Week 10 ・ 気になってる人が男じゃなかった (Beginner Book Club)

Japanese Language Book Clubs
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Welcome to Week 10 of 気になってる人が男じゃなかった

Learn more about the Beginner Book Club here

Visit the home page for this manga here

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Week 10 April 6th 2024
Start Page 159
End Page End of volume
Chapters Finish Chapter 3 & read rhythm B
Pages 17
Last week Week 9
Next week Volume 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.

Vocabulary

Characters

English Japanese Notes
Aya Oosawa 大沢あや Main character 1 かわいい
Mitsuki Koga 古賀みつき Main character 2 黒ずくめ
Uncle Joe ジョー Mitsuki’s uncle
Narita 成田 Male classmate
Chizuru ちづる Aya’s friend (light hair)
Mao まお Aya’s friend (dark hair)

Vocab Spreadsheet

Please read the guidelines on the first page before adding any words.

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 still reading but haven’t reached this point yet
  • I’ve already read previously but I’m here for the discussion
  • I’m reading this after the bookclub has finished
  • I’ve stopped reading this book
0 voters
8 Likes
2

Think someone needs to explain the flashback to me, because I’m clearly missing something in the story.

Though probably the only thing I’m missing is “they’re just bullying bullies who bully”. There’s nothing more than that.

6 Likes
3

What’s confusing you exactly?

In a nutshell, the popular kids are talking shit about Mitsuki because she dresses differently, Sakiko talks back to them, and gets bullied as a result, Mitsuki gets blamed because she didn’t just wear a skirt when asked to, and in turn concludes her friend got bullied because of her, so others are better off just not associating with her and her weird tastes.

9 Likes
4

And also she decides to just keep her weird tastes out of school, considering that she was super open about them in the flashback, but is pretty much completely in stealth mode in the present.

9 Likes
5
Main Story Cliffhanger

It was at that moment, Mitsuki realized she f*cked up.

Lmao now Chizuru isn’t the only one who needs to make up with Aya. :sweat_smile:
Also love the thought that ショおじさん looked at Aya and the fury in her eyes and was like “Her room is up there. Get her.” And probably turned up the music to hide any sounds of murder from upstairs.

Flashback

So, did that girl and her posse go around and order all of the girls in their class to wear skirts the following day and bully all of those who didn’t comply, or was it just Mitsuki and her friend? Because it kinda looked like all the girls in the shoe cubby area were wearing skirts.

9 Likes
6
Flashback

We don’t get any explanation (Sakiko even comments on not really knowing why this girl seems interested in the two of them in the first place), but there’s not really any bullying going on as a result of not wearing a skirt, as far as they say.

All we know is the others were talking crap about Mitsuki, presumably because of her fashion sense and not wearing a skirt that time, and Sakiko got pissed off and defended Mitsuki. That’s what prompted the bullying. This happens a few days after the whole skirt incident too. The reason Sakiko cares about the skirt is it’s what would have given her an “in” with the (presumably) popular group, and Mitsuki kinda ruined that for her by not wearing a skirt as requested.

7 Likes
7
Flashback

I think it’s a bit more indirect than that - Sakiko wearing the skirt got Sakiko into the group just fine, it’s just that she felt honour-bound to defent Mitsuki when the group badmouthed her. The “everything would have been perfect if you’d only worn a skirt that one time” is definitely a bit of rose-tinted glasses at work.

7 Likes
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Flashback

Hadn’t considered that angle, but it makes sense. Guess that also explains why she was even in a position where defending Mitsuki was an option in the first place.

5 Likes
9

Well, that’s a way to keep the cliffhanger going until volume 2. :smiley:
I actually liked that we got to see the start of the story from Koga-san’s perspective. This kind of mirroring appeals to me, both as a way to tie up the story and to get different perspectives on the same events.

I transcribed the thank-you note on p.179, as an exercise for myself in reading hand-written Japanese. Here it is, for those who are interested:

p.179

お手に取っていただき
ありがとうございます！！

初めて2人のお話をTwitterに
のせたとき、まさかこんなことに
なるとは １シリも 思いませんでした。

読んでくださる 皆さま
ひとりひとりがいるから、この本は存在できます。
本当に、本当に ありがとうございます。
これからも、2人の愛情をどうぞ
よろしくお願いいたします。大好きです！！！

12 Likes
10

I also tried deciphering that and I’m glad to see that I seem to have gotten most of it right.

comment on transcript

１シリも思いませんでした。

I think that should actually be

１ミリも思いませんでした。

This 1ミリも～ない construct is often used to convey the idea of “not at all”.

2人の愛情をどうぞ

Oh so those scratches were supposed to be 愛情 :sweat_smile:

7 Likes
11

Perhaps ya’ll are interested in an interview with the mangaka?

7 Likes
12

Thanks for catching that.

On those kanji, I didn’t manage to figure them out as well. I got there by having Google Lens give me a translation, then working backwards from the word ‘love’ to see which kanji compound might fit with the scribble. I was actually pretty amazed that Google Translate could ‘read’ this.

2 Likes
13
Page 161 & 162

About Mitsuki’s inner monolog:

誰かと分かち合う隙間を作ろうとするなんてガラじゃない

I would interpret this as:

Creating shared moments with someone is not in my nature

Then as a comment on Aya barging into her room, we have:

隙間がなくても割って入ってくるのは彼女それだけかもしれない

Which I would interpret as:

Only she would cut in / get involved even if there was no opening

I think the word 隙間 is used deliberately in the Japanese original in both instances to make the second one a callback to the first one but obviously, this does not flow as nicely in a (somewhat literal) English translation.

Does this make sense, what do you think?

3 Likes
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Page 161 & 162

I think in both cases this is about whether there is additional space (i.e. a gap) for another person to be friends with Aya.

誰かと分かち合う隙間を作ろうとするなんてガラじゃない

For me that sounds like she is musing about how it’s not in her character to create a space/gap “to share with somebody else”. So not so much a shared moment and more a shared space where none was before.

I’m not a 100% clear on whether she means “sharing this space/gap with Aya’s existing friends” (which would make sense considering that she’s feeling that she’s being a hindrance there, and that Aya’s friendship space is already filled with other friendships) or “sharing this space/gap with Aya” (which would make sense considering she seems to avoid relationships in general) though.

I agree on your interpretation of the second sentence.

4 Likes
15
p. 161/162

It’s about Aya, not Aya’s friends.

She’s musing about how even when she’s not leaving any room for someone else (like now, she’s closing herself off entirely), Aya’s probably the only one who’ll just damn well create a “gap” herself and barge into her life - as in, even when she tries to distance herself as usual, Aya manages to get close regardless and break right through those walls she puts between herself and others. I don’t think Mitsuki’s particularly interested in sharing anything with Aya’s friends other than Aya herself.

3 Likes
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p. 161/162

That’s exactly what I meant - I don’t mean that she wants to befriend Aya’s friends. It’s either about

  • creating a gap to share the “friendship with Aya” space with Aya’s existing friends (they are the 誰かと that she would be sharing the “Aya friendship space” with) or it’s about
  • creating a space “to share with the befriended person”, i.e. creating a friendship (Aya is the 誰かと that she’s sharing a friendship space with).

Considering that the first seems like the problem here (Aya already has friends, and one of them is jealous; it’s not in Mitsuki’s character to barge into there) it seems more likely, but the second fits her general disposition too (it’s not in Mitsuki’s character to make friendships in general).

2 Likes
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p. 161/162

I think the first interpretation doesn’t really fit Mitsuki’s character. Note that the first sentence is 誰かと分かち合う隙間を作ろうとするなんてガラじゃない - if you take 隙間 to mean there being room for Aya to have other friends, that essentially means she’s clingy and not the type of person to let others have other friends.

She doesn’t seem clingy at all - it’s been Aya who’s constantly approaching her, instead of the other way around, and the moment she realised that was getting in the way of other friendships, she immediately made an effort to distance herself from Aya and help them make amends. She’s exactly the type of person to “make room” in that sense, more so than most others.

So that means the 隙間 must be a space for her to share with someone else, as in opening up to someone. And the only one she opens up to at all is Aya - as we see here, and as the text illustrates, whether she’s trying to or not.

That also kind of fits with an alternate meaning of 隙間, referring to letting down your guard.

3 Likes
18
p. 161/162

I feel like we somewhat agree, but you seem to understand what I try to say exactly in the opposite way and then argue for what I try to say instead :laughing:

Yeah, that’s exactly what I’m trying to say with my first interpretation. She doesn’t want to forcibly create a gap for herself to barge into the Aya friendship space (to share Aya’s friendship with Aya’s existing friends) where there seems to be no room for her (it would create problems) - she would rather distance herself.

2 Likes
19
p. 161/162

Aaah, gotcha. Yeah, that makes more sense :joy:

I suppose you could see it that way, but I feel like in that interpretation she’d be the one doing the 割って入る into a 隙間, not Aya.

It’s also not really what she’s been doing, considering Aya has been the one on the initiative, but I guess considering her insecurity and past experiences she might see that differently.

2 Likes
20

After some more research, I get the feeling you two are closer to the “truth” than my interpretation. I guess only more exposure to similar usages will help to understand such statements more easily.

Thanks for the lively discussion.

2 Likes