An uplifting chapter title, and we’re almost to the end!
This is an offshoot book club for 夜カフェ which we originally read with the Beginners Book Club. Please follow the links below to guide you to the proper jumping off point if you’re not quite ready for chapter 9, volume 2 yet.
The vocab list is a community effort, so if you contribute to the list or even just point out a potential error/typo, you’re helping your fellow readers out! It goes without saying, but feel free to peruse the list to help make your reading experience easier! You’re not obligated to contribute but any help you provide is truly appreciated.
Discussion Guidelines
Please blur / hide any major events in the current week’s pages (however early they occur), like so: [spoiler]texthere[/spoiler] result: texthere
If you’re reading ahead, please refrain from mentioning spoilers in future chapters. If you absolutely must comment something, be sure to add a warning (ex: potential spoiler in chapter 3) before hiding the rest of the spoiler under a spoiler tag.
When asking for help, please mention the page number and identify whether your book is a physical copy or ebook, and check before posting that your question hasn’t already been asked
Feel free to jump in at any point in the discussion - you’re never too late to the party!
Sharing your impressions and predictions of the reading are highly encouraged! It’s fun to see if the story pans out the way some of us think. Just be careful not to give away anything if you’re reading ahead.
I was surprised when Nacchan told Risa not to come to the Yoru Café, because I’d thought Nacchan was her friend. But I went back and reread that section where we first meet her, and it turns out it was a combination of my misremembering and Tina’s mistake. Nacchan was introduced only as being from Risa’s class, not as her friend, and from the beginning Risa was never jazzed to have Nacchan come, and Nacchan knew that she couldn’t be anything other than friendly to Risa if she interacted with her at all there. Tina assumed they were friends, and of course Nacchan wasn’t going to correct her, and of course Risa wasn’t able to.
Not sure I like Tina telling Risa she understands Nacchan’s feelings too, but I hope that means this volume will end with Risa and Nacchan being able to become friends. If not, that’s a shit move after we literally just learned that Nacchan is Risa’s bully.
Agreed. I wonder if thats a hint that we are going to find out that Nacchan has something larger troubling her that is causing her to act in an unkind way toward Risa - but to be honest I hope they don’t try to put that sort of spin on it.
I’ve always disliked the “Feel sorry for bullies, happy people don’t bully others” narrative that gets taught to a lot of kids. There is never an excuse for bullying.
@enbyboiwonder I honestly find Tina quite… annoying. Like her completely snubbing Hanabi when she was mad is just ignored and all good now. Like, excuse me? Is that how you treat friends?
And now this? Honestly, I feel like someone should give her a reality check. Being annoyed by people not being the same as you is kinda… unhealthy and not a trait to be okay with. Also, her suggestions to Risa is what she herself might be able to do. But Risa is more like Hanabi and asking either of them to get in the face of their bully and tell them to lay it off is kinda… weird!!! Also, it isn’t even like she does that herself…
I hope there will be some consequences for Nacchan, because when you bully someone, it isn’t like you can just turn around and say “I’m sorry” and it will all be good.
I’m afraid that this is gonna turn all into Hanabi and Risa being forced to forgive their bullies the minute the bullies decide to stop being bullies, like that is all the consequence that happens when you’ve behaved like a horrible human being for weeks/months/years. While those who’ve been bullied just have to smile and suddenly be friends with their tormentors.
Aka, the victim is the one that has to change/accept/etc., while the bully gets a free pass probably because something was horrible in their life. With that logic, Hanabi and Risa should both be bullies too. >_>
Yeah… Like, it’s not like people can’t change, but it shouldn’t be that the victim should change and be the one to reach out and accept their bully, it should be that the bully changes for the better and then it’s up to their victim whether to accept them or not. And it would be nice if that’s what happens, if Nacchan experiences that growth and is able to be friends with Risa rather than Risa just being forced to forgive her just like that (ideally it wouldn’t happen in this volume, would only start toward that, but I have a feeling that these books are all mostly contained, so that would be rushed, but I can forgive that as long as it’s Risa’s choice).
I really hope Yayako won’t get the same treatment, though. Yeah, I want her to lay off and stop bullying Hanabi, at the very least leave her alone and act neutrally toward her even if she still isn’t exactly nice, but I kinda… really don’t want her and Hanabi to become friends in the end, not after years of being absolutely awful to her. Especially if this story’s going the route of friendship and forgiveness with Risa and Nacchan. That’s really not a good message to all the children who read this who relate to Hanabi as a victim of bullying and/or abuse. It tells them that what they went through doesn’t really matter and wasn’t a big deal (even though it does and it was), and it leaves them more vulnerable to future abuse if they feel like they have to forgive their abuser every time they decide to say “sorry.”
I did like the first book, but this one’s making me a bit wary of continuing with the series.
