Any spoilers, for the current chapters must be behind spoilers or detail curtains. When we get further in you don’t need to hide details that were revealed in previous chapters.
Always mention where you are in the book when discussing, ideally by chapter so people reading different versions have a clear point of reference.
Feel free to read ahead if it’s exciting! But please refrain from spoiling ahead of the appropriate week
If you have a question about grammar, vocab, cultural things, etc - ask! That can be part of the discussion too and I’m sure some folks would be happy to help.
Even if you don’t read the chapter(s) in time, you are still encouraged to post in the thread for that reading once you have finished it. I advise not reading ahead in the threads as you may see spoilers.
I’m really happy that the amount of lookups I need per section is slowing. There’s a lot I don’t understand on initial read (I would really like a parallel translation at times…) and my stamina is still an issue but I’m beginning to feel more into the flow.
Whew. I was wondering how long it would take until there was any actual violence, considering how Nanoka keeps taunting the bullies. I’m actually surprised it took this long! And yeah, she sure doesn’t seem popular in class, which is a fact that she might be understanding right now for the first time.
Her meeting with Kiryu-kun went about as well as you’d expect. She wanted to help, but then lashed out in the end when it didn’t she didn’t get through, and got lashed out in return.
I’m not sure I can understand Kiryu-kun’s feeling fully, but I considering that he’d rather roll himself into a ball and ignore everything outside, I assume that Nanoka constantly trying to persuade him to be more open and aggressive might be even harder to ignore than the bullies.
I’m not quite sure why he reacted so strongly to Nanoka defending him in the previous chapter though. Maybe he actually does feel inadequate (and/or is ashamed of his father) and felt like what Nanoka was saying just wasn’t true? Or maybe he felt like she was kind of poking the wasp’s nest, and he’d rather just be left alone and ignore everything, and that’s why he got angry at her? Maybe he feels more inadequate when she is standing up for him, because it shows him again that he cannot even stand up for himself? If anyone has any idea about it, I’d love to hear it…
Maybe the next weeks will give clarity, as it is I think all of you listed reasons are valid.
I thought he might also be reacting this intensely because Nanoka has a similar position as he does in class. And yet, she still seems happy while he is clearly in pain. Maybe he is subconsciously comparing himself to her
I really hope we can see him feeling better, though I am honestly not sure what the people around him would have to do for that.
Maybe his family will move abroad like the artist friend of the grandma?
Oh I totally meant to reply to this thread and forgot!
I definitely agree with some of yours and @Jiell 's thoughts. My added armchair psychiatry is that Kiryu-kun probably agrees with Nanoka on some level. So hearing from an outsider (and especially one who actively stands up for herself) is 100x worse than hearing your own thoughts. It’s unclear what his feelings about Nanoka are, but if he respects her it could make it even more uncomfortable to hear someone tell him what he already knows he needs to do and doesn’t feel like he can.
There’s also almost certainly a history of bullying because why else would he be hiding his drawings. Especially if they are good drawings because people don’t tend to hide positive traits.
My other thought is in the context of him being a boy. It’s sad, but they are far past the age where Kiryu-kun would get pressure for not being a man from classmates and society. And him seeing Nanoka, a girl, not only stand up for herself against his bullies, but also try to stand up for him is probably hard to watch. And he might be trying to avoid being bullied for letting a girl protect him.
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