しろくまカフェ 🐻‍❄ Book Club Home Thread [Now Reading Vol 3]

[WeepingWeeb]

Welcome to the しろくまカフェ Book Club!

The first volume of this book was originally read in the Absolute Beginner Book Club in 2019, and I thought it would be fun to do a re-read then finish the series!

Shirokuma Cafe is a fun series by Aloha Higa about a group of animals mingling with humans at a cafe run by a puntastic polar bear. There are different versions of this so if you’re buying them be careful of which one you get. Originally there were 5 volumes published, which were then re-published as 4 volumes and renamed “しろくまカフェ bis”. They were then followed by a sequel series named “しろくまカフェ Today’s Special”

This club will be based on the original series but will contain references to the bis version for people that are using that one.

View this book on Natively!

Original Publication (5 Volumes)

Official Title: しろくまカフェ
Original series. Same content as bis.

Newer Publications (4 Volumes)

Official Title: しろくまカフェ bis
Same content as the original publications

Sequel Series (4 Volumes)

Official Title: しろくまカフェ Today’s Special
A sequel series to the original and bis.

Where to Purchase (First volume)

Make sure to buy the original or bis if you’re starting from the beginning and not Today’s Special since its a sequel!

Digital: [Bookwalker · Kobo ]
Physical: [Amazon · CDJapan]

Schedule

Volume 1

Make sure to check the chapters for the version you have

• Original has a chapter (パンダくんの遠足) that isn’t in bis so this is doubled up with the next chapter so everyone has something to read
• Original has 2 extra recipes than bis
• Bis has more chapters than the original but these are in the next volume of the original series, since this club is based on the original series the next schedule table will have a mix of first and second bis volumes for this

Week	Start Date	Chapter (orig)	Chapter (bis)	Page Numbers (Orig)	Page Count (orig)
Week 1	27th May 2024	道場編・フィッシング編(1-2)	1-2	5-12	8
Week 2	3rd June 2024	スノーボード編・お花見編(3-4)	3-4	13-20	8
Week 3	10th June 2024	パフェフェア編・朝の日課編(5-6)	5-6	21-28	8
Week 4	17th June 2024	アルバイト編１(7)	7	29-40	12
Week 5	24th June 2024	落ち葉たき編・パン屋さん編(8-9)	8-9	41-48	8
Week 6	1st July 2024	自動車教習編・師走編・お正月編(10-12)	10-12	49-57	9
Week 7	8th July 2024	アルバイト編２(13)	13	59-70	12
Week 8	15th July 2024	動物園編(14)	14	71-80	10
Week 9	22th July 2024	パンダくんの遠足(not in bis)・パンダくん編(15-16)	16	81-99	19
Week 10	29th July 2024	グリズリーさん編(17)	17	101-112	12
Week 11	5th August 2024	家出編１・家出編２(18-19)	18-19	113-122	10
Week 12	12th August 2024	ペンギンさん編・冬眠編(20-21)	21-22	123-136	13
Week 13	19th August 2024	飼育員編(22)	23	137-143	7
Week 14	26th August 2024	シロクマくんの休日(23)	15+20	145-160	15
Week 15	2nd September 2024	Recipes 1-5 + 巻末ふろく	pg. 58, 89, 98, 196-199	4, 58, 100, 130, 144, 161-165	10

• Volume 2
• Volume 3

Vocabulary

しろくまカフェ Vol.1 Vocabulary Sheet

Please read the guidelines on the first page before adding any words.

Live Readings

There is nothing currently set up but if anyone is interested feel free to mention and we can set something up in the Discord server.

---

Discussion Guidelines

Spoiler Courtesy
Please put spoiler tags around anything from anything that will be in future weeks

Instructions for Spoiler Tags

Click the cog above the text box and use either the “Hide Details” or “Blur Spoiler” options. The text which says “This text will be hidden” should be replaced with what you are wishing to write. In the case of “Hide Details”, the section in the brackets that is labelled “Summary” can be replaced with whatever you like also (i.e, [details=”Chapter 1, Pg. 1”]).

Hide Details results in the dropdown box like below:

Example

This is an example of the “Hide Details” option.

The “Blur Spoiler” option will simply blur the text it surrounds.

This is an example of the “Blur Spoiler” option.

Posting Advice

• Don’t be afraid to ask questions, someone else might be struggling with the same thing you are and its a great opportunity to help each other out!
• Please mention the page number and book version (orig or bis) if you’re asking help on a specific section so people can find it easily.
• You can search to see if someone has already asked your question!
• Do join in with the conversation even just to share your thoughts on the current chapters.

Page Numbers
For the eBook version of this manga, the page numbers and the location number are 2 apart. If you subtract 2 from the eBook location, this will give you the accurate page number!

OR

Please use the chapter page numbers, instead of the volume page numbers. These are located in between the panels!

Proper Nouns

Picture	Name	English	Notes
	シロクマ	Polar bear	Main character, owner of the cafe
	パンダ	Panda	Main character, lazy regular to the cafe
	ペンギン	Penguin	Main character, regular to the cafe

Resources

Shirokuma reading thread from 2019

Membership

Are you interested in joining in?

• Yes!
• Nah

Which version are you using?

• eBook
• Old version (Original)
• New version (bis)

Make sure to set this thread to Watching to get updates!!!

[WeepingWeeb]

If you’re interested in reading along, please answer these polls as well!

Start Date?

• 20th May
• 27th May
• 3rd June

Schedule?

Info: Chapters are around 4 pages each with a few being longer ~9 ish

This poll is based on the original volumes, so this would be e.g. finishing the original volume in 21 weeks, which would be like 85% of the bis version.

• 1 chapter a week = 21 weeks
• 2 chapters a week = 10 weeks (ish)

This poll doesn’t have to be final, if we ended up thinking it was too slow or fast we could change it as we go. There are also some extra pages in my copy of the original (Recipes, coloured pages in the middle, polar bear’s holiday, paper crafts). I’m not sure if these are in the bis and eBook versions, if anyone has them let me know, we could maybe dedicate a week or two to those as well.

[WeepingWeeb]

Questions for people who know more than I do:

• Am I doing this right lol
• Is it alright to convert this into the home thread after seeing if people are interested?
• If this were being added to the master list of book clubs would it go in the miscellaneous category or in the same row as the original shirokuma thread but with a link to this one called offshoot in status?

[mitrac]

This is so exciting, thanks!!! I bought these after the club finished I think, but didn’t manage to keep up the energy to go through them on my own. This will be fun!

@WeepingWeeb

Am I doing this right lol

Great home thread for the club! I’m so glad you posted all the images of the different volumes people might find, that’s super helpful.

My only comment where you might want to redo some polls is to select the option for polls to be multiple choice. Just write a list of people who voted and tag them to revote when you change them as votes will be lost! But I think it could be worth it, as for example, I only have minor preferences about timing and pace, so I’d be fine to click on all options.

And - post a link to this thread in the ABBC and BBC threads so that more people see it! It’s an offshoot of a previous club, so if people are still around from round one they might want to join or at least set it to watching to join from book 2 on wards.

@WeepingWeeb

Is it alright to convert this into the home thread after seeing if people are interested?

Definitely! Maybe put up a note to set the thread to watching to get future notifications.

@WeepingWeeb

If this were being added to the master list of book clubs would it go in the miscellaneous category or in the same row as the original shirokuma thread but with a link to this one called offshoot in status?

It would go with the original shirokuma one as the offshoot. Or it might even replace it once it becomes the home thread and links to all Shirokuma related read-throughs/clubs. Maybe see how other offshoots linked. Some clubs make the Volume 1 thread the home thread, and some have a separate home thread - so see wha tthe latter do. Or ask in that thread and someone will tell you! They’re really organised and nice

[WeepingWeeb]

Thank you so much for your help

[WeepingWeeb]

Hi, sorry if you wouldn’t mind re-voting I’ve changed the polls to multiple choice so you can pick more than one option if more than one are fine with you @mitrac @KennethDK

しろくまカフェ Book Club・Interest Poll

If you’re interested in reading along, please answer these polls as well! Start Date? poll Schedule? Info: Chapters are around 4 pages each with a few being longer ~9 ish This poll is based on the original volumes, so this would be e.g. finishing the original volume in 21 weeks, which would be like 85% of the bis version. poll This poll doesn’t have to be final, if we ended up thinking it was too slow or fast we could change it as we go. There are also some extra pages in my copy of the origi…

[Dck81]

Great idea! I bought the book just after it was initially read in the ABBC just because I thought it looked cute… And then I never got around to reading it. Ready whenever

[mitrac]

@WeepingWeeb

There are also some extra pages in my copy of the original (Recipes, coloured pages in the middle, polar bear’s holiday, paper crafts). I’m not sure if these are in the bis and eBook versions, if anyone has them let me know, we could maybe dedicate a week or two to those as well.

I hadn’t noticed this…

I just paged through volume 1 bis and discovered I had never actually read the table of contents (I guess it was too overwhelming back then lol). It lists 3 recipes (scattered throughout), and there are paper crafts at the end! No colour pages, and I’m not sure about Polar bear’s holiday, at least it’s not in the first part of the book or the table of contents. But anyway, that would be fun to leave a week or two to explore these at the end, each according to what is in their copy!

[Micki]

Thanks for setting this up. Really enjoyed volume 1, looking forward to reading it again and continuing on to the later volumes!

[MaraVos]

Wow, this is the first time I’ve ever understood what the different series were! Thank you!!!

I own (and have read) bis #1, but you’ve got me thinking of ordering original number one, because I’m pretty sure I read somewhere that there are a few things that get left out of the bis version.

I can’t say 100% yes that I will participate, but I will vote yes because I’m definitely interested in joining!

[javerend]

It’s probably been long enough for a nice reread personally, and definitely been long enough to rerun the book club since it’s such a popular starter series.

I will refrain from voting in the polls to not sway it away from the beginners who would benefit more from deciding a pace that works for them I already have them on the shelf, so any start date works for me.

[ChristopherFritz]

Me: I’m not certain whether I’ll join. Maybe see if anything pushes me toward or against it.

Comic I’m reading the following day:

[WeepingWeeb]

Haa, it’s definitely a sign

[Micki]

Agree definitely a sign! Can’t see your name in the poll yet though…

Is she expecting to see polar bears in Hokkaido?

There is a しろくま in sumo now that Takahashi has changed his shikona. Maybe she’s a sumo fan…

[ChristopherFritz]

@Micki

Can’t see your name in the poll yet though…

I haven’t made my way back up there just yet.

@Micki

Is she expecting to see polar bears in Hokkaido?

I was wondering the same thing… If her boyfriend doesn’t take her to the zoo in a later volumes, he’ll have failed completely.

(This is from 日々蝶々, for the curious. The series is generally crazy low on text, often having full pages with nothing being said, but when there is dialogue, half of it’s very colloquial and difficult to read before getting used to it…)

[autumnalbees]

Wow I was planning on reading this, would love to join in!

[pjames43]

I have the first two volumes of the “New version” already! I am excited for this. Plus, I love the TV version.

[KennethDK]

I am super excited! I’ll not be finished with Genki I so I will definitely struggle but that’s fine

[PotatoDancer]

I seem to also be getting a sign to join

[KennethDK]

I have no idea how to read manga. I just opened a random page and was wondering whether this was the correct order to read it?