JBC's NO.6 's Discussion Thread

Quick question: What’s our “official” chapter right now? OP still says Chapter 1, which is definitely not the case, right? Shouldn’t it be Chapter 2?

Last I heard, I think it’s a chapter every 2 weeks? Meaning Chapter 2 is August 21 - September 3, and Chapter 3 is Sept. 4 - 17.

Yeah chapter 3 starts Sunday 9/2 (call that my executive decision lol)

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I bought this book as well, and it should be arriving on my doorstep(or somewhere near it tomorrow sometime before I get off work, I’m gonna try my best to catch up to you guys before long, and hopefully be able to discuss things pretty soon, I’m guessing I’ll catch up around halfway through the time you guys are in chapter 4, if my planning is accurate.

I hope to be able to discuss things with you soon. :slight_smile:

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Regarding your first question on p. 83, I interpreted the line to be an awkward from Shion’s perspective. He’s been confronted twice already about a part of him that has caught the attention of both his friend and mom. Not knowing wanting to go into detail, I think it was meant to try to end the conversation. So in essence, it’s like an awkward 「元気でね」, but with あの being more like filler word (e.g., um, er, uh…). I could be completely off about this though…

In response to your follow up question, I don’t think she was upset. I felt that Safu was more or less taken aback by seeing a side of Shion she had never seen before. That put her in a place of doubt about how well she knows him. Thinking about it from her perspective, perhaps she’s disappointed that she’s never known this dimension of him throughout their long friendship. I don’t feel that her uncertainty about taking their friendship to the next level was resolved which is why I think she restated her feelings and ended the call suddenly. What do you think?

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Got the book today, and I’ll start cracking down on it as soon as I get through the lesson I was working on during break at work. Hopefully you guys won’t be bothered by me asking questions about stuff that happened a couple chapters ago while I work through it.

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Managed to ask a native speaker and he agrees with your assessment. He said that Shion is most definitely あせてる :joy:

Read back through the conversation several times with a dictionary. I think I assumed she was upset because she initially says it was ひどい for Shion to just run off like that. But then he apologizes and she doesn’t really seem angry so, her being more disappointed or puzzled makes sense. I’m thinking she sounds more un-confident than anything - we’re seeing a new side of the usually confident, logical Safu who can explain emotions with chemical formulas. She revealed her feelings for him and he didn’t affirm them, so she was left in a vulnerable position. I think this made her realize that even though she’d like to be strong and say “I don’t mind if there’s someone else you like,” she knows it would be a 強がり(a bluff, I suppose?) and nothing more than 態度を取る(taking on an attitude). These are the words I had to look up; I think they helped me understand her reaction a lot more. XD

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I’m glad to know that I was on the right track regarding that remark.

The admission that came prior to their final conversation was so sudden (and forward) that it definitely took me off guard. It made me wonder if she wanted to confirm that he didn’t run away because of what she had said to him.

Yeah I’m sure that was part of it. She probably wanted to figure out what his feelings were - he turned down her initial offer but, more with a “I’ll think about it” than a “No, never”. She did pick up on the fact that there’s someone else he’s interested in, so I bet she was trying to ask how involved he was with this other person in order to gauge the probability of him ever developing feeling for her.

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Just for those following this thread, based on our current pace (2 weeks per chapter), you should have already started chapter 3. Happy reading to you!

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So…this week is the start of chapter 3, right? Hopefully everyone should be at about the same place by now.

@Snowflying: I pretty much agree exactly with how you guys translated what was said and what happened in that section - but my interpretation of Safu is a little different. To me, it seems like she’s being set up to be a sister type character for Shion. I think in the space between Shion running off and the ‘phone’ (what is the device they’re using, by the way? I don’t have a very clear image) conversation she basically realises any romantic notions she has towards him are going to remain unfulfilled, but she accepts that and lets him know she’ll be happy for him so long as he’s happy. I think the ひどい is more like a deliberate ribbing of Shion.

Edit: Oh, haha @LucasDesu had the same idea. Well, at least my question is confirmed.

I think that’s a good interpretation of what her character will turn out becoming. It almost makes me wish that I had thought about that first!

My next question is: What do you think the significance of the death in the beginning of chapter 2? How do you think it will affect the plot? Is this going to turn into some human experimentation type of thing? What do you think?

Yeah, I agree with the sister interpretation. I think this little story arc also allowed Shion to think about his feelings towards Nezumi and realize how deeply their meeting 4 years ago had impacted him.

As for Safu - I had only really gone as far as thinking she was being calm about the possibility of him liking someone else, rather than having completely accepted it. Thinking about it now though, I can see how it might be the case. But even if she has accepted it, I think she’s (understandably) disappointed and will need some time to move on. I guess I’m mostly hung up on how best to interpret these lines:

「あなたに好きな人がいても、かまわない…というのは、ちょっと強がりよね。何があっても、わたしは平気ですって態度を取っちゃうのが、わたしの悪い癖なんだ。」
“Saying I don’t mind if there’s someone else you like would be a bit of a bluff. Pretending that I’m fine no matter what happens is a bad habit of mine.” (roughly)

Plus, she ends the call abruptly by reminding him how she feels. This kinda seems like she might still be hoping Shion will eventually come around, but it could be something else.

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(I’m assuming spoiler tags aren’t needed now for chapter 2? I’ll use them to be safe)

Am I right that an actual mouse crawled onto shion’s shoulder and whispered “あいかわらず天然だな” into his ear?? What does it meeaaaan?

First thing I think when I hear あいかわらず is always:

I haven’t gotten that far actually, but from my clairvoyant powers having seen the anime, I can say that yes, you understood correctly.

You read correctly because right before that interaction, Safu even notices the presence of the rat and Shion comments that that one in particular is friendly. After all that, that’s when the interaction happened. What does this mean? I don’t know exactly, but my prediction is that perhaps Nezumi has some kind of special ability (shapeshifting? telepathy?) and perhaps has been watching over Shion for longer than Shion even knows.

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So my question now is which translation of 天然 applies here?

  1. nature, spontaneity
  2. natural airhead

“A natural airhead, as always, yo”

Number 2, for sure. Since that was definitely Nezumi’s original impression of Shion.

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I believe it’s the second. I base this on the fact that Shion admits that he’s a genius, but he lacks social savvy.

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I wonder if anyone can shed any light on this:

On pg 85 the dead man’s wife is described as 二十代と思われる女性. I understand the meaning - a woman who looks to be / could be said to be in her twenties. But the literal translation would be: a woman who is thought to be in her twenties, right? Which sounds like a police report of a suspect, whereas here she’s being seen (kind of) from the perspective of Shion so I’m a little confused as to why that construction would be chosen.

I would argue that this story isn’t quite a first person narrative, but along the lines of a limited-third person narrative or observer-narrative. If thought of that way, it would make more sense.

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