Red Data Girl - Series 1 & 2

My First Familiar - 1

An American Girl in Japan

This is the first installment in my translation of Red Data Girl: My First Familiar by Noriko Ogiwara.

I've wanted to read this book for a while and now that I'm reading it, I've decided to translate it into English so that other people can enjoy it with me. Red Data Girl: My First Familiar is the first of a six book series about Izumiko Suzuhara, a girl with mysterious powers. For those who didn't see my post earlier today, here's the eye catch summary on the back of the book:

Living in Kumanokodou, Japan, 3rd year middle schooler Izumiko is reunited with Miyuki, an old acquaintance. Miyuki, whose fate is to protect Izumiko, is disgusted to find that people are calling her a goddess and Izumiko is just as confused as he is. But when they visit Tokyo on a school excursion, secrets come to light.

The series was turned into an anime about a year ago and I enjoyed it a lot. However, the story seemed to be missing something just like many books turned anime/movies do. As a result, I'm expecting to like this book even more than I did the anime because I'll finally get that missing piece.

My plan is to post about ten translated pages from the book each week although the posts might be shorter or longer than that depending on the week. The book itself is divided into chapters which are then divided further into parts. Each part is about twenty pages long, so my plan is to cut each part in half at appropriate breaks. This week's translation is a little shorter than I'm hoping most of the following ones will be, but I'm just so excited to share it with you, so I wanted to get it out as soon as possible.

So without further ado, Red Data Girl: My First Familiar.

Red Data Girl: My First Familiar
By Noriko Ogiwara
Chapter 1: Izumiko
Part 1 (1 of 2)

It was the end of April and the beginning of the first day of the new semester.

The school's sakura trees were already starting to drop their blossoms and grow new leaves as a result of the mild winter in the mountains. The end of the pollen season was in sight and new green was popping into life.

In homeroom, the teacher, Ms. Kanako Nakamura had delivered the notice for one on one post-middle school consultations and Izumiko Suzuhara had suddenly realized; Ah. I'm really a third year. When she graduated, she would be a high schooler and the familiar faces from elementary and middle school would change.

Located in a mountainous region, Awatani Middle School was a rather relaxed sort of place. Izumiko and her classmates would be going off to high school, but with that said, the majority of the class would go to the same, local public school. The few students aspiring to go to the private school up north had probably done some preparation for the entrance exam but, for the ones who hadn't, they didn't worry too much about whether or not they would get in.

The one on one consultations, huh?

One on one meant that their homeroom teacher would meet with their guardians. As no guardian could come to the school, Izumiko was thrown into her usual gloom. Neither her mother nor her father could attend the meeting.

When homeroom ended, Haruna Mida stopped in front of Ayumi Watanabe's desk and began chatting about her high school plans.

"I'm going to Sototsugawa High."

"That'll be a struggle. Isn't it a little late to apply?"

"How many people in our class took the entrance exam for the private school do you think?"

"The student council president definitely took it. Besides her, Marina and Kamioka..."

Izumiko absently listened as Ayumi counted off students. Suddenly, Ayumi turned her way.