One of the subjects on the list of exams I struggled to read - it’s 現代文 (modern Japanese).
The exam scene was all a bit silly.
Learning the word 千羽鶴 lead me to read about Sadako and her thousand paper cranes, and the Children’s Peace Memorial in Hiroshima. Probably something everyone else knows about but was new to me. Helped give context to her comment asking if someone was ill.
There’s an interesting parallel between Lion-san with his lion head, and Fuchuuya in his rabbit costume, also with a giant animal head on. Especially the way they are both watching over and looking out for Asumi.
I must have known this a year ago, as you told us in week 1, but I’d obviously forgotten. Left me puzzled when I looked up the relationship between the station and the beach this chapter, and realised the real Yuigahama is spelt differently.
For the real-world answer to Chibi-Fuchuya’s question in the third panel of page 76: No, you can’t have green stars, because the shape of the black body emission curve is so broad - a star with its emission peak in the green area of the spectrum would include so much blue and red as well that it’d look white or yellow. No idea what it is they think they saw in this chapter. Lion-san playing a prank, perhaps.
Small warning: There’s another two examples of Yaginuma-sensei’s favourite corporal punishment method in this chapter.
Page 109, this has come up before, but Chibi-Suzuki is listing the moons of Saturn here. Atlas, Prometheus, Epimetheus, Enceladus, Tethys, Telesto, Titan, Janus, Mimas, Pandora, finishing with possibly (He)lene on page 110.
Page 115, N-gauge is a standard size of model train set, at a scale of 1:160 of full size. It’s the most popular gauge for model trains in Japan, and is generally considered the second-most popular gauge worldwide, after HO-gauge, which is 1:87 scale. The advantage of N-gauge over HO-gauge is that the smaller scale allows enthusiasts to build much more intricate layouts in the same physical space.
Mission 45: Got to feel sorry for the girls in this chapter. Kei was so excited about the possibility of applying to be an astronaut, but doesn’t know the school have already made their decision and approached Shuu as being their candidate. And poor Asumi is taken out of the running before they’ve finished reading the advertisement due to her small stature. I love the idea that you might be old enough to go into space, but still young enough that you need daddy to sign a permission slip…
