I’m assuming it’s supposed to be a joint.. so Ren is “strung out” in the bathtub because he smoked pot? Ah Japan, you are so cute, please never change.
It was a less heart wrenching week than things have been, but that doesn’t meant that I’m super happy with how all the events happened. Hachi and Takumi are getting more and more entrenched in this marriage plan and neither of them are all that invested. The record company (Gaia?) continues to be sus, and now we leave Nana having a panic attack (one assumes). *sigh* I miss when things were easier
Haha yes, it’s so funny to look back at all those panels and just look at Hachi’s face reacting to all those exchanges and to her family’s reaction. And then she gets explodes finally because she never gets to talk.
I didn’t really understand why that was a big deal (according to Hachi’s reaction). What does he normally use? 俺? Is 僕 more polite?
I was assuming it’s a much harder drug but I have no idea how hard drugs look like, so could just be what you said
My heart did break a bit when Nobu wrote to Hachi it was a pretty bad timing, so she didn’t reply. I wonder though, if she ever will, when Takumi will be gone (I have a feeling that he will be gone a lot)
Yeah… I just want him to be gone already, but doesn’t seem like it’s going to happen
Another uneasy calm chapter. I’m happy that Nobu is getting closer to the other girl in the dorm, but I have a terrible feeling that as soon as anything might happen between the two of them, Hachi will return his message..
Nana and Ren’s .. well they’re not in a fight, but whatever it is has been going on for so long that I’m not even sure they’re dating anymore
Layla and Shin are deffo getting found out soon, and that’s another powder keg to go off.
Just.. my stomach can’t take all of this imminent drama…
By the way @shitsurei I had a question for you in the comment for Chapter 37, maybe you didn’t see it :x the thing with 僕
Chapter 38
Haha yes, I can totally see that happens. It keeps happening in the manga. Like recently: Ren telling Nana “hey you should go see Hachi directly, it’s rainy and she’s pregnant so she’s totally going to be home” → cue to Shin inviting her to meet up on that same day and Hachi is not home
I was so mad at Layla here.
Oh hey I’m going to be wearing in public the edition limited very unique lighter of my underage lover that everyone has seen before, I wonder what could go wrong!
There’s a lot of nuance to the difference between the two, but Takumi is definitely an 俺. It’s not impolite in the right circumstances (which for Takumi is his entire life outside of this event ), but it’s absolutely not suited for a formal meeting with his future wife’s parents.
Suffice it to say, it would be wild for Takumi to use 僕 in any other situation, and so hearing him use it is actually kinda funny, and Hachi can’t keep a straight face.
Thanks! I feel like I have a good grasp of nuances for おまえ or きみ for example, but didn’t notice that there could be a nuance at all between 俺 and 僕! Will have to keep my eyes open for those now
Shin and Nobu illustrating perfectly my problem with Japanese. If I don’t see the kanji, I have no idea what people are saying
Nice to see Nana coming around a bit more to the idea of Hachi being with Takumi and having a baby soon (she is way faster than me, I’ve known for like 20 years and still don’t like it xD). And that she invited Hachi to watch her playing, too bad Hachi was so far away, would have been funny to have her in the first row, just like Nana was for Ren back then.
Sad to see Nobuo moving on already, even though it’s fair enough. Nana describes well the feeling I have there:
It is true that they haven’t seen each other for a while, as Ren was made to leave to the UK immediately after the paparazzi revealed them. And Nana was sent to camp too.
I don’t think that they are having a fight though, Nana was on her way to Nobu’s room to borrow his cellphone to call Ren, when she had the anxiety attack (or whatever it is in English?).
This might be one of my favorite chapters post-Volume 8, so I ended up writing an essay, oops xD
Chapter 39
Glad we finally arrived to this chapter.
It made a really strong impression on me when I read it for the first time as a teenager (I was probably younger than Shin!). So strong, that when we started reading with the club, in my head I still remembered Shin and Layla’s relationship by the episode in the car.
Now, reading it as an adult it feels a lot more weirder though I feel like Shin looks particularly young in those scenes, maybe because of the hair style. I love Shin’s character, and I like Layla but seeing a grown up adult having a romantic relationship with a teen just feels really weird to me
Apart from that, was funny to see the parallels, Shin + Layla and Nana + Ren both reuniting and doing it during the break.
The tension between Nana and Ren before the proposal was really well made, I think she must have thought that she wanted to break up, not the opposite.
Enjoying having Nana’s point of view now. She has a lot of interesting thoughts in this chapter about her relationship with Ren, with Yasu, and the relationship Ren-Yasu.
Nobu’s reaction finding out that Miu is 27 was hilarious, but understandable xD I definitely remember being his age and thinking the same of people Miu’s age! (not to mention people over 30, they might just as well have been dead already)
Apart from Shin + Layla and Nana + Ren, another dreaded meeting between Trapnest and Black Stones is Takumi + Nobuo. Love how Nana quickly jumping to protect Nobu!
And lastly, I’ve always been wondering how the meeting between Layla and any of the Nana would go. It did not disappoint xD
The “きた” scene was very funny to me. The opening scene of the manga HUNTER X HUNTER, is also all about a giant fish coming closer and closer, 来た.. 来た.. キターーッ!!! Same same xD
Seeing the pronouns is one of the places I feel like I get more understanding than reading the English. Both the 俺/僕 bit and when Takumi calls 奈々 「おまえ」can’t really be translated in English.
Question on Page 62
Possibly pronoun related. The doctor says “それは君がちゃんと避妊してあげれば解決だろ”. Something like “If you properly use birth control, that will be solved.” Is there something about that sentence (maybe the 君) that suggests the doctor is taking to ヤス? (As opposed to suggesting ナナ use a different kind of birth control.) Or are we just supposed to get that from the doctor turning his head?
I think that it’s just logical that he’s talking to Yasu here since Nana has just said she’s on the pill. On the previous page when he’s talking about her having breathed into a paper bag he calls her 君 as well. I think that’s more about his position as a doctor, and being quite a bit older than the two of them than it is about him speaking to anyone in particular.
I am definitely sure that he was talking to Yasu, after seeing Nana and Yasu’s reaction. They react like that because they just realized from what he says that he must be thinking that Yasu is Nana’s partner. Don’t know if I would have guessed otherwise, 君 could have been either of them, though he might treat Nana, the patient, more respectfully than what he thinks as “her careless boyfriend who doesn’t even wears condoms and look at what you did to her now”
)
it was a pretty bad timing, so she didn’t reply. I wonder though, if she ever will, when Takumi will be gone (I have a feeling that he will be gone a lot)
I feel like Shin looks particularly young in those scenes, maybe because of the hair style. I love Shin’s character, and I like Layla but seeing a grown up adult having a romantic relationship with a teen just feels really weird to me 
