Start Date: 2022-04-29T15:00:00Z
(In a ColorsｘJurassic Park crossover, I’m afraid Yui would be the first to go.)
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I’m reading volume 6 now so it’s getting harder and harder to remember
what the weekly volume 2 chapter was about 
and nevermind any grammar
question I had. But overall ramping up my reading to 1 chapter per day was a
good idea, I can’t fixate on every small grammar point that I don’t understand but
I feel like my reading comprehension skills are quite better than when I started
the 1st chapter of this 
This week’s featured location is, of course, the National Museum of Nature and Science. In particular, the middle panel on page… uh… whatever it is, is here. Regular entry has risen to 630 yen since this chapter was published, but it remains free for children and others.
(By contrast, entry to Questacon, Australia’s national science museum, is $24.50 (~2450 yen) for adults and $18.90 (~1890 yen) for children over 4 and seniors…)
The best part is when you can go back and re-read earlier chapters and see how much progress you’ve made =D
Here in San Diego, California, we have our Natural History Museum:
Here in the UK, most museums are free - which I’m really thankful for 
They usually have donation boxes near the entrance with a suggested donation amount on it, but there is no pressure to make a donation.
There are some privately owned museums which sometimes have pretty expensive admission fees though.
Somewhat surprisingly, Vancouver’s Beaty Biodiversity Museum (which is affiliated with UBC), is actually the cheapest one out of our locations (still more than 630 yen, though!) which charge. I’m jealous of the UK generally not charging for museums!
Adults: CAD$14 (about US$10.88 or AUD$15.42 to establish baseline)
Seniors: CAD$12
UBC Students and Faculty get in free if they have their UBCcard
Other students get in for CAD$12, if they have their Student ID
Youth (13-17): CAD$12
Children (5-12): CAD$10, but they must be accompanied by an adult, which makes sense for some of the younger ages, but I would think that a 10-year-old+ at the least should be able to go on their own… That’s a whole debate about how western culture raises their kids in a way that doesn’t really allow for much independence in general, though, I think. 
Anybody younger gets in for free, and there are memberships offered for the paid age groups that allows for unlimited visits (CAD$35 for Adult, CAD$25 for every other group), which if you go more than twice, pays for itself quickly.
I re-read this post just now, and happened to notice this line.
For カラーズのメンバー? That’s rather specific, innit?
Are any of them つっこみ?
Well, they word it a little differently on the museum’s web site:
If you’re in the area, try with this fella and see =D
Oh, right. Didn’t realise that was a joke. Thought it was… like… the name of the local Rotary youth club, or something.
I’ll take three.
Start Date: 2022-05-06T15:00:00Z
It’s detective time! 
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Weeks off before starting volume 3?
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No new locations this week. Unless you count the spot where the trio run into Nono and Moka. Which is here. Turn the camera around to see the statue where Yui finds the acorn, which (as it turns out) is not a statue but rather a monument of some description.
As for the plot, I was half expecting that Oyaji was going to be involved again. Though I admit I was wondering from the start why Obasan mentioned that Sacchan, of all people, had put the manekineko there. (Also, the knowledge that the squiggly line is Nono’s signature explains why Moka laughed when she saw it.)
And for extra fun, after finishing reading this week’s chapter, go back and check out chapter 15 again =D
Looks like there’s nothing to keep our small group from starting volume 3 this weekend =D
I got my days confused and thought yesterday was Thursday =(
Wait… WHAT!? I knew life got in the way and I had to take a little break… but we’re starting the next volume this weekend!?
Guess I’ve got my homework cut out for me this week: catch up on all the books I’m reading; better get my questions in soon. 
So I’m finishing up Book 2 and, ouch! Chapter 16 massacred me, which is annoying because 16 felt like it was supposed to be an easy chapter. Even the text-heavy Chapter 15 wasn’t so bad and the following Chapter 17 was alright.
Guess I’ve found a major knowledge blind spot for me. Sorry for so many questions.
Chapter 16
What is いや?
まあそういうことにしとく
I’ve got “so that thing にしとく,” but I’m not sure what しとく is or if I have the rest right. Also not sure why this prompts Yui to borrow Kotoha’s game, or why she seems angry suddenly.
3日かけてまだ１面やってんだあ
I take it that 面 is a counter for game levels and that she’s referencing Kotoha having had the game for three days. But I’m not sure on かけて or what やってんだ is or what it is doing. Would かけて be coming from 欠ける?
そ それはゆっくりやってて…
Still struggling with やってて. “やる” is “to do,” which would make this into something like “T-that’s do slowly,” which doesn’t really make sense to me.
な なぜそんなことを友達いないって言ったからか？
I think this is something like “this is because I said that thing that you don’t have friends?” or something to that effect. If so, yeah, I’m not sure why Yui suddenly feels she has to beat game levels for her friend.
私が1面こしてあげる
I think she means that she will beat the first level, but I’m not sure on こして. What verb is this coming from? こす? By adding あげる it becomes “to beat for you?”
I think it means “Level 1 was easy.” But I don’t understand なんて.
And suddenly Yui is crying and I don’t know why.
I have more for the second half but I think this is good enough for now. I’ll try rereading it again after getting some help.
Chapter 16
This usage of いや is the following definition seen in this Japanese dictionary entry:
Essentially, you say いや when you are taking back something you just said.
In this case, Kotoha said the reason Sacchan was in trouble, but then she takes it back and suggests it was this other thing Sacchan did.
In English, when we want to take back what we said and replace it with something else, we might say, “no, wait” in-between.
For example, “Sacchan got in trouble for doing such-and-such. No, wait, it’s because she did this other thing.”
〜ことにする is commonly used grammar which has a meaning similar to “to decide to” in English. You’re doing (する) toward (に) something (〜こと). Essentially, “I will do (toward) 〜”
Next, we have the verb 置く, meaning “to put”. When you take a verb + て + おく, it means you’re doing an action and leaving it there.
In some cases, you’re leaving the action there to go back to later. Such as, make a reservation and leave it at that, and you’ll make use of it when you get to the restaurant tonight. Or memorize a speech and leave it at that, and you’ll give the speech at an event this weekend.
This て + おく will often become とく in speech, which we see here.
する + て + おく ➨ して + おく ➨ しておく ➨ しとく
Kotoha is essentially saying, “Well, we’ll leave it at that.”
In this case, it’s not necessarily that they’ll come back to it later.
Context: Yui wishes she went to the same school as Sacchan and Kotoha. Kotoha asks if Yui doesn’t have any friends (at her school), to which Yui says she does. Kotoha responds with a, “Hm…” which suggests she’s questioning whether Yui’s telling the truth.
When Yui doubles down, Kotoha suggests they leave it at that, seemingly still in disbelief that Yui actually has friends at school.
Yui gets mad because Kotoha doesn’t believe her (or perhaps that Kotoha suggested that Yui can’t make friends at school), so Yui borrows the game to get back at Kotoha.
かける is one of those words that’s extremely versatile. As you’re probably seen looking in a Japanese-to-English dictionary, it gets over 25 different English counterparts.
And if you check a Japanese dictionary, it’s even worse!
Looking there, I see five definitions that can use the spelling 欠ける. Then another 32 that can be written as either 掛ける or 懸ける (and many of those have multiple related uses). Then 3 uses for 駆ける, plus another and 3 for 駆ける. And finally, 3 uses for 賭ける.
Overall it’s best to get to know かける over time (as you see it used in many ways), but Cure Dolly has a nice subtitled video discussing かける.
One of these many uses is to state the amount of time spent on something. For example, saying the moon takes (approximately) 28 days to go around the earth, this would be 「28日かける」.
Or, in Kotoha’s case, she’s spent three days (3日かけて) playing her new game.
やてんだ comes from:
やる + て + いる + の + だ ➨ やって + いる + の + だ ➨ やっているのだ ➨ やってるのだ ➨ やってんのだ ➨ やってんだ
This seems like a lot going on (and it is!), but it’s not unlike how in English saying “wouldn’t you” comes out as “wudnchu”.
We have やる, another generic term for “to do”, in this case used for “to play (a video game)”.
Then it’s in the て form with いる which is like going to “to play” to “to be playing” in English.
Then there’s the explanatory の, which I’ll loosely translate here as “so”:
“So you’ve spent three days and you’re still on the first level.”
Looking at the Japanese definitions page, I think this usage falls under definition 12 in the section that applies to 掛ける and 懸ける.
欠ける has uses along the lines of something breaking off (splintering), as well as something lacking. (While Kotoha’s gaming skill is definitely lacking, that’s not the use here 
)
It took me a while to grasp verbs ending in てて.
It’s 「[verb]ている + て」 meaning “to be doing [verb] and (then) (do) …”
For やってて, it’s “to be doing (something) and (then) (do)”.
Because we’re in the context of playing a video game, this やる refers to that, playing a game.
ゆっくり tells how the video game is being played (leisurely). And since it’s やっている, she’s not saying “I play (games) leisurely”, but rather “I’m playing (this game) leisurely.”
The final て shows that her thought doesn’t end there, but her speaking does. “I’m playing it leisurely (and that’s why I’m still on the first level).”
In English, a similar conversation could go:
“You’ve been playing for three days, and yet you’re still only on the first level?”
“W–well, I’ve been taking my time, so…”
In this example (not intended to be a translation of the manga’s dialogue), you can see how the second sentence is trailing off as the thought is left incomplete.
That’s about right. Note that this is two separate sentences. It might not be immediately obvious, but you can tell because of how spaced out the two sentences are within the joined word balloons. (But some mangaka might present one whole sentence split out this way.)
The 「なぜそんなことを」 is in response to Yui saying Kotoha will be a grownup by the time she clears the level (with how “leisurely” she’s playing it).
Next, the 「友達いないって言ったからか？」 is the “Is it because I said you don’t have friends?”
Kotoha essentially teased Yui as not being able to make any friends, so Yui is being vindictive and striking back by means of Kotoha being a gamer who’s really bad at easy video games.
(Incidentally, this portion is probably my favorite scene in the whole series.)
Correct. 越す ＋ て ➨ 越して.
One usage for 越す means to go through difficult obstacles and get beyond them.
Correct. One can also go with “I’ll get past it for you” for perhaps a slightly more literal translation, but “I’ll beat it for you” is proper in English.
From Maggie-sensei on uses of なんて:
- When you look down, belittle someone or something or lack of confidence.
It’d say this is the use here. She’s not simply saying, “Level 1 is easy,” but “Something like level 1 is easy.” There’s this underlying sense of, “How can you have difficulty with something as easy as this?”
(I still struggle from time to time to grasp the nuance なんて is adding to a sentence.)
We have a minor time skip between Kotoha telling Sacchan to stop taking pictures and do something, and Yui crying. Presumably, Sacchan convinced Yui to return the video game to Kotoha, and Yui’s anger subsided. Now Yui realizes Kotoha probably hates her for what she did and Yui feels bad for having done it.
Thank you so much @ChristopherFritz for taking the time to type all of that up yourself! I really appreciate it. We haven’t seen Yui get so angry like this before, so I really wanted to understand this part. I didn’t want to just rely on the pictures and miss some good character development.
Unfortunately, I’m still stuck on Saito’s speech in the second half, so I’m missing the punchline.
俺は人間だっつの
Speak clearly Saito! What is だっつの?
そしてゴミを集めましたと言い 俺を持って来られる先生はどう思う
A case of understanding all of the words and yet not quite grasping the syntax!
I’ll try. I’ve got “And it’s okay to say [you?] picked up trash.” “Pick up me, brought to Sensei what will [they] think?” (“If you pick me up and bring me to Sensei, what will they think?”)
I’m having a little trouble with how 持って来られる is structured.
Not feeling confident with Panels 1, 2, and 3. Thought I’d try to translate them and hopefully someone can point out where I’m messing up.
Panel 1: Saito: “まあマジメに集めるんだな”
“So… you’re serious about collecting [trash], aren’t you?”
Panel 2: Saki: “マジメにしてられっか” Saito: いややれよ
(Actually, I honestly don’t know what happened here.)
Saki: “Serious… do… か?” / Saito: “No.”
Panel 3: Saito: だがまあ 俺がガキの頃はもっとうまくややったな
[Some sort of connecting phrase, だがまあ] “When I was a kid I did better.”
Obviously, they’re quickly gathering “trash” from the recycle bin to make it look like they did work that they didn’t do. But I missed the setup for this punchline which takes the humor out of it. Where did they get the idea to do this?
I think it’s in Saito’s use of “うまく” on page 96 but I’m not catching the meaning of it.
Chapter 16
I didn’t notice before, but I see on page 92, Sacchan holds up five (ご) and three (み) fingers for 「ごみ」. But I’m not certain what it means when she’s holding up two and two. Maybe a 「ふふ」chuckle?
He’s just prepping you for all the other series you’ll experience that have characters who talk like he does =D
「っつ」 expands to 「と言う」.
For example:
＝「冗談じゃないというの」＝ “I’m not joking!”
You may also see it as 「っつー」, as in:
＝「アリシアになれるのはアリシアだけだというの」＝ “I’m saying only Alicia can be Alicia.”
I believe 「っつ」 generally has a connotation of the speaker being annoyed or angry, but I think that might not necessarily always be the case.
This one has a few pieces that will make it easier to look at separately, then put together after.
「『ゴミを集めました』と言い」 “To say ‘I gathered trash’.”
Note the use of ました for politeness. This is quoting what Sacchan would be saying to her teacher (as we can figure from 「先生」 later in the sentence).
「俺を持って来られる」 “To receive bringing back me.” (受け身/receptive form)
「先生はどう思う」“What will your teacher think?”
Note that 先生 is being modified by the clause before it, so 先生 is the one receiving from Sacchan.
Bringing these together:
“What will your teacher to whom you say ‘I gathered trash’ and they receive you bringing me back think?”
(I put the modifier in italics.)
At least, that’s how I read it.
Sounds about right to me.
You didn’t think Saitou would be the only one going against textbooks, did you?
〜てられっか expands to 〜てられるか.
It’s a question, but it’s asked in a way that the speaker is basically saying 〜てられない.
「マジメにしてられっか」＝「マジメにしてられるか」＝「マジメにしてられない」
This is the only time you’ll see it in this series.
The やれ is the imperative form, with a firm よ after, so he’s telling them to do it.
Sounds about right to me.
Kotoha thinks of the 「うまく」 part of what Saitou said and realizes they can utilize a clever solution for filling up the bag.
