Please use spoiler tags for content that would be considered a spoiler.
When asking for help, please mention the page, panel, and speech bubble. Be sure to mention if you are reading a version other than Aria the Masterpiece.
Don’t be afraid of asking questions, even if they seem embarassing at first. All of us are here to learn.
Participants
Mark your participation status by voting in this poll.
I’m reading along
I’m still reading the book but I haven’t reached this chapter yet
Regarding mid chapter. Strange. I don’t remember this. I’ll have to re-read it more carefully. Maybe I did like in non non biyori chapter 7 and flipped and extra page without noticing.
more explanation and possible spoilers
I don’t remember akatsukis older brother being in this chapter at all. All I remember is that he was asked if he was alone and the answer was that he was with his brother but he lost track of him. Is it possible that they have moved things around for the 完全版?
That old guy, is it the same old guy that was crossing the bridge real slow from chapter 13? … making it look like he has been trying to cross it since autumn.
He only appears as a tiny extra in one specific image
I found him obvious, so you might not have reached him yet though. If not, think of it as a game of where is Waldo/Wally.
The very same one! Next to the same bridge
I’m going to assume he just lives nearby. But in my head canon, he took 6 months to cross the bridge.
Even more Waldo! It’s the lady from the Island in ch 14 too
Also, I’m wondering if the guy to the right of the guy who sold the special glow in the dark 風鈴 is the lock-keeper?
I think I’ve found another one. In the panel below the one with the fuurin-merchant and the lock-keeper (you’re talking about the “river-elevator” right? Looks like him) you see the girl from the couple from earth with the grumpy father-in-law. It could be anyone… but she has a similar coat and the same long and slightly wavy hair. Given the number of cameos found already, it’s got to be her. I wonder why she’s back so soon. It hasn’t even been a year. And where’s the dude? Maybe she found someone new during the last trip and that’s why she’s back already.
I notice that the known characters seem to be the only ones with eyes in their particular frame (see p326 for example) which is making me wonder whether there are a few others I haven’t figured out yet on p327.
p310 with the snow falling is just magical, isn’t it?
Page 311, Akari’s description of how the holiday season works in Japan is of the form [event]は[people]で, but in Neo Venezia she words it as [people]で[event]. Is there some… I guess poetic function to this reversal?
Page 314 panel 3, 賑やかにはしゃぎ倒す - exactly what function is 倒す playing here? There don’t seem to be any auxiliary verb definitions in Jisho.
According to Google, throwing stuff out the windows at the New Year is a Southern Italian tradition. Venice is quite firmly in Northern Italy…
Page 317, I notice サラリと has been entered on the vocab sheet with no translation. Googling suggests サラリ is a synonym for さらさら - onopatopoeic for easily, smoothly. “You said something terrifying so easily”.
I love how Akari comes to the conclusion on the same page that Alicia asked her to go in uniform so she’d have a hat to throw. Akari, you wear your uniform everywhere. We’ve literally not seen you in plainclothes since chapter one.
In contrast to the throwing things tradition, eating lentils is a Venetian tradition
FInal panel on 323, what’s the flipping back and forth between hiragana and katakana supposed to indicate?
I’m sure I’ve asked this before, but what’s the distinction between 出会う and 出逢う?
Love how the countdown is furigana’d in Italian. Though considering they’re counting in seconds (presumbly), this sequence very much obeys the “talking is a free action” trope. Weirdly, Akatsuki’s scarf disappears while he’s taking his jacket off to throw, suddenly reappearing on the double-page spread where he throws it.
Don’t think I’ve ever before noticed that Akari has been tied up with Akatsuki’s scarf from 334 onwards. Why she’s also got Aika and Alicia’s hats in her lap, I’m not entirely sure.
The omake panel at the end, is とっ取れない a stutter or a compound verb?
“Where’s Wally” characters that people don’t seem to have identified yet:
Guy in the lower-right corner of the 8 panel is the Umineko Carry pilot from the drydocking chapter.
Guy in the lower-left corner of the 7 panel could be the shopkeeper from the Trials of a Hero chapter. Perhaps.
I don’t think I noticed any of the waldos. (And by the way, I was super confused that everyone here was talking about where’s waldo when I hadn’t read the chapter yet.) I wouldn’t have remembered most of the characters or how they looked anyway…
Are we supposed to know the guy with glasses on page 327?
I didn’t notice either…
But now that you mentioned the scarf, at least 取れない makes more sense. I think it’s just a stutter by the way.
I’m just going to pretend that the hats are on her lap to keep her warm. And Akatsuki also tied her up to keep her warm. Yeah, that’s it…
I only really have one question this chapter (not because I understood the rest, but because I didn’t bother to write down the other questions I had).
On page 323, what is もう何が何だか訳がわからん supposed to mean?
It’s not a thing.
The construction is もう (anymore in this context) 何が何だか (what is what)
訳がわからない is a set phrase, meaning something like “I can’t understand a damn thing”
物事の主旨や意図を把握するのが困難であるさま
(well, 困難 does not sound as expletive as my version, but still)
And one more Waldo/Wally:
The girl who lost her bunny in the hero chapter whose title I forgot. (With bunny)
That one, I guess?
I only noticed the brother on first read, since he was mentioned in the text, and the old guy next to him. But then, as we got into it, I started noticing more and more…
Weirdly, Akatsuki’s scarf disappears while he’s taking his jacket off to throw, suddenly reappearing on the double-page spread where he throws it.