時をかける少女: Week 12 Discussion (Chapters 20 and 21)

Japanese Language Reading
#1

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Chapters 20 and 21: 未来人・現代人／その名はケン・ソゴル

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Start Date: February 9th
Previous Chapters: Chapters 18 and 19
Next Chapters: Chapters 22 and 23 [END]

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Discussion Rules

  • Please use spoiler tags for major events in the current chapter(s) and any content in future chapters.
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1 Like
#2

@QuackingShoe trigger warning.

#3

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooo wwhhyyy
This is all seanblue’s fault

3 Likes
#4

Seanblue most likely went back in time to suggest that to the author.

I don’t know yet how it will play out, though. Do you want me to read the last two chapters to check?

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#5

I’ll be fine. I’m not that emotionally invested in the story. I liked the anime movie better :wink:

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#6
First page or so of Chapter 21 spoilers (potentially)

So, just to clarify my understanding…‘Kazuo’ chose this family because they grew lavender and he needed the flower to return to the future, right?
Also I’m not really understanding how long he’s been the this time and how he is living with the family if they’re not his family. I think I missed that part.

#7

Ok, well, my question from last week got answered xD But this plot just has me like…wut.

Ch 20/21 spoilers and ranting

Apparently if you’re from the future, you can just do whatever the heck you want :woman_shrugging: Need to blend in when you accidentally drank some magic potion and sent yourself back in time with no way to go forward again? Easy! Just use mass hypnosis. Duh. Because that’s not one of the creepiest possible solutions to the problem.

Tbh I found the answer to the “how did Kazuo assimilate himself into this time period” problem a little…unexciting? Unsatisfying? The “I’m from the future, so I just know how to do lots of magical things” rationale gets kind of stale when it’s the answer to literally everything. At this point, I’m just like, “oh, look, fake Kazuo used another special future skill that magically allows him to do whatever is convenient to the plot, let me try to recover from the shock :roll_eyes:”

@Airdramon

Ch 21 spoilers

Yes, that was my understanding - he chose them because it gave him easy access to the lavender he needed to make his potion. He used some kind of magical future technology (similar to hypnotism, although it wasn’t clear to me exactly what it was) to make the couple believe that he was their child, and that they’d always had a child named Kazuo (in reality, they were childless before his arrival). He’s only been in this time period for a month, but he made everyone believe that he’d been there for much longer by giving them false memories.

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#8

Thanks for the reply. :slight_smile:

Yah, I think that’s what I kinda assumed.

man sucks to be that family. Kazuo returns to the future and the family is once again childless.

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#9

Not sure if you’ve gotten to the end of Ch 21 yet (if not, probably don’t read this), but I’m pretty sure they’re not going to remember Kazuo at all after he leaves. I think he’s going to erase everyone’s memories of him, so in their minds, it’ll be like this month where they had a child never existed. Which I guess is still kind of sad in a way, but at least they won’t be sad :thinking:

4 Likes
#10

Yeah I just finished the chapter and I kinda assumed as much. It’s still sad imo, but not as sad as it could have been. I guess.

1 Like
#11

They will still have a teen shaped hole in their monthly expenses (and some missing lavender), with no explanation for it.

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#12

Maybe fake Kazuo has a magical future gadget to fix that, too :woman_shrugging: :laughing:

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#13

Am I the only that things Kazuko is super fucking rude at the beginning of Chapter 20? I was like, who responds that way??? :joy::joy:

@windupbird this is a classic example of: cuz plot? to literally any question that comes up. I can just imagine the meeting between the author and the editor :joy:

But of course I completely agree. But then again, it’s kind of been an ongoing issue I’ve had with this book. It’s very everywhere and nowhere at the same time, nothing is really explained properly and what little explanation we are given is very rarely followed through logically. And as you mentioned, convenience is just… everywhere xD

I think other than the joy of finally reading a book in Japanese (and of course just having everyone read together, which is awesome), there’s very little that keeps me reading this to be honest.

Also I was super glad these two chapters were so short. Super swamped again this week :sweat_smile:

3 Likes
#14

Omg yes!! I thought the same thing…
Also the description of how she is mad and confused was so long-winded, like a lot of the chapters lately… it feels like simply filling pages and not advancing the plot or the dialogue.

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#15

Yes, I thought that too! And it seemed a little out of character for her tbh.

Yeahhh, I have to say that if this book were in English, I’m not sure I would have continued to read it (although if it were in English, I also probably could have read it in an afternoon and just gone “ok well that was kinda dumb, moving on.”) It started out quite intriguing, but the resolution has been kind of a let down. I am having fun making snarky comments about it, though xD

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#16

I completely agree. I also feel it seemed very segmented. Almost like there were “dialogue” sections, “description” sections and “plot” sections.
That being said, because it felt so drawn out, as a reader you probably feel that super weird reaction more.

That is very true and very accurate. I feel like it would be in a short story compilation and just that one story where I’d just go like “Eh?” and then just move on xD

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#17

The other stories in my book aren’t any better…

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#18

I wonder what the hallmarks of good writing/editing are in Japan. Like, is “show, don’t tell” a thing?
Not to mention the other factors - it was originally serialized in seven installments in “secondary-school student-aimed magazines” in the 1960’s.

5 Likes
#19

Yes, I assume we aren’t the intended demographic.

Actually, that publication style might also explain why the next story in my version (the one without extra furigana) felt like a string of shorter stories. Obviously, with a common theme and common characters, but pretty independent episodes. (I do not have the book with me, but the title was something like 悪夢の形)

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#20

If it’s the same I have, that would be 悪夢の真相 :wink:

1 Like