Hope you've had a nice Christmas. Time for the last shibies of the year.Shibuya Near Family chapter 150: Ikko does detecting>[Metal detector]>*Beeep*>It found something!>(*Lift*)>(*Slide*)>(*Jumble*)>Hold on, now. What are you looking for?>Lost memories.>Because I don't want you to forget.
>Curse you, Halloween...!>What's this, all of a sudden?>Because of Halloween,>Christmas isn't exciting anymore.>Right, I get you...>It feels like the passion is dispersed.>Plus, the only cosplays you get on Christmas are Santa and reindeers.>That's the problem?>What a mess.>At this rate, there's a good chance Chistmas will end up dropping into the 2nd-tier event leagues, like Valentine's Day.>Indeed... Very soon,
>Chistmas "Eve" >will become "second-tier"!>Pyramid, top to bottom: 1st tier - 2nd tier - 3rd tierThis is a bit of a complex sports pun. Some Japanese sports follow the typical European system of open leagues, wherein teams are promoted or demoted between tiers of leagues based on performance (as opposed to the closed league system common in America, where major and minor league compositions are usually static). So you start with Eru-kun speculating that Christmas will drop from the 1st-tier event league into the 2nd-tier league, leading to the pun that they'll have to change Christmas "ibu" (loaned from English "eve") to Christmas "nibu" ("2nd-tier").>Eru-kun's being awfully clever today.>Just came up with that one, did you?>Not saying it was always an option.>Shut uuup!>Still, it's true...>Christmas definitely feels like it's about to drop down to a lower league.>Pyramid, top to bottom: Halloween - Christmas, Valentine's - New Year's Eve and Day>K*C is getting replaced>with Senpai*chiki...Decades ago, Kentucky Fried Chicken somehow managed to establish itself as a customary Christmas food in Japan. Famichiki is a brand of convenience store fried chicken from the Japanese store chain FamilyMart.>Whole chrismas cakes are getting replaced>with a slice of cake per person...>Christmas trees are not just getting smaller,>they're being replaced by screens...>Wrapped presents are being replaced>By Amazon cardboard boxes...
>>284789330Alas, I have been foiled by the wordfilter... Senpai*chiki is supposed to be Famichiki with the third letter censored.>Is that so?>And yet, Shibuya's Christmas just keeps getting more exciting, year after year.>Really? Doesn't feel like it at all.>Let's look at the data.>In TV dramas, films, anime, and games...>Graph bottom: Findings by the Mio Rothschild Research Institute. Graph side: Number of explosions>The number of explosions occurring in Shibuya on Christmas shows a consistent rising tendency.>Things are getting a whole lot more exciting!>Sounds like a troublesome sort of excitement...>Then again, this is just a natural development.>There's no need to try and force excitement where there isn't any.>And yet, if Christmas loses its appeal in the eyes of the world,>there are many people who will be left in a pinch.>Like toymakers and stuff?>No.
a (late) christmas miracle!
>I'm talking about "loneliness enthusiasts"!>Loneliness>enthusiasts?>People like that want to spend Christmas alone>in order to show off just how miserable they are!>They've spent the whole year making preparations...>In order to act as pitiable as they can on these two days!>They purposefully take part-time jobs>selling cakes on Christmas day!>They purposefully eat the rest of the chicken first>so that they're left with only the skin!>They make their own buttercake>out of a loaf of bread!>All of that is only meaningful>because of the way it contrasts with Christmas!>It is that balance between "light" and "dark">which rewards their efforts at being lonely!>If you're trying to garner sympathy, it's going to sting if people say that you're not doing anything out of the ordinary, right?>I wouldn't know.
>All right! Let's create some Christmas excitement,>(Whoooo!)>for the sake of "loneliness"!>*Pomf*>...I don't think that's going to work.>I have to agree.>To begin with, the moment you start sharing you "Christmas loneliness" with like-minded people on social media,>you're not really alone anymore.>Yes, that's right. True "loneliness"...>Means spending Christmas alone in your apartment, lurking your favorite voice actress's X account.>She took this photo the other day, huh?>What are you even talking about?>In the end, the people talking about spending Christmas alone...>Are nothing but "bandwagon loners".>*Actual* loners>(*Boing*)>do not see being alone as something negative.>Like him!
>[Captain of the Loneball Club]>[Bocchi Danpei]From "dojjibooru" (loan from English "dodgeball") to "bocchibooru" ("alone ball"). Dodge Danpei was the titular character of a dodgeball series of the same name.>What the heck>is "loneball"?>He's playing dodgeball by himself...>This is so fun!>It really does seem...>He enjoys being alone.>If someone really takes pleasure in enjoying food by themselves,>you wouldn't call that a "lonely meal".>Want to know how loneball is played?>No thanks... Seems kind of hard to get into.>In a way, it's enviable.>At the very least...
>He's not spending Christmas lurking his favorite voice actress's X account.>I guess there's that.>Even though it pains me to think>that Christmas might drop into the second-tier leagues...>I'm home.>Hm!?>What is it?>It makes me even more depressed to think>that mom and dad's wedding anniversary is on the verge of dropping into the *third-tier* leagues.>Shibuya Duty Diary - Feels like the 150-chapter milestone is dropping into the fourth-tier leagues, too. How horrible...>Sidebar: It also seems sad that Round1 has one-person options for their Sport Challenges... Happy 150 chapters!Round1 is an entertainment business chain, and Sport Challenge (or Spo-Cha for short) is a service they offer, a sort of indoor sports complex that you pay a flat fee to use for a certain time.Thanks for reading! You weren't one of those bandwagoners spending Christmas alone, were you...?The magazine is on break again next week, so the next chapter will be out two weeks from now. Have a happy New Year in the meantime!
>>284789713thanks a lot
>>284789713thanks and happy holidays.
Volume 6 came out the other week, incidentally. I'll post the extras some other time once I've gotten my copy from Japan.
Chapter 149: Ikko is glued to her desk
And that's all for this year. Thanks for reading!
>>284790968Thanks for typesetting!
>>284789385What's that snowman so smug about
