NOTE: If you are reading Aqua 1st edition, it is a different chapter number!
Start Date: August 11th Previous Chapter:Chapter 7 Next Chapter:Chapter 9
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I’m reading along
I’m still reading the book but I haven’t reached this chapter yet
I thought this chapter was very charming, and I wished I could be out on the water near the end.
Two little things I especially liked
p261 アリア社長 wearing the すいか (which really ought to have the kanji 水果, don’t you think? Too bad it doesn’t.）
p264 The teatime on the water routine. Although I am intrigued by the 2 cups for tea, and the large number of biscuits (probably all eaten by 社長, judging by their respective waistlines )
I’m a bit amused that Alicia Florence knows more Japanese summer traditions that Mizunashi Akari (though to be fair, she does comment that it’s no longer a tradition).
Aika’s fan says “Princess”. A reference that she works for Himeya, or that she’s quite a princess herself?
Someone’s notated しゃくしゃく on page 259 with “I couldn’t find an English translation” - surely it’s the sound of them chewing on watermelon?
I’m laughing so hard at アリア社長 in the second panel of pg 260 with his face in the watermelon
What a pretty chapter I would love to witness something like this, floating lantern festivals are so on my bucket list, and this had a very similar feel (which I’m sure was intentional). I want a 夜光鈴! I can totally understand Akari’s 一目惚れ feelings, they’re so pretty I would probably end up with more than one if I went to a market like that xD
Speaking of things I never noticed, I just noticed Akari isn’t wearing her glove for most of the chapter, even when in uniform, and it’s suddenly bugging me a fair bit…
Nope, she lives in town somewhere. For some reason, Aria Company tradition is that the apprentice lives in the attic. One would think the Prima would live there, and make the apprentice commute…
On a side note, I’ve always thought at the end that that crystal left behind looks like Nausicaä’s Taria River stone earrings…
Just finished the chapter. Not among my favorites, but it was okay.
Spoilers
When I first read through, I thought Alicia had bought her orb thingy a while ago and was saying its time was almost up, and Akari was buying a new one. So then I was confused as to why Akari was dropping hers in the ocean in the end with Alicia’s since I thought Akari’s was only a few days old. It took me a bit of skimming, but when I reread the line その日から on page 264 I finally realized that they were saying a month had passed, and Alicia must have bought hers just before she showed Akari or something like that.
I thought that was weird too. Especially as earlier on in the manga I’m sure she makes breakfast and so on for everybody, possibly several times? Like, she always seems to be up already when Akari comes downstairs and says good morning. Maybe she just comes down when she hears Alicia arrive
Three storey - kitchen on lower floor, Akari’s bedroom in the attic, and a middle floor with rectangular windows which Kyasurin just hasn’t managed to figure out yet
Two storey - kitchen on lower floor, Akari’s bedroom above, some random fake rectangular windows just there for decorative effect.
What what what?! Now I’m going to have to go back and double check…
0voters
Edit: definitely 3 storeys, further information below thanks to @Belthazar
It’s three storeys. Bottom floor is Aria Company’s office and front counter. There’s sometimes a table and chairs here, and President Aria’s desk is here. (Oddly, Aria’s food is also stored here, in the Acqua Alta chapter, probably simply to give Aria a means to drop it in the water.)
First floor is the living spaces - kitchen, dining room, sitting room with fireplace, balcony with deckchairs. This is the floor with the rectangular windows. Presumably there’s a laundry and bathroom here somewhere, but we never see them.
Attic has Akari’s bedroom. The only real oddity here is that the room seems bigger on the inside than the outside.
Page 267 has a fairly good profile image of the building.
I’m away from everything this week, including Internet, so I won’t comment much. I just wanted to drop by and say there was a piece on 風鈴 on TV this morning. That felt appropriate
I even took a picture, but my connection fails every time I try to upload it.
I thought this too. But.
What I was finding confusing was sections like pp51-53 where Akari has come downstairs to where Alicia is cooking (big round window which I thought was on the ground floor), Alicia walks past President Aria’s desk, across to the table where he is already sitting down (big round window which I thought was on the ground floor), then they are all having their meal at that table (rectangular windows, definitely not the ground floor).
As I am slightly obsessive a person with some free time, I decided to investigate further.
The mystery is solved on p230 where there is a rare view of ARIA HQ from the other side - showing a big round window on the middle floor. Case closed!
I’ll just let myself out now!
)
I would probably end up with more than one if I went to a market like that xD 
I’ll hopefully be able to take another look tomorrow.
