Chapter 299 - Happy Girls and a Class of Despair

Title

Happy Girls and a Class of Despair
This was changed in the tankōbon from the magazine version of the title, which was "Happy Girls of the Class of Despair". Either way a reference to the novel Zetsubô no kuni no kôfuku na wakamono-tachi ("Happy youth in a country of despair") by Furuichi Noritoshi.

First published May 30, 2012

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Rokurokubi

One of the traditional youkai [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rokurokubi|Rokurokubi], a spirit that appears human by day, but stretches its neck out to long lengths to terrify humans by night. Chiri is shown in a couple of chapters having a neck similar to this.

Abura-sumashi

Literally "oil-presser", a spirit that haunts Kusazumigoe Pass. The spirit was thought to be a human who had stolen oil, a very valuable commodity in pre-industrial Japan for its heating and lighting properties, from a shrine. A more modern take on the Abura-sumashi (and probably what Kumeta is getting at) is "a squat creature with a straw-coat covered body and a potato-like or stony head", which is what everyone seems to think of Nami, since she eats so much ramen and all.

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Spirit Proxy

The Japanese term used here is Yorishiro. A Yorishiro is basically a medium for spirits to occupy during a Shinto ceremony.

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Calendar

Sensei is placing a Showa sticker over the top of Heisei. The Japanese calendar is split into eras based on the current emperor. The Showa era was Emperor Hirohito's reign from 1926 to 1989, while the Heisei era is Emperor Akihito's reign from 1989 to the present. The name is based on the Emperor's eventual posthumous name, which is assigned when he takes office.

Another note on this page related to calendar based shenanigans is that the calendar now reads Showa 80, corresponding to the year 2005, the year this series began serialization. The real calendar year at this time was Heisei 17.

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Books (Panel 5)

The book on the left reads "Classical Literature" and the one on the right reads "Modern Literature".

Book (Panel 6)

The book's title is "Excuses".

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