Youth novels... and a how-to book?
Hey! Who said you could look at my books?
Pitiful child...
I can't let you read these, Shiki!
If you want to debut as a new you in high school, start with your looks!
Here, untuck your shirt!
Whoa! H-Hey!
Come on!
I-I'm going!
Take care.
If you want to get contacts, see an eye doctor first!
I'm not getting contacts!
That's not what I care about, Mom.
I, Koshiyama Shiki, age 15,
have learned of a new world.
Fastest Finger First
Question 4: "A Mysterious Beauty Appears,"
It started with the meet at the welcome ceremony for new students,
and then there was the Four Schools Quiz Meet at Sekigawata High School.
I'm sure I'll find yet another new world at my next meet.
I can't help feeling that way!
I want to do quiz bowl with you, Koshiyama-kun.
I'm telling you...
to do quiz bowl!
After being asked so enthusiastically,
what choice do I have?
Watch it!
H-How could I get so giddy?
Is that...
Fukami-san?
Pedestrians and Bicycles Only
The friend manual, step 1:
Start with a greeting.
G-Good morning!
Oh, Koshiyama-kun.
Wait!
Can I ride on the back?
Huh?
Isn't this a bit too big of a step forward?
Koshiyama-kun, go faster! We'll be late!
Eh... buh... heavy...
Heavy?
Wh-What?
You're so light, Koshiyama-kun!
Isn't this... wrong?
Morning!
Mor... Huh?
We totally stand out!
Oh, it's Sasajima-senpai.
Good morning!
M-Morning...
Hey, morning.
Did you see that?
Yeah.
Th-The quiz circle's president is riding with a cute girl?!
And you guys, too?!
Koshiyama-kun!
Morning!
Uh... M-Morning...
Is that what the Quiz Bowl Circle's about?
Does joining it make you a hit with the girls?
And what about that quiz meet thing? How'd it go?
That was a pretty bold invitation they gave you last week.
Are they interested in quiz bowl?
The best clubs are the co-ed ones, for sure.
Just join the quiz circle!
No way. I'm not that smart.
You join it.
I'm not joining a club that makes me use my head!
Yeah, I guess not.
You're right. Quiz bowl isn't something any idiot can do.
Huh?
F-Fukami-san?
You've gotta be a big idiot!
Big Idiot
Library
I just get so weird when it comes to quiz bowl.
People already think I'm some weird girl who's into quiz bowl...
She did realize it, then?
Does being around me make you feel embarrassed, too?
Why else would you eat lunch in here?
Actually, I've always eaten in here...
In truth, I should've said something back to them.
Sorry for interrupting your lunch.
I can't think of anything to say to her, even now.
Actually, after school...
I thought I'd check out the quiz circle, too.
Okay. I'll be waiting.
She smiled...
A-All right!
Small Classroom B
Class 1-D!
Koshiyama Shiki!
Inoue Daisuke!
Thanks for having us!
So you're here.
Thanks for coming!
So you're gonna join, too?
I could ask you the same.
I'm glad you asked!
Uh, I didn't...
"I want to do quiz bowl with you, Inoue-kun."
What man could turn down a request like that?!
So now we have four members?
One more until we're promoted to a club!
Well, now that our new members are with us...
I believe the quiz meet at Sekigawata gave you a taste,
but do you have any questions?
Questions...
What's your relationship to that girl from this morning?
I do.
You're gonna ask?!
Fukami-kun.
How can we win in quiz bowl?
That's just like Fukami-san.
"Win," eh?
You can't.
There's no need for quiz bowl that you play only to win.
What does that mean?
Isn't winning by getting the right answers what competitive quiz bowl is about?
Yes, the nature of competition is to determine a winner and a loser.
Fukami-kun, do you like quiz bowl?
Of course.
Then why concern yourself with winning or losing?
This is kind of unexpected.
As passionate as Sasajima-senpai is about quiz bowl,
I thought he'd be determined to win.
I love it. That's why I don't want to lose.
I see. Then let me rephrase that.
You three don't yet need quiz bowl that's only about winning!
Before you worry about winning and losing,
you first need to learn the true nature of quiz bowl!
What sort of quiz bowl do you want to play?
What will you strive for?
How should you learn with all that in mind?
It's all up to you!
Of course, that goes for me, too.
Me?
The kind of quiz bowl I want to play...
I...
Before I worry about defeating others, I want to defeat quiz bowl itself.
Quiz bowl itself?
I'm a complete beginner who knows nothing about quiz bowl.
Being unable to answer when I know the question
and answering wrong make me frustrated.
I want to remember questions I answered wrong so I can get them right next time.
It's just like you said, Fukami-san.
After I got a correct answer like that,
I want to learn more about quiz bowl,
and I want to answer more questions.
I want to give correct answers.
That's... what I think.
Koshiyama-kun...
Well, it's true that we don't know any classic questions or anything.
I couldn't do a thing when they asked those.
Y-Yeah, exactly!
Classics...
Senpai, do we still have these?
Of course.
This is a set of 300 class questions that I chose.
The most common questions, right?
I think they're just the right level for beginners.
Quiz Bowl Circle
300 Classic Questions
Let me be clear that simply memorizing all these is not the answer.
You need to understand the structure of the questions
and become accustomed to how they're introduced.
Structure?
Introduced?
You want to know?
Yes!
There are several ways to categorize quiz bowl questions.
One of them is "straight or parallel."
Straight or parallel?
The most standard format is the "straight question."
They begin with a subtle hint,
and the range of possible answers becomes increasingly smaller.
Maybe that's too complicated for beginners.
Then you will learn the basics of quiz bowl
through a fastest finger challenge!
Yeah!
Whipping Up 300 Questions
Ba-dum Ba-dum
So... what is this?
A calculator.
We can see that.
Each of you, put a finger on it and press at the same time.
943?
Oh, I get it.
This will tell us who "buzzed in" first.
Wait, don't we have buzzers?
No.
But what about the ones at the welcome ceremony?
I rented those.
I was really on edge when you pounded on your button that one time.
Aside from being rentals, those things are expensive!
How much would it cost to buy a set?
There are a few different ways to acquire them,
but if you purchase them through proper channels...
Control Box
4 Buzzers
A complete set would be 50,000... No, some run as high as 100,000 yen.
A hundred—
Couldn't we get a used set somewhere?
I'm looking for one now.
Let's begin.
Okay.
Question.
The three great festivals of Kyoto are
May's Hollyhock Festival, July's Gion Festival, and October's Festival of what?
Nine's first. That's me!
Festival of Ages.
Correct.
Yes!
Basic Question Structures Straight or Parallel Numerated Format
This type of question is known as "numerated format."
Q: The three elements of music are melody, rhythm, and what? [Harmony]
Q: The three great festivals of Kyoto are May's Hollyhock Festival, July's Gion Festival, and October's Festival of what? [Festival of Ages]
The three elements of music and the three obligations of all citizens fit this category.
The first syllable of the second item in the list is the determining point, right?
Oh...
Next question.
French for "flash of lightning,"
a long, thin pastry topped with chocolate is known by what name?
Yes! It's me!
Éclair!
Basic Question Structures Straight or Parallel Numerated Format Foreign Language
Correct.
This is a "foreign language question" in which you must give the word
based on its original meaning.
Q: Italian for "in the manner of the chapel," music with no instrumental accompaniment is known by what name? [A Capella]
Q: French for "flash of lightning," a long, thin pastry topped with chocolate is known by what name? [Éclair]
These are Fukami-kun's specialty.
Yeah!
Question.
"As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning out of restless dreams"
is the opening line of which novel by Franz Kafka?
Yes! It's me!
Damn it, Koshiyama! You pulled the calculator to you!
No, I didn't!
Don't call it a calculator!
Koshiyama.
The answer is The Metamorphosis.
Basic Question Structures Straight or Parallel Numerated Format Foreign Language First Line
Correct.
Novels with memorable first lines unlike those of other works
are often the subject of "first line questions."
Q: "Because of a hereditary recklessness, I have been playing always a losing game since my childhood" is the first line of which Natsume Soseki novel? [Botchan]
Like Das Gemeine, too?
Q: "I fell in love. This was something new." is the first line of which literary work by Dazai Osamu? [Das Gemeine]
Yes.
I don't know any of this stuff.
Aren't there any that work for me?
And in addition to these types of straight questions, there's this.
Parallel
Parallel...
The 19th century musician known as the "magician of the piano" was Liszt, while the one known as the "poet of the piano" was whom? [Chopin]
The nation with the largest land area is Russia, and the nation with the smallest land area is which? [Vatican City]
Questions in which the first and second half
are connected by words such as "and" or "while,"
where the question asked is something different from that given the first half
are called "parallel questions."
I've struggled with those a lot...
Question.
In anime "CV," the abbreviation used for voice actors, "C" stands for "character,"
and "V" stands for what?
Yes!
This is the one I got before!
Voice!
Correct.
Score!
Parallel questions can have complicated structures, so be alert.
Memorizing structures using classic questions, huh?
So even if we encounter a question that isn't so common,
we can make use of this.
Of course, memorizing the classics themselves is highly worthwhile, too.
Q: When asked, "Why climb the mountain?", which English mountaineer answered, "Because it's there"? A: George Mallory
Some of them, like "why climb," have become fixed questions themselves.
Fixed questions?
Even among the classics,
questions whose wording remains constant every time
flow naturally, giving neither too much nor too little information.
You could say they are among the most complete questions in quiz bowl.
I get it. Complete, huh?
Yeah, it does seem like a lot of classic questions draw interest to themselves.
I know what you mean! They seem hard at first,
but you've actually learned them in school or as some bit of trivia!
Exactly.
Questions that can draw the interest of those answering
survive through the ages without ever being weeded out.
Since they're asked all the time, everyone knows them.
And since everyone knows them, they're asked all the time.
That repetition makes them classics.
You could say that classic questions carry the very history of quiz bowl!
Classic questions are awesome!
I feel like I've had a glimpse of history along with quiz players' love for quiz bowl!
Senpai, give us the next question!
Make it one about idols, my best subject!
Some history and literature, too!
Please!
Haruki Academy High School
Buzou High School? Where's that?
It's a regular prefectural high school in Saitama.
Apparently they have a quiz bowl team now,
and the guy who started it is...
What? Who?
Applying for English Level 2 Certification Classes
Get this. It's Sasajima Gakuto!
Seriously? What's he doing at a prefectural school, anyway?
No idea...
What? You curious?
Hey, don't ignore us, Fukami!
All right, everyone.
Today is our club's review meeting.
Press button for service
Have you decided what to order?
Yes.
Then go ahead.
Yes!
Lost again...
I think the button was a little closer to Kouzuki-san that time.
I only wish you could buzz in so decisively in actual meets, Kouzuki-san.
You as well, Kenmochi-san and Kogawa-san.
Move more lightly, using your full bodies.
Buzzing in is a sport.
Right.
Why the listless responses?
As one of the few quiz bowl teams from an all girls' school,
and as students of Asagaoka,
we should act in a way that doesn't bring shame upon us.
Here she goes again.
Last week's meet at Sekigawata should have been very inspiring.
I guess the one to keep an eye on is Mikuriya-kun from Miyaura.
Mikuriya
That's right.
He possesses a great deal of talent,
and he can't stand losing.
Sasaki
But one mustn't overlook Sasaki-kun,
the middle school first-year from Sekigawata.
I thought Sekigawata's club president was amazing.
Huh?
Watching him look out for his junior was like watching two close brothers.
Niina
Sasaki
It was such a soothing sight.
Did that happen?
How naïve of you.
I suppose you beginners don't know it yet,
Ashiya
Niina
but Niina of Sekigawata has a partner at Miyaura named Ashiya.
they've been buddies since they were first-years.
Nii x Ashi, then?
Really? Them?
I think Inoue-kun from Buzou is a well-kept secret, though!
There it is! You have such strong taste, Kogawa-senpai!
Really?
Better run, Inoue-kun!
You're both naïve.
I want to go home...
What makes one great is the ability to make a tasty dish out of any ingredients.
Well said!
Maririn
There's something I want to talk to you about...
Let's all work hard.
Yeah!
Maririn!
Yukicchi!
You really had me worried at that last quiz meet.
You kept glaring at me in the beginning.
I thought you saw me as an enemy.
Not at all. Just as a rival.
You're smarter than me, after all,
and you went off to Asagaoka without me.
You failed because you focused too much on quiz bowl and not enough on studying.
I feel better now, though.
You seem to be having a good time at Buzou.
Yeah. Koshiyama-kun and Inoue-kun both joined our quiz bowl circle.
With a quiz nut like you next to them, anyone would be inspired.
A "nut"? Come on...
I had a great time in middle school because of that.
Yukicchi...
Hey, didn't you say you wanted to ask me something?
Oh, yeah.
Yukicchi, you don't have any extra buzzer sets, do you?
A calculator?!
A calculator!
You use real buzzers at Asagaoka, right?
Yeah, but we don't have enough to lend out.
They cost 100,000 yen, huh?
Are they really that expensive?
Maybe I'll get a part-time job.
A job? Good idea! That could really broaden your horizons!
My horizons?
Well, Asagaoka is a mission school, you know?
So we get a lot of religious knowledge in our day-to-day school lives.
Q: A tool consisting of a string of beads with a cross on it, used by Catholics when praying, is known by what name? Q: In Catholicism, the one who gives a newly baptized follower their "Christian name" is known by what title? Q: In Christianity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are known by what collective name? Q: Jesus Christ was crucified in Jerusalem, on a hill known by what name? Q: In the New Testament, the Virgin Mary was informed that she would give birth to the Christ by an angel named what?
Knowledge you pick up in your daily life tends to stick with you.
Gaining knowledge by working, huh?
That could work!
Right?
This place really calms my mind.
I might have underestimated classic questions a bit at first.
But the classics have their own appeal.
And even though I knew there'd be questions that I know the answers to,
I still got really into the race to hit the calculator—
I mean, the buzzer first.
When it's a genre I like, I want to answer even more.
The regular meet in June is up next.
Revenge!
What's a regular meet?
I'll ask Sasajima-senpai next time the circle gets together.
What? What's that?
Smells... good...
You're such a nice guy,
sharin' half of your lunch with me!
Luckily, I hadn't touched that part yet, so it should be clean...
No worries!
First a girl trips in front of me with her panties in plain sight,
and now a girl passes out starving in front of me...
Isn't a library supposed to be a more peaceful place?
Really, thanks so much.
I'll repay this debt to ya someday.
That's okay. I always have about half left over anyway.
Really? You're some light eater.
You'll never grow big an' tall that way.
Come to think of it, she looks familiar somehow...
Anyway, why're ya eatin' your lunch in a weird place like this?
B-Because I like books?
Huh... And what's that?
It's a collection of quiz bowl questions.
Quiz bowl?
Oh! You're the Das Gemeine kid from the welcome ceremony!
Someone I don't know knows who I am!
Yep, it's good to have somethin' ya like to do.
I got too wrapped up in my hobby and spent all my lunch money on it.
Sequential Control Circuits
Gettin' all the tools and stuff costs quite a bit.
Oh, so that's why you were starv—
Gotcha!
Koshiyama-kun?
F-Fukami-san!
Whozzat?
There you are. Is this all—
Koshiyama?! You're—
U-Uh, look, this is...
Water!
Koshiyama-kun, you know that girl?
That's the girl who was with Sasajima-senpai, right?
Oh!
Your lunch...
That girl was eating your lunch?
Th-That was because she passed out from hunger in front of me...
So I gave her half...
I haven't even eaten your lunch yet!
Huh? What does that mean?
Wait, what did I mean by that?
Koshiyama!
Why do you get all the girls?!
Wait, it's not like that!
This is not fair!
Huh? You're kidding! Lunch is over already?
That girl isn't back yet...
Sequential Control Circuits Practical Applications
And she left her book here...
Um...
And Inoue won't stop crying...
I guess this is what youth is!
Of the quiz question patterns we learned today,
Parallel Questions
parallel questions are a format with particular strategic value.
Let's give it a try right now!
Right!
Question.
A miniskirt, worn with knee-high socks,
leaves a visible patch of thighs known as "absolute territory,"
Absolute Territory
while the area behind Sasajima-kun's glasses is called what?
Huh?! Um, um...
Buzz. Time's up.
The answer is "invisible territory."
Invisible Territory
Like we'd know that!