Probably gonna wrap up chapter 10 as well later today since I’m home sick, but just finished 9 and it was a great breath of fresh air! This chapter felt like really easy reading but was still super cute and also had some new and potentially pretty useful words for my word bank bocchi replying to the foreigner in english after she was spoken to in japanese and then proceeding to be proud of having an “English conversation” was soooo funny to me
Aaand finished up for this week! Honestly really enjoyed both chapters, they were quite fun and felt a little easier than normal. Am I going nuts or is Sotoka speaking in the third person all the time? Don’t really get it if I’m missing something there
She is, yeah. It’s a thing that cutesy-type characters do in manga and anime sometimes, though I don’t think I’ve ever seen a foreigner-type character do it.
So, I checked the anime’s version of this strip, and her facial expression doesn’t change at all besides blinking occasionally, so I wonder if someone just forgot to colour in her eyes here.
This is inspirational, if Bocchi can call this 英会話, you can call being able to say “ありがとうございます” to the cashier at the seven eleven “being fluent in Japanese”
Ahh, I thought it might be 外キャラクター but your reading is definitely more accurate!
Yeah, I love how it’s written in hiragana first because Sotoka assumes she’s speaking Japanese lol (which is understandable, because I’d certainly expect my Japanese classmate to respond to me in Japanese if I was in Japan and I spoke to them in Japanese!).
Oh, I’m aware it’s not from Sotoka’s perspective, but even if Bocchi is stuttering there, she’s still trying to say the English word “No,” which would typically be written in katakana. Writing it in hiragana allows us, the readers, to assume she’s speaking in Japanese, just like Sotoka did. It’s cute!
It’s one of those standard anime/manga tropes - characters suffering strong emotions frequently collapse, fall down, or even die. Sotoka’s specific pose is sometimes called the orz pose (because the letters “orz” resemble the pose).
(It really only works in manga/anime, mind - they tried to replicate it twice in the live-action Gyakuten Saiban movie, and let me tell you, it looks daft.)
Have you finished the reading for this week? It seems like sotoka was reeeeally excited about her being a ninja and thought this was her big moment to meet one. So when hitori just kind of awkwardly scuttles away its sort of a ‘doh’ moment for her I think. Later in the reading she acts even more crazy in relation to the idea of bocchi being a ninja haha
I interpreted her reaction as being shocked (offended?) that Bocchi is responding to her in English just because she’s a foreigner (maybe that’s just me projecting lol).
Finished this week’s reading! I’m gonna be real, finishing two chapters in a week has been tough for me. It’s great practice, though – I’m definitely learning some new kanji (and reinforcing ones I’ve seen before), and it’s great being able to get through the volume so quickly. Just two weeks left!
Still, I think I’ll take a break from the BBC after finishing this volume!
As for the reading itself, I’m really enjoying Sotoka as a character. She’s just really sweet and earnest… even if she is also very confused, lol. Also, the scene where Sotoka opens up the shuriken and Bocchi hides behind Nako is honestly super sweet, at least until Sotoka starts talking about ninjas again, lol.
Somewhat finished this week as well. Everything not 100% clear (I’ll do a last session if I can), but I get most of it. I agree, doing two chapters per week as been tough, especially with the Sakura book club in parallel.
But hey, I’ve been able to stay on track ! I’ve been reducing the SRS pressure by a lot (each day is about 80 WK review, 20 anki reviews and 30 Renshuu reviews), to spend more time reading. I’m quite happy with the results !
