Promised Neverland - Week 1 (Beginner Book Club)

[Micki]

Welcome to Week 1 of 約束のネバーランド・The Promised Neverland!

Learn more about the Beginner Book Club here
Visit the home page for this manga here

Week 1	September 28th 2024
Start Page	5
End Page	23
Chapters	Chapter 1 - first third
Pages	19
Next week	Week 2
Home Thread	Here

Page numbers are the ones printed on the bottom of the pages. These may differ from the numbering in digital versions.

Last panel for this week’s reading

Week 1 warning!

In this week’s reading some characters undertake a test. The test they are taking is a hard test, so the vocab on the test papers is going to be hard for us learners! Don’t worry if you can’t understand the test questions - you only need to understand that the test is hard. The vocab spreadsheet will help you if needed.

Vocabulary

Promised Neverland Vocab Sheet

Please read the guidelines on the first page before adding any words. If the furigana differs from the reading of the kanji, then enter the usual reading and meaning of the kanji, and add the furigana in the notes column if needed.

Discussion Guidelines

Everybody should feel free to post and ask questions–it’s what makes book clubs fun! But please do not post until you are familiar with Spoiler Courtesy!

Spoiler Courtesy

Please follow these rules to avoid inadvertent ネタバレ. If you’re unsure whether something should have a spoiler tag, err on the side of using one.

1. Any potential spoiler for the current week’s reading need only be covered by a spoiler tag. Predictions and conjecture made by somebody who has not read ahead still falls into this category.
2. Any potential spoilers for external sources need to be covered by a spoiler tag and include a label (outside of the spoiler tag) of what might be spoiled. These include but are not limited to: other book club picks, other books, games, movies, anime, etc. I recommend also tagging the severity of the spoiler (for example, I may still look at minor spoilers for something that I don’t intend to read soon).
3. Any information from later in the book than the current week’s reading (including trigger warnings that haven’t yet manifested) needs to be hidden by spoiler tags and labeled as coming from later sections.

Instructions for Spoiler Tags

Click the cog above the text box and use either the “Hide Details” or “Blur Spoiler” options. The text which says “This text will be hidden” should be replaced with what you are wishing to write. In the case of “Hide Details”, the section in the brackets that is labelled “Summary” can be replaced with whatever you like also (i.e, [details=”Chapter 1, Pg. 1”]).

Hide Details results in the dropdown box like below:

Example

This is an example of the “Hide Details” option.

The “Blur Spoiler” option will simply blur the text it surrounds.

This is an example of the “Blur Spoiler” option.

Posting Advice

• When asking for help, please mention the page number, and check before posting that your question hasn’t already been asked. As the threads get longer, it becomes more convenient to use the Search function, which is located in the upper right corner of the forum. It is the magnifying glass which is near your profile picture! The best way to search is usually to type part of the sentence you are confused about, and select “in this topic”. This will show you all posts within the current thread which has that string of text.

• Be sure to join the conversation! It’s fun, and it’s what keeps these book clubs lively! There’s no such thing as a stupid question! We are all learning here, and if the question has crossed your mind, there’s a very good chance it has crossed somebody else’s also! Asking and answering questions is a great learning opportunity for everyone involved, so never hesitate to do so!

Participation

Will you be reading along with us this week?

• I’m reading along
• I’m planning to read but haven’t started yet
• I’ve read this previously but I’m here for the discussion
• I’m reading this after the bookclub has finished

[Belthazar]

Out of idle curiosity, is anyone going into this completely blind?

A small comment on page 15 - the word マイナンバー is used in modern Japan to refer to the ID numbers assigned to Japanese citizens (essentially equivalent to the American Social Security Number).

@Micki

The test they are taking is a hard test

I don’t understand. You mean to say you aren’t habitually taking tests like this?

[Cathm2]

@Belthazar

is anyone going into this completely blind?

Yes.

Rest of post for minimum characters.

[freemink]

I’m not confident enough to update the spreadsheet, so I’ll post here.

On the spreadsheet (page 15 row 45) there is:
白 しろ innocence, innocent person

I think this should simply be:
白 しろ white

“all white uniforms”

[Micki]

Welcome @freemink! Good to have you here.

Yes I agree with that. I’m not familiar with ずくめ but looks like it is used a lot with colours. Here are some examples I found:

[leneux]

Also going into this completely blind.

I think I mostly followed this OK a couple of grammar points I had to check, the vocab list was very helpful thanks.

[Jaimejo]

Wahoo!! I’ve read this segment I think half a dozen times now Each time has been more enlightening though, and I had fun adding to the vocab list.

Question! A lot of words were skipped on the vocab list, and I skipped some too…is there a general idea that some are pretty obvious (ie 母), so they’re skipped unless someone else finds them not-obvious and so adds them?

Does anyone have any ideas on why the Furigana is changed so often? I’m wondering if it will become more clear as we continue, or if it’s simply a manner of showing that things aren’t quite normal 'round these parts, given that things are so institutionalized with this glamour of “home” painted over it…

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Changed Furigana, p. 9

So I added this to the vocab sheet — we see a couple times that 施設 is given ハウス in furigana, but so far there has also been once that it was changed to こ

こ has so many meanings, but I’m wondering if this one is pulling from the meaning “orphan” since it seems 孤 can maybe be used solo:

Though to be honest I’m having difficulty parsing out that sentence so I’m not sure what kind of nuance is being applied… (The sentence being 施設この暮らしも１０年)

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Some sentence help for meee~ p. 13+14

After Ray is rude to Emma about her behavior, Emma and Mama have a conversation (p. 13) which I’m having difficulty parsing out ^{*My translation attempts}:

Emma: もっかい入り口からやりなおす
^{??“Again it is done again from the entrance”??}

Mama: どうして？私は好きよ エマのそういうところ
^{”Why? I like it, that sort of aspect that’s Emma’s”}

Emma: 中身5歳のところ！？
^{”The aspect that I’m 5 years old inside!?”}

Mama: 仲間みーんなをとても大切に思っているところ
^{“The aspect that you think everyone is very important”}

Thoughts? I’m wondering if I’m messing up the last sentence by Mama via the に particle…

The other part that was confusing was on the next page (p. 14) in the narration:
全て私の私達の普通
I’m not sure if these are meant to be separate (being in different boxes), or taken as a whole sentence. Just 私達の普通 seems like “our normal”, all together is…we’re entirely normal?

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I mostly glossed over the test questions since it seemed that was the intent, but are we gonna talk about question #2?

The cat-shaped cube
Edited to add：I just realized this also has a different furigana, but it’s going over my head at this point lol

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@Belthazar

Out of idle curiosity, is anyone going into this completely blind?

As in having never heard of this manga before? Yes

[Gorbit99]

@Jaimejo

Question! A lot of words were skipped on the vocab list, and I skipped some too…is there a general idea that some are pretty obvious (ie 母), so they’re skipped unless someone else finds them not-obvious and so adds them?

Generally: if you have a word you didn’t know, or you didn’t know in context, add it to the list. With the ABBC the usual guideline is the more the better, but past that, it’s just this.

Changed furigana

@Jaimejo

Does anyone have any ideas on why the Furigana is changed so often? I’m wondering if it will become more clear as we continue, or if it’s simply a manner of showing that things aren’t quite normal 'round these parts, given that things are so institutionalized with this glamour of “home” painted over it…

It’s a very very common thing in manga, you’ll get used to it eventually. The idea is that the furigana is what the character actually says, while the regular, full sized word is an explanation for that. For example, they say “house”, but the text is explaining that they mean the institute, they just see it as their home.

@Jaimejo

こ has so many meanings, but I’m wondering if this one is pulling from the meaning “orphan” since it seems 孤 can maybe be used solo:

Yeah, I believe it’s specifically “orphan” here. As in, “(I’ve) been living in the instituteas an orphan for 10 years”

p13-14

The first sentence I also don’t quite get, but for the rest, 中身 is “on the inside”.
From the second sentence onwards it’s:
“Why? I like Emma like this”
“That I’m a five year old on the inside?”
“That you really care for the others”

@Jaimejo

The other part that was confusing was on the next page (p. 14) in the narration:
全て私の私達の普通
I’m not sure if these are meant to be separate (being in different boxes), or taken as a whole sentence. Just 私達の普通 seems like “our normal”, all together is…we’re entirely normal?

It’s read separately, but as “It’s my… our ‘normal’”

[Gorbit99]

question 2

@Jaimejo

The cat-shaped cube
Edited to add：I just realized this also has a different furigana, but it’s going over my head at this point lol

You are mixing up your kanji a bit, cat is 猫, this is “to draw”, 描く

Specifically the question says “Please (…) the total number of cubes drawn here”, probably “count” or something.

[Belthazar]

Summary

@Jaimejo

Emma: もっかい入り口からやりなおす
??“Again it is done again from the entrance”??

Vmasu+なおす adds a subtext of “to do over” to the meaning of the verb. “To repeat, but do it better”. So basically “Can I do my entrance over again” (i.e. I want to restart this whole conversation).

@Jaimejo

The cat-shaped cube
Edited to add：I just realized this also has a different furigana, but it’s going over my head at this point lol

I think you’ve misread 描 as 猫. But you’re not really supposed to gloss over the questions - the nature of the test they’re taking adds a fairly important facet to their characters.

[Jaimejo]

p. 14

@Gorbit99

It’s read separately, but as “It’s my… our ‘normal’”

Ok, that makes sense, as do the rest of your explanations!

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@Belthazar

Vmasu+なおす adds a subtext of “to do over” to the meaning of the verb. “To repeat, but do it better”. So basically “Can I do my entrance over again” (i.e. I want to restart this whole conversation).

Ohh k, this is super helpful! I don’t think I realized Emma was embarassed by her behavior, more so upset that Ray was rude. This helps a ton, thank you!

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My kanji error lol

Ok the error in my kanji reading makes plenty more sense. But 猫 vs 描 Especially with altered furigana, man lol

I definitely read the test questions, just didnt spend as much time on them. Maybe if I had I wouldn’t have got so excited about a cat cube

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Thank youuu

[WaniTsunami]

@Jaimejo

Does anyone have any ideas on why the Furigana is changed so often?

Welcome to Shonen Jump, where the readings are made up and the kanji don’t matter.

Joking aside, when you see “readings” that are different they are usually like the name of a thing with the kanji describing what they are. My Hero Academia would do this with powers where the kanji would be huge and a bunch of katakana reading out like it was English. Don’t sweat about memorizing the readings like that. If you understand the kanji then just read the kanji, if the furigana is understandable (because it’s just katakana loanwords) go with that. Whatever makes it comprehensible to you is fine. No one is gonna punish you for understanding one more than the other. Except maybe dear leader the crabgator and his infinite wisdom, praise be upon him.

[Gorbit99]

Kanji error

@Jaimejo

Especially with altered furigana, man lol

Just to clear it up, the furigana for 描かく isn’t altered, that’s just the actual word

[Jaimejo]

@WaniTsunami

Welcome to Shonen Jump, where the readings are made up and the kanji don’t matter.

Amazing And thank you, this helps. I was definitely about to go down a rabbit hole with that…

@Gorbit99

Just to clear it up, the furigana for 描かく isn’t altered, that’s just the actual word

Ah, Jisho was giving me this, I’m just now seeing the “see also”- thanks!

[Gorbit99]

It’s not the “see also” you want to check for, but the “other forms” section:

I personally see it with the かく reading more often, but that’s probably because of the content I mostly consume.

[mitrac]

Both forms are correct. If I remember correctly it went like this:

The original phrasing is generally clear like 絵を描く (えをかく) and the original reading of 描くis (かく). The kanji distinguishes the intention from 書く. But to make it more semantically distinct from 書く when the 絵 isn’t there, a smooshed version arose:
描く えがく

Both are correct and you can choose when 描くstands on its own. But 絵を描く would only be read えをかく

[HellerBriz]

I read recently on NHK that the マイナンバーカード can soon be combined with your driver’s license.

Keen to start 約束の ネバーランド as soon as it arrives via Amazon.jp/Blackship any day now.

[Micki]

I haven’t shared my connection with this manga yet. Here is how I came to buy my copy - no spoilers!

Summary

On my first (and so far only) trip to Japan in 2019 I was really keen to buy a manga from a real Japanese bookstore. At the time I had just started reading my first manga in Japanese with the newly founded Absolute Beginner Book Club - Shirokuma Cafe (now rereading on these forums).

I browsed the shelves but all the manga were sealed in clingfilm so you couldn’t open any to browse. I was trying not to buy anything ecchi which wasn’t easy!

Promised Neverland is the one that jumped off the shelf to me. I loved that front cover and sense of mystery from the first few pages. After checking out the preview online it was the one I bought. It was a while before I finally read it, I built up my reading skills steadily with the bookclubs on these forums before tackling it on my own.

I’ve only read volume 1 - I’m hoping some others will enjoy it too and be interested in continuing the series.

I own some other physical Japanese books/manga - some bought online, some bought in Japanese bookshops outside of Japan. But this will always be special to me as the one I bought in Japan on that trip.

Here is my copy still in its clingfilm on the day of purchase!

[mitrac]

What a cool story! That is also really fun that you’ll be rereading these two at the same time, how nostalgic.

Also a big thanks to you and other founding members of the book clubs here. It really set the tone on these forums and has made learning Japanese so much easier for those of us who came after.

[aamunoz]

Page 9

@Jaimejo

but so far there has also been once that it was changed to こ

The こ combines with the の that comes afterward, turning 施設の into この, as in この/その/あの