Monochrome Factor Chapter 65 (END) Translation

One word, gorgeous.
If only the story can be said the same.

Btw, here's an interesting video of the making of the wallpaper above by Sorano himself. A MUST see for all Sorano-fan



It's fascinating to see how much effort he put into the background, the characters and their clothings! This fastforwarded 14 minutes video actually took him 17 hours just to create the illustration! Seeing how Ryuko, Akira and Shirogane was drawn was an epic experience!! I especially enjoyed the part where he draw their capes and those flowing long hair!!

I was busy for the passed months, I'm now doing this since it wasn't done anywhere...I think.

Chapter 65 (FINAL)
PAGE 02:

Aya: *tightens*
Akira: ...I know...

PAGE 03-04:
For seven years,
Light and Shadow,
The two worlds and their kings,
Have finally come to an end!!

PAGE 05:
Aya: *nervous*

PAGE 06:
Akira: Aya... This is it...
I will be staying here...
Kengo...
Will also come along with me...
Lulu: Aya...

PAGE 07:
Aya: What will become of Kengo and your families?
Akira: It will be as if we never even exist, back to how it was.
There won't be any burden for anyone if that happens.
Aya: How can it be...
Don't make it so simple!! I-
If you both are not around anymore...
*hugs*
PAGE 08:
Akira: If it wasn't for you, I won't be standing here, nor can I make up my mind.
I've never said this before, but I'm really grateful to you...
Aya, Thank you!
Aya: Don't... This isn't like you...

PAGE 09:
Akira: Once the gate closes, everything that happened and our very own existances will disappear,
in that situation, if only you alone remembers...
You won't be able to take it...
So, forget it...
Aya: To forget everything...
Return to the world where we came from...
I don't want!!
I can't forget... About you, Kengo...
And everyone else... I don't want to forget...!
So Please- Don't say such things like 'forget it'...
Akira: You're right... My bad...
PAGE 10:
Akira: Just that thought of yours is enough...
Aya: Akira...

PAGE 11:
Aya: Why... It was only weird dream...
Morning!
Mum(?): Morning Aya!
You look pretty laidback today, everything alright?
Aya: Yeah, since the tournament is over, I don't have my morning practice anymore.
Speaking of it...

PAGE 12:
Aya: When was the tournament held?
Teacher: Mochizuki-
Mochizuki: Here!
Teacher: Takayanagi-
Takayanagi: Here!
Teacher: Watanabe-
Watanabe: Here!
Teacher: Good, no absence.
Well then, let's go on with the curiculum activities.

PAGE 13:
Aya: What is it...? This sense of irregularity...
EVerything is the same as usual...
Or should I say...
Was everthing as it was back then...?
As if something is missing...

PAGE 14:
Aya: This feeling...
It's as if a piece from a completed puzzle...
has gone missing unknowingly...
Always...
Always...
Bothering me...
*bows* Looking forward to doing business with you.
Phew~

PAGE 15:
Aya: About time I head back to office.
If I go back, I'll have to sort up some documents...
*stops*
Without any notice,
The missing piece of puzzle return.

PAGE 16:
Aya: How could I have forgotten...?
*dashes*
That's not right, how could they made me forget?
I didn't want to forget at all...
I wanted to remember!!
Why are you even here?!
*inhales*
AKIRA!!

PAGE 18:
Akira: Aya?
Aya: Akira...Is it really you?
Akira: Why do you still remember...
Aya: I've forgotten, no thanks to you!! I've only remember everything since just now.
But what do you mean 'huh' and 'why'?
Why are you even here at the...
Lulu: AYA!!
Uwaaaa~ It's been such a while!!!
Aya: Urgh...
Lulu!?

PAGE 19:
Lulu: Aya is so pretty now!!
Aya: Oioi~ you're hurting me...
Shirogane: Aah... So you've remember...
Akira: Shirogane... Kou-ni...
Kou: Aya is special afterall, since she has a deep bond with us...
Here~
Akira: Thank you.
Kou: Aya-chan wants some?
Aya: Hey what's going on?
You guys actually have the time to sightseeing?
What happened to the other side?
Akira: We're not sightseeing,
this is a part of our job.
Aya: Says so the guy with a hotdog in his mouth, not convincing at all.
Shirogane: Relax...

PAGE 20:
Shirogane: The restoration of the palace and the borderline has been completed,
Light and Shadow are in a balance state as well.
Even thought it took us a lot of time, everything is alright now.
Right now, we're just coming over to observe regularly.
In fact, we'd try not to intefere with this world, but Akira complained that it bored him to hell by just observing.
Kou: And that's how we ended up like this.
Aya: You...
Akira: It's not my fault!
The palace is way too boring.
Aya: I see you're still the same...

PAGE 21:
Kou: It's about time we meet up with Shisui and the rest.
AKira: Uh, time flies...
Lulu: Under~stood!
Aya: Eh, you're leaving?
Akira: Homurabi is unexpectedly punctual, that fella can go on forever if we're late.
Aya: My bad...
There's no other way round I guess...
Akira: Goodbye, Aya...

PAGE 22-23:
Akira: See you next time!

PAGE 24:
Aya: Ah, See you next time.

Final Thoughts:
I don't know what to say, I'm not even sure what's going on. I'll just jot down some events in chronological order just so that I can make out what was happening for the past few chapters:
1. Akira meets Shirogane, got turn into a shin that undergoes 'henshin' process everything he fights.
2. Kou then appears and pledges his everlasting love loyalty to Ryuko/Akira.
3. Ryuko's story is partially revealed.
4. Shisui isn't just any hot-looking bartender.
5. Homurabi is your typical 'muahahahaha-I-look-evil-with-my-crazy-hairdo' villain.
6. Lulu and Nanaya are now Akira's best friends.
7. Shirogane is actually a yandere.
8. Homurabi is actually a tsundere, he goes dere when his hair is flatten.
9. Ryuko, Kengo and Sawaki the gays are officially dead, and shall remain forever dead.
10. Akira is now king with his waifu Shirogane, pet Kou, and they live happily ever after.

From what I see here, Aya doesn't do much in the story except preparing Akira to battle and to save his butt when the group's in a pinch. Kengo, on the other hand, his only purpose in the story is to be Akira's initial gay partner, be the someone important Akira wants to protect, and finally dies as a factor holder who didn't really do much despite getting those power up gloves.

As for the Shadow kings, they are far more yandere than I could ever imagine. But the whole crew of Monochrome Factor are plain simple-minded. The ending was a mess. First of all, the 'Homurabi-the-yandere-king-is-actually-a-cute-guy-so-let-us-forgive-his-crimes-and-be-friends-with-him' thing is incredible.

Hey Kou, that guy murdered your father/master, just because he's a yandere you're ok with befriending him again as if nothing happened before? Not just Kou, but others as well! Did you guys not love Ryuko? Shirogane is obviously the only sane one. He's allowed to be angry, his wife got killed and now those who used to love Ryuko are actually getting along well with the murderer. That's not OK. But now he's sticking out like a sore thumb. 'Daaaw why can't we just forgive Homu-chan~' thing is pissing him off, but too bad he's the only one who's pissed. And now he looks like the final evil boss who couldn't learn to forgive and decides that if Akira couldn't understand his pain, he'll let Akira learn it by taking away Akira's own waifu (Kengo).


And then what happened? More epic fights, with Aya wiping Akira's butt and Akira finally defeating Shirogane because he went to school and knew his chemistry. Oh woohoo...wait. What the hell is going? Ryuko's dead, Kengo's dead, yandere kings are scary. But after a fight, it's as if those two's deaths doesn't mean anything anymore. Everyone's plain 'yay', 'let the dead stay dead', 'they're dead so what?'.

It's kinda forced, Nothing seems to make sense. Monochrome Factor is a shounen series about Akira becoming a king and saving the world. The problem is, Akira doesn't have any specific reason to do either. If he has it's because he is the chosen one. I see nothing in the story that propels Akira to decide that he loves the world and that's why he wants to save it.

He's just 'eeeeh I'm gonna fight to live', 'aaaah Aya-chan taught me to be stronger', 'oooh I have no freaking idea why did I suddenly wants to prove my existence and get Shirogane to acknowledge me'. Akira isn't Ryuko, so is that it? He becomes the King of Light just so that he can get Shirogane to acknowldge his existence? What was Shirogane to Akira in the first place??? He didn't give a hoot to Kengo all the time but he's sensitive to what Shirogane thinks of him, why? Because he's meant to be with Shirogane?

I'm stopping my rantings here, this could go on and on forever if I continue... @____@
I love Sorano's art, but Monochrome Factor certainly isn't his best story, let's see what I can squeeze out from his other work Mother Keeper. I miss Ricalna so much!

7 comments:

  1. Hi! (((first, can I write a comment here :o? if not,please delete it ^^))
    Thanks for the translation! at first I began reading the raw chapter and then understood how it ended, and thought no, I'm not straining my eyes for f*** furigana for such a lame ending! And you translated it, thank you thank you thank you *o*!! //so easy to read (L)//
    I understand all you say, I remember when I started reading MF and it was a good manga, and then came a moment when I just couldn't understand how the plot and the fights made sense. I think Shirogane is the only chracter that more or less made sense and stayed true to himself, as he never forgot his hate for Homurabi and always fought for the same reason. But, the ending.. ugh, so frustrating! Nobody remembers how Homurabi acted? And all that mess just for a stupid misunderstanding =_=?!
    Anyway, thank you again for translating and for sharing your opinion of the manga -at least I know now that I'm not the only one who didn't find the ending that good xd

    ReplyDelete
  2. it's sorta rushed throughout the story, so i s'pose ever loyal fan of MF is quite unhappy with that ending, (yea... it's true.. i mean.. everything is so quick.... tsk.. I'm looking for more hope in Mother Keeper, it's just looking nice now- like MF in the beginning- so who know what next... w/e~ still, i love Sorano's sensei art though)

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  3. @saintvalentine_27, @Manabishi and @ChibiRozen
    I agree with you. I'm disapointed cause it actually seems like a rushed work from miles away. The plotline isn't as it was to the other chapters and it leaves a lot unanswered questions that it makes with this chapter only. In other chapters it wasn't like this. I hope they change their mind and release at least one more chapter but if they did this, it has to be with more pages as it was in the first chapters of this manga and without questioning the viewer/reader leaving him with one more confusing chapter. I think Kairi/Kaili Sorano changed the storyline and drawing for this chapter cause (of course he wanted to have more chapters) of the drop of his/her Manga. But really, i think he/she changed his/her work only to the 3 or 4 ending chapters because of his/her Editor and only. I can't see anymore the meaning that his/her work had in the first chapters and it was one of my fav mangas but now i somehow changed my mind...
    BTW ChibiRozen thank you for your translation and of course your final thoughts of this manga and the Video with his/her Illustration. I think he/she focused on this part a lot (but of course is really awesome) and he/she forgot the meaning he/she was writting the manga. . .

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  4. EH? Where the pages about Mayu(Koge's older sister)? There's missing pages... Or something wrong about it! Please check about this... :((

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  5. I just read the manga! Oh my, I like Ryuuko, a lot! But why did henit revive but instead pass the throne to Akira? The whole thing started as they wanted to bring Ryuuko from Akira, why not stick to that end? Why change it to Akira being the direct king? Can Aya just stay in the light or shadow world? She helped out a lot abd been through a lot, she has the right to stay. Didn't her grandpa say fight till you win? Kengo, revive that guy can? He just lived for nothing? Shouldn't we see some karma for Homurabi? He just got healed and nothing happens what? Ryuuko, such a nice king died because Homurabi wants him dead. To be frank, the way Ryuuko die is weird, how can such a powerful person die so easily abd quickly? Where is season 2 of the Monochrome Factor anime? Ryuuko is really a nice king, he has all the correct values, wise and kind while Akira is still immature to be a king. Sawaki should have karma for killing Ryuuko. It is cruel for Shirogane to continue without Ryuuko, to make him accept someone not Ryuuko. When Shirogane openbed his eyes Ryuuko was there. Ryuuko has been there beside Shirogane all the time. How could Ryuuko just leave? What is the misunderstanding between Kou and Sawaki?

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  6. Decided to search the internet for the ending of Monochrome Factor after recently finding the anime. Saw that it had potential and plenty of people want a season 2. Seeing this, the story seems to have started off well, but ended a bit badly. Thanks for the post and if this does get some sort of revival, it wouldn’t be bad in my eyes.

    ReplyDelete