Week 12 ギャルと恐竜 ・ Gal and Dino 🦕 (Absolute Beginner Book Club)

:sauropod: Welcome to Week 12 of ギャルと恐竜 ・ Gal and Dino :nail_polish:

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Week 12 28 Feb 2026
Start Page 93
End Page 110
Last week Week 11
Next week Week 13
Home Thread Here

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

Final Panel

:mag_right: Vocabulary

Vocabulary spreadsheet

Characters

Japanese English role photo
かえで Kaede main character
恐竜 Kyoryu (Dino) main character - a dinosaur who Kaede finds in her apartment
大家さん Oyasan (Landlord) Kaede’s Landlord
山田 Yamada Kaede’s Friend
翔太 Shōta Kaede’s Ex Boyfriend
先パイ Senpai Kaede’s work senpai

:speech_balloon: Discussion Guidelines

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

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

Posting Advice
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  • 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!

:fire: 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 this previously, but I’m here for the discussion
  • I’m reading this after the book club has finished
  • I’ve stopped reading this book
0 voters
5 Likes

I might have slightly underestimated just how much reading volume two chapters entails, but I have no regrets in my vote earlier :face_with_steam_from_nose: it’s refreshing to be able to enjoy the story at a less staccato pace, and both of the chapters for the week were very cute.

Favs

I was struck by the stylistic shift here, like this is a bespoke angle on her face and a bespoke expression?? whoa

Do you think he was okay. did he break something. is he like a bouncy ball did he go boing boing boing. dino i’m worried about u u can’t just go jumping off balconies. it’s not proper

I like to imagine that what was going thru Dino’s head here is a sort of Epicurean incredulousness: like you’re tell me god will smite me if I get one of his little rituals wrong? that’s just unreasonable!!

Dino’s just so overwhelmed poor baby :(((((

it’s giving this tbh:

Translation
Chapter 10
P93

Yamada: “They said we have ten minutes left!!”

P94

Kaede: “Expensive!!
Yamada: “'cause it’s the end of year pricing”
Employee: “Yeah”
Yamada: “Speaking of”
“There’s nine hours left of the year”
Kaede: “…Whoa”
“I’m jittery”

P95

Kaede: “I really like the feeling this year, though”
Yamada: “I get you”
“I’m gonna get going to my parents’ place. You?”
Kaede: “I’m going after the New Year”
Yamada: “Okay, Happy New year then”
Kaede: “Happy New Year”
“Well…”

P96

Landlady: “That’s called a New Year’s pine”
“Don’t eat it”
“There have been fewer decorations on houses lately, but it’s like a good luck charm”
“Speaking of, I’ve been slow getting ready for New Year’s Eve”
Dino: ?

P97

Landlady: “New Year’s Eve? It’s the last day of the year!”
“It’s a really special day”
Dino: jitters
Landlady: “Well then, Happy New Year”
Kaede: “So, Dino”

P98

Kaede: “If you can eat ramen, you can have soba too, right?”
Dino: nodding
Kaede: “It’s New Year’s Eve, so I got soba”
Dino: jitters
Kaede: ?
“Whoa, wait, a New Year’s pine!? Cool!!”
“What’s going on, I’m getting worked up!!”

P99

Kaede: “There’s thirty seconds left until the New Year!”
“You’re really jittery, huh?”
“I’m past the excitement, I’m relaxed now”
TV: “And now, let’s begin the countdown!!”
[countdown in background]
Kaede: “When the year ends, you should jump”

P100

Kaede: “Eh? What!? It’s cold!!”
TV: “HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!”
Kaede: “Unreal”

Chapter 11
P103

Yamada: “This is your first time at a shrine, right, Dino?”
“There’s tons of rules, so be careful”
“If you mess it up, God will rain stones down on you, okay?”
Dino: “…”
Kaede: “Liar”
Yamada: “It’s true, look at this”

P104

Yamada: “Okayy”
“We start from there, so go ahead”
Dino: “!?”
Kaede: He’s definitely gonna drink it…
Yamada: Drink it!! He’s gonna drink…!!

P105: N/A

P106

Kaede: “Uh, wasn’t that basically right?”
Yamada: “Yeah, miraculously right”
Kaede: “Relax, God isn’t looking that closely”
Yamada: “Yup. Honestly, I really don’t know how it works either”

P107: N/A

P108

Kaede: “Let’s go”
“We have to get our fortunes”

P109

Yamada: “Yess”
“How was yours?”
Kaede: “I also got good fortune”
Yamada: “Aren’t these all good fortune?”
Kaede: “How about you, Dino?”
“Hm?”
“Oh, this is…”

P110

Yamada: “Whoaaaa Dino, awesome!! That’s the best one!!”
Kaede: “Liar”

5 Likes

This week’s readings were clearly brought by the word そわそわ, because the Maiko-san Chi chapter was full of そわそわ too.

4 Likes

First time for multiple chapters, we’ll see if I end up splitting this between multiple days or not.

Chapter 10

Page 93

Chapter 10 Happy New Year (Can someone explain how を is at the end of the phrase?
10 more minutes!

Page 94

That’s expensive!
It’s the New Year’s price after all
That’s right
And with that
This year is almost over
There are only 9 hours left
….
Oh no…
I’m feeling restless

Page 95

I love this year-end feeling though
Understood (Perhaps ‘I get it’ would be better?)
I’m heading to my parents house, what will you do Kaede?
I’ll go home after the new year begins
Yup, see ya
Happy New Year
Happy New Year
Well then

Page 96

This is called a Kadomatsu
sniff sniff
chomp
That’s not for eating
The number of houses that display them have decreased recently
It’s a lucky charm
Having said that
Preparing this on New Years Eve is a bit late

Page 97

New Years Eve?
It’s the day the year ends!
It’s a special day you know
Well then, Happy New Year
Dinosaur….

Page 98

Want to eat some Ramen?
We can eat Soba too?
It’s New Years after all
I bought Soba
?
Eh Is that kadomatsu!? Oh no!!
What’s this? My tension is increasing! (This sounds like a battle manga all of a sudden)

Page 99

There are only 30 seconds left of the New Year!
You’re getting restless aren’t you?
I’m doing being restless
I’ve started to feel relaxed
Lets start the countdown!!
20
19
The moment the year change
15
Do a jump
10
9
8
7
6
5
4

Page 100

3
Eh? What!? Are you doing it!!
2
1
Happy New Year!!
Jump

I knew it

Alright, onto Chapter 11

Page 103

Chapter 11 Greeting God (Kinda sounds like a threat)
It’s the first time a dinosaur is at a shrine right? (What is the company kanji doing in this?)
Be careful, there are lots of rules
If you make a mistake
The gods will turn you into stone, okay? (Perhaps fossil is meant instead of stone? Unsure)
……
Liar
See the truth for yourself (Nope, stone was definitely what was meant lol)

Page 104

Alright
First of all, let’s start with that
I hope he doesn’t drink it
Drink it!! He’s gonna drink it…!!

Page 105

Sike! Nothing but splashing and a correct shrine usage by dino here

Page 106

Wait, wasn’t that right?
Yup, it’s a miracle
Relax your heart
The gods aren’t looking closely anyways
I don’t really get it myself

Page 107

No words on this page either, just some clapping

Page 108

Lets go
We’ve got to draw a fortune

Page 109

Alright
What’d you get Kaede?
I got a big fortune
Aren’t these all big fortunes?
What’d you get dinosaur?
Eh?
Ah… that…

Page 110

Woah, Dinosaur! You’re amazing!
That’s the best one!
Liar (Guessing that kanji with an x meant terrible luck or something!)
Chapter 11 end

Whew, Chapter 11 was pretty light on words, probably the only reason I got it all done today.

4 Likes

It’s a set phrase that’s abbreviated from a longer one: 良いお年をお迎えください (in much the same way that “happy new year” isn’t a complete sentence either - it’s taken to mean “I want to wish you a happy new year”).

5 Likes

It’s from a set phrase, よいお年をお迎えください (I believe, and my IME backs me up :rofl:). So when you say よいお年を, the rest of the phrase is implied. Shortening it in this way is perfectly fine since Yamada and Kaede are good friends.

Just a quickie to say テンション isn’t a perfect cognate. “Excitement” is probably a better translation here.

I just googled this up quickly so I wouldn’t necessarily trust this page 100%, but this was always my understanding of where it comes from:

A place of worship was where many people congregated, and 社 also meant “company of people” and, in Japanese, “corporation.”

I mean… it’s not exactly wrong, but here 安心 would be better translated as “don’t worry” or “you don’t have to worry about it”.

Here’s a list of all of the different fortunes you can get in おみくじ.

Kaede got 大吉 (the top) and Dino got 大凶 (the worst).

Edit: Ah Belthazar got to your を question before I did :blush:

6 Likes

shitsureiしました。

5 Likes

I was happy to read some of the bubbles without having to look anything up! The cultural insights helped to get a gist of the context.

I feel like there are many sound-effects… てち for Dino’s clapping? I wonder how that sounds.

p.96

I do not understand the landlord. I have to improve my grammar knowledge!

p.110

I was surprised they hung up their good fortunes. I thought you only do it with bad ones.

Finally, Kaede’s friend is mean! I love it.

5 Likes