Hmm, I’m wondering if 本屋 (ほんおく) is actually usng an alternative meaning listed in Josho: “principal residence”. So that instead it just means that he hadn’t even approached home (before the rain got the best of him). This makes more sense to me because there is no other mention of a book store.
I’ve never seen it read as ほんおく. The standard reading is ほんや, which means bookstore. Considering there’s no furigana, I would go with the standard reading (since something else would be specified). Bookstore also makes the most sense in this context.
(I replied before seeing the second half of your post, sorry; yes, the bookstore is first mentioned here. He thought he would be fine stopping by the bookstore, but that was not the case. I don’t see why he would be outside under the rain if he had stopped by the main residence; also stopping by on the way to where?)
Edit: ah, also なんか doesn’t fit the meaning of main residence.
That’s actually what I thought at first as well! I really don’t understand why he would suddenly mention a bookstore. So far, it seems like the cafe and the gas station are pretty much the only places around there. Also, he isn’t carrying any books, right?
However, grammar-wise the ‘home’ interpretation is tricky as well… (as @Naphthalene indicated).
What we were thinking is that 寄る isn’t used in the ‘drop by’ sense but in the ‘approach’ sense (so that he is saying that he isn’t even near his home). But I guess the use of the past tense (寄んじゃなかった) is a bit strange in this interpretation.
I assume that he just read there. 立ち読み is a common thing in Japan. But yes, it was never mentioned before, and I don’t remember it being mentioned later either. That being said, as the story goes on, there are places that suddenly pop into existence. It’s not that they weren’t there before, it’s just that they never got screen time until becoming relevant. One can assume that there is 1+ bookstore in the vicinity and that it is just never shown.
I’m enjoying trying to imagine this bookstore. I wonder if it’s a bookstore the same way that Alpha’s is a cafe, or even more casual–maybe just a room in somebody’s house filled with shelves of books and you go and stand around and read or chat with the proprietor… I wonder how often it gets new books.
I know, right? Is publishing still a thing even?
Maybe this “book store” is like a book museum. You can 立ち読み, but no buying any of the last 17 books in existence!
I don’t know if it counts as a spoiler, but alpha owns at least 7 books (based on backgrounds of the first volume).
I was suddenly curious myself, and found exactly one google result for “本屋なんか寄んじゃなかった!” - but it’s the kind of blog I was hoping for - a presumably native reader giving their own impressions and questions:
僕は、髪の毛が付いたのはもしかして本屋においてでは?とも考えました。
小屋にたどりつく前にタカヒロは本屋に寄り道しているからです。
「甘かった!」 「本屋なんか寄んじゃなかった」
本屋にいた女性の髪の毛がたまたま本にはさまっていて、
それが立ち読み中のタカヒロにくっついてきたのかも…。いや、そうだとしても、
その髪の毛は多分 小屋に着くまでの豪雨で洗い流されたでしょう。
そのくらい激しい土砂降りでしたから。
They put a lot more analysis into the strand of hair than I would have thought necessary, but they definitely took away there was a 本屋 where some 立ち読み happened.
I also found a stack exchange post that explains the “shouldn’t have”/dictionary-form-verb+んじゃなかった from in more detail. (I was having a bit of trouble seeing exactly where the “should” part comes in - it’s in what’s being negated, not in the じゃなかった itself inherently, so to speak)
I also had vague memories in later volumes about some kind of an establishment with books - but I flipped through and I think I was thinking of the elementary school library that’s like, one shelf. It does seem like the mysterious book shop that apparently exists somewhere roughly between Alpha and where Takahiro lives is maybe a world-building detail that doesn’t quite persist… I guess there’s bound to be some of those when the volumes came out across eleven years.
Looking forward to ヨコハマ買い出し紀行 2: もっと買い出し! もっと紀行! about the used book store that gets even less foot traffic than the cafe…
Pretty helpful indeed. Great find!
Ha ha, it could also be that it’s just a throw-away gag (even though Alpha is so worried, he just drops by the book store) and we’re completely over-analysing this
Wow, that sure looks like a thorough analysis (I have to admit that I didn’t read all of it ). Clearly we’re not the only ones over-analysing this stuff…
Most of my questions about the watermelon chapter have already been answered, but I had a few more:
Page 64 bottom left: does the little text bubble say しぶい? What could it mean?
Also, any guesses as to which books are on her shelf?
On page 77 top right the visitors say いいとこですね. Is this いいとこ definition 3 or is there a better interpretation?
Below that Alpha says 今もれなく. I don’t have a clue what that could be…
She could be dreaming about trying something bitter? I was thinking that or maybe just sleepy mumblings…
I can see “Birds Eye”, “ジ-アミモト”, and “TAO デポン” or something like that?
Ah, and I googled the middle and found a google result that transcribed them like this so I feel pretty good about my guesses!
「TAOでポン」「ジ・アミモト」「Birds Eye」
I took it as like, とこ as in ところ, complimenting the cafe.
I think she wants them to take all the watermelons, and not leave any (漏れなく)
More like one watermelon (or one each at most). She was interrupted, but it’s a standard thing for announcing special offers.
「今もれなく3万円 プレゼント!」that sort of things. In the context, it means “without exception/ everyone gets it”
I’m just catching up. I know it’s normal to see words you’ve just learned everywhere you look, but geez this is ridiculous. Almost every page has characters I’ve just recently learned. Great stuff.
That’s certainly how I interpret it. So much of this sounds almost exactly like the 会話的な日本語 my Kansai friends and relatives use. Not sure if it’s just conversational, rural, or actual kansai-ben, but it’s great fun to see it written! This is the first I’ve been confident enough in my reading to even attempt a manga on my own, and I’m enjoying the experience immensely. [“On my own” — hah! Virtually everything discussed above has been a great help.]
[Long before Wankani taught me how to read any Kanji, there was a wonderful magazine for a short while called Mangajin that I was sad to see fold, but even that was too much of a struggle for me back then.]
Definitely seemed like “waking from a dream” to me, but I think it could also be the quiet/simple/austere meaning of 渋い.
She is dreaming about coffee. 渋み (the noun form of しぶい) is one of the characteristics of coffee (and you usually want to avoid it).
I’m just going to randomly link something about it to support my claim (oh, hey, isn’t that the way alpha drips coffee?)
Thank you all! So many interesting answers
Typically something that is hard to find in a dictionary
I won’t have a reliable internet connection (or a computer) until later today, so the next thread will be late.
FIFY
Don’t worry, you’re still our favorite rainbow turtle!
Enjoyed Chapter 2, and there’s some great clarifications in this thread.
Page 54 あんまし I’ve not come across it before. I’m guessing meaning 3… saying something like “Until you’ve seen those fangs you won’t have felt this level of fear”
Page 56 he says 甘かった in the rain - is this sarcasm? or are we looking at the “overly optimistic” definition. (My first time seeing that too)
Also, Page 70, any idea how to type え with a rendaku? assume it is just a noise
Overly optimistic.
If you switch to kana-input on your IME, there’s a separate key for adding dakuten - on my keyboard, it’s the [ key, but that may be different on yours. With that, you can add dakuten to anything, though if it’s a character that doesn’t normally come with one, it kinda gets put a bit far away. I.e. え゛< and then there’s a big space here.
But yes, it’s an え expressed with some strain or force.