within the story (of a book, play, film, etc.)
stiff neck; stiff shoulders
four-panel comic strip; yonkoma
clique; group; (political) faction; wing; school; sect
to say; to be pleased to say
mean; malicious; scheming; wicked; black-hearted
slip; omission; upshot; denouement; punch line (of a joke)
difference in elevation (between two points in a body of water); head; drop (e.g. of a waterfall); difference; gap
care-taking; house-sitting; house-watching; caretaker; house-sitter
last; final; end; conclusion; rust
protection; advocacy; support; to protect (e.g. rights, etc.); to advocate (e.g. free trade, etc.); to support
thorough (criticism, defeat, etc.); utter; serious
basics; fundamentals; basis; foundation
honorific; term of respect; polite expression; honorific language
the very start; the very beginning
stock; share; stump; (clump of) roots; plant with attached roots or stem; strain (of bacteria, etc.); stock company
to read out; to read aloud; to call out; to finish reading; to read through
theme; topic; subject matter; motif; project; slogan
foundation; root; basis; root and trunk
bloody; gory; covered in copious amounts of blood; desperate; frantic
and so on; and so forth; et cetera; comment; criticism
very much; intensely; overwhelmingly; excessively; irresistibly; without any obvious reason
inadvertently; for no special reason; truthfully; unexpectedly; after realizing; without knowing
last moment; eleventh hour; platform made of dirt used to perform executions (decapitations) in the Edo period
to speak ill of; to speak very disparagingly about; to speak very harshly about
sticky; persistent; insistent; nagging
to thrust down; to push off
Bupleurum root; Radix Bupleuri
illustration; picture; sketch; drawing; figure
world view; outlook on the world; Weltanschauung (philosophy); appearance of a world (e.g. in fiction)
the West; the Occident; Western countries
romance (e.g. Arthurian romances); heroic tale; (nigh) impossible dream; adventurous spirit; (full-length) novel; romance
to engrave an inscription; to call (designate) itself; to mark; to label
knot; tying; bundle; lumping; conclusion; ending
multiple personality; split personality