Chapter 35: Summary, Analysis, and Study Notes
⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.
Summary
The chapter opens five years and four months before launch, inside a World Literature lecture at the EvenStar training campus. Asuka is struggling to stay awake; the teacher's soft voice and the heat make her drowsy. The course is part of the mission sponsors' cultural preservation efforts, but Asuka has little patience for it, thinking there will be plenty of time to read once they are in space.
As she drifts, her mind wanders to her fractured friendship with Miki. It has been a year since Treena's expulsion, and despite Asuka's attempts to reconnect, Miki has clearly moved on. Asuka suspects the real reason is that they are now competing for the same seat, especially after Akiko's near-fatal overdose. She also acknowledges that Miki may be right that Asuka has chosen Ruth's friendship over hers. Miki now hangs out with a clique of other Japanese candidates, and Asuka feels the sting of being excluded, reminded of the kids who used to mock her.
Asuka checks her class ranking: she is 311, Miki is 248, out of roughly six hundred remaining candidates. Miki has also hit a million followers on social media, partly thanks to a hit song she composed for a J-pop group. Asuka has only a hundred thousand followers, which she considers poor by EvenStar standards. She avoids reading comments, though Ruth has written a code to filter out negative ones. Before that, Asuka had read enough harsh notes about her appearance and her ability to represent Japan that she internalized them.
She reflects on her family. She is sixteen and has not been home once, even when her grandmother Obāsan died peacefully. She could not justify a plane ticket when a video call would suffice, and she had a theoretical physics exam. Her mother sends paranoid messages about nanochips in the food, numbers, constellations, and secret genetic experiments. Asuka threatens to stop calling if her mother does not stop, and even threatens to go live with her father if she drops out, though she has not spoken to him in a month. The threat works, though it leaves Asuka feeling queasy.
Suddenly, a red light flashes in her vision, and a message scrolls across her vizzy: four unidentified adult males on campus, possibly armed. Students gasp and take cover under desks. Outside, they hear shouts from a men's rights protest group, with chants like “Men's rights” and “Burn, bitches.” Asuka peers out the window and sees men in balaclavas wearing T-shirts that say “Adam Was First” and “Fuck Linda.” They are heading toward the humanities building.
The chapter notes that there have been protests outside the campus gates before, from groups like MAC, CoBro, and SME, but security had improved after incidents involving Lala and Winnie. The side gates are locked, so someone must have let them in. Hao Yu suggests barricading the door. Asuka picks up a chair, telling herself to pretend it is a simulation, that it is not real. She lies to the other students, saying it could be another test to see how they handle surprises. That gets some of them to their feet, eager to prove themselves for the mission.
They beat the attackers to the front doors and charge, shrieking. Asuka remembers the fear in the man's eyes when she bashes the chair legs into his chest. The men are only holding signs, and one sign has a misspelling. When police arrive and praise the students for keeping their heads, Asuka feels unbearably sad for the messed-up world she is trying to leave, though she cannot explain why.
Key Events
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Asuka attends a World Literature lecture as part of cultural preservation requirements.
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She reflects on her deteriorating friendship with Miki and their competition for a mission seat.
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She checks her class ranking and social media follower counts, feeling inadequate.
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She recalls her mother's conspiracy theories and her own guilt about not visiting her grandmother.
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An alert announces four armed men on campus; a men's rights protest group approaches the humanities building.
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Asuka lies to fellow students, claiming it might be a test, to rally them.
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The students barricade the door and charge the intruders, who are only carrying signs.
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Police arrive and praise the students; Asuka feels deep sadness about the world.
Character Development
This chapter deepens Asuka's internal conflict. She is shown as someone who can lie to herself and others to survive a crisis, yet she is also painfully aware of her own self-deception. Her decision to pretend the attack is a simulation reveals a coping mechanism that will likely recur during the mission. Her sadness at the end suggests a growing disillusionment with Earth and a desire to escape, not just physically but emotionally.
Her relationship with Miki is further strained, highlighting Asuka's isolation and her tendency to prioritize Ruth's friendship. Her guilt about her grandmother and her mother's paranoia show the emotional cost of her ambition. Asuka's willingness to confront the intruders, despite her fear, demonstrates a capacity for decisive action, but it is rooted in a lie that she tells to motivate others.
Themes, Symbols, or Motifs
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Simulation vs. reality: Asuka explicitly tells herself to pretend the attack is a simulation, and she lies to others that it might be a test. This motif foreshadows the mission's own blurring of reality and performance.
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Collective resistance: The students act as one, charging together, which contrasts with Asuka's earlier feelings of alienation. The chapter suggests that unity can be forged through shared fear and a common goal.
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Escaping a broken world: Asuka's sadness at the end, and her earlier thoughts about leaving Earth, reinforce the theme of seeking a better life elsewhere. The world outside the campus is hostile, and the mission represents an escape.
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Gender conflict: The men's rights protest, with its misogynistic slogans, highlights the societal divisions that the mission may be trying to leave behind.
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Cultural preservation: The literature class is part of the sponsors' efforts to preserve culture, but Asuka sees it as a chore, suggesting a tension between the mission's ideals and the candidates' practical concerns.
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Conspiracy theories: Asuka's mother's beliefs about nanochips and secret experiments reflect a broader distrust of institutions, which contrasts with the students' faith in the mission.
Why This Chapter Matters
Chapter Thirty-Five is pivotal because it shows Asuka's psychological state before the launch. It establishes her ability to lie to herself and others, a trait that will be crucial in the high-stakes environment of the mission. The chapter also reinforces the theme of a broken world, making Asuka's desire to leave Earth more understandable. The incident with the protest group demonstrates the dangers that exist even within the supposedly protected campus, and it foreshadows the kinds of threats the crew may face in space.
Moreover, the chapter deepens Asuka's character by revealing her guilt, her strained family relationships, and her social media insecurities. These personal details make her more relatable and set up her motivations for the rest of the novel. The final image of Asuka feeling sad for the world she is leaving is a powerful emotional beat that resonates with the novel's broader themes of hope and loss.
Study Questions and Answers
1. Why does Asuka lie to the other students about the attack being a test?
Asuka lies because she wants to motivate the students to act. She is afraid and does not want to die, but she knows that if they believe it is a test, they will be more willing to confront the intruders. The lie also reflects her own self-deception—she tells herself it is a simulation to cope with fear.
2. How does Asuka's relationship with Miki affect her sense of identity?
Miki's rejection makes Asuka feel like an outsider, reminding her of the kids who used to mock her. The competition for a mission seat, and Miki's social media success, highlight Asuka's insecurities about her own worth and her ability to represent Japan. This contributes to her alienation and her reliance on Ruth.
3. What does Asuka's sadness at the end of the chapter reveal about her character?
Her sadness suggests that she is not simply eager to leave Earth; she is mourning the world's brokenness. She recognizes the absurdity and violence of the situation, and her inability to explain her feelings shows a deep emotional complexity. This moment foreshadows her later struggles with the mission's moral dilemmas.
Navigation
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