Woah, the page thing is confusing me to no end. What pages are we on in the bookwalker version? I have a couple of questions, but I’m not sure what page I should be referencing.
Anybody reading that and can tell me what pages we’re on this week? Because page 18 that was referenced above in some questions is page 16, I think. Is it always 2 pages off?
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The vocab sheet has two columns for page numbers - one is the number of pages since the start of the chapter (for those reading digitally), whereas the other is the number of pages since the start of the volume (for those reading in hard-copy).
Chapter page 16 = volume page 18 = the one that starts with Kon saying 人間が滅びたらこんな風になるのかなぁ.
One presumes the “pages 17-40” reference in the OP is volume page counts, but it would’ve been helpful if there was a mention last week on which line to stop reading on.
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Perfect! Thanks 
I confused myself.
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Volume page 18 - solved
Do I understand this line correctly: “If humans perish, will the wind still be like this?”
The line by the protagonist is super random in and out of context (what does the wind have to do with anything??), but the reply to what he says confused me even more. He talks about humanity perishing, and then she likens it to like a survival genre kind of thing… but humans already perished in his metaphor?? 
Is it just a weird conversation, or did I misunderstand?
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Page 18
The kanji 風 has several meanings. Aside from “wind” it also means style or manner. When it means “wind” it’s ready as かぜ, while when it means “style” or “manner” it’s read as ふう. In this case, it means “style” or “manner”.
ふうに is a common grammar construction to describe the way something happens.
ふうに (JLPT N2) | Bunpro – Japanese Grammar Explained
So こんな風になる means “this is the way things would become”. The whole sentence would be “I wonder if this is how things would become if humanity perished.”
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In this context, 風 means “method; manner; way; style”.
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Second half of chapter one. We’ve now been introduced to the setting. Not why bugs started or how they happen, but their method so to say. There is always a bug going on. I thought that was when we started calling it a feature. 
Not sure this is what I expected at all, but not entirely sure what I expected. So interested to see what happens next!
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About the line on pg.24
When the elderly woman says: あら姫崎さんとこのお嬢ちゃん
I think she’s just referring to Kasane alone rather than both Kasane and Kon. Jisho lists お嬢 as sonkeigo for someone else’s daughter, so like when politely referring to your daughter, someone might say to you: お宅のお嬢さん (your honorable house/home’s daughter), or here: Ah, Mr./Mrs. 姫崎’s home (place)’s daughter!
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A second batch of questions:
page 28
そこ研究者が笑うとこ。。。？
Out of the context, I would understand it as “Is that a place where a researcher laughs” , but it makes no sense to me, even if I think of a metaphorical place. How to read it?
page 31
今だったらそのへんの木の枝折ってきても怒られないだろ
I have no idea how to even parse this sentence. When I break it into single blocks and put it back together, I get something like “Even if now we’re/you’re breaking off the strange tree branches, we/you won’t get angry”. It obviously makes no sense whatsoever, so I must be parsing the sentence completely wrong 
page 39
そのへんに生ってた？
How to translate へん? Is it “area”? Or a strange tree from before? As for “生ってた”, I interpret it as whatever grew as a fruit. Does she mean “The fruits from that strange tree” or “The fruits from that area”, or something else?
Overall, as for the plot, I like the idea so far, although not much has happened yet. To be honest, living in such a world would be a nightmare for me. Because of personal reasons, not being able to return home for a few hours or so is my actual recurring nightmare, so that bug would hit me hard if it started when I was outside.
Like Kon, I’m also surprised that people around take it so lightly (although his reaction feels like a sloppy writing, since, as someone mentioned, bugs shouldn’t be new to him, but maybe it was a bigger issue where he came from, IDK). Such bugs can be actually dangerous for people. Just imagine that you can’t get to the ER, because a tree grew up randomly on the street and there’s no fast way around it).
And now it’s time for my small rant: I’m not a fan of how bugs mechanics was explained. “Show, don’t tell” approach would be better. IMO a reader doesn’t have to get everything from the beginning. Heck, even explaining it with some characters thoughts instead of a forced dialogue would be better. It was difficult to go through this part and my reading speed was not helping 
The ending of the chapter was super cute, so thankfully it washed away the bad aftertaste.
As for predictions for plot development, I feel like Kasane might be somehow connected to this whole phenomenon. She is one sus girl. Maybe she is an incarnation of bug itself, who knows.
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Page 31
From memory, i think the kid was implying because it’s a bug, adults won’t get mad if they tear branches. Since it will sall disappear anyway after the bug ends
Does that help to parse through the sentence?
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There is always a bug going on. I thought that was when we started calling it a feature.
Right, they feel more like scheduled events than bugs 
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It’s almost the way I parsed it, but, to me, it still appears to come out of nowhere. I just assumed that something must be wrong, because I see no reason why the boy would say it But I guess it is what the author actually meant ¯\(ツ)/¯ Thanks!
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Pg. 28
とこ or ところ can be like a metaphorical thing or matter, as well as a place (meaning 8 on Jisho if you would like an English source). In the previous panel, Kasane laughs while saying she doesn’t really understand the reason why nobody disappears after eating food that doesn’t exist (which seems to be Kon’s worry about eating the asparagus, as he asks, “Isn’t it strange?” after talking about it).
Since she laughs after saying, “I don’t really understand the reason,” Kon looks a bit doubtful and asks the question you posted, “Is that (saying “I don’t understand”) a thing researchers laugh (at)?” Or perhaps more naturally, but not keeping the Japanese grammar intact: “Is that a laughing matter for a researcher?”
Pg. 31
It didn’t feel particularly out of nowhere to me. In the previous panel, Kasane directly comments on them gathering a bunch of leaves and branches, and the kid responds with that explanation. They are taking advantage of the bug to do something they would get in trouble for if it were an actual tree that was hanging around (not to mention, presumably, the clean-up that would be involved if the branches didn’t disappear on their own). 
Pg. 39
“That area” for sure. に is a location marker. It would have to be 変な or へんな if it was acting as an adjective, and it would need to precede a noun. And yes, 生る means “to bear fruit.”
So it’s roughly, “That area has been bearing fruit.”
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Thanks a lot for your explanation!
Page 31
To clarify: It’s not that I think the kid wouldn’t think of it, it’s just that it was weird to me that he communicated it in such a way to a person he doesn’t know. But the more I think of it, the more sense it makes, it just had to pass through the thick skull of mine
Page 39
I understood it as a description of the fruit, something like in そのへんに生ってた果物, but without actually saying “fruit”. Can it be read in such a way or is it overinterpretation and me messing up the grammar?
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Pg. 31
Yeah, kids tend to overshare, so I guess I just didn’t think twice about it.
Pg. 39
Hmm. I don’t think you’re messing up grammar or anything (other than the initial thought about whether it could mean strange), but I do think it’s a bit of an overinterpretation. I could definitely see that as a potential way of viewing it, but my impression of Kasane so far is she doesn’t really seem to be super detailed, or rather, she is a bit lax and carefree.
“What is that?”
“Hmm? That area has been bearing fruit!”
Feels like a pretty natural conversation with her based on what I’ve gathered from her personality. (Though if I were to put it in more natural English, I would probably word her response more like, “Hmm? They were growing over there!”)
Either way, if I were to put an implied subject, I would actually say これは(or 果物は)そのへんに生ってた, as opposed to treating it as a descriptive clause preceding a noun.
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Volume page 34
I might be having a brain disconnect moment, but what does he mean by 自然の中で?
Edit: We’re reading until the end of the chapter, right? Not the start of the next chapter.
Thoughts so far (chapter 1)
The exposition was a bit weird. It was weird having the entire info dump at the start, but it’s not like it’s uncommon for it to happen in manga, so I wasn’t bothered too much (plus cool vocab, so extra points). Before Kon spawned as a character, he must’ve somehow not had ~any~ experiences in the world 
, just like the reader.
Other than that, I really enjoyed the character dynamics so far and the world building seems quite interesting with the bugs and all. I really love the panel on volume page 33 where Kasane and Kon return from their shopping thing, and the guy is just out cold on the bench 
. Literal MOOD.
Enjoying it so far, and the humour is cute. Also – the whole birthday scene and Kon biting into the asparagus, ugh, so cute. I died inside from cuteness overload.
I was surprised how easy it is to read. I’ve always been worried about diving into manga and trying to figure out what it says, but reading it with other people really helps with giving me confidence. Thanks everyone!
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Page 34
My understanding is that 自然の中 in this context means “within nature” or “inside nature”. Basically, due to the current bug, it feels to him as if the barbecue was occuring in a natural setting like a forest or something, instead of in the yard of a house.
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This still has me cracking up 3 days later .
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So you mean like “I wonder why meat tastes so good out in nature?” because the bug made everything look like a jungle? That would make sense because the small text is “庭だけど”, because it’s not technically nature. Am I understanding it right?
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