シャドーハウス Volume 3

Volume 3 Discussion Thread

Start Date: 2022-10-21T15:00:00Z

シャドーハウス Reading Club Home Thread

Vocabulary Lists

Reading Schedule

Week Start Date Pages No. of Pages Chapter
Week 1 Oct 22 5–28 24 pages Ch 25 審査基準
Ch 26 不揃いな道具たち
Week 2 Oct 29 29–54 26 pages Ch 27 庭園迷路
Ch 28 視線
Week 3 Nov 5 55–79 25 pages Ch 29 不完全な地図
Ch 30 黒い点
Week 4 Nov 12 80–104 25 pages Ch 31 失敗
Ch 32 浮かび上がる細工
Week 5 Nov 19 105–128 24 pages Ch 33 首席
Ch 34 いつもの姿
Week 6 Nov 26 129–155 27 pages Ch 35 見えないから
Ch 36 試験官

Discussion Rules

  • If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask.
  • Please mention the chapter and page number.
  • Please use spoiler tags for major events.
  • If you read ahead, please hold questions until during or after the appropriate week.
8 Likes

Chapters 25 and 26

Start Date: 2022-10-21T15:00:00Z

Participation

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4 Likes

Now I can read with the club!

I ended up reading way ahead, but since I was falling behind with my other clubs (and for other reasons) I made myself stop and wait with this one. I think I skimmed about 40% of the way through this volume, but had only actually read 14% properly, and that was in August, so I’ll start again from the beginning of volume 3.

8 Likes
Story comments

The unprecedented bread snub! I’m sure the bread will forgive Emilico though. She and bread have always been like two peas in a pod (two loaves in a basket?).

5 Likes

Pages 9-10 of chapter 25. I’m a bit confused about Edwards line of thinking.

Is he saying that one pair needs to fail, or is it better for him if no one does. Just not sure exactly why he got annoyed in the first place if one pair isn’t supposed to pass?

5 Likes

I think he’s upset because Kate and Emilico started doing better thanks to the dance, which removed his justification to fail them. He feels that he needs to fail somebody to prove he’s doing well as the test proctor, but he has to make sure that failure can be justified rather than appearing like he failed somebody just to fail somebody.

7 Likes

I was sure she was gonna pick the water after what she’s been through. I wonder what went through her head to pick the cart

7 Likes

Chapters 27 and 28

Start Date: 2022-10-28T15:00:00Z

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5 Likes

I’m struggling to read some of p36 - I have the digital version but for some reason the resolution of this page doesn’t seem great, or maybe it’s just a bit crowded.

On the third panel, Ricky says ルウ? … だろ

What’s the kanji in there?

Just looking where is repeats down the page - is it 嘘? 2 of the versions don’t really look like it but one clearly does.

4 Likes

That is what I think it is, as well, but I’m checking with my tutor because I don’t feel super confident in it.

Edit: But agreed, ルウ’s version is very clearly that, so I just wonder why the font changes it so much for the other version, I guess, because that’s almost certainly what it is. :sweat_smile:

Edit 2: And the tutor agrees, that’s what it is, @cathm2

5 Likes

Now we’ve reached this stage (I previously skim-read up to about chapter 29 or 30) I can make a story comment!

Minor spoilers: I was finding it very stressful watching エミリコ procrastinating and going off on tangents when she needed to be getting a move on!

8 Likes

The resolution of the entire series isn’t great. Even though I love the full color digital version, the resolution of the text has been a huge disappointment. I really don’t understand how any modern manga can have blurry text.

The worst is the Shadows referring to themselves in third person. I find that it’s sometimes nearly impossible to read the furigana that indicates who’s speaking.

7 Likes

I agree! How come none of them took the water? Surely that will come back to bite them in the next few chapters!

Also completely agree with people talking about how hard it is to read the text at some points in the digital version - glad it’s not just me.

7 Likes

Chapters 29 and 30

Start Date: 2022-11-01T15:00:00Z

Participation

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5 Likes

I’ve finished all this week’s reading apart from the final diagram page, which means I’ve caught up and passed the point I reached in late August.

So far it feels as if there are more questions than answers in this volume!

Im very tempted to read ahead again - and I might for a bit, as the next few weeks are going to be busy and I may have less reading time.

7 Likes
Some questions from this week's reading
  • (Page 63) Rikki says 「感情ってもんがまったくないのか?」which seems to means “do you have no feelings/emotion at all?” but in this context I’m guessing it’s more like “do you not feel any (pain) at all”, am I correct?
    Also, what is the 「もん」 part here exactly?
  • (page 69) Patrick says 「こんなところに置いてきぼりにされたら…」what does 「きぼり」mean?
  • What does it mean when they refer to Emiliko as 「お花畑」?
3 Likes

Ha, indeed, especially the matter of those “Shadow lords”, and I’m also very curious about Edward in particular.
His reaction to the message they sent him on page 58 (in addition to the beginning of the chapter) clearly indicates he doesn’t have the same level of respect/reverence for the shadow lords as the other “living dolls”, so I wonder what that’s about, and more importantly, who he is exactly.

Honestly I’m loving the plot and mystery, and so far I’m enjoying this volume even more than the previous 2, which were already quite fun!

4 Likes
Pg. 63

I actually took this to literally be “You don’t have any kind of emotions, do you?”

She just about died, and her only reaction was concern her face didn’t get damaged; after that is determined to be okay, she’s back to her usual emotionless self, and casually tells him to start guiding again.

Most people would at least be shaken, and she shows no emotion at all.

The もん is just a casual もの.

ってなもん is a pretty common construction that basically means “something like…” and I’m pretty sure this just a variation on that. Others might disagree, though.

Pg. 69

置いてきぼり is a phrase meaning “abandoning someone; leaving someone behind; marooning someone” – it’s short for 置いてきぼりを食らう. I believe the ぼり in this case is 堀 (like a moat/ditch). So it’s literally, “to be on the receiving end of being put in a ditch”

The お花畑 is a derogatory nickname for エミリコ that comes from when she fell from the window and into the flower bed.

7 Likes

Ahh, looking back now, that makes a lot more sense.

Oh, I completely forgot about that scene from the previous volume, that would explain it XD

Thanks for the answers!

2 Likes

お花畑 might be referring this: 「頭がお花畑」とは?意味や使い方を解説 | 意味解説辞典

I don’t fully remember the context, but it seems to fit her character.

7 Likes