Intermediate Japanese Book Club // Now Reading: セーラー服と機関銃

I have a copy of this laying around and have been throwing vocabulary from it in Anki for a bit. It is a little advanced for me, but I’d hate to miss out on this for a book I already own. Will just have to power through :upside_down_face:

4 Likes

@Naphthalene When do you want me to close the follow up poll?

1 Like

I think it’s fine now. We definitely have enough data. I guess the most reasonable conclusion is that it’s indeed better to do only one book with the club.

More than the poll, actually, since people who were mostly insterested in 君の名は said they are fine with not reading it at this time, I think there’s no point forcing it.

Plus, people can still self-organize if they really want to, at least they have a list of user who would be interested :slight_smile:
I see that some people are already planning to do that with the pancreas one.

6 Likes

Okay, polls are closed. I think your conclusion makes sense, especially since (as you mentioned) several people interested in reading 君の名は said they are fine waiting.

I’m looking forward to reading キノの旅 with the group. Hopefully this can really push forward my reading ability. Be ready for a lot of questions. :wink:

7 Likes

@Naphthalene
It’s funny how earlier you were talking about the phobia of switching bodies and it making you uncomfortable. I forget who the other person was, please tag them too.

I don’t get this phobia lol. But I think you guys were also talking about a phobia with losing memories and forgetting each other. That one does bother me.

Like in Kiki’s delivery services When she was no longer able to talk to her cat, that made me really upset and unmfortable Also in the legend of Korra When she was not longer able to talk to past avatars, it was very uncomfotable Like these kind of things really upset me and make me uncomfortable n the way you guys just said.

1 Like

We were talking about it with @QuackingShoe and @SleepyOne.
Although, it’s not the body swapping per se for me, just the fact that the person who got in the body has no way of knowing how to act “naturally”, so people around are bound to notice a problem. It’s that “notice a problem” part plus the fact that the character themselves are confused that does it form me. The spin-off of Your Name that focuses on the point of view of the others, having to deal with the strange behavior of the swapee (?) sounds like nightmare in book form to me.

7 Likes

It’s sort of nice to hear from people who also have irrational responses to media. No one I’ve talked to about it in person really gets it :wink:

Various Ruminations

I think my thing is in part that I feel like out memories are all that really make us the people we are. But beyond that, I guess I just have a deep-seated fear of lost connections. There’s that song, that goes like “now you’re just somebody that I used to know”? That line encapsulates everything I hate about falling out of touch with people, or most specifically romantic partners, and forgetting people is like an enhanced version of that - especially if I’ve been along for the ride the whole way. Locke’s fiancee forgetting who he is? Well, fine, I wasn’t there for their relationship anyway, so it’s all abstract. 50 First Dates or 一週間フレンズ? Well, they didn’t have a pre-existing relationship and everyone knows what’s coming. Okay.
Your Name? Noooooooooooo whhyyyyyyyyy

Anyway.

4 Likes

Yeah, that really upsets me. Also in the kind of re-do stories, like repeating a day or going back in time. I’m mildly upset that the main character is the only one who remembers the time they spent with another character before they reset. Like Re;zero, etc. But this kind of theme doesn’t upset me much as completely and mutually forgetting about each other. Like kmi no na wa

2 Likes

Oh, quite. I wouldn’t say I had a violent reaction to that scene, per se, but the loss of all that heritage… Very much a sadness for the transience of things…

1 Like

I just straight-up stopped watching Clannad after that one thing happened.

Incidentally, I’ve had this fear since long before this event happened, but I guess because the universe wanted to drive it home, an ex of mine a couple years ago had a seizure after which he forgot everything, including me, for about four hours. It was
An experience.

6 Likes

I was devastated. To cope with it, and really to cope with it anytime these upsetting themes happen, I have to pretend like it didn’t happen.

:face_with_hand_over_mouth: I have yet to watch clannad so I don’t know what you’re talking about but I’ll prepare myself when I do. :joy:

Reading this over again, I think your problem is that you have second-hand embarrassment. :thinking: I have this too, it’s so strong that when characters do something embarrassing sometimes I have to look away or take a break. Especially in books, I get all sweaty and anxious and I dread reading the passage for some time. And sometimes when characters confess their love. :confounded: I guess this is another phobia of mine.

6 Likes

Was this “one thing” early in the series or late in the in series? Feel free to say what it was specifically in spoiler tags (if you don’t mind). A lot of emotional things happened in Clannad so I can’t really be sure.

Everyone forgetting Starfish girl made me want to just actually die.

2 Likes

Okay, that is what I thought it was. If it makes you feel better, while the memory part isn’t reversed, there is a silver lining to her story later on.

1 Like

Yes, my reaction last night when I tried to purchase it too.

Please spare a thought for your Australian book buddies - Amazon.co.jp won’t ship to us. :sob:

Trying this now. Actually I was trying to get the furigana version this way earlier in the week. They had access to a second hand copy, they allowed me to add the request to my cart, and then they told me I couldn’t have it because it was “out of print”. :sob: I know it’s out of print!! That’s why I’m trying to order a second hand copy!! Gaaaaah!
So now I’m trying to get a second hand copy of the “in print” version.

And if that fails, I will go digital… :expressionless: but really, I want a paper one…

4 Likes

Hmm, that might be a good way of putting it :thinking: (thinking about my own fears, not trying to speak for Naph). I tend to avoid most TV and movies because the character interaction bothers me so much and leaves me anxious. Animated stuff is usually different because the characters and their actions tend not to feel like something that would occur in our world, and thus don’t cause similar anxieties. (though there are exceptions like 君の名は)

3 Likes

For what it’s worth, when I was on the phone with Kinokuniya, they made it sound like it’s in-print version is published by KADOKAWA, but that there’s a version I tried to order published by アスキ-・メディアワ-クス which is what’s out of print.

@seanblue It doesn’t help at all :sweat_smile:

1 Like

Sorry :sweat_smile:

I do have that too, and it’s definitely a compounding factor, but it’s a different thing. For instance, stuff like gaslighting will trigger that phobia too, but won’t involve any second-hand embarrassment.

I guess it’s not super clear, the way I wrote it in the passage you wrote; I guess the trigger is the fact that others are wondering if there’s something wrong with the character while the character has no way to change that. It was not triggered during (時をかける少女 spoiler) the second time jump, since Kazuko was collected and knew how to deflect suspicion

About the second-hand embarrassment, though, I definitely agree with all the examples you gave, and usually need a moment too.

3 Likes