Where did Asuka think "Monaka" came from? In the bonus episode, the group of players who don't make the cut to play in the competition form a B-Squad named Monaka, after the first character of their three second-year members' names.

When they announce this name to the rest of the club, Asuka misunderstands and thinks the name has something to do with youth:







  Asuka: "Monaka". We're in the thick of our youth! Or something.
  Girl: No, we just took the start of the second-years' names.


Where did Asuka think they had gotten the name "Monaka" from?
Here is what Asuka said in Japanese:

なるほど…最中【もなか】。私達【わたしたち】は青春【せいしゅん】真っ【まっ】最中【さいちゅう】～的【てき】な？
I see... monaka. We're in the middle of our youth~ or something?

The idea is, 最中 (in the middle) is usually read as &quot;saichuu&quot;, but also has another reading of &quot;monaka&quot;. As for why Asuka connected it to &quot;youth&quot;, it's a common idea that school life is related to youth life.

Monaka itself is actually a wafer cake filled with the bean jam. The origin of monaka is from 最中【もなか】の月【つき】 which has the meaning of &quot;the shape of full moon&quot;.