Resized to 66% of original (view original)
hokuro-chan (getsuyoubi no tawawa) drawn by himura_kiseki

Artist's commentary

  • Original
    • |
  • Translated
    •

    Tawawa on Monday 321 "The Cherry Blossoms Didn't Bloom, but We Can Still Say It's Spring, Right?"

    Cherry blossoms blooming can be a metaphor for passing a college entrance exam (which didn't happen for either of them), and the arrival of spring can be a metaphor for falling in love (which the guy is hoping she'll agree has happened).

    I don't expect anyone will remember any more, but it's the punch line to this.
    Source: https://twitter.com/Strangestone/status/1381442417014939657

    It's unclear whether their studies will make any real progress.
    Source: https://twitter.com/Strangestone/status/1381444790093447170

    This week's theme is "Spring Has Come".
    Source: https://twitter.com/Strangestone/status/1381487246549868549

  • Comments
  • Recommended
    •
    ElMariachi
    [hidden]

    If I understand well, they aren't yet accepted in the same university (they are preparing for the entrance exam), so no upgrade relationship yet, but it's pretty much a done deal by this point.
    And Hokuro cut her hair shorter.

    EDIT: someone in the Twitter feed explained that there's a pun with the author note:
    In Japan, success or failure to enter in college is sometimes described in terms of cherry blossom metaphors: Exam success-> "The cherry
    blossoms are in bloom." Exam failure-> "The cherry petals are scattering in the wing.
    Also, Spring is considered the season of love in Japan and sometimes used as a metaphor for love (ex: "Spring has come for X" -> "X is in love")

    So here the punchline is that both the boy and Hokuro failed their entrance exam and are now in a prep-school ("The Cherry Blossoms Aren't Blooming"), but despite technically not being in the same school, they did upgraded their relationship ("but We Can Still Say It's Spring, Right?")

    Updated by ElMariachi

    9 Reply
    gonzomehum
    [hidden]

    shinjai said:

    Huh, that is a surprise if they did both fail.
    I'm pretty sure the collected volume story said that they originally competed with each other because Hokuro was No 1 and the boy was No 2 in their school/class.

    If it's a Todai-tier school they're aiming for, being your school's #1 and #2 is relatively meaningless.

    2 Reply
    Steak
    [hidden]

    shinjai said:

    Huh, that is a surprise if they did both fail.
    I'm pretty sure the collected volume story said that they originally competed with each other because Hokuro was No 1 and the boy was No 2 in their school/class.

    So she's a bit nefarious.

    0 Reply
    ElMariachi
    [hidden]

    shinjai said:

    Huh, that is a surprise if they did both fail.
    I'm pretty sure the collected volume story said that they originally competed with each other because Hokuro was No 1 and the boy was No 2 in their school/class.

    Maybe Hokuro spent so much time teasing him and him being distracted by said teasing that they neglected their studies and failed?

    1 Reply
    Steak
    [hidden]

    She was distracting him to protect her spot as #1. She didn't expect him to get serious about it. More surprising still, she wasn't expecting to become interested herself...

    Put another way, as Tawawa girls go, she's one of the "villains", alongside Sada and Volley-bu.

    Updated by Steak

    1 Reply
    Yukikaze Alecto
    [hidden]

    gonzomehum said:

    If it's a Todai-tier school they're aiming for, being your school's #1 and #2 is relatively meaningless.

    Dude, if its Todai tier (aka, Tokyo University itself, and the like) you could be a freaking Oxford or Cambridge *honors graduate*, and still flunk the entrance exam. Just the older, known/revealed mock exams for it are insane, as they change it every year.

    0 Reply

    Leave a comment