grown up, I tried making you a picture book again… What do you think?
Zabi: ….
Tsumugi: Eeeh…
Tasuku: Same results as last time.
…But hey, compared to your old work, this one’s a lot less worse, don’t you think?
Tsumugi: Just a lot ‘less worse’, huh… Maybe I’ll attend that picture book workshop again...