香君 上 西から来た少女 | Week 6

香君 上 西から来た少女 | Week 6

Week 6 5 July 2025
Chapters 2.7, 3.1, 3.2
End page 234
Pages 39
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Home Thread 香君 上 西から来た少女 Advanced Book Club : now reading!

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Thoughts from the first few pages of chapter 2.7

I thought the discussion around the 香君 never giving birth interesting given アイシャ has powers that (we presume) to be similar to the original 香君. Also the part about the reincarnation always being a sham. From previous chapters, I thought it was legit at some point and just turned into a lie, but apparently it’s been a lie from the start. But I guess that shouldn’t be surprising since アイシャ’s mom had the same ability and they were alive at the same time.

I have a couple theories / wild guesses.

  1. The original 香君 actually did give birth and this is a secret so closely guarded (or perhaps completely lost to history) that even those in the know don’t know this. In this case アイシャ would be a direct descendent of the original 香君.
  2. The original 香君 actually isn’t that unique or special to begin with, and many people have the same ability to varying degrees even with no direct lineage to the original 香君.
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Chapter 2.7

Lots of interesting insights into the past of both the current 香君 and マシュウ: They have been a couple in secret :face_with_crossed_out_eyes: until she gave her feelings away at a time when his life was in danger. He then decided to join the army in order to be away from her (and made it so that it looked as if he was being sent away for punishment). Also, he used to work as 香使 and has a very strong smelling sense (much stronger than the current 香君, it seems).
I very much liked the whole conversation with ラーオ and their previous interactions. I was a bit worried at first that ラーオ would be some kind of ultra-conservative priest, but it turns out he seems to be quite a nice guy so far.

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Chapter 3.1 and 3.2

At first I was surprised that Aisha had moved somewhere else. I think I missed the discussion about that, but apparently she went with the 香君 to a remote village that reminded her of her hometown and where she enjoyed the peaceful village life just as much as 香君. At some point she went into the forest to search for 香君 and found her with some trees that were troubled. To 香君’s surprise, Aisha understands the trees’ issues immediately.
I’m still wondering in how far this 香君 is really able to smell all the things Aisha can. I am not sure how much she was picked for political reasons and how much for her skills - my feeling is 90% the former. But does she have special abilities at all? Or is this just covered up by the 香使?Not really sure about that…

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reply to 3.2

I think it’s been established that she has no superior sense of smell. So far the only thing that stands out about her is her kindness and ability to be mysteriously vague in her dealings with アイシャ. Her relationship with Mashu probably prepared her quite well for that. Her knowledge on plants helps her cover too.

アイシャ still thinks she is special however! I wonder why she smells like the 香君’s flower even away from the palace/temple grounds though.

As for why they are there; the 香君’s retreat from her responsibility and authority acting as a living God that the head priest organized for her. Same as the 香君, he sent アイシャ there too because the way the palace garden experiments (putting plants in bad conditions and next to hostile plants on purpose) has been stressful for her and she hadn’t been sleeping until she eventually fell unconscious during the day.

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Chapter 2.7

I agree that the part about オリエ and マシュbeing in a relationship is interesting; however the main message remains that カシュガ家 is manipulating every one, including the 香君 candidates, that seem not to know that they pretty much forsake any chance at a normal human life…. On pain of death :fearful:

Chapter 3.1 and 3.2

I don’t think you did. There are some missing scenes, or at least it feels like it; though @Belerith is surely right about the reason. Writing it down probably wouldn’t have added anything to the story, but I agree the change feels abrupt

I think this is 100% political. And they more or less say so. After all, how do you assess the powers of a goddess, unless you’re a god/dess yourself ? And the 天使 are merely high-level officials. Also, マシュ seems to be on par with オリエ, meaning that their powers are not gender-specific. It will probably turn out that アイシャ is the only true reincarnation of 香君

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re 3.2

Well, that’s the surface explanation which the 香君 and アイシャ believe. But we know from the conversation between マシュウ and ラーオ at the end of chapter 2.6 last week that マシュウ planned all this out in advance: he knew that アイシャ would have trouble at the palace garden, predicted that the 香君 would find this out and go to ラーオ to ask for some kind of solution, and primed ラーオ to suggest the mountain farm. So the underlying reason they’re both out there is that マシュウ wants the two of them to get to know each other and interact because he thinks it’s important somehow for saving the world from disaster.

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Forgot all about this part …. I probably should keep a notebook…

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Same! :joy:

Lots to keep track of in these last parts.

(I think spoilers for up to including 3.2)

Now that I’m thinking of it, the old priest dude was wondering what would become of 香君 should the people learn she’s not actually God reincarnated. He might be hoping they end up working together and keep each other safe.

If I understood that last part correctly, there was a message for 香君 that wasn’t in any particular language. I’m thinking maybe a secret code between 香君 and マシュー?

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Ah, thanks! I thought so too, but then I got intrigued by her apparently knowing a lot about the condition of the trees. (But from her reaction to what Aisha tells her, it seems that she doesn’t know everything Aisha notices. :woman_shrugging:)

Also thanks to @pm215 for the rundown, just like almost everybody else I had totally forgotten about this :woman_facepalming: although now I remember that I was deeply impressed by it when I read it and how well thought-out it was :rofl: :woman_facepalming:

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3.2

マシュウ also smells like that. We know this from the poisoning scene in the first chapter, when he asked アイシャ what he smells like.

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Its the little details that get away… I only remember that she smelled him, but not what he smelled like. :sweat_smile:

Now I’m wondering what アイシャ smells like.

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That’s what I was thinking as well.


I want more chapters like 3.1 and 3.2 because they are easier to follow than the lore/exposition heavy chapters. More generally, the book does too much telling and not enough showing, which is really when the book drags and it takes me forever to read a section.

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Finished the part! I have nothing to add to previous discussions.

Totally agree. On one hand, these ‘too much telling and not enough showing’ pieces are challenging for me; on the other hand, they don’t evoke feelings in me even when read smoothly. It is harder to concentrate and engage with the book.

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