Poking Around Pt 83 (Patreon)

There’s a Hawaiian saying that goes “I Ka Wa Ma Mua, I Ka Wa Ma Hope” meaning “The Future is in the Past”. This was popularised by the American television show Hawaii Five-O (a remake based on the 1960s show that ran for just over a decade)

That saying is what inspired this intermission, though for a long time, I didn’t know how to transition to and maintain it beyond an ironic echo. Then inspiration struck when this was a thing but the Translation Notes will confirm why.

There was going to be a poll to determine what happens next but it’ll be delayed as I really want to bridge the early part of the comic with what is happening now. This won’t take too long. At the time of posting, I’m aiming to get this ‘bridge’ wrapped up by the end of the next part. Please look forward to it and thank you so much to everyone who continues to fund this comic.

TL Notes:

• “Ma̶w -eanwhile”: The poor-man’s pun in based on this beastie.
• “Humu’Humu’ Fishing Village”: The village takes its name from the Hawaiian state fish. Said fish is also what this beauty is based on. 
• “Pallet Swap Police”: So, when this deer-thingy was announced, I couldn’t help but think of Andoh Marcer introduced way back when. At the time of drawing this, I’d just been introduced to Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo (a mid-2000s anime, based on a gag manga that follows a blonde-afro’ed man fighting an organisation making everyone bald). So, I thought it’d be amusing to have a “not-Andoh Marcer”, and “not-Akita Keiji” (introduced way back in Part 10) appear. The latter is loosely based on this doggo. I don’t have names for either of these officers though… maybe Chase Ryder for the dog since the official design strongly reminds me of that Paw Patrol thing my youngest nephew likes.
• “Love Fish Fishing Corp(oration)”: A shout-out to the one-off comic (or two) that would eventually become Poking Around. Ironically, that entire plot got dropped as this series went on. ‘Ae is Hawaiian for love, L’a is fish. 
• “M. Ploy Agency”: Based on what happened to me once many years ago. A temporary job I had filling in for someone on maternity leave came to an end. As was the custom back then (we’re talking over a decade ago now), I had to drop off my signed timesheet to get paid. However, the agency itself had decided to move completely out of the area so I turned up at an empty building where the agency used to be. Fortunately, I was able to fax my timesheet to a sister agency halfway up the country. And that message Kuroki recieved was the one I got on my phone. What a Christmas that was. The name used in this comic is completely fictional though.
• “Flying Night Taxi”: Based on this. Albert had a cameo appearance on Aina Island (where the sumo meet takes place) back in Part 75, hence his absence here.
  
  
  The Beginning Bit: 1 , 2 , 3 , 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12,  13,
  The Eatery:  14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25. 26, 27 28, 29,
  Interlude:  30, 31,
  All About Albert:  32, 33, 34,  35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44,
  The Long Road Home: 45,  46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54,
  Another Interlude: 55, 56,
  Saruto vs Tori: 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69 70,
  Hinomarusumo:  71, 72, 73,  74, 75, 76, 77.  78, 79   80,  81.  82