Week 4 俺物語! ・ My Love Story! 🍰 (Absolute Beginner Book Club)

[mgevaert]

Welcome to Week 4 of 俺物語!! ・ My Love Story!!

Learn more about the Absolute Beginner Book Club here
Visit the home page for My Love Story!! here

Remember to set this thread and the My Love Story!! home page to watching to receive notifications!

Week 4	September 27 2025
Start page	22
End page	32
End phrase	それが男というものだ！！
Last week	Week 3
Next week	Week 5
Home Thread	俺物語!!

Page numbers may differ between digital and physical copies.

Last panel

Vocabulary

Vocabulary list (Google sheets)

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

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!

Proper Nouns

Name	Reading	Image	Notes
剛田 猛男	ごうだ たけお		Main character
大和 凛子	やまと りんこ		Main character’s love interest
砂川 誠	すなかわ まこと		Main character’s best friend

Discussion Questions

What surprised you about the reading this week?

Participation

Will you be reading along with us this week?

• I’m reading along
• I have finished this part
• I’m still reading the book but I haven’t reached this part yet
• I’m reading this book after the club has finished
• I’m no longer reading the book

[ChristopherFritz]

When you’re reading native material for the first time, and you’ve picked up a manga, it’s easy to overlook the sound effects. Have you looked at them in prior weeks?

Here are sound effects from week 4, using screenshots from other manga:

Page 22

ボリ & バリ

Sounds of biting into crunchy food.

コンコン

Sound of knocking, such as on a door.

Page 23

The sound effects and the dialogue in the background are important to understand the last panel.

ピンポーン

Sound of a doorbell ringing.

ぺた: Heavy footsteps, such as from someone moving in a hurry rather than walking softly.

Page 25

ペコ

Also ぺこり, this is the “sound” when a character is bowing.

Don’t confuse it with お腹なかペコペコ, which is when someone’s hungry:

Page 29

ばく: Sound of scarfing down food.

チーン: The English release translated this as “G—ong!”

Bonus: The text in the last panel is 公衆電話 【こうしゅうでんわ】.

[Chimmsen]

Since you did this nice write up, do you know a good source for looking up sfx? I usually just put them into a dictionary, sometimes it works, sometimes nothing comes up. Of course, with enough time they’ll stick anyway, but it would be nice if there’s an easy to use source for look ups.

[ChristopherFritz]

Perhaps the most well-known site for sound effects is:

Japanese-to-English SFX Sound Effects Translations @ The JADED Network

However, the site’s been broken for me for some time now, so I don’t know if it’ll work for you.

Someone else compiled a list here, which has the advantage of being all in one file:

https://gist.github.com/UserUnknownFactor/093a2296c5a4d9ef7b404728ebde94a3

It looks like almost all the ones from this week’s reading are on the second link.

[Chimmsen]

Thanks, the file works good enough. The site doesn’t work for me either. As a mobile device only user the file is not really comfy, bit I’m still happy to at least have something

[Babyssb]

page 23

まさか飛び出していくとはかと少し思ってだけど
I don’t know what to make of this in general. But particularly the はかとdoes confuse me completely. Is this a grammar point or a word?

[mgevaert]

まさか飛び出していくとは is the first phrase, ending on topic marker は

you were missing a そうなる, then かと少し思ってだけど

So, put all together, (まさか)(飛び出して)(いく)(とは)
Really, as for sending him flying,

(そうなるかと)(少し)(思って)(だけど)
If that was the case, a little, I think, and so

You really sent him flying, but in that case, I kind of thought you would (I checked the English on the 2nd part to see that it’s Suna talking about what he thought, but it makes sense with 思って and the explanatory だけど)

Complex sentences are tough!

[ChristopherFritz]

@mgevaert

Complex sentences are tough!

This is important to keep in mind if you’re a first-time reader or still relatively new to reading native material.

You’re going to encounter complicated sentences. They’ll be difficult. (That’s why we have the book club here!)

It’s okay if you ultimately don’t understand what’s going on in the sentence. It’s fine to ask, then read a detailed breakdown, and read an English translation, and then continue with only a minimal understanding.

As long as you’re steadily learning the grammar behind the easier sentences, the longer, more complex sentences start to become easier over time. Little by little, even if it takes a while to get there.

[Babyssb]

Thank you! So そうなると means ‘if that’s the case’ but why’s the か in there? Is that a fixed structure that can be used? I find a translation for そうなると but not for そうなるかと

[mgevaert]

My guess is that it’s actually “In whatever case” or “in any case” rather than “in this case” - appending か usually makes it so the speaker isn’t talking about a specific thing (だれか to mean “someone” instead of “who,” どこか to mean “somewhere” instead of “where”).

[feralfuton]

Here’s my translations for the week, before reading through the thread. I’ll read through it for answers now

pg22

停学になった

I was suspended from school

ヒマだ

I have free time

猛男、これ授業のノート

Takeo, here are the class notes

どうせ勉強しないだろうけど

Although you probably won’t study

pg23

砂川笑いすぎ

You laugh too much, Suna

まさか飛び出していくとな

I didn’t expect him to fly out like that

そうなるかと少し思ってたけど

But I thought it might turn out a bit like that

じゃあ言うな

Well then, don’t say it

そのあとおまわりさんの前で殴ったのは想定外

After that, hitting him in front of a police officer was unexpected

だってあの男ハラたつしよ

After all, we had to stand up to the harasser you know

女の子きたよ

The girl came here!

大和さんていう子

The girl named Yamato

あげていい？

Ok if I take it?

pg24

だれ大和って

Who is Yamato?

てゆうかおまえこの部屋に女子入れんの？

By the way, can the girl enter your room?

ちょっと待ってもらってくれ

Wait a minute

あの…もういるけど

Umm… but she’s already here

pg25

きのうはありがとうございました

Thanks so much for yesterday

pg26

好きだ

I like her

オレ帰るわ

I’m going to head home

pg27

帰っちゃうの！？

Leaving so soon!?

なんだ…またか…

What…. Again?

そりゃそーだよな

Extremely likely

あ、えっとこれ

Oh, umm this…

お礼持ってきたんで

I brought you a thank you gift

人数多いほうがいいかなって

Maybe we better have more people

pg28

もしかしてキライですか…？

Do you… hate it?

いや大好きだ！！

No, we love it!!

よかったです

That’s good

pg29

なんだこれはおいしいぞなんていうケーキだ！？

What on earth is this cake that tastes so good?

チーズケーキ食ったことないのかおまえ

You’ve never had cheesecake?

ない！！言われてみればチーズ味だ！！

No!! Now that you say it, it does have a cheesy flavor!!

なんだそれ

What is that?

オレ本格的に帰るわ

I’m seriously going home now

あっ、私もそろそろ帰る！

Oh, I’m going home soon too!

助けたのはオレなんだがな

Somehow I’m the one who saved you…

ほんとにありがとうございました

For real, thanks so much!

その後あばれたしな

After that guy went wild

それじゃ、まあケーキもらったし、おいしかったし、いいだろう

Well then, I got some cake and it was delicious… so that’s fine I guess

pg30

助けた子がいい子だったということで

It turned out to be a good kid that I helped

オレは明日も強く生きられる

I can live strong tomorrow too

終了だ

It’s over

pg31

なんだこのピンクのケータイは

What is this pink cell phone…

砂川？もしもし？

Suna? Hello?

あ、やっぱり！

Oh, sure enough!

すいません、私ケータイわすれてっ…

Sorry, I forgot my cell phone

私ってあのさっきの大和なんですけどっ

I’m Yamato from earlier

あ、うちにあるっス

Oh, I have one at home

ごめんなさい！！

Sorry!!

あの取りに行くんで…

I’ll just go get that one…

ヒマな日ありますか？

Do you have a free day?

や場所指定してくれれば持って行きます

If you tell me where to go, I’ll bring it

え、じゃあ、待ち合わせとかどーですか？

Huh, well then, how about we meet up or something?

私小泉女学園なんで

I go to Koizumi girls academy

志須田公園の噴水前でどうですか？

How about in front of the fountain at Shisuda park?

pg32

終了しなかった

It’s not over

何そのケーテイ

What’s that cell phone?

昨日の子が忘れてった

The kid from yesterday forgot it

あの子、大和さん

That kid, Yamato

砂川もいっしょに来ると思ってんだろーな

I think Suna will come along too

大丈夫、連れてってやるぞ

It’s ok, I’ll take you there

今から届けに行くんだ

From now, we’re off to deliver it to her

なんでオレも？

Why me too?

いーから来いって

Come on already

それが男というものだ

That’s just how guys are

[helentang]

Follow up question for the pg 23 panel

@mgevaert

So, put all together, (まさか)(飛び出して)(いく)(とは)

What’s the purpose of とは here?

[mgevaert]

@mgevaert

とは

I’m not 100% sure but I think it’s to connect up the clauses more strongly - similar to how he says そうなるかと next, or it could be to underline that it was an action that Takeo did with someone else? Maybe someone else can weigh in.

I might be confusing this with how て is sometimes used to link clauses but I don’t know if と also works that way.

[2OC3aOdKgwSGlxfz]

@helentang

What’s the purpose of とは here?

My understanding is that this is a compound-particle. と here is the quoting-particle と, while は is the topic-marker.

The quoting particle, と is relevant here because it’s marking the contents of a “thought”. は is marking that “thought” as a the topic of the sentence.

Bunpro can explain this better than I can:

とは is an emphatic structure that is regularly seen at the end of sentences, and will imply that the statement before it is shocking, appalling, or unexpected. In English, it translates very similarly as ‘to think that (A)’ in that it expresses a strong emotional response without expressly saying what that exact response is.

とは is a combination of the case-marking particle と in its quotation use, and the adverbial particle は. In this way, it is just marking the whole statement of (A) as what is being highlighted as the topic

So this bubble basically means “To think you’d actually send him (the molester) flying”.

And then we have the next bubble, そうなるかと 少し思ってたけど.
Here, けど implies there’s a contrast between our previous bubble and this one. Like Bunpro mentions, とは is used to express shock or disbelief. Here though, Sunakawa clarifies that in the end (knowing Takeo as well as he does), it’s actually not that surprising.

そうなるかと 少し思ってたけど => though I sort of thought it would turn out like that.

Combining both bubbles:

“To think you’d send that guy flying, though I sort of thought it would turn out like that”

[ChristopherFritz]

@feralfuton:

Lots of good work on translation here. I’ve written up a few areas that stood out to me for corrections:

pg23

The girl came here!

Rather than “the”, “a” is more appropriate here. Although Takeo likely told his mother what had happened, she doesn’t necessarily know that this is the same girl.

The girl named Yamato

Likewise, here, “a girl”. Takeo wouldn’t have known the girl’s name to tell his mother, as evidenced by the additional dialogue in the panel on the next page:

Suna: “Who is this Yamato?”

Suna: “Was she someone from back in middle school?”

Takeo: “I wonder who…?”

あげていい？

Ok if I take it?

In this case, I think this is referring to bringing her into the house, where the 玄関げんかん is a literal step up into the home.

I might translate this as, “Is it all right to let her in (to the house)?”

pg24

てゆうかおまえこの部屋に女子入れんの？

By the way, can the girl enter your room?

This is a tough one because it’s not instantly obvious whether there is 入れるの => 入れんの or if it’s 入れないの => 入れんの.

In this case, the context suggests the latter: “You’re letting a girl enter this room?” This is why Takeo reacts with “！！！” and starts to clean up.

あの…もういるけど

Umm… but she’s already here

Likely Suna wouldn’t say あの, and that’s more of an attention-getter in this context. It’s Yamato speaking, so “Um…I’m already here, so…”

人数多いほうがいいかなって

Maybe we better have more people

The って marks this as a quote, so something that was said, heard, or thought. In context, it’s Yamato telling what she was thinking. “I was thinking maybe more people is better.”

pg28

いや大好きだ！！

No, we love it!!

Likely Takeo is only speaking for himself here. It’d be a bit presumptuous to speak for Suna on something like this and worded this way.

pg29

その後あばれたしな

After that guy went wild

Here, Takeo is referring to his own actions, when he lost his temper and slugged the guy.

As Takeo sees it, he saved Yamato, but then he disgraced himself in front of her.

pg31

砂川？もしもし？

Suna? Hello?

It’s worth nothing that “Suna” is in a thought balloon, as he’s wondering if this is Sunakawa’s cell phone.

あ、うちにあるっス

Oh, I have one at home

I’d (literally) translate this as, “Ah, it’s here at home.”

[feralfuton]

Thanks so much, looking over these now. I notice I’m having difficulty in a lot of the Japanese mangas trying to figure out who is speaking if the speech bubble isn’t directly pointing at the speaker.

[ChristopherFritz]

It can be difficult to get used to, as often the clues to who’s speaking is in things such as pronoun use, colloquialisms, politeness, word choice, and sentence endings.

Even with many years of experience, I can still get tripped up. This one series I started reading last month, the following came up in volume one, page four:

I realize it's difficult to make use of a panel from a comic you're (probably) not familiar with, but here are some of the clues I used to piece it together:

Balloon 1: The tall guy’s name is used, so he’s not the speaker. The two shorter characters have lines over them showing their happy mood, so they probably have the cloudy-looking balloons, not this smooth one. So I figure it’s the dark-haired boy on the right.

Balloon 2: Continuing my logic about who’s speaking with a cloud-like balloon versus a smoother one, this would have to be the tall blond guy talking. But the use of ね has me unsure. This one’s left a mystery for me, but I still think it might be him.

Balloon 3: It’s too early to know it yet, but the guy second from the right uses もん from time to time, so this is likely him speaking.

Balloon 4: From context, it’s clearly the tall guy with blond hair.

Balloon 5: I’m guessing this is the same guy from balloon 3. The あ at the end leads into a line in the next panel that sounds like something the character would say (also too early to know yet).

[Avengerzanna]

Page 32

What’s the purpose of the って in 大丈夫売れてってやるぞ？

[mgevaert]

Looks like it’s actually 大丈夫連れてってやるぞ, so “to bring someone along”

Seems like a combo of -れて (to do for someone else) and -てやる (“just wait and see!”) ～てやる (JLPT N1) | Bunpro

[sanshoo]

Page 27

人数多い ほうがいい かなって
Number of people many have luck bring

I was going to ask if it was something like “the more people, the luckier” because I mistranslated 方がいい for 運がいい , but just realized it.

Does it mean “It would be better if we had more people” ?