Week 6 ギャルと恐竜 ・ Gal and Dino 🦕 (Absolute Beginner Book Club)

:sauropod: Welcome to Week 6 of ギャルと恐竜 ・ Gal and Dino :nail_polish:

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Week 6 17 Jan 2026
Start Page 33
End Page 40
Last week Week 5
Next week Week 7
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

: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.
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: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

:broom: Housekeeping

We have an extra poll this week, this one about the club schedule going forward. We’re currently scheduled to read one chapter a week for two more weeks, and then it’s up to you! I put a couple of proposals, but if we have enough others come up, I’m happy to entertain other options. The poll is anonymous, so please vote for a pace that works best for you (and not the pace you might think others would want).

Going forward, what reading pace would you prefer?
  • One chapter a week for the rest of the club
  • One chapter a week until week 12, then 2 chapters a week
  • Two chapters a week starting week 9
  • Other (please comment)
0 voters
7 Likes
Page 40

On the last page we’ll have some pretty big vocabulary words, 大富豪 and 革命. While vocabulary words in their own right, in this context they’re talking about the card game that they’re playing. If you’re curious, the English Wikipedia page is rather detailed.

8 Likes

Yo! This was a really notable spike on difficulty, i believe this was the hardest week so far

Anyway, it was a very entertaining reading, even if it had a considerable amount of text on the last few pages.

Here’s my translations attemps:

Page 33

元カレと会ったよ - I met with my ex-boyfriend

わ 翔太だ - Woah, It’s Shouta

彼氏だっけ - Your boyfriend right?

は? - Ha?

元カレだし - EXBoyfriend

出ないの? - aren’t you going out? (Aren’t you dating?)

でねぇよ - No

そういや 今日恐竜は? - Come to think of it, what is Dino up to today?

ん?アイツ? - Hm? He?

Page 34

留守番してる - He’s guarding the house

Page 35

UFOキャッチャー - UFO Catcher

盛んまくりw - Full of excitement (I actually had to google this one, and i still don’t get why it means that) Lol

ピンポン - PIN PON (Sound of the door ring)

Page 36

やっぱ居ねぇか - As expected, she’s not here

つうか他の男が出てきたりして - Which means, another dude came

よし帰ろう - Alright, let’s go home

ガチャ - Onomatopeia of opening a door

楓 !? - Kaede?!

Page 37

。。。えっ? - …Eh-? (glottal stop)

は? - Ha?

これ翔太のじゃん - This is Shouta’s (Bike) right?

Page 38

おう おかえりー - Oh, welcome home!

この恐竜神経衰弱強いぞー - This dinosaur is good at concentration (the card game)

おかえりじゃねぇよ!! - Nothing of "Welcome home”!!

なんで人ん家でトランプしてんだよ! - Why are you playing cards on another person’s house?

え?だってコイツが入れって・・・ - Eh? Well, he let me in…

なんで入れたんだよー - Why did you let him in?

あ - Ah…

うわ まだ 貼ってじゃん! - Woah, you still have that right!

やっぱおまえオレのこと。。。 - As expected, you still… (“Like me”, but he didn’t finish the sentence)

Page 39

はがすの忘れてた - I’ve been forgetting to detach this (or to rip it)

で? - Then?

なんか用? - What’s your business (why did you come?)

あーそうだ - Ah, right

これ母ちゃんの韓国土産 - This is a korean souvenir from my mother

楓に持ってけってうるさくて - she was being very noisy saying "Give this to Kaede!”

化粧品らしーよ - It seems it’s a makeup kit

わうれし - Woah! Am happy (Of having received it)

だろ~~~ - Right~~

・・・じゃあもう帰って - …Well, leave now (dang, she’s very rude)

おばちゃんには今度お礼ちゃんというに行くからさ - I will properly give my thanks to auntie (mother-in-law) next time i go

わかったよー帰るよ・・・ - I get it, i’ll go home…

けど~~~ - But~~~

なに - What?

Page 40

T楓が帰ってきたら大富豪やろうって言ってたからさ・・・ - “Now that Kaede is here (Since Kaede is here) Let’s play daifugō” he’s saying…

大富豪・・・? - daifugō…?

革命あり? - Do you have a revolution? (Four of a kind, i think, i didn’t understood Daifugo’s rules)

もちろんあいっしょー - Of coure! Here it comes.

Favorite panels of the week

(He’s living his best life)

10 Likes

Whenever I’ve read translations in the past I’ve never thought too hard about the research that must go into them, but reading in Japanese myself I’m realizing how much effort it takes to contextualize the little cultural points like e.g. popular detective dramas or card games! It’s a little humbling. Like wow, so much to learn…

Screenshots


like a gas, the dino expands to fill whatever space he is in, bouncing around the interior of his container…


cute pictures but also: considering the conspicuous placement i am pressing X to doubt that kaede simply forgot she left them up! she just didn’t want to admit it (aside—now i’m curious regarding the circumstances of their break-up)


oh to have a happy dinosaur to welcome me home…


look at that smile. who can say no? come on.

Translation
Page 33

phone: [bzzzzz] [bzzzzz]

Kaede: “Wh-it’s Shouta”

Yamada: “Your boyfriend, right?”

Kaede: “Huh? He’s my ex-boyfriend…”

Yamada: “You’re not gonna answer it?”

Kaede: “I’m not answering.”

Yamada: “By the way, how’s Dino today?”

Kaede: “Hm? Him?”

Page 34

Kaede: “Housesitting”

Page 35

doorbell: [ding dong] [ding dong]

Page 36

Shouta: “She really isn’t here, huh”
“Or maybe… she’s out with another guy…”
“Alright, I’ll head back”

door: [gachi]

Shouta: “Kaede!?”

Page 37

Shouta: “Eh-?”

Kaede [about the bike in front]: “Huh? Isn’t this Shouta’s?”

Page 38

Shouta: “Yo, welcome back~”
“This Dino’s good at matching cards~”

Kaede: “What do you mean ‘Welcome back’!! Why are you playing card games in my house!

Shouta: “Whuh? He let me in though…”

Kaede: “Whyyy did you let him innn…”

Dino: [points]

Kaede: “Ah”

Shouta: “Whoa, they’re still up there! I knew it, you still…”

Page 39

Kaede: “I forgot I put them up”
“Well? Did you want something?”

Shouta: “Right, well,”
“These are my mom’s souvenirs from Korea. She was really insistent I bring them over. It’s cosmetics, apparently.”

Kaede: “Aw, yay”

Shouta: “Right?”

Kaede: “…okay, go home already”
“I’ll come and properly thank your mom soon”

Shouta: “Okayyy, I get it, I’ll get going…”
“Although~”

Kaede: “What.”

Page 40

Shouta: “It’s just that I said when you got back we’d play Daifugou…”

Kaede: “Daifugou…?”
“Are we playing with Revolutions?” [optional rule where playing a four of a kind reverses turn order (?)]

Shouta: “Of course we are”

7 Likes

Translation attempts! Hopefully I’ll be able to do this all on Saturday, my Sunday is pretty busy.

Page 33

Chapter 4 Meeting former boyfriend
Boots (Not sure why the phone is saying boots?)
Wah! It’s flying fat.
Was it your boyfriend?
Hah?
Former boyfriend (Saying she’s no longer with him I think?)
You’re no longer together?
Of course we aren’t together
That reminds me, today Dinosaur?(I’m guessing this first Kana is そ?There’s no furigana to suggest it’s kanji)(Also, I didn’t need too look up today :partying_face: )(Where is dino today?)
Eh? Him?

Page 34

He’s guarding the house
Bounce
Walking

Page 35

Dingdong
Dingdong

Page 36

Just as always no one’s here
Passing through as another guy should be enough
Alright time to go home
Creak
Maple tree!? (???)

Page 37

Huh?
Hah?
This better not be flying fat’s

Page 38

Oh! Kaede! (I’m assuming there’s some kind of pet name being used here)
This Dinosaur is good at Concentration
I’m not welcoming you home!!
Why are you in my home playing cards!
Eh? I’m only here because of Dino
Why would you let him in?
Ah
Oh, you still have that photo of me posted up…

Page 39

I forgot to tear off
Rip
So?
What’s the use?
Is that so
This is a souvenir I got from my Mom in South Korea. She keeps pestering me to give it to you. It seems like make up.
Oh wow!
What do you think?
Well then… go home.
I’ll make sure to thank your Mom properly the next time I see her
Fiiine, I’m going home
Although~
What

Page 40

When Kaede comes home
You said that we were going to play Rich Australian
Rich Australian…?
Is there a revolution?
Of course you can always lose
End of chapter 4

Page 38 and 39… :skull:

5 Likes
Page 35

Just changing one character, I believe it’s 「盛れまくり」

The verb would be 盛る I believe. The last definition on Jisho lists it as “to exaggerate; to apply heavy makeup​,” which I believe fits since you can add some heavy editing on those Photo Booth photos haha

As for まくり, it is a grammar point meaning “like crazy”, or something done all the way, “nothing but ~”

5 Likes
Page 33

I believe it is a small, not big ッ. (Jisho definition) So it’s a sound, the vibration/sound of a phone notification

This one is actually just her boyfriend’s name Shouta (but I didn’t even think about how the kanji is funny literally :laughing:)

Yup! :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes: You are also right on the hiragana being そ, even tho the font is a little weird

Page 36

This one’s kind of difficult :sweat_smile:
I think the つうか here is actually this word, meaning “or rather/or”

So I believe he’s more so meaning “or rather, maybe a different guy would come out”
Which then, for comedy, technically does happen, but it’s just Dino hehehe

This one is the main characters name, Kaede. Even when you know kanji it can sometimes be hard to tell when something is a word or a name :sweat_smile:

Page 38

Here he says 「おかえり!」”welcome home!” Which leads into her saying 「おかえりじゃねぇよ!」which you know literally means “it’s not welcome home!” But she’s scolding him quoting him saying “no don’t say ‘welcome home’!/it’s not ‘welcome home!’”
I probably didn’t explain very well :sweat_smile: but じゃねぇよ gets used a fair amount with that specific context/meaning

This chapter did have a lot of difficult points! Good job to everyone who persevered, and if you are still reading through the chapter, keep going!!! :megaphone:

8 Likes

Hah. Beat me to it. :face_with_tongue:

That’s a small ッ, represents a glottal stop, the sound being cut off sharply rather than trailing away. ブーブー is a buzzing sound, ブーッブーッ is the same, but… sharper?

Rude. That’s his name. :face_with_tongue:

(And yeah, 太 techinally means “fat”, but you’ll frequently find it showing up at the ends of male given names, either on its own or as 太郎たろう - in such cases it conveys positive meanings like “big”, “great” or “prosperous”.)

Yah, that’s a そ.

That’s her name.

I’ve decided, this is now the correct translation.

9 Likes

翔太しょうた結構けっこうカッコいいじゃん。。。 :flushed_face:

7 Likes

i’m obsessed, this manga is delightful. i feel like it tooooootally nails the awkward feeling of hanging out with your recent ex where both what feels good about being with them AND why you broke up feel so present at once. I kinda gave up trying to get everything 完璧かんぺき but most of it made sense. the big four-kanji word i was like “i’m betting that’s the name of the card game” and i was right, for example xD

8 Likes

Delightful, as usual! This week went pretty well for me, and I was happy to be able to figure out a few things from context (like 元カレ meaning ex-boyfriend). Then I got tripped up with the exact understanding starting on p38, but I was able to surmise the meaning anyway.

Some details I liked

Love that dino’s face on the right is his usual “blank stare right after Kaede leaves” face:

Don’t recall if I’ve mentioned it before but I love the fuzzy mat under Kaede’s TV:

The plushie on Kaede’s bed is also in one of the photos on the board:

This dejected stance when she realizes the photos are still up is priceless:

How could you say “no” to that face???

Grammar points I have questions on:

p35: 人ん家, やっぱ

panel 3:

なんで人ん家でトランプしてんだよ!

I read this as “Why are you playing cards in a person’s house!?” I guess? What’s the significance of using of 人 in 人ん家, which I take as a shortened 人の家. Or, why wouldn’t she say “あなしの家” instead?

panel 7:

やっぱお前オレのこと…

Does やっぱ function as a shortened やっぱり here (and elsewhere), or does it mean something different?

Jisho def #2 says “still” or “as before”, which could work here as something like “on the matter of you and me, is it like before…?”

p36: うるさくて, もう, からさ

panel 3:

楓に
持ってけって
うるさくて

This threw me for a loop. So many っ’s and て’s! Jisho lists 持ってけ as a vulgar/slang “Take it!”, so the first two lines I take to mean “She said take it to Kaede”.

No idea how the うるさくて is supposed to function, or why it has a て at the end. Maybe it’s the 3rd definition (bossy, nagging, etc) and is him referring to his mom?

panel 5:

じゃあ
もう帰って

I read this as “Alright then, go home already.” Is that how もう is functioning here?

おばちゃんには
今度お礼ちゃんと
言いに行くからさ

This mostly checks out for me as “I’ll go to give proper thanks to obachan another (next) time.” What does からさ do here? I’m thinking さ is its own ending particle adding assertiveness, but how does から fit in? (this also happens on p40 panel 1).

And finally, as for the plot, all I gotta say is that ex-boyfriend better not weasel his way back in!!! Gal and Dino are doing just fine on their own, thank you very much! :upside_down_face:

Totally agree! What a gem this is!

8 Likes
p35: 人ん家

I understand this to be an idiomatic use of 人 when criticizing or reproaching someone—see the last definition on jisho

And personally, I like to think of it as a little like saying, in English, something like “don’t just march into people’s homes and play cards!” Of course, “people” here really just means “my”, but you get this usage pretty often when expression disapproval

8 Likes

Fun week! 翔太 enters the chat.

Fave panel

How could you not join in with that happy grin.

Confusing bits

Page 36 - つうか - thanks for answering in the thread above

Page 39 - is it normal for Kaede to refer to Shouta’s mother as おばちゃん? Or have I misunderstood what she’s saying here.

I am really enjoying how light hearted this is. Until next time!

7 Likes
Page 39

She’s not saying aunt here, she’s using this as a friendly address for an older woman. To me this implies that they have a fairly close relationship. Maybe Kaede and Shota were childhood friends? And of course she bought Kaede cosmetics in Korea.

While these words almost never get written with kanji, they do actually have different kanji to keep them straight in written form: 小母 vs 伯母 or 叔母 (depending on if they are older or younger than your parent).

6 Likes

I like to think of this use of おばちゃん kinda the way some young people might use “unc” to refer to a man about my age or older in English. As you say, it’s informal and marks the woman as not old old, but older than the speaker.

4 Likes

Thanks super helpful.

Yeah this is what I sort of intuited as well it just felt odd for your ex-boyfriend’s mum - but yeah as you said there’s probably more back story! Interesting about the different kanji, don’t think I’ve ever seen them written like that.

4 Likes

Old old is おばあちゃん. You get more vowels as you age, apparently :rofl:

6 Likes

Yeah I can understand that. It gives me the vibes of a little bit too casual or close, as well. But I think another big factor is all of her speech is pretty casual, so it matches that speaking style I think.

3 Likes

He wasn’t an ex when they met. And clearly she still considers Kaede close enough herself to be buying her souvenirs from Korea.

4 Likes

Later in volume mini spoiler:

she may not have all of the information that we do. :smiling_face:

4 Likes