@ekg Thank you so much for sharing the drawings! I just hope you can manage to not look at them too closely ahead of time, as I think they can be pretty confusing out-of-context 
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The last chapters of vol 7 just flew by and now Iām just not willing to stop reading! ^^ā
Chapter 1 thoughts
I really like Rufus as a character. 
Here we get a glimpse of what kind of person he is, when he asks Jeoffrey to be his kidās godfather. ^>^
After a lot of talking, they walk toward the celebrations and are reunited with the rest of the crew as the boy Nigel payed to get a message to Jeoffrey about their whereabouts finds them. Finally, Jeoffrey and the crew make their way to the Hoe where they find Nigel seriously wounded. 
Jeoffrey give the order to bring Nigel onboard Gloria and Thomas, the doctor, to the ship to see to his wounds. theyāre meant to set off after Kaito as soon as possible.
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Hahaha I know that feeling 
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Chapter 2
Gloria has set off to chase after Kaito. Nigel regains consciousness for a bit and mumbles about his severe regret of his own actions, that lead to Kaito being abducted. Jeoffrey is alarmed. Poor Nigel. Iām pretty sure Kaito is willing to forgive him. If only he was able to do the same.
page 40
New vocab: äøćäø * ć¾ćććć¤ * in the unlikely event that
tbf, itās not a new word or phrase for me, but Iāve never seen it written and so I was surprised at how straightforward it is! 
Itās very unlikely 10 000 turns out to be 1.
Well, theyāve arrived in Portsmouth (?) where Jeoffrey intent to get in contact with the local authorities to see if they know something about spaniards roaming about, Iām assuming.
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chapter 3
page 46
Now for the most ridiculous Japanese word Iāve encountered so far: ćć°ć«ćć = mug. From English mug AND cup because why not make a portmanteau of both words! 
(not to mention, they use ćć° on its own later, so whatās the nuance created by making it into one word? 
This chapter is from Kaitoās POV and weāre finally learning about his fate in the hands of Vincente. Basically, he was drugged and so has a rather panicky awakening, feeling like he canāt breathe. 
In any case, Vincente is playing nice, trying to win Kaito over. Kaito is rightfully very sus.
Well, Vincente doesnāt have anything to offer Kaito to change his mind, no matter how much heās telling himself he can somehow make Kaito be glad he ended up in Spain at some point in the future.
Kaito sure is giving Vincente a well-deserved hard time with his antics. XD Finally, heās able to blow off some steam, though it does seem very ill-advised and dangerous. ^^;
EDIT:
Forgot to thank you for all your hard work on that. So many relationships and people who know each other. Sure gets confusing from time to time. ^^
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Chapter 4
They donāt find anything in Portsmouth. Instead Jeoffrey follows his deduction that Vincente has docked his ship at some pro-Catholic residence in the vicinity. And so they take off by horse instead.ā¦
ā¦Only to arrive too late to stop Vincente from having taken off with Kaito. Y_Y
I liked the urgency of this chapter. Very unlike the last time Kaito was taken away from Jeoffrey. This is much more direct action, since heās allowed to take action on his own. Good man.
Still, theyāre now on the back foot here, trying to catch up to Vincenteās ship, by āborrowingā one from the Arundel residence! XD 
Sounded like a smol boat though. Hopefully itās fast?
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Chapter 5 thoughts
page 85
New nautical vocab: å°åč ćććć¦ć ? small boat. But, from the description of it having 1 single mast, means itās a sloop ć¹ć«ć¼ć.
I guess, it puts emphasis on it being a very small boat. ^^
spoilers
Anyway, the POV is back to Kaito in this chapter as heās boarding the sloop with Vincente.
I donāt know what to say but Kaito is acting incredibly childish here. (the Leo scuffle) Leo VS Kaito has now been established! XD
I like that Kaito is constantly considering ways to flee, rather than resigning to his fate. But, Vincente is clearly on to him, and there is no chance for him to escape. So, in the end, they reach the spot where the Santalliana is anchored at the mouth of the river and Kaito ends up in the captainās cabin, surveilled by Leo as the ship prepares for departure.
There, Kaito sees his opportunity, overpowers Leon and render him unconscious. Getting off the ship is again a trial for Kaito to overcome his fobia of heights. And heās quickly spotted as well. 
But makes it down to the water and starts swimmingā¦but Vincente has speed on his side as he use the sloop to catch up to him, bringing him back onboard. Poor Kaito despairs, thinking heāll never see Jeoffrey again. Even so, please, Kaito, donāt think of drowning yourself!
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Chapter 6 thoughts
Jeoffrey isnāt doing much better than Kaito, as he desperately chase after Vincente. But a storm makes it near impossible to make much progress.
Nigel, being the frank and honest guy he is, insists on confessing the real events that took place when Vincenteās men took Kaito away. Jeoffrey is handling the truth pretty well under the circumstances. I feel the depth of their friendship is keeping them from truly wanting to harm each other. Jeoffrey concedes that it was unreasonable to expect Nigel to hold back his feelings Kaito. Even so, for the time being it seems their friendship is on hold. After getting Kaito back, Nigel might leave Gloria.
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Chapter 7 thoughts!
This is a Vincente POV chapter!
Abbe Escobar, might possibly be based on:
it fits the picture with the connection to the Mendoza family and Vincente. But heās dressed in Fransicaner garb, so I guess not. Antonio Escobar was with the Jesuits. Editā¦ his name is apparently Mauro as well.
In any case, Kaito is again faced with a religious figure. And as expected, having a Japanese heathen who does fortune telling for a living, so to speak, doesnāt sit well with Escobar (but, maybe he doesnāt know about the latter yet?). Regardless, he immediately accuse Kaito of witchcraft, having not sunk previously when swimming. Kaito really doesnāt have anyone on his side here, though Vincente is the closest there is to a protector I guess. Still, Kaito is very much on his own. :C Though, Vincente is clearly not a fan of Escobarās wild accusations or talk of disaster for the ship from having Kaito on it.
Also, while Iām no fan of Leoās harsh personality, he certainly didnāt deserve to be attacked by Kaito either.
After Kaitoās attempt to escape, heās physically and emotionally drained into deep sleep. Itās up to Vincente to change him out of his wet clothes so he doesnāt get sick. Which is how Vincente notice the marks Jeoffrey has left on Kaito from their night together. Vincente believes the worst of what heās seeing. But, Kaito wakes up only to be completely open about being Jeoffreyās lover. I do hope Kaito stops being reckless and try to keep it together. Heās inviting danger, thatās for sure, with that priest being a clear threat! Canāt say I much care for Vincenteās self-serving analysis of Kaitoās feelings for Jeoffrey as being essentially shallow and not real love. 
Noticed this:
Besides what @NicoleRauch answered, there is a way to cheat the system as Iāve been doing in this thread. Basically, write up your comment, and then delete your last previous comment. Post your new comment. Then quickly re-surrect the old one. Voila. you have just posted more than 3 consecutive replies. ^^
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Oh yes, he sounds like a good role model for this general type of people. But the person you linked here was born 2 years after ānowā so it canāt be exactly that person.
I found it pretty tough to search for the people in this volume, I guess thatās because of crazy katakana-ization and also weird Spanish naming schemes If you discover any more people, Iād be happy to read up about them.
Haha I like 
Beating the system at itās best!
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So we all knew how this would turn out; youāre right as always, Nicole. Jogged through chapters 1, 2, and 3 before my brain demanded a break. Thoughts for all three:
Chapter 1
-
So Geoffrey initially befriended Nigel because he was interested in him, huh? Makes sense. Makes me wonder if the volume 6 bonus story will touch on that, given that I believe itās set around that time.
Chapter 2
-
And now Geoffrey knows something went down between Kaito and Nigel in the field. This is going to get messy real quick, I can see it already. It was barely a kiss, but I know Nigelās torn up with guilt about that + losing to Vicente, and Geoffreyās been shown to have jealousy issues just by seeing people hang out with Kaito too much. Who knows where Kaitoās going to land in all this. I just hope this doesnāt become a bad stumbling block for Nigel.
Chapter 3
-
And now the part weāve all been waiting for: what happened to Kaito. He wakes up in the basement of the manor of the lady who was hosting Vicente before, when he sent men to jailbreak Kaito. Kaitoās pretty upset with the whole situation, unsurprisingly, but Iād love to be in Vicenteās head right about now. Surely he knew itās going to be tough to make Kaito not hate him, so Iām wondering what his long term plan is here. Hope he can isolate Kaito in his company long enough to get Kaito to like him? Kaito responds much more strongly to actions than words, so if thereās going to be a redeeming moment for Vicente in Kaitoās eyes, Iām betting itāll be some sort of heroic sacrifice situation.
-
If Vicente and Geoffrey and Nigel ever all end up in the same room together without killing each other, theyāll have some very interesting notes to compare. For Vicente, Kaitoās been living in London since he was 9 and doesnāt need any special setup to perform divination, the complete opposite of what G&N were told. Itās kind of funny that both situations arenāt perfect for Kaito: he doesnāt know common knowledge that someone living in England for most of their life would know (as Vicente noted), but on the other hand he knows unusually specific things about a country heās apparently never been to before (like knowing about the King Arthur stories, off the top of my head).
-
I wonder how Vicenteās going to deal with the point Kaito brought up: if he does successfully land in Spain with Kaito, Vicente doesnāt have the political power to protect him as well as he says he will. Heck, his direct superior has already advised him to kill Kaito the next time they met so the heathen demon child couldnāt screw up Godās plan for the world with his future sight (or something like that; been a while since that book.)
- This has popped up a few times in previous volumes, and it repeating here reminded me: Kaitoās occasional bouts of nationalism have never sat right with me. I think itās similar to the discussion about Kaitoās view of sex weāve had on here before, where I as a reader donāt really identify with Kaitoās apparent anger at Englishmen working against England. I also donāt really feel like the storyās done enough to justify that attitude of Kaitoās, unless heās just using it as a convenient excuse to tell off his enemies.
From what Iāve seen, Kaito is a young Japanese man who wants to hold onto his Japanese heritage (speaking the language with Kazuya), who has been forcibly thrust from his home (present day England) into whatās essentially a foreign land (16th century England). The people heās met, aside from a few close friends, have generally been hostile to him, and this is an era where he would never be considered a true Englishman anyway; he will perennially be considered an outsider. He doesnāt follow the general religion, which is basically equivalent to being politically opposed to the powers that be in all the ways they care about. So why get to upset at English traitors? Is it just a method to attack them in his own way, i.e. āI canāt physically hurt you, but I know you care about this so Iāll accuse of being a traitorā? Or does he truly believe the things heās saying? What do you guys think?
Overall, Iām hoping Kaito doesnāt get rescued too quickly. I would like him to build a bond back up with Vicente; one party is definitely willing, at least, and I want to see more Vicente. 
Them full color extra for this volume are 
too, btw.
(Chapter 2 spoilers)
I know, right? 
I hope Geoffrey isnāt too hard on himā¦
So I think this is the first time weāve seen his first name. I need to do another search, see if I can figure out if heās real or not. :S
(Chapter 1 spoiler)
Another incredibly sweet moment. Itās these little character interactions that I love.
I absolutely love this word; I donāt remember where I first saw it, but itās truly genius, haha.
Thank you again for maintaining this! 
Itās such a helpful resource; when Kaito was thinking about the earl and his relationships I was making a mental note to check your diagram. That bad boy is a thing of beauty. One suggestion: could names that Kaitoās directly interacted with be bolded or something for easier parsing when youāre looking for a specific person?
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Wow so many interesting thoughts! Iām just going to jump in there,
I also feel thereās a disconnect here. But I have a different interpretation as to Kaitoās character. Basically, Kaito is English. I honestly forget what was told in volume 1, but Iāve always assumed heās lived long enough there for it to be āhis countryā. People who emigrate, especially when young, seem to acclimate well to their new country of living. Retaining oneās language is common and schools generally support dual language studies to help people retain both aspects of their background, but that doesnāt mean youāre somehow still āJapanese at heartā as years go by.
It gets less obvious with how Kaito is written as a character, his reactions and ways of thinking, being indeed very Japanese at heart. But, this is more of a writing error more than anything, imo, which is not unique in any way to Matsuoka-sensei. I find that most foreign characters are mistakenly portrayed with actions and ways of thinking that are ultimately highly Japanese, and basically authors have a genuine problem in imagining what type of thought-processes non-Japanese people take for granted or actions theyād likely take in difference to someone whoās grown up in Japanese society; especially in social interactions this is apparent imo! But, this is not unique to the writing of Matsuoka-sensei, but rather common across the board in manga, anime etc. It often results in this feeling of disbelief as to how characters react, speak or act in scenes, in view of them not being Japanese.
Not sure I can explain it all that well, but thatās also part of how the virginity trope was done here, relying on well-repeated phrases like āI feel strangeā as if you you donāt know the mechanics of the act or how human bodies work. I always end up laughing when I spot that particular phrase, which is used a lot in BL, always a bit ridiculously. Especially, for a 17-year old guy living in England to be that sheltered, it just doesnāt make any sense to me from what I know of Western society (all guys watch porn, school teach about sex, most people have a relaxed view on physical intimacy and sex in general). Just my thought-process that it assumes Kaito is brought up in Japanese society, taking in norms that are must maybe more prevalent or natural there? Just my thoughts.
Edit
Forgot to mention, but There is also a layer of how Kaito is written as a character that is also widely used BL, which I tend to think of as writing men as if theyāre women, especially when it comes to sex and intimacy.
Me neither! XD Interesting note from one of the free talks to the BLCDs, Jun Fukuyama (Kaito), talking to Tooru Ookawa (Vincente) commented on his first impressions of Vincente back in volume 1, as him taking a real liking to Vincente - only for the character to be mostly not present in the story besides Vincente thinking about that first encounter. lol
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Haha glad itās not only me! I think I need to be cautious as you will overtake me any time now 
It was actually mentioned a couple of times, including the very first time we met him, iirc 
But I also keep losing track with all this katakana craze 
Oh yes, please! He feels totally real to me, but I couldnāt come up with anything so far.
I thought this was easily topped by ęŗåøÆć«ćć Like, āportable cupā? Yesā¦? Is this a new invention, and before that people were drinking from cups that are glued to the table or something? 
Ah no worries! I do this mainly for my own entertainment
Although I must say that the English side of things is rater neat and clean compared to the Spanish/continental European side of things If you e.g. look at the ancestral tree of the Habsburg folks, itās like everybody married their first cousin or something 
Luckily nature intervened a few times, and people were taken from the reproduction chain by going crazy or infertile or such. But in general this level of incest is more than I had imagined, really.
That might be a good idea! Unfortunately I only have the newest version of the diagram and so I would only be able to do this on that one, plus I probably donāt remember for every person which volume they were in, so in order to avoid spoilers (through highlighting people from later chapters), Iād give this a try for the Vol. 10 chart only, if thatās okay? And just to clarify, would this also include people that Geoffrey directly interacted with, without Kaito being present? Iām e.g. thinking of the dude who told Geoffrey how Kaito could get out of the trial back in Vol. uuuh 5, I think? Iām not sure whether Kaito ever met him directly.
Yes, thatās exactly how I see it as well. I think he came to England like 10 years ago or so? So he spent more time in England than in Japan. Plus of course more important years in terms of associating with society and stuff.
Yes, thatās my biggest pain point as well, especially with Geoffrey who I think is written in a very unrealistic way.
Yes, I was afraid this would happen when I learned that BL is often (or always?) 儳ę§åć. 
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(Note: all spoilered replies are technically for up to chapter 3 here, though I donāt think any talk about specific plot information in volume 8 itself.)
Says the person whoās already done with volume 10. 
Not to worry, I canāt pull off reading as much as I did this past weekend every day, or even every weekend. If things go well I might be caught up by the end of the month? And if they donāt then I should hopefully at least be close.
Gah, youāre probably right.
I had a double-take when I first read that and had to check myself on what I was reading. XD Now I always imagine everyone with cute little cup holster things.
Oh, thatās totally fine! Sorry, I didnāt mean to imply I wanted you to update every single instance of the chart, haha. And yes, I think that would be fine, given that Geoffrey hasnāt met that many people that Kaito hasnāt.
He did, (volume 6 spoiler) to give that fortune in return for help with the trial, but we havenāt seen that on-page yet. Was that divination really that important plot-wise? Or is it the opposite, and basically just a throw-away kind of thing?
Thatās very true. I wonder if part of the disconnect for me is that, for the short period we saw him in present day England, he wasnāt all that happy with his life there then. Doesnāt mean he doesnāt feel English, of course, but I think itās tricked me into not putting enough stock in that decade or so heās already been living there.
This is also true. I guess at some point, it gets really easy to corrupt a character in your mind, even as you read, since your brain has to filter the characterās traits and personality through so many different layers: authorās Japanese + heās supposed to have been living in England + the readerās own country and customs. I would love to see a Kaito written from the perspective of an Englishwoman; how would his reactions and thoughts differ?
Anything in particular that bugs you? Personally, I feel like he swings too fast into āI would die for you territoryā in regards to Kaito; I think we mentioned this several volumes ago, but the romantic development could probably be slowed down by a few volumes and not suffer, imo.
Iāve heard that gay fiction written by men does tend to portray characters quite differently, but Iām afraid I donāt have much (any?) firsthand experience to compare with. And thatās just written in English; Iām curious how the scene differs with Japanese men writing gay JP characters.
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OK great! Iāve updated the diagram in Vol. 10 and I think it contains only one highlight that you donāt yet know about (and if you think about it realistically, it should not come as a surprise really, but if you want to avoid it altogether then just donāt look at the topmost part of the diagram).
I was not exactly sure which of the figures in the middle Kaito actually met at Elizabethās court - did he meet Frances Walsingham (the daughter of our spymaster?) And her husband Philip Sidney? Anything else around our for ājackāsā that I got wrong in your opinion?
Oh yes, good call! Then thatās settled.
Hard to pinpoint exactly but Iād say he is just way too soft and way too sweet and good. You know, if I think at āclassical pirate storiesā (e.g. like Treasure Island or somesuch) pirates are presented as tough guys who swear, drink, rob, rape and kill without remorse. And this is of course a clichĆ© as well, Iām aware, but I think back in those times there was just not so much leeway for being really sweet and kind as everybody was pretty much struggling from day to day. Now if you look at Geoffrey, sure he also drinks and robs and kills without remorse if need be. But on the other hand he is really kind and friendly and supportive, and he reflects on himself and has true character development. Which would still be credible in so far (I mean pirates were not more stupid than other people, why shouldnāt they reflect on their own behaviour?) but then on top of that he has this super-moralizing attitude of āI will always love youā and āIām soo jealousā and these things, and this just comes across as āteaching the audienceā to me. āThatās how we are supposed to live our lives and our relationshipsā teaching, you know? Yes, I think thatās it in essence. And thatās also why I donāt believe that this is an 18+ series; Iād rather rate it 15+ to be honest, simply because of this āteaching aspectā that I often find in teenagersā literature but rarely in adultsā literature.
Murakami off-topic
Oh now I remember that I didnāt respond to your question!
Yes, in my experience sex scenes are a staple in Murakamiās books (in the Kafka book club we actually called them āMurakami scenesā), also including scenes with minors, along with violence and cruelty (towards humans and animals) so basically there is no taboo in his writing. Plus he often describes these things at a level of detail that feels quite unnecessary most of the time. I think he just wants to expose the reader as strongly as possible to a given situation. Which I donāt really mind as much, but sometimes it gets a bit disgusting.
I would definitely hope so! If you happen to come across a good recommendation (in English or Japanese) please let me know.
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Whoops, mightāve already seen it. I saw your comment, went to look at the vol. 10 diagram, noticed the name, then thought, āwait, is that bolded? strains eyesā No worries, though; like you said, it makes sense (and actually makes me more excited to read). Do you think the bolding stands out enough, on that note? Would bold + underline work better? Or do you think the bolding is enough?
I think youāve got everyone. This is something Iād need to re-read those sections for to be completely sure, but I think youāve got everyone off the top of my head.
Ah, and I might have asked this before, but what program are you using to generate the diagram, out of curiosity?
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Uuuuhhh sorriiii! 
I hope it doesnāt kill the suspense going forward!
ah ok phew
I actually wondered myself whether it would be visible enoughā¦ Question answered, I guess
I am not a big fan of underlining and this stuff, therefore I tried a different approach. If you could have another look and tell me what you think? Is this too jarring? Too strong? Too dark?
Itās called OmniGraffle (Iām on a Mac) but itās just like any other better-quality drawing program, I guess. The layouting is all done manually by me, not by the program.
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There are some exceptions for sure. But, yeah, BL is great at what it does, but true realism isnāt it. I guess, some try for that, but I think, manga, an by extension, light novels all have this unrealistic aspect to some of the writing (the character, story etc.). Still, itās great fun to read and experience, so Iām willing to forgive these gripes I might have! XD
I donāt read much gay fiction myself. But, as I was hinting at a bit previously, my reading of fanfics certainly include male writers. If you move outside of anime, manga and Japanese media, I think it makes for a different take on things more naturally.
As I said, manga isnāt just a visual style that keeps changing, but also a writing style of sorts, leaning towards the unrealistic, but lots of fun.
I canāt say I minded much about all the tropes of BL, and Iām still fine with a lot of it. But, Ii do take notice and think about it as I encounter them. Regardless, there is so much to love about this story that even if details might not be your cup of tea, I think thatās fine. Thatās how I feel at least.
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No, I like it. The green is a nice āneutralā shade, I think? Stands out, but itās not overly bright compared to the rest of the image. I guess the only thing left is to put a little key in one of the bottom corners noting what the green stands for.
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Good point! Added 
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