Welcome to the しろいろの街の、その骨の体温の Informal Reading Club
Discussion Threads
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I’ve just started and read to the paragraph break on pg 20!
Character list so far
谷沢結佳
たにざわゆか
main character
若葉
わかば
classmate (friend group of 3)
信子
のぶこ
classmate (friend group of 3)
みか
classmate
伊吹陽太
いぶきようた
calligraphy class
I’m really excited to read this and liking it so far. I’ve read Sayaka Murata in English before so it’s exciting to be at a Japanese level where I can read her books in the original language! Feel like I’ve made it
The language is really approachable and I actually haven’t had any trouble following anything on the grammatical/sentence level so far, so it’s just been vocabulary lookups. I feel that her writing is very clear and direct while also conveying atmosphere and meaning!
So far I like the POV of a weird girl who is a little apart from everyone and analyzes their actions and behavior in a way that they themselves don’t. And the conversation with 伊吹 is already showing the theme of girls’ development being faster than boys’, as he came across a little 子供っぽい to her in his straightforward love of school- but she couldn’t actually voice why she didn’t like school other than that it seemed better to be someone who didn’t like school the social layers
I was wondering when the sexual development aspects would start to show up First there was the porno mags in the trash scene, then the kiss scene. The dynamic between ゆか and 伊吹 seems a little… hmm!! I thought it was interesting how she seemed to get pleasure out of embarrassing him and lording over him how he is like a child. And of course there was the ‘he’s like a toy’ line.
What do you all think of the color symbolism in this book? Obviously there’s a lot of white, the white ‘new’ town, which seems to quickly turn to dirty grey. There’s also the black ink and the scene where 伊吹 grabs her wrist with his inky hand, making a black handprint on white. She seems very disgusted by the inky hands in general in that scene. 伊吹 also seems to stand out from the other characters and surroundings because he wears a bright orange sweatshirt, nothing else has been described as orange. Do we think it’s as simple as white = purity and sexual innocence? Or is there some other meaning
I think the colors do work on that obvious level as symbols for innocence versus desire. The town is a symbol for Yuka and her peers growth - it’s not fully developed and is still fresh and white since it hasn’t been lived in yet. The ink is like puberty and sexual desires: he touches her and she perceives him as something different from before (even though the idea of sexual desire isn’t fully developed in her head yet), and that encounter leaves a physical mark. She is quite literally tainted from the encounter, and it’s yucky as something new and unknown.
Ok yeah! I figured it was something like that but then I was like is it really that literal I also remembered this morning that the diggers are also orange. They dig up the abandoned lots where they used to play in childhood. Then Ibuki is also orange, and he’s the most childish one but his innocence is kind of being torn up by the relationship with Yuka?
That makes things easier since the book doesn’t have chapters
and liking it so far. I’ve read Sayaka Murata in English before so it’s exciting to be at a Japanese level where I can read her books in the original language! Feel like I’ve made it 
the social layers 
First there was the porno mags in the trash scene, then the kiss scene. The dynamic between ゆか and 伊吹 seems a little… hmm!! I thought it was interesting how she seemed to get pleasure out of embarrassing him and lording over him how he is like a child. And of course there was the ‘he’s like a toy’ line.
but hopefully after I do that and a few other manga reads tomorrow…
