At long last, I’m diving into the exciting worlds of Harta!!
Harta #75
This is my Harta #75 home post. I started this post after reading the shorter of the 2 one shots, トネリコ, and posting questions, below.
I’ll add more notes and links to future posts at the bottom as I explore the rest of the issue.
one shot: トネリコ p 576
Definitely read it first before looking at my questions. I had some major misunderstandings as you’ll see in the discussion that followed. There’s not much context in a one shot, so it was tougher than I was expecting. But the discussion that followed gave me ideas for new strategies to try and I’m excited to tackle the next (longer) one shot.
questions
I interpreted the story as a child and their mom? But maybe it’s two roommates. I’ll call them Sleepy (the dark haired girl) and Moby (the kid/ roommate)
**
It’s meant to be cute, but isn’t this prank really mean?
Pulling the covers off Sleepy and then sitting silently watching her freak out about her lost day off until she figures out it’s the middle of the night. Or am I misinterpreting that?
**
Then after Moby goes back to bed, I was at a loss for how to interpret the square text. Is it narration? But it’s written first person.
My translation would be: “because I’m weak in the morning, I don’t want to destroy my daily rhythm.” I’m not sure what it’s getting at here.
**
OK, moving on, Moby smells yummy food that Sleepy is cooking and comes downstairs. It’s the middle of the night. But what is going on visually? Sleep throws Moby some meat? And Moby freaks out? And then something about I cook it and you smell it?
I’m thinking the one shots might not have been the easiest place to start after all. Without any context for the characters, I’m struggling to parse the speech and art 
additional Harta #75 reading
Harta 75 - January 2025 update - notes on what I started reading in Harta without doing any catch-up. That post includes:
ライカの星 Ch 1 / Laika’s star (new series)
姫と忍 / The Princess and the Ninja (one-shot)
紙一重りんちゃん Ch 14 / Paper thin Rin (stand alone story from a series that is normally 4koma)
Dungeon Meshi (continuing series - I decided to catch-up before continuing)
Anything else I’m either catching up with later (below) or skipping (lists further below):
notes on continuing series / catching up
Caught up:
👖 昴とスーさん / The Strange Life of Subaru
I am enjoying this series immensely and recommend reading this from the beginning (Harta 75 has Ch 24 - which is in Volume 4) to fully appreciate the unfolding mystery.
- Volume 1- Jan 2025 - see catchup notes section in Harta 75 post
- Volume 2 - Ch 7-10 Feb 2025 - see catchup notes section in Harta 76 post
- Volume 2 Ch 11-12 Feb 2025 - see catchup notes section in Harta 77 post
- Volume 3-4 Harta 75-78 Ch 13-26 Mar 2025 - see catchup notes section in Harta 78 post
アンリの靴 / Anri a Shoemaker - Feb 2025 - see catchup notes section in Harta 77 post
🗺 Continuing series I still intend to catch up on
I’m catching up with one series at a time. I’m looking forward to trying the following (of the は and る series). Other series (た) whose first digital issue is in Harta 76 will be in that post (scroll down 2 posts).
- ハクメイとミコチ (This looks so cute! There are 9 volumes preceding Harta 75 which starts at Ch 74. I’ll read vol 1 before deciding how much catch-up I want to do before following it in Harta)
- 碧いホルスの瞳: Harta 75 starts at chapter 35, so there are perhaps 5 volumes before Harta 75.
- Dungeon Meshi - Harta 75 starts at Ch 65 (middle of Vol 10)
- 峠鬼: I don’t see a chapter name at Harta 75 or 77. Based on the frequency of publication, there are probably 5 chapters (which would be volume 1) to catch up on, but at level 35 I’m not expecting it to be in range soon.
…
🙈 skipping
I’m skipping the following for now - sorry I’ve copied the English names from SeanBones since that was easier and I’m not invested in these. Very possibly a higher level of Japanese would have changed some decisions.
I might reevaluate later
Aozora Kyudo Club - the art is gorgeous! I’m not invested enough to catch up and read more, especially as it’s ending soon, but if I’m looking for a sports manga later I’ll consider it.
Migi and Dali - linking to some comments I wrote earlier. It’s … creepier than what I want right now but I am curious
High school setting / romance
I just can’t get into it! The art and stories just didn’t draw me in.
- Cuprum’s Bride - I read this chapter and previewed Ch 1 a while ago and just couldn’t get interested enough in the other elements to carry me through. Perhaps if I could read faster
- Tokyo Castle Girl’s High School Students
- Friday’s Atelier - The scenes with the art are gorgeous and imaginative! The daily life scenes in contrast didn’t compel me to read on (in art and content).
- Flower Shop Kid
Transferring/ends soon
Simply put - it’s leaving the magazine or ending soon, the premise and art didn’t grab my attention, so I moved on without much thought
- Yagi and the Sheep’s Crown
- Dance in the Evening Calm, My Ribbon
- Hinamatsuri
- Immortal Hunting Dog
- Life of the Lottery Vengeful Ghost
- Red Tsubaki
- The North-North-West Clouds Move
- Rekiyomi
- A Bride’s Story
- B-Komachi
- Dan the Iron Robot
Annoyed me
- Furo Run - I tried it out but … got bored. There didn’t seem to be much more substance than the literal title - run then bathe. I also miss running due to an injury so page after page of running bliss shots made me sad which surprised me.
- Introduction to Minerology the MC’s shelf boobs and all the crotch shots just really annoy me
I wanted to like it so I explored volume 1 to give it another chance. No, school girl goes into mountains in a mini skirt and trips, enter panty shot. It just makes me feel like the outdoors potrayal can’t be that authentic if that’s where the mangaka’s focus is. Well, that’s my excuse, really I just didn’t want to face those terrible shelf boobs again. I had been hoping for different scenery 
War / military
Just not a theme that is entertainment for me, and my Japanese is at entertainment level.
- Smoke and Honey - I was curious and gave it a chance, but no, just not my theme
- Far East Incident
- The Fourteen of the Nine Countries
…
My favorite references
Aside from this whole thread, I go back to these posts again and again to get oriented, make a plan, and check after I read something.
A post above listing everything in the first digital issue (#75) and how long it’s been running/will run by SeanBones (as at Nov 2023)
Two English-language run-downs of everything in Harta by rodan:
Nov 2023 as at issue #109
Jan 2025 as at issue #117
Rodan’s catch up post - reviews by volume of manga related to Harta - very useful to reference if you’re doing any catch-up on continuing series