#korotan d

[fumiko-matsubara]

A redesign of freshly high school graduate Chiba to mark my July return here 😊💕

[lorian-loriest-dingo]

How is there a sequel to assassination classroom in a book called KOROTAN D? !?!?

How did I find out almost 7 years too late!!!!

[gojixyz69]

Why I think Nagikae is canon

DISCLAIMER:

This post contains Spoilers for Assassination Classroom. And finally this MY opinion so if you disagree that's fine in the end opinions are subjective.

If saw/read AC or been in the fandom then you would know that Nagikae (Nagisa x Kayano) is one of the most popular ships and that the canonicity is left up to debate on if it or isn't canon. Today I'm going to talk about why I think Nagikae is canon with evidence and disproving evidence against it so let's begin.

Against it:

First let's start with the easiest one to disprove that being the 'afterthought' line, basically in english translation of the final chapter Kayano said that Nagisa thinks of her as an aftherthought. Now this is actually simp to disprove since that was said in the english version and not in the original japanese version

As you can see Kayano just said that she isn't in Nagisa's field of vision meaning that Nagisa is just focused on being a teacher and not to meantion why would Hara just ask about Nagisa you don't ask about what's going between you and your crush. While I could just stop it right here there's also something I want to meantion, if you look at what afterthought means it says 'something that is thought of or added later' whitch if we go by the linensaid by the english version (whitch isn't canon since the japanese is the original) it's still ambiguous since it doesn't mean that there aren't meating each other. If you want it in more detail here

Now the second thing is this panel

Some people belive that this is Nagisa and Kayano and to that I say... we don't see the faces, given the lack of context and the fact you can see Karma it's possible that two people holding hands aren't Nagisa and Kayano but rather Karma and Okuda and as for my reasoning like I said you can see Karma and also this

So yeah that basically it from what I've seen so now let's get into the main topic.

Why Nagiake is canon

Now first of we know that Nagisa and Kayano are seeing each other as we see in Nagisa's album that Nagisa and Kayano were meeting each other until they were interupted by Nagisa's students

Second is Korotan D whitch is a collection of books that were stated to be canon by Yusei Matsui, in one of the storys Kayano is working as an actress and during one of the scenes Kayano was suppose to kiss but turn back and we see Nagisa being jealouse and he's true feelings towards Kayano if you want to read it you read the rough english translation by @blazardragon and also we see Nagisa and Kayano dancing

And finally there are the ship teases and I meam there a lot despite what people think there are ship teases

Like how Kayano's reaction when B**ch-sensei kissed Nagisa and speaking of kissing Nagisa litereally kissed Kayano and not to meantion the other ship teases I showed like Nagisa and Kayano dancing. The point is Matsui gave us a lot of ship teases between Nagisa and Kayano with them even kissing and with Korotan D revealing Nagisa's feelings to me it makes the most sence that Nagikae is canon.

My final thoughts:

If you disagree that's fine more power to you because in the end opinions are subjective so don't take things personale. For me persoanlly I think Nagiake is canon due to the ship teases and other stuf like the album and Korotan I 100% belive Nagikae to be canon.

[nagisasstunningpersonality]

Comprehensive Guide For Assassination Classroom Content

Because it's pretty hard to find a straight up list of it all. Please note that whilst I believe this is accurate, I was not involved in the fandom whilst the series was active and so could reasonably miss something.

Core Content

Assassination Classroom manga as serialised in Shounen Jump. If you buy the physical volumes, there's a bit of additional content between chapters, most notably introductory character profiles.

Assassination Classroom anime (some count seasons 1 and 2 as separate entities)

Assassination Classroom Meeting Time - an animated short featuring Korosensei and Karasuma's first meeting.

Assassination Classroom Extra Curricular Lessons - adaptations of a couple of manga chapters that weren't in the show itself. I'll just link a playlist here. Fun fact this is where Nagisa gets hit by a chair (lowkey he deserved it)

Additional Content

365 Days Movie. This isn't 'canon' as it's an anime original thing. There's no official English release that I know of. Honestly the movie is mostly a series recap, and only features Karma and Nagisa in new scenes. It's only really worth watching if you especially ship them as there's only maybe 10 minutes of actual content (and most of that is just montage, you can get the gist with this)

Roll Call Book - this was published mid manga run. It's mostly just a bunch of bonus content particularly character based. No official English translation exists, but snippets are easy enough to find online.

Graduation Album - as the name implies, it accompanies the end of the manga. About half of it is an art book, but there's extra character information especially about their post graduation lives. Crucially it includes a few manga shorts which extend past the actual canon ending.

Korotan A, B, C, and D plus Korosuu. They're mostly just Assassination Classroom themed text books (Seriously. My actual university book store sold them.) Korotans are for English vocabulary, Korosuu is for maths. Notably each book also contains a light novel (sometimes these are just referred to as 'the light novels'). It is debatable how canon these are as Matsui didn't write them, but he was involved through illustrating and overseeing the writing. Korotan D is especially debated because it's post canon content set when 3E are 18, but there's a small 'it was all a dream' implication right at the end of the book. Personally speaking I take them as full canon.

Official Spin Offs

The live action movies (part one and two). They change a lot of plot so I place them more in the spin off area. Easily skippable.

Korosensei Quest Manga (otherwise known as Koro Q) - a spin off gag manga set in a fantasy/video game inspired universe. This is not canon (unfortunately) and as far as I understand Matsui isn't involved in it. There's an implication of the idea it's Fuwa's own manga creation. Overall there are four volumes but there's no official English version (though fan scans aren't hard to find).

Korosensei Quest Anime - lightly based on the Koro Q manga. This is only a short 10 episode series though, and was complete long before the original, as such only the first few episodes are actual adaptations and it starts doing its own thing. All voice cast return so that's neat.

The OVA - basically an early adaptation of the Kyoto arc. Link here. It was released in 2013 so predates the actual anime, and a lot of the voice cast are different.

White day shorts featuring Karma, Maehara, and Nagisa - posted on official website as an otome game parody for promotion. Included because they're voice acted.

The 3DS games. They're region locked as far as I understand, and there's no translation of them. You can find it dumped if you know what you're doing with emulators, I've only played a few minutes of it myself.

The app game - no longer available. It was a gatcha tie in game featuring a variety of character illustrations.

Various merch lines and related illustrations. There are far too many to list and new ones still come out sometimes.

As I said, I hope I covered everything but there's a good possibility something slipped my mind.

[nicnsmth1]

korotan d inspired bcs I think jerome accidentally flirting w shizuha bcs they look pretty is funny

[banhtet]

SHORT HAIR HAYAMI ??!?!?!!

SHORT HAIR HAYAMI THE WORLD... how come i didnt notice that she had short hair in korotan d the first time. a bit of a self indulgent timeskip hayami post. not a perfect imitation of the ref but idc.. HEADCANONS : - i think shed wanna try branching out to other hair styles. so w yada, nakamura and haras advice/suggestions, she decides to cut her hair short - she plays it safe at first,, cutting it only just past her shoulder a lil bit. not too noticeable. and so she can envision it a lil better - accident happens while cutting and it ends up w her hair unwantedly wayyy shorter than intended - she doesnt grieve over the lost hair exactly, rather feels more upset by the fact that now itll attract attention and such - i think her girlfriends try to console her by saying like "dw itll grow back!!" but hayami doesnt rlly care abt it - i think yada would be attracted to short hair hayami............ its just Right - hayami feels a lil off looking into the mirror every morning but eventually she comes to like how it looks - "well.. i dont rlly mind it now" she says - i hc that shes tried a variety of styles in college as shes got more freedom then but the short hair is still her one of her favs as its a lot more convenient (also she looks kinda good w it..) - expectedly got a lot of attention at school for it, shes both kinda annoyed and flattered at how many ppl gush over her (mission failed successfully) - yada def has a field day taking pictures of a flustered hayami (delusional)

[no-naem]

Now I shall put some of my favorites of the unfinished art from the 100 Kayano Days challenge. [Rubs hands together]

These are all in order from old to new, from September 2022 to January 2023.

It's a hot day. Karma: "I want cuddles, and I can't cuddle Akari (she'd kill me). So..." Nagisa: "You're too hot." Karma: "I know I am." Nagisa: "YOU KNOW THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT!!" Karma: "Cuddle time." Nagisa: "IT'S 31 C!!! AKARI, HELP!!" Akari: "Sorry Nagisa! I have another love to attend to. You're on your own."

(Lol the dialogue is kinda off but I like what I was trying to go for.)

Aguri lives AU but at what cost. Akari is this 🤏 close to losing it.

Adults Kayano, Kanzaki, and Karma went to that one cafe that was doing that collaboration with a popular video game.

GoM AU, with Akari slowly turning into an antimatter creature. It took a long time for her to transform, and there was no cure to stop this. It wasn't fun, but at least her friends were there for her.

Kayano and Akari, Deemo AU, based on that one art for ANiMA from the game.

Okay, THIS one I still like a lot. It takes place in the Okinawa arc, and the concept was that there'd be a montage where each student would use Korosensei's Ultimate Defense Form as a blunt weapon to knock out all of the guards. And then end with Karasuma taking out Takaoka the same way.

GoM AU again. Nagisa excitedly shows off one of his partners. ...and yes I made antimatter Akari 10 feet tall. :D

Surprise Koro Q! Based on that one episode from the anime. Imagine if the transformation was permanent.

Baby shark doo doo doodoodoodoo...onesie.

Shirt reads: "I am completely normal and not insane I have no desire to harm anyone I am not carrying a weapon." I like the potential chaotic vibes in NagiKae. They're besties.

Eldritch AU!!! Context: some of the 3E students are eldritch beings, and Kayano is the reincarnation of an ancient being that ruled a whole other dimension filled with other eldritch monstrosities, which she can summon. This AU gave me so many brain worms, yet not enough to help me finish any of them. 😩

I have a bleak zombie apocalypse AU. Takes place after their high school graduation, probably after the events of Korotan D? Kayano's half-infected, Nagisa's a zombie, Karma has severe head trauma that he can't fix and it's making him go wack, and Gakushuu's trying to keep everything together.

I wanted to draw more than one birthday art for Akari and this was one of them. Just her and her big sister...

This one was gonna be a prank. Forgot about it though LOL.

The concept was Kayano arriving in limbo, dazed, after getting killed. But Aguri tells her to go back. It's not time yet.

Aberration AU. Takes place 4 years after canon, right around the time they're in college. The monster behind them is basically both of them. Their memories and DNAs make up the monster. Kayano and Nagisa are unhealthily codependent after being kidnapped and used as experiments for...3 years. 😐 But it's okay. They eventually get rescued and get therapy.

Kayano twins AU. I was gonna draw a short comic about the twins but I had to give up because I was struggling for some reason. (Why is this pic so LONG???)

One of the Christmas/Karma birthday ideas. It'd have Karushuu kissing under a mistletoe. Kayano's just here for the desserts, man.

Eldritch AU. This would be a sequel to Day 88, featuring Kanzaki (she's a time god) instead, but I didn't have enough motivation to finish it.

This is just Day 93, but Aguri and Korosensei were supposed to be there with her, along with the rest of group 4!! But I ran out of time.

And finally, this is another limbo situation where the Yukimura sisters would hug each other one last time. But then I thought it was too sad and went for the "Aguri lives" ones.

If you made it all the way to the end, then WOW thanks for reading!! Hope y'all liked reading about my thoughts! There are actually more arts that are unfinished but those are like...really messy lol.

[blazardragon]

Korotan D Special: Test Taking Advice from Class E - Volume 4

Here’s the final installment of test-taking advice from Class E! This may be the last page of advice, but it’s just as solid as ever! A shame that not every student got their own advice column, but at least everybody made some kind of appearance.

Fuwa Yuzuki (during the test): I hold the key to keeping a calm mind during a test. To do so, you should run simulations and create a routine before the test.

Mimura Kouki (preparing for the test): I think it would be a good idea to preview the examination venue and confirm things overall. You should especially keep track of where things like bathrooms are. Also, you should prepare multiple travel routes to where you’re going.  

Yada Touka (right before the test, or during the break period):  When you enter the testing venue, it might feel like all the other test examinees are smarter than you, but that’s definitely not true, so tackle that test with confidence!  

Yoshida Taisei (during the test): This might sound obvious, but don’t fill in the wrong column on your answer sheet. It’ll be marked wrong if you do that on a  bubble sheet. As long as you’re careful, you’ll have nothing to worry about, right, Terasaka?

Itona Horibe (right before the test, or during the break period): Naturally, you won’t be able to look at your smart phone or any other kind of mobile phone during the test. Get a wristwatch so that you can keep track of the time. Also, don’t forget to turn off your smart phone or any other mobile devices so that you don’t get accused of cheating.

At the bottom of the page: 

Akabane Karma: “Even if you finish early, it’s not like you can leave right away, so be sure to look over your work~”

I guess Terasaka has filled in the wrong column before ^^;

I like how Fuwa dramatically says she “holds the key” to something when she’s giving advice. I also like how Itona’s advice is technology-centric and how Karma’s basically telling the reader not to be lazy. 

[bakaiju]

Always Smile

Ever since I saw the illustrations from Korotan D. I wanted to draw my new otp for the dancing scene.

Even tho this right here didn’t happen

[irraydiance]

Hi Nagisa/Kayano shippers.

The issue of WSJ released in Japan this week has an ad for Korotan D in it. A preview illustration appears to show Nagisa and Kayano dancing together. I wonder what the other Class E kids are doing in their final year of high school.

Korotan D is out September 4th.

[downpour50]

from Korotan D wallpaper and sample picture

[fumiko-matsubara]

Hi hi out of curiosity who exactly is puey? I’d never heard of him before seeing your art despite engaging with a ton of assclass content over the years and I think (?) he’s not an oc based off some of the panels you’ve posted. Am I just like. Forgetting his existence or smth? Sorry if this is a weird question shdhdhhdhd

So AssClass has this series of school textbooks called Korotan and like you'd expect from textbooks, they're meant for educational purposes and in this case, it is to teach English.

There are four Korotan books (from A to D) and each book contains a spin-off novel set in between canon events. Each novel always had something to do with learning the English language or simply becoming more proficient at it. The novels weren't written by Matsui but he did give them the green light and even drew the accompanying illustrations himself.

Puey is from the Korotan B novel, which took place just after Leader time and before the parkour incident. He's a young southeast asian assassin who was sent to kill Koro-sensei, and temporarily became a 3-E student when he failed his first attempt. His story is all about learning to communicate better with others, trusting his companions and combining strengths with everyone when he finds himself struggling. Isogai and Chiba practically adopted him lol.

And speaking of those two, there was a moment in korotan B that severely convinced me that Chiba had a crush on Isogai.

He's very much a canon character since he came and went, that his story didn't leave any weird shifts in the actual pacing of the series.

Puey... had a lot of racist undertones in the way he was portrayed in the original korotan b novel, even if you add the headcanon that he's part of a tribe.

And as a southeast asian myself, I simply went crazy with the headcanons and the pinoy-coding just to be comfortable in making fan content of him, since it's not everyday you'd find a SEA character in the series you adore.

Aside from the Korotan books, there's also the Korosuu, which is the sole math textbook. Same format and everything.

Scroll down to the bottom of this masterlist I made a while back to see all the translated novels if you're curious 💕

[dr-j33]

Anyone got a summary of what happens in Korotan D?

[gojixyz69]

Korotan D Prequel (and changes to Korotan D)

DISCLAIMAR:

If you don't like this post and disagree with my opinion that's fine. In the end opinions are subjective and if you have your own thoughs, ideas and opinions that's awesome just don't take it personal when someone has different thoughts.

So if you don't know what I'm going talking about, basically Korotan D is a Assassination Classroom story that takes place 3 years after Koro Sensei's death and is stated to be canon by Matsui. Now if your following me then you would my thoughts on it but for those who don't I personally think it's fine, even though I have problems with it I do think it's a fine story whitch if you really want more AC content you should read it also there's @blazardragon english translation of it.

But despite this I have problems with it heck I even made a post talking about how I would change it whitch if you want you can read it here

However despite already making changes to it I do have more ways on how I would change Korotan D and if your wondering why I would make another post talking changes to Korotan D it's because of the problems with it and those being the ending where Nagisa gets scoulded by everyone for no good reason and also because Korotan D felt like it was going to confirme ships specially since there are ship teases and the story felt like it was going to confirme atleast one ship but it didn't.

I know it's stupid but again this my opinion, anyways as you can see I'm going to do something a bit different, instead of just changing Korotan D I've decided to make a prequel for it and as for why, well it's because if I just changed Korotan D it would basically be the same post I already made just with a few changes and that's boring and not to meantion that even tough I'm changing somethings I want the changes to make sence whitch is why in my previouse post on the subject I made thos changes because I wanted it feel right and also fix the problems I have with Korotan D, whitch is why I decided to make a prequel to it as it would help with the changes I would make and also no the chagnes I'm refering are not the ones I made on my previouse post, but rather new changes I would make. Anyways with out further a do enjoy.

Korotan D prequel

The prequel will take place a years before Korotan D whitch would make it take place two years after Koro Sensei's death. Now as for the story it would be focussing on Nagisa and his parents how would try to make up for the makes they made, with his mom (Hiromi) trying to make up for the abuse she caused and his dad (Matsui) trying to make up for lost time. They would also be better towards each other with them reconnecting thos old feelings they had for each other.

As for Nagisa he would be kinda deppressed as he would miss his Class 3E classmates and the times they spent togheter with Koro Sensei, he would realize that Kayano has feelings for him when he remembered the times when he was with his classmates. He would have nightmares of Koro Sensei and his friends dying, him muredring Kayano who would saying "where were you", "I loved you, I really loved you".

However despite this Nagisa would talk and hang out with his parents and friends who have time whitch would make him almost forget those nightmares, but he would still miss his friends and he feels stupid for not realizing Kayano's feelings whitch he wants to make up for when he gets the chance to see her again.

Changes to Korotan D

Now that we have the prequel covered now it's time to see how it would change Korotan D.

When Class 3E is reunited Nagisa is more than happy to see everyone again and he wouldn't even care about Karma hight difference atleast not at first and he would excited but a bit nervouse to see Kayano again as he's planing on asking her out whitch would also make him jealouse when Kayano has to do a kiss scene with Jerome but luckily for Nagisa it didn't happen whitch made him relife.

When Karma asks him if he's bothered by Kayano woeking with Jerome like he did in chapter 4, at first Nagisa doesn't know what to say but he does ask Karma he could keep something a secret whitch Karma says he can whitch made Nagisa feel a bit mire relife and tells Karma the truth but little did he know that Kayano was listening.

Here's how I imagine it playing out:

Nagisa: The truth is I'm a bit anxiouse I don't want to Kayano kissing Jerome.

Karma: Oh really.

Nagisa: Yeah and well... I realized that... Kayano has feelings for me.

Karma: Really, huh it's about time you knew.

Nagisa: Wait you knew?

Karma: Of course I did infact I and Rio tryed to help Kayano to conffes and be real it was obviouse.

Nagisa: Yeah I guess it was and I was stupid realize... whitch is why I want to make up for it.

Karma: And how are you gonna do it if I may?

Nagisa: I-I... I'm planing on asking Kayano out on a date.

Kayano: WHAT!

Kayano's outburst made Nagisa turn in shock as he sees Kayano who's red as a tomato after hearing Nagisa say that.

Karma: Well I guess I'll leave you two alone.

Karma walks away leaving Nagisa and Kayano togheter.

Nagisa: Kayano. I'm sorry.

Kayano: For what?

Nagisa: For what I said and being an idiot.

Kayano: Don't say that it's fine it really is.

Nagisa: No it's not I just wanted to make up for not realzing how you felt and... I really wanted to go out with you.

Kayano: R-really.

Nagisa: That is if you want to-

Before he could finish he's sentence Kayano grabbed Nagisa by the coler and kissed him softly, after she pulled away form him Nagisa was a bit suprised.

Kayano: Does that answore your question?

Nagisa: Yeah.

So yeah that's I see it playing out. After that Nagisa and Kayano go out and Korotan D continues on as normal only with Nagisa and Kayano daiting. And finally once it was time to do the kiss scene Nagisa was anxiouse but Kayano and Karma assured him that he shouldn't worry about it whitch helped Nagisa and luckily just like in Korotan D the kiss scene doesn't happen and after Class 3E are togheter they look at the sunset with Nagisa and Kayano siting next to each other holding hands.

So yeah that's my Korotan D prequel and the changes to Korotan D. Now again if you don't like and disagree with my thoughts that's percetly fine just don't take it personal.

[nagisasstunningpersonality]

An analysis of Karma and Nagisa's conversations aged 18

Good translation of korotan D already exists. What hasn't really been delved into is the line by line dialogue directly from the Japanese and specific nuances between these two characters that I honestly find super interesting. So here, have stupidly long analysis of korotan d. All translations here are my own.

The text conversation

いま、ヒマっしょ？ Are you free right now?

Even to start with, this is interesting. Karma is specifically using kind of incorrect Japanese here, 'text speak' ish. Considering how he immediately reverts to something more grammatically correct, it seems like he was doing this on purpose for some reason.

今日、試験だよね？ Isn't it your exam today?

もちろん。いま昼休み Of course. Now's the lunch break. 三時に終わるからこのあと会おうよ I finish at three so let's meet after

This is actually not a very polite way to invite someone somewhere. The fact that he adds yo kind of makes it sound like he's made his mind up about this happening. The more correct way would have been to use the negative form of the verb, meaning more like "won't you meet me after?" As people with maybe a basic knowledge of Japanese will have picked up, his language has reverted to way more proper, and he's using kanji normally.

余裕だね I have time

It's interesting that Nagisa uses a different word for 'free time' here. Where 'hima' means free time more literally, 'yoyuu' is more like he has some sort of leeway or margin. It's almost like "well I have SOME time but I'm not totally free"

まあねー、で、四時にいつものファミレスでいい？ Well, then, is 4 at the family restaurant we always go to good?

So family restaurant is a bit of a weird one. It's basically just a very casual and cheap restaurant, simply put. Think Dennys. In fact, knowing Japan, it probably literally is Dennys. A slight upgrade from McDonald's, at least? It's interesting that they have a place they apparently always go to. 'Family restaurant' is a really broad term so they clearly have a regular date spot hang out place.

大雪だよね？ What about the heavy snow?

I hesitated about how to translate this. It's pretty close to "you know there's a blizzard, right?", he's just not overly questioning that. It's more like a prompt, like "are you thinking???"

こっちは大雪なのに試験受けてるんだっての I'm taking my entrance exams despite the heavy snow 渚も部屋でぬくぬくしてないで出てきなよ You can also come out rather than sit snuggly in your room

Good amount of localisation going on there, sorry folks. The way Karma's speaking here, you can kind of hear the whining. It's where people would maybe add a "~" to indicate his tone. He's basically saying "look at me suffering, get over yourself" lol. Of course, because Nagisa's a sucker, he takes the bait.

All in all, though, a pretty standard text conversation between two teenage boys.

More under the cut

Conversation at the restaurant

よー Yooo

(Nagisa gets lost in thought and doesn't respond)

どうしたの渚？俺の顔の位置、高すぎて見えない？ What's wrong, Nagisa? Am I so tall you can't see my face?

I think it comes across in the translation, but this is so condescending I don't even know. Classic Karma?

.......うるさいなあ ...shut up

This actually felt a little out of character for Nagisa, honestly. The naaa part at the end makes it sound really dragged out and whiney, like "oh my god be quiet". I love that he probably confirmed that yes, he can't see Karma's face.

今日の試験どうだったの？ How did the exam go today?

I should mention that in between these two lines, Nagisa internalises that he's been avoiding meeting up with Karma since the start of the year (I believe he means maybe for the last few weeks) due to worrying about him actually focusing on his exams. We really see his care for Karma in this.

別にどうってことないよ。想定内の問題が出ただけだから It was nothing special. All the problems were what I expected

Nagisa notes that Karma doesn't look particularly stressed even though the exams are meant to be super hard. Anyway, Karma continues.

試験はどうでもいいんだよ。呼び出したの相談があってさ。E組全員で卒業旅行、行こうよ。 The exams are whatever. I called you here to discuss something. Let's go on a graduation trip with all the members of the E Class.

Just like earlier, he's using the slightly impolite form of invitation here. Interesting that he wants to brush it off, though. Either it really is meaningless to him, or there are slight nerves making him want to not talk about it.

.......卒業旅行!? ... graduation trip?!

You don't need to have a good understanding of Japanese to get the surprise and confusion from Nagisa here. To explain, graduation trip is just a cultural 'thing', a kind of rite of passage. Not everyone does it, but there's a lot of people who go on a trip with their friends after they graduate high school.

俺ら、これから大学になったり実家の仕事継いだりするから、一緒に遊びに行くチャンスなんて滅多になくなるじゃん。三月中旬ならみんな余裕あるんじゃね? All of us, from now on we're going to university or taking over at our family businesses, so the chances to have good times together are decreasing. Everyone's free in the middle of March, right?

Honestly, I sense even more tone shifts here. It's like Karma starts to get into a deep thought, realises, and changes the subject.

.....三月中旬って、まだ入試終わってないよね。もし前期試験で落ちたら..... ...In the middle of March, entrance exams haven't finished yet. If anyone fails the first semester exam...

I find the use of 'ne' interesting here, similar to how Nagisa used it earlier. He's kind of speaking to him like a mother might gently speak to her child, trying to get him to come to the conclusion on his own (though with some prompting). It's almost like Nagisa is Karma's conscience here. It would make sense, since Karma could have done this on his own honestly. He needs Nagisa to ground him.

大丈夫だって。俺らE組だから It'll be fine. We're the E Class.

Karma smiles at this apparently. Considering this text is mostly from Nagisa's perspective, he seems to describe Karma smiling a LOT.

竹林は高校受験の失敗を繰り返さないように実力に見合った私立大学に絞ったし、磯貝はさっき試験会場ですれ違ったけど、問題なさそう。寺坂ですら滑り止めに受かったら生意気にも大学生だ。聞いてる限り、みんな大体なんとかなるよ。 Takebayashi narrowed down to the private universities that matched his ability so he wouldn't repeat the same blunder as his high school entrance exams, and Isogai brushed past me at the exam place earlier but he didn't seem to have having a problem. Even Terasaka will be a brash university student if he accepts his back up choice. As far as I've heard, everyone's generally okay.

A couple things in this. On what he says about Isogai, it's implied that they were close to each other and Isogai purposely avoided him or something. I mean, I wouldn't blame him under these conditions... More importantly, though, we can infer from this that Karma does actually talk to the rest of the class, clearly a lot more than Nagisa. At the very least, he reads the group chat.

そっかあ.... あっ. 茅野は行けないよ。そのころ、海外ロケだって言ってた Oh right... Ah. Kayano can't come. She said she'd be at an overseas movie shoot then.

マジで!? そっか残念... 茅野ちゃんは売れっ子女優だもんなー Seriously!? That's too bad... Kayano chan is an in demand actress huh...

So irrelevant to analysis, but I love how little it actually takes for Karma to lose his cool. He's such a nerd.

「ゴールドシティ」っていうアドベンチャー��クション映画って言ってたよ。 She said it's an action adventure movie called "Golden City".

え、うそ、それって、「ソニックニンジャ」 の監督の映画じゃん Huh, you're kidding, that's the Sonic Ninja's director's movie!

Folks, this is the moment where Akabane Karma loses his shit and blatantly fanboys. This is where your cool and edgy headcanons go to die. He starts saying "jan" too, rather than "ja nai" which leans into the Kanto dialect a bit. Basically, he's becoming noticeably less thoughtful about his words.

そうなの？ It is?

This sticks out to me, actually, since we usually talk about Nagisa being a huge fan too. I honestly think Nagisa just likes generic action movies (typical boy), and also the comic. It's Karma who's the real deep fan. Maybe Nagisa ended up leaning into it more when they were younger so he'd some sort of way to connect to him?

そうだよ！すっげーうらやましいじゃん。もう国際派女優になってるんだな。茅野ちゃんすげーな。 Yeah it is! I'm super jealous. She already became an international actress. Kayano chan is amazing.

The first bit is kind of like "yeah of course you idiot", but less insulting. Honestly, forget your nagikae, it sounds like Karma's in love with her in this section :') A point of the Japanese is that he's saying "na" on the end of his sentences. This basically gives a similar effect to dragging out the syllables. Imagine a kid saying "It's not fairrrr".

茅野ちゃんとダメに連絡取ってるんだ？ Have you been in contact with Kayano chan?

Once again, Karma changing the subject when he gets too deep into something. Maybe he realised how nerdy he was sounding.

うん、メッセージやり取りしてるだけだけど。向こうは忙しくなる一方だし、僕らの遊びで貴重な時間を奪うわけにはいかないよ Yeah, but we only exchanged messages. She's getting busy, so we can't snatch away her precious time with our fun.

Nagisa refers to Kayano as basically "the other party" here. I can't help but feel like this implies some kind of emotional distance.

渚は遠慮しすぎ。俺らにとっては 「マセ榛名」じゃなくて、同じE組だった茅野ちゃんなんだから。時にはダメ元で強引に誘ってみるのも、新愛なる仲間ってもんじゃね？ You're too reluctant. For us it's not "Haruna Mase", but Kayano chan from the same E Class. Sometimes it doesn't hurt to directly try inviting her, isn't she our dear friend?

I feel like this bit needs like several asterisks. This COULD be read with a romantic implication. "Shinai" means like dear, or beloved, but as weird as it sounds in English, it's not explicitly romantic. "Nakama" is a weird one because it doesn't exactly mean friend. It's like... partner, ally, companion, comrade. In fact, I think the actual ass class subs did translate nakama as comrade once (I made a meme about it). I think you could read this as Karma digging for details on potential love life. However, this directly follows Karma saying "orera", which is "we", so it's more likely he does mean it in the collective sense here.

そうかもしれないけど.... I'm not sure about that....

For transparency, he probably means he's not sure it won't be harmful to bother her, not that Kayano isn't a dear friend.

でも、海外ロケ中じゃ卒業旅行に誘う無理か。ロケってどこに行くか聞いてる？ But, is it impossible to invite her to the graduation trip while she's filming overseas? Did you ask where the location is?

Changing the subject suddenly again Karma?

うん、東南アジアのプノン国。世界遺産の寺院群でロケだって Yeah, Phnom in South East Asia. They're filming at the world heritage temples.

卒業旅行の行き先、決まったわ。プノン国の世界遺産観に行こう。 The destination of the graduation trip is decided. Let's go see the world heritage temples in Phnom.

えっ!? Eh!?

ちょうどいいじゃん。卒業旅行、海外もアリだと思ってたからさ、茅野ちゃんのところに行っちゃおうよ。 Isn't it just about perfect? I'd thought about a graduation trip that was also over seas, so let's go to Kayano chan.

Yeah, it really seems like Karma had this all figured out already. He just forced Nagisa to witness the car crash.

そんな、無茶だよ。僕達が行ったら迷惑になるし That's... completely unreasonable. We'd be a nuisance if we went.

And for once Nagisa's quite right.

別に撮影邪魔しにいくわけじゃないからいいじゃん。たまたま一緒になっただけだよ。たまたま。 It's fine if we don't do anything to particularly disturb the shooting. We only just so happened to be together. By chance.

Basically, Karma is blatantly bullshitting here. He is talking shit and he knows it. He keeps ending his sentences with "jan", too, which is kind of like an additional "I'm in the right", it's basically making every statement rhetorical.

決まりだね It's concluded then

You can read the defeat in Nagisa's voice here. He, too, has reached the conclusion that Karma didn't seriously want his opinion on if this was a good idea or not.

At this point in the story, Karma starts messaging the group chat on LINE. I'm not going to translate all of that, but they basically affirm his bullshitting.

ほら、みんな行きたがってる。決定だね。 See, everyone wants to come. It's decided.

しょうがないなあ、もう。 There's nothing that can be done, already.

Shouganai is a bit of a weird one. It's a big thing in Japan. Basically there's no use fighting it, so may as well just go with the flow and get on with it. Clearly there is something that can be done in this situation, but essentially Nagisa knows it's not worth it to fight Karma.

The next context you need is that Isogai is worried about being able to go on the trip.

磯貝のやつ、なに弱気になってんだろ... あいつの実力ならぜったい受かってんのに What's with Isogai acting all weak-kneed? That guy will definitely pass the exam with his full strength

うーん.... 多分だけど... 磯貝君は旅行代のことも気にしてるんじゃないかな。 Well... but maybe... might Isogai kun also care about the travel cost?

あーそっか、相変わらず貧乏だもんな... 賞金も俺たちと同じ額しか受け取ろうとしなかったし。 Ah, that's right, he's still as poor as ever. He only accepted the same amount of prize money as the rest of us too.

I think this interaction is really interesting. Karma complains, Nagisa softly corrects him and leads him in the right direction, again with the "kana" like a parent speaking to a child. This leads Karma to re-evaluate and understand the situation better. It's a really great dynamic.

Nakamura messages in the group chat that she can use her contacts to find cheap accommodation.

さすが、中村は仕事早いなあ。これで磯貝も来れるよ。渚も文句ないっしょ？ As expected, Nakamura's early at work. With this, Isogai can also come. You also can't complain, right?

This definitely reads like a jab. Like "are you happy yet"? Lowkey seems like Karma gets a kick out of debating with him.

...僕が茅野のスケジュール言っちゃったからみんなで押しかけることになって、責任感じるよ。 ...We'll all be pushing Kayano's schedule because I told you, and I'll feel responsible.

Basically, Karma's a massive gossip.

そこ心配無用。茅野ちゃんのスケジュールは、今本人から直接もらったから。 There's no use worrying about that. Kayano herself just told me about her schedule directly.

え!? Eh!?

ほら、これで茅野ちゃんから直接ロケ地と時期確認したよ。渚がバラしたとか関係なくなったし、心置きなく旅行楽しもうよ。 See, here I confirmed the location and time directly with Kayano chan. It doesn't matter if you let out a secret or are involved in this plan, so let's enjoy the trip without worrying about it.

Today I learnt that "to rose" (as in the flower) means to spill secrets. So there, Karma canonically comparing Nagisa to a rose. Go nuts. I guess Karma's fine with taking the fall for him.

気を遣ってくれてありがたいけど、大人数で押しかけちゃってほんとに茅野喜んでくれるかなあ... Thanks for the concern, but I wonder if Kayano will really be happy with a big group of people showing up uninvited

This leads me to think I've been slightly incorrect about the characterisation of Nagisa's sass. This reallly reads as sarcastic to me, because I don't think Nagisa would genuinely give such a long winded thanks for what Karma said. King, basically.

もちろんだって。じゃあさ、茅野ちゃんに撮影スケジュールと宿泊先聞いといて。 Of course. So, can you ask Kayano chan about her filming schedule and her lodging?

AKA, Karma chooses to ignore the sass and run with it, making Nagisa regret even trying.

そんなの無理だって！ I can't do that!

あはは、だよねー。俺だってそこまでずうしくは聞けないわ~。みんなで押しかけること、茅野ちゃんにはサプライズにするから黙っといてよ。 Ahaha, that's right. Even I can't ask that much~. Let's push it together, and it will be a surprise for Kayano chan so keep it quiet.

I should point out that Karma, "smiling like a demon", straight up just leaves at this point. This man needs to be stopped. He's so annoying.

The end of the book

「カル��、すごいうれしいよね？隠してもわかっちゃうよ」 渚がカルマの心中を見透かした。 「別にぃー」 そう言いつつ、カルマはニヤリとした。

"Karma, you're super happy right? I can tell even though you're hiding it." Nagisa saw right through Karma's heart. "It's nothing special..." he said, but Karma grinned.

Why am I including this? There's nothing particular to add. It's just... it melts my heart every time, okay?

Okay so the actual content. This is right at the end, where Nagisa has run off to try and avoid watching Kayano's kiss scene.

渚、どこいくの？撮影現場はあっちだよ。 Nagisa, where are you going? They're filming the scene over there.

It's painfully obvious here that Karma really just wanted to tease him. I think we can infer that he thinks Nagisa's just jealous of Kayano kissing someone.

茅野の邪魔にならないようにと思って I thought I'd be a disturbance to Kayano

茅野ちゃんの刃はそんなに脆くないって言ってたの、渚じゃん。ここで信頼してあげなくてどうするんだよ。 You're not saying Kayano chan's blade is so weak? What will happen if you don't give her your faith here?

This has strong "tut tut" energy. He's certainly trying to get under Nagisa's skin.

...あと、茅野とジェロームのキスシーンを見たら、余計な心配しちゃいそうで。 I'll be even more worried after watching Kayano and Jerome's kissing scene

It seems like Nagisa's phrasing this extremely poorly. Like yeah, this does sound suggestive.

ほうほう、それはまたどうして？ Uh huh, and what do you mean by that?

Naturally, Karma responds to the suggestiveness. I can picture him grinning madly at this. He's purposely trying to push Nagisa's buttons. I think this is the most he's probably got out of him about his feelings towards Kayano.

茅野がいるのは、仕事を通して何が起きるかわからないような怖い世界でしょ。 Through the line of work Kayano's in, I don't know what kind of things occur but it's a scary world, right?

And then of course, Nagisa actually reveals the whole time he's just worried about the toxic showbiz industry. Which is just so painfully Nagisa of him. It sounds like the potential feelings thing went completely over his head, which aligns with what Kayano says at the end of the manga, where she makes clear that Nagisa doesn't have that kind of thing on his radar.

まー...かもね Well-... maybe

This line is actually kind of funny, because it's clear Karma doesn't know how to respond. I think he's just bewildered, honestly.

万がーああいう悪い虫がついて、彼女の女優の将来に悪影響が出ちゃったら。。。って想像すると、応援してる身としては複雑でさ。 When by any chance an undesirable boyfriend is attached, it has a negative impact on women actress's futures... If I imagine that, I have mixed feelings about giving my support.

I'm not fully sure what Nagisa means here. Support the industry she's a part of? Give the other actor a the wrong idea? This does kind of come off to me like he recognises what it looks like with Kayano, but that is the wrong idea. Or maybe I'm reading into it.

ハリウッドの新星を悪い虫呼ばわりす渚を見て、カルマは吹き出しそうになった。友情か、親心か、ファン心理か、はたまた別の感情か。どれが本音かは本人にもわからないけど、渚にとっても茅野は、特別大切な存在である事に変わりはないのだろう。 When he saw Nagisa call a rising Hollywood star an undesirable boyfriend, Karma felt like he was about to blow out. was it friendship, parental affection, fan psychology, or else some other kind of feeling? Nagisa himself probably didn't even know his true feelings, but for Nagisa, the fact that Kayano is an important existence hasn't changed.

I've been mostly skipping non dialogue, but this is very clearly Karma's internal thoughts, and I found it interesting. Yeah, he's clearly frustrated with him, but at least Karma acknowledges it's not like Nagisa's hiding anything from him. I find 'parental affection' honestly a super interesting point because yeah, that kind of does seem to be how Nagisa treats her a lot. In fact, it reflects back to what I said earlier about the way he speaks to Karma like a parent sometimes. It's a dynamic I don't think people talk about that often? Surprising what's noticeable in the Japanese.

ほら、ガタガタ言ってないで見に行くよ。応援してるんならちゃんと見届けなきゃ。 See, instead of grumbling about it go and see it. You have to see it with your own two eyes if you want to support her.

This seems less like Karma's dropping a topic because he doesn't want to talk about it. Instead, I think he's being genuinely helpful.

渚の肩を抱いて無理やる引っ張っていく。 He grabbed Nagisa by the shoulders and squeezed him impossibly tight (so he can't escape).

Well, this ended up being a monster post, and you've finally reached the end. I hope it was interesting to someone, at least? I hope this can maybe help writers with capturing characterisation in dialogue! It's hard to go wrong with the direct source text.

[hanatsu04]

YEAH BUT

nagisa princess-carrying kayano tho.