Whoops, I should probably go look at earlier comments; I finished reading the sections and immediately switched gears after, haha.
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Finished week 4; it felt like quite a bit happened in only 20 pages.
Hira follows Kiyoi and finds out he’s taking dance lessons, only to be caught watching extremely quickly. Hira assumes that Kiyoi’s taking them because of the contest, and Kiyoi doesn’t deny it, but I wonder if that’s really why he’s taking them? Hira knows approximately 0% about Kiyoi’s personal life, so I’m curious if this is something his parents are pushing him into or not.
Anyway, the two go off to eat. Kiyoi tells Hira to never tell anyone about it, which Hira immediately agrees to. Kiyoi still seems pretty put off by Hira’s apparent devotion, haha.
Then it’s on to the results of the contest; Kiyoi doesn’t win first or second place (if I read that right) and he appears kind of dejected about it. Shirota and the gang haven’t let up in their gradual bullying of Kiyoi (interestingly, Kurata doesn’t appear to be taking part here), and he eventually splits from the group to be by himself. Hira follows, Kiyoi sees him, demands to know if he’s just following out of pity, and Hira takes the opportunity to declare his love yet again, haha. I have to say, I’m enjoying just how bold Hira gets when he gets the chance; man’s not afraid to declare his love, haha. Putting the ball firmly in Kiyoi’s court, there.
And finally we get back to the school, where the class is buzzing about a series of forum posts talking about how (not sure if I read this right) Kiyoi not only didn’t get 1st or 2nd, he got dead last place. Seems Shirota’s group is now slowly being bolder and bolder in rebelling against Kiyoi, culminating in Shirota confronting Kiyoi directly after Hira refuses to give him his drink since Shirota hasn’t been paying for a while.
I had a quick question for at the very end of this reading: the class is whispering among themselves as they watch things unfold between Kiyoi and Shirota, saying
おまえ、どっちにつく？
What is that どっちにつく saying? Specifically the つく; I’m not sure which つく it is.
I really enjoyed reading this section, and the more I read the more I like. Hira’s a little weirdo, and I’m really enjoying seeing his reaction to events and people. His consistent wishing for a machine gun is…concerning.
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This is from the goo entry for つく. I copied the entry that fits, 3 ㋑その立場に心を寄せて行動を共にする。味方になる。
付く／附く／着く seem to be possible kanji since it doesn’t name a specific one for this meaning. I think I’ve only ever seen it it with kana, though. In this case it means ‘which side are you on’.
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Ah, thank you!
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Okay, just finished week 5 (I ended with Kiyoi and Hira in an empty classroom just after Kiyoi hears about the “King” bit for the first time); I’ll likely start week 6 this coming weekend since I’ll be busy. Well, I say that, but I’ve been really enjoying this book as we go along; week 5 had some great moments between Hira and Kiyoi’s photo session in the music room and Hira beating the shit out of Shirota, and then finally Hira admitting out loud to Kiyoi that he’s masturbated to him. Why would you admit that?? Hira, I swear. There’s a very real chance I can snatch some time away to start this week’s reading a bit early… Anyway, things are going great. I kind of wish I could see inside Kiyoi’s head, but at the same time being in Hira’s is so crazy anyway that surely there’s no way Kiyoi could keep up, haha.
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Week 6 finished. Ended as Hira made plans to take pictures of koi.
What an interesting set of pages. This whole section was “Hira and Kiyoi would meet occasionally. Then they moved up a grade, basically didn’t meet again, and that entire year was so unnotable for Hira that he basically skipped right by it.”
Events of note: we learn a bit about Kiyoi’s background and motivation to write his “I want to be an idol” paper in elementary, and Kiyoi actually gives Hira a smooch! …Right before they go off to college and never meet ever again, haha.
Our first look at Hira’s college life was nice; he’s finally able to bloom a bit and make real friends. Also really shows just goes socially stunted he is; you stop noticing it because we’re in his head all the time, and Hira’s view of the world becomes “normal”.
Edit: uh-oh, that was my third post in a row. I need someone to comment to I can continue my commentary. ;_;
Edit2: well, finished weeks seven and eight as well. Seven was wholly unsatisfying, so I had to continue on through eight. I gotta take a break now, though; my brain is starting to refuse to process anything beyond N4 grammar. @.@
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I shall help you out! 
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Oops, that is a sign that I need to get back to reading this 
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I only recently found out about Natively book clubs so I just started myself! Figured it was time to finally read this since I accidentally ordered two sets of the series lol. Hoping to catch up by end of month! 
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Awesome! Glad to have you!
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Alrighty, now that I’m done with 今日からマ王 for the time being, 美しい彼 is next on my catch up/finish list. 
I’m two weeks behind currently (have finished through approximately page 160).
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Alrighty, I’m back a little later than anticipated; been busier than expected. Alrighty, so I’ve made it past the next “chapter” break, あまくて、にがい.
Thoughts up to あまくて、にがい
So so far Hira’s love (obsession) just seems tragic. His high school life was an absolute mess, though he got a few good things out of it, and while his college career seemed to be off to a promising start, his meeting Kiyoi again out of the blue just kind of grinded that all to a halt. Like, it honestly feels like the downward spiral is a drug addict or something.
I’m probably missing nuance and details given that I’m reading in Japanese and taking breaks between reading chunks, but while it wasn’t like Hira was finally opening his eyes to the joys of life or anything pre-Kiyoi college, it seemed like he was at least content and had a life worth mentioning. 小山/Koyama is a nice guy, and Hira finally has real friends at the photography club.
(Granted, Koyama’s kind-of conversation rattled Hira quite a bit, and I’m ashamed to say that I can’t remember if this came pre- or post-Kiyoi at this point. :\ Real frustrating when you can’t remember these details…)
But then Kiyoi enters again and Hira’s right back where he started. I guess I’m just not necessarily convinced that Hira’s happy, I guess, and I have yet to see any evidence that Kiyoi can provide that happiness in a way that allows Hira to lead a balanced and fulfilling life.
It was interesting that Kiyoi seemed to start showing signs of jealousy towards Koyama near the end there, at least. Perhaps there’s hope.
I’ve read up through about page 180 (in my Kindle), so thoughts on that so far (up to Kiyoi’s recount of the beginning of college):
Interesting; I didn’t guess at all we’d get a Kiyoi POV. It’s definitely needed, because he’s likely just as weird as Hira. And reading even just a little bit seems to confirm that: Kiyoi apparently suffers from a deep-seated desire for attention, and Hira is just what the doctor ordered, though high school Kiyoi is immature enough to just take it for granted. Haven’t read far enough to see how much psychological damage Hira dropping all contact with him post-high school has dealt, but I’m sure he’s now a well-balanced and worldly young man. 
I wonder how long this POV shift will last; not sure who’s head I’d prefer to be in more at this point.
It’s strange; even when nothing has happened, this book always leaves me feeling melancholy.
(And I’ll need someone to post for me, plz.)
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Good timing! So finished reading up through page 200; stopping point: Kiyoi has just come to Hira’s uncle’s house.
Kiyoi continues to be an interesting study. The boy’s in deep denial for sure. It’s especially funny to see Hira do his thing without the context of being in his head, and with Kiyoi generally being too proud to do things like “communicate”, he’s just left in general confusion with whatever Hira ends up doing.
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Reached the end of section 2 yesterday; I’m somehow on track with the schedule, oddly. Section 2 ended on page 266 for me. I’m hoping to finish the book by the end of the week.
This is, presumably, the end of Kiyoi’s POV; I didn’t flip ahead to see if that’s the case or not. I would prefer it to be, I think; I think the more interesting POV will be Hira from now on, now that he and Kiyoi are officially going out. I have to say, it wasn’t as apparent from Hira’s POV, but Kiyoi definitely threw into stark relief how many of their relationship issues were all due to a severe lack of communication; while Kiyoi’s concerned about being embarrassed about stuff, Hira’s just on a different wavelength altogether. I’m still kind of upset Hira quit the photography club; I hope Kiyoi’s able to convince him to join them again. :\
It was both amusing and in-character for Hira to top during their sex scene. He’s surprisingly…courageous? Which doesn’t really describe it imo since he doesn’t think of confessions or taking the lead to be something to be self-conscious about, which I personally find really refreshing in a character.
Also, I just want to say: the illustrations in this book have been mega boring. Does anyone know if the illustrator changes in later books? They feel like afterthoughts here; would’ve been better to leave them out imo.
Speaking of R-18, I’ve come across two scenes so far I’ll note down for those who may want to skip it or skip to it: scene one started on page 217 in my Kindle version and continued into the next week’s reading. Scene two covered my kindle pages 249-266.
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Doooone~ (Just in time for that 3 post limit, too.) I read the final section, plus the bonus story “Chestnut” included in the digital edition. Man, I can’t believe this book came out in 2014; it’s 10 years old already. 
Final R-18 scene was on my Kindle pages 281-286.
So, my thoughts… Honestly I’m not sure? Like, I enjoyed the book, but there were many a time where it just didn’t suck me in. I’m curious how the two’s relationship progresses, but given how the first book ends, I’m afraid a good chunk of their relationship troubles are going to be due to miscommunication, which I’m not normally fond of reading. I really liked Hira and his worldview, and while Kiyoi is a good splash of groundedness, that groundedness is what makes everything so complicated, I think. If Hira could just drift along in his own mind forever, that would be a very different book, and one I’d be more inclined to jump into, I think. (Though depressed/suicidal Hira would be a major possibility with that, and I don’t want to read that either. 
) (Side note: it really felt like Hira had other issues besides having a stutter. Is “neurodivergent” the right word?) Not sure what I want to grade the book yet… It feels like a 3.5 to me, but I’m not sure which direction I want the pendulum to swing.
This was a book I would’ve appreciated reading quicker, I think; no shade on the club schedule or anything, I just had weird breaks in my reading where I’d read a bunch, then pause for a few weeks and then read more. I would potentially be interested in reading the next one, but likely only in a group setting, and maybe after hearing a bit about what happens in book #2 anyway.
Regardless of what happens, thank you for setting the club up @bibliothecary! I’m glad I finally got to read the book; I’ve seen/heard a lot about it, so I’m glad I can now finally say I’ve read it.
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I haven’t been on Natively in awhile because of life stuff and I’ve also been reading pretty sporadically so I wasn’t able to follow the week by week schedule, so I’m highly amused that you ended up finishing it at the exact same time I did! What a coincidence lol
I last read this book over a year ago, so reading it again with improved Japanese comprehension has been a surprisingly fun experience for me because I felt like I understood more of the nuance in writing and since I already knew the story, certain things stood out to me more.
I think the first time I read it, even though I enjoyed it, I think my opinion on it was closer to yours. Story-wise, it’s a pretty basic premise and like you, I’m not a fan of misunderstandings. I think what makes it tolerable though is the realism – the misunderstandings didn’t feel contrived.
Hira tries his best to explain but he’s fundamentally pretty bad at expressing himself and doesn’t seem to be able to put himself into the heads of others to guess what they might be thinking/how they might interpret what he’s saying. (Or, his conclusions are just wildly off – funny enough, I felt the character he understood the most was Koyama, but that’s probably because they had the most in common.)
Kiyoi had it right when he realized that Hira was in some ways more egotistical than he is, but in a pessimistic/self-loathing sort of way. That point of view creates a thick wall that prevents him from understanding others, so this personality trait might just be from environmental factors, rather than him actually being neurodivergent (but he also might be!).
Kiyoi himself I think had the most growth and I personally enjoyed being inside his head. Watching him try to play 6 steps ahead on the chess board against an opponent that doesn’t even understand that they’re playing chess… what a frustrating experience, I don’t think I could have been as patient as him in all honesty lol. I have to give Kiyoi some grace for that because his conclusions all made sense against a normal person, he was constantly changing his approach as he got to know Hira better, and I think as frustrating as that journey was, he learned how to express himself more clearly and straightforwardly because that’s all Hira could understand.
If anything, I think Kiyoi was able to break down his walls the most during the course of the book. Hira even says towards the end that he wouldn’t treat Kiyoi like a king… externally. But internally I don’t think Hira has changed all that much, and I’m guessing that conflict will probably be the point of contention in the future books. They’ve established a foundation to build a relationship, but they still have a long way to go before they truly understand each other, I think.
Hira’s strong feelings of self-loathing due to how he grew up, Kiyoi pathological need for attention due to how he grew up. A partner that gives endlessly vs a partner that wants endlessly… what is created in the vector of that event horizon?
I’m definitely interested to find out, but I’ll be taking a break to read 流浪の月 by the same author first!
Let me know if you’d like to discuss anything else in the book!
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Those are some great thoughts! I need to chew on them a bit first, but just a note: your spoiler tags don’t appear to be working.
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I always seem to have trouble with getting the spoiler tags to work on my phone 
I’ll try to fix it on my computer later.
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We’ve still got a few days left, but the schedule for this informal club has almost reached its end. Anyone out there still reading through it?
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