Just finished this chapter and thank goodness it’s mainly pure wholesomeness with very little sadness, so if you’re thinking about putting the chapter off for a while because of the content, nothing to worry about this week!
There’s some hints that the upcoming chapters might be on the upsetting side though.
I liked that they included a little explanation on time machines and parallel worlds. Even if they don’t touch more on the details, it’s still better than not mentioning anything at all considering the story depends on it pretty heavily.
I didn’t understand the lecture in great detail, but my brain is still recovering from Covid fatigue so I just read for enjoyment this time around. It will be interesting to see everyone’s takeaway!
It is still kind of bittersweet, seeing Suwa on that ending and knowing that he is kinda giving up, although I guess he is looking after Naho so maybe it is the best for everyone in the end.
Lots of new vocab for me this week with all the time travel talk!
Story Comments
Glad that this weeks chapter was a gentle one! Definitely hinting at some sadness in the future though…
Interesting that this chapter mentioned 四十九日, as I only learned about that custom a few days ago.
Some silly chapter 5 thoughts (now that I have a little more time to type them up):
I like the parallel world idea, as it nicely addresses my concern over Future Naho potentially removing her child from existing.
Of course, the whole idea of time travel causing parallel worlds to split off is just silly. It requires the belief that there exists space where everything that exists can copy into infinitely, as well as that any point in time can be accessed and copied.
Well, it does work with simulation theory if you suppose there are active back-ups, and that an action within the simulated world can write data (such as a written letter) into a backup copy that then gets run at some point in time.
Then there’s always the time loop theory, wherein everything begins with the big bang, and the universe expands until eventually the pull of gravity slows the expansion and reverses it, pulling the universe back together until the point of another big bang that resets the universe to repeat history all over again. Add in the black hole gimmick, and one can suppose that sending an object through a black hole can cause it to appear earlier in the next run of the time loop than it should exist, causing events to play out differently.
Finally caught up on this chapter! There was at least one point where I remember observing to myself, wow, this long sentence would have been completely opaque to me once, but now I just need to look up the words I don’t know and it’s instantly clear… I think maybe it was in the time travel lecture, because there were a lot of weird conditional statements. So that’s fun!
Also, a great chapter! So many sweet and/or interesting moments! I liked that the time travel lecture not only revealed something about how we can expect this world to work, but also caused Naho to have an important revelation, and it makes me wonder how far the worlds will diverge, and what kind of events might happen in the future that will remain the same regardless …
Some questions …
page 12
Suwa says サカつく … does this mean he’s playing soccer?
Hagita says 峰竜太の息子出るから … is this referencing an actor in the show (as in “so-and-so will be in it this time”)?
And page 43, Kakeru’s last two (main) speech bubbles in the first/top-most panel … but I don’t have energy right now to write out everything I didn’t get.
Edit: can’t believe I forgot to mention how much I am loving the character growth from volume 1 showing up in the first chapter of volume 2! Naho got over her shyness and asked Kakeru to see the fireworks with her! This is huge!
I’ve been meaning to reply to this, and I keep not getting to it…
This is likely a reference to the video game 「プロサッカークラブをつくろう!」 which is called 「サカつく」 for short. There was a new game in the series released in 2013, which is probably around when this chapter was planned out.
No matter how many words we learn, no matter how much grammar we absorb, so matter how much culture we take in, there’s always going to be things like this to trip us up.
(I thought the same as you, so I completely missed the reference until looking it up just now.)
In the main speech ballon, Kakeru is saying Azu told (って) him to take Naho’s bento (菜穂の弁当持ってけ), which I imagine she was hold out to him as she said it.
The next part is a new sentence, so I think the subject is Kakeru wherein he’s saying there’s also that he doesn’t want to take the trouble to go back to class (わざわざ教室戻るのもあれだし), so how about (just) the two of them eat together (as opposed to joining the others).
I figure the うんうん is probably him self-congratulating over thinking up a good-sounding reason for the two to have lunch together.
I have a question about page 20 (yes, I’m finally starting volume 2). Basically I can’t quite follow what Kakeru is saying, and likely whatever version I think he might be saying, I’m probably wrong. So can someone help me get what he is saying about his grandmother and bento boxes (aka the first couple of panels?). Below is a picture of the panels, so you don’t have to dig out volume 2.
“Actually, the first day that you (Naho) made me lunch… Grandma said that it was bad/rude of me (towards you) to tell you to make me lunch… But like, I would really like to be able to keep eating bentos you made…”
The last bit ばあちゃんに断った makes me think that his grandmother might have told him to apologize (which 菜穂に悪い may be referring to) and he didn’t. The other possibility I’m considering is that his grandmother was going to make him lunch and he refused, but that seems much less likely to me.
That makes a lot more sense than all the versions I was considering. I’ve learnt when I’m lost like this, I can’t trust what I think is most likely because I’m probably missing something important. Thanks!
I’m not sure my interpretation is right, but maybe someone can tell me why it is wrong if I’m wrong.
I read わざわざ教室戻んのもあれだし (it is 戻ん in the text, not 戻る btw), as still being about Azu. So she handed over the bento and then intentionally walked away (back to the classroom), therefore Kakeru is like: lets eat just the two of us. Although I’m not sure what kind of conjugation 戻ん is. Also not entirely sure how あれ fits in.
There were so many good faces in this chapter. Especially Azu had some fun, funny, and just good looking expressions.
And boy was I glad that you guys had added all the time travel vocabulary to the vocab sheet. Made that sooo much easier to read.
Story spoilers
So in this chapter we get an explanation for how time travel works in Orange. At least I think we can assume we’re in the parallel world scenario. Although we don’t quite know how the letters (did she get just one letter with a ton of sheets or multiple letters? Have this been addressed?) travelled. Especially since there is currently no time machine in the future as far as we’ve seen.
This chapter is really starting to bring things home, isn’t it? Showing even more how things are changing due to Naho behaving differently than she did last time. And I can understand her sadness when she realizes she can’t save Kakeru for her future self, only for this self of hers.
And I agree with @MaraVos that it was so nice to see the character growth of Naho. And I think this shows how having someone firmly in your corner, cheering you on to make the future you want to have really makes a big difference in how we can show up in the world. This is something a therapist/coach/similar can help with, but I think we can also be this to ourselves if we remember to ask how we’d like to act in different situations and what future we’re trying to create for ourselves. It isn’t easy, but it can be done.
One of the things that are starting to become my favorite is seeing how much Naho’s friends are supporting her in building her relationship with Kakeru. I hope they’ll allow some more group friend things, because right now all those moments seems to turn into Naho and Kakeru only time.
What did you think of my interpretation of that sentence, btw? I think with it being 戻る I feel slightly more confident in my reading of it, because it becomes kind of like: (Then Azu) intentionally returned to the homeroom, also that was/happened, し/reason → so lets eat the two of us. (Okay not pretty English at all, but that is kinda how I see it.)
But this is also the kind of situation where my mind sometimes adds its own context that isn’t there at all in the Japanese so… I never feel confident on these takes.
It sounds about right to me. The sentence is a bit vague to me because I’m still learning, but I do get the feeling that she was clearly aiming to have Kakeru and Naho be along together.
Correct.
I never know which movies will be known outside of the US. Then again, I’ve seen so few movies in my lifetime, I’m sure many people in other counties can recognize more American movies than I can…
I’ve actually never seen the movie. Only occasional promo material or a movie poster, those kinda things. It is iconic and therefore comes up as a pop culture reference often enough that it is hard not to hear of it if one consumes content made by Americans. I will, in fact, see a musical based on it when I go to the UK this winter.
Home Thread
so I just read for enjoyment this time around. It will be interesting to see everyone’s takeaway!
久しぶり。。。
何してるの 
