I’m still on the search for the Japanese version of the Kaze no Stigma chapters, but unfortunately I can’t find any (and I’m not fortunate enough to get hold of the Dragon Age Magazine where it’s serialized). I plan to buy the tankoubon when it comes out, but I don’t think it’ll be released till months from now >< Anyways, I read two chapters of the Chinese scanlation and I really like how things are going with the manga :3 Without the Japanese version, I guess I'll be sticking to this ><

I’m still contemplating on whether I’m going to dedicate a post for each of the manga chapter as I get to read them, or just do some novel/anime/manga comparison (like my ‘deep frying’ post) after a bit more chapters come out, or as I get to buy the tankoubon… (though it’ll be quite a loooong wait, considering that only one chapter comes out each month >_< )

Foreword: Please don’t ask me where I got these scanlations

Chapter 1

The manga decided to divert from its novel counterpart, and decided not to show us the Fuuga clan / Ryuuya arc anymore. Kazuma and Ayano are already acquainted in the first chapter, where Ayano simply does some narration as she introduces who Kazuma is.

Ayano meeting up with Kazuma right after school for their job

The manga starts out with the scene similar to the beginning of the novel, where Kazuma’s services are needed to get rid of this evil spirit whose traces seem to be left in these cursed paintings. Instead of working with Shinji, he already gets to work with Ayano who’s shown to proceed to the job right after school (hence she’s still wearing her uniform).

Kazuma insulting Ayano for being a flat-chested brat

As they arrive in the house, the client looks down on Ayano’s capabilities as he sees that she’s still a high school student, making her lash out an attack on him in anger. Kazuma restrains her from making their client suffer any damages and then lets out this sarcastic comment that Ayano’s actions are not surprising considering that she’s still a [flat-chested] brat :p

Ayano in action

Kazuma’s special congratulatory butt pat

The manga doesn’t hesitate to show Kazuma’s ‘ecchiness’ [sort of] (which is actually shown in the novels), as Kazuma already does his ‘congratulatory gesture’ of patting Ayano’s butt after she gets rid of this monster (who’s just a ‘minor boss’, as their real opponent lies somewhere else).

Ayano thinks about searching each and every painting in the house to find the real perpetrator, and Kazuma messes her hair as he mocks her for not using her head (saying that her head seems to be just a decoration). After some time, Ayano finally thinks of an idea on how to go about searching for the perpetrator - to ask the owner of the house to have his paintings gathered in one place, and tells Kazuma that it’s his job to protect the ones who’ll do the gathering.

Ayano going dere-dere

And well, Kazuma’s just as lazy as he originally was in the novel and escapes from doing this task by telling Ayano, “My job is to protect you…”, making Ayano blush furiously at this ‘declaration of love’, or so she thought…

Kazuma brings Ayano back to ‘reality’

She finally realizes that she’s just being teased by Kazuma after he gives him a pinching as he continues what he was intending to tell her “[My job is to protect you]…so I’m not doing anything else other than that, got it?” :p

Ayano getting sad over the fact that Kazuma’s not telling her anything

Things go similarly as the side story episode in the novel /anime (Ayano’s Misfortune) where Kazuma already knows the whereabouts of the perpetrator but doesn’t reveal this to Ayano, making her rely on no one but herself.

She eventually manages to find the monster which was dwelling by the fountains outside the house, but things don’t go smoothly as it suddenly appears and attacks. Ayano carelessly jumps out of the house and goes to attack…

Knight in Shining Armor

…and manages to get saved by Kazuma from falling (*remembers a similar scene in the Misao arc*).

Ayano delivering the final blow

Ayano brings out her Enraiha and defeats the monster in no time, but sustains great damages to the property of the client, to which she blames Kazuma for. Kazuma actually noticed the presence of the perpetrator right after they entered the house, and is surprised that Ayano wasn’t able to sense it (I believe he said this on purpose – sarcasm yet again).

Kazuma’s KISS

Ayano reasons out that it should’ve been his job to do the searching and realizes that Kazuma kept the information from her on purpose. But before she can react, Kazuma beats her to it and kisses her hand as he praises her for the job she did earlier, telling Ayano that it’s simply a ‘reward kiss’ :p

Ayano exclaims her surprise with the mention of ‘KISS’, leaving her speechless by Kazuma’s gesture as well as his ‘closeness’. Kazuma continues to tease her by asking if she’s still not satisfied (with simply a kiss), but Ayano just reasons out that she’ll never be satisfied with the thought that she’s been kissed by someone like Kazuma whom she hates.

Kirika appears and leaves Ayano speechless with her beauty and body

Ayano pouts for reasons she doesn’t know herself

And then, Kirika makes her appearance as she meets up with Kazuma right then and there, leaving Ayano all by herself and lashes out her anger on her pillow before going to bed, wondering just why she’s that angry with Kazuma ^^;;;;

Chapter 2

Now I’ll be diverting from the storytelling I did in chapter 1 because this pretty much went the same as the novel / anime. I’ll just be highlighting parts of this chapter :3

The Fuuga clan arc wasn’t shown in the manga anymore, but it still happened the way it did in the novels, whose details are just narrated throughout the chapter. This chapter focuses on the celebration in the Kannagi residence with regards to the Fuuga clan incident, introducing us to Misao’s arc.

Ayano looking hawter and kakkoi :3

This chapter starts off showing Ayano having her regular practice, and so we get to see her (as well as Ren) wearing a hakama.

Glomp Attack

Ren visits her and gets awed by her skills. Ayano breaks away from seriousness as she sees Ren and gives him a glomp attack from being unable to resist his cuteness :p

Ren talks about how Kazuma will be attending the celebration after breaking free from Ayano, and remembers the incident the other day with Kazuma and Kirika (and vividly imagines an H-scene with them ^^;;; ). Poor Ren becomes Ayano’s ‘anger-reliever’ as she pinches him hard on the cheeks (and Ayano of course doesn’t know why she’s getting all worked up)

Ren sleeping soundly amidst the commotion and where have all the colors gone?

The manga was able to stay faithful to the tiny details of the novel such as showing Ren sleeping throughout the commotion with Misao, hence he wasn’t able to hear the cold words Kazuma told Misao ^^;;

Ayano’s ‘love blues’ and Yukari’s perceptiveness

Ayano still can’t get over what happened in the celebration and becomes deep in her thoughts even in class. Yukari was perceptive enough to know that Ayano’s having ‘love blues’ and is thinking about some guy, announcing to their whole class that Ayano’s finally got herself a boyfriend, much to the surprise and dismay of her admirers

Ayano schemes a mischievous plan

I’ve already mentioned in my earlier deep frying post (in the latter portion) that I would’ve loved to see Ayano giving Ren the ‘hug attack’ mentioned in the novel, and well the manga granted us that :p In the above pic, Ayano prepares herself for the attack, and finally…

The Hug Attack

…huggles Ren :p

Events after that goes the same in the novel / anime but was just executed differently for the manga counterpart (with comical and SD scenes added in between, which the manga can make the most out of :p), and finally ends up Kazuma getting fired with ammunition from the gunmen Misao hired.

Thoughts

It’s great to see that the manga paid attention to details which both the novel and the anime failed to give us, like this transition of events as Ayano heads from school to the job with Kazuma, and give us more entertainment by showing the different sides of Ayano as originally portrayed in the novel (plus some ‘manga originals’ entertainment :3)

The KnS manga was able to show the characters in different settings and clothings, which is such a delight after having gone through the pain of seeing all the KnS characters not changing clothes AT ALL. I also liked how the author made us see a glimpse of Ayano in her school, where she’s shown to have quite a number of admirers (She’s like Akane in this regard… where many guys get awed by her aptitude in sports and academics, and overall coolness. It was mentioned in the novel that she excels in academics, much more in sports)

I’m getting my fingers crossed and hope that the short stories will be published as well, considering that the manga will now be the only alternative

My only complaint is that… it seems that the author must have become lazy or lacked the necessary staff to do the inking TT____TT See how I complained “where have all the colors gone” in that one pic? There’s more of that in chapter 2, and none of that in chapter 1 TT___TT Was that because he was catching up on his deadline or something? x___X I just hope the quality of the artwork (includes shading and coloring) comes back in the next chapter >__< (I wonder if they plan on revising this chapter for the tankoubon release... o__o)

P.S. Forgive me for not resisting the urge to post about this, and prioritize it over the episode summary ^^;;;;