好評 and 人気: good reception and popularity among a group
Compare the reception of a menu and a previous course with the popularity of toys and a character's personality. Read the targets and groups without adding sales figures or a cause for this year's course offering.
Good reception expressed by 好評
好評 (こうひょう) describes good reception. 「新しい昼食メニューは学生に好評だ。」 says that the new lunch menu is well received by students; it does not report a survey establishing an identical opinion from every student.
「前回好評だった講座を今年も開く。」 describes a course that was well received last time and is being offered again this year. 「好評だった」 concerns the previous reception; it does not establish that this reception caused the repeat offering or that this year's offering has already been completed.
The target and group of popularity with 人気
人気 (にんき) describes popularity. 「この店では木製の玩具が人気です。」 says that wooden toys are popular at this shop, without giving exact sales or saying that every customer bought one.
In 「主人公の不器用な性格が読者の間で人気を集めた。」, the protagonist's awkward personality became popular among readers. Read what attracted popularity and among whom, without expanding the statement into an identical opinion held by every reader.
Overlapping translations and the scope of the course statement
A well-received menu can also be described as popular, so 好評 and 人気 are not mutually exclusive labels for approval and choice. The menu, course, toys, and personality identify the targets, while students and readers identify relevant groups.
The course example combines its previous good reception with this year's offering. The Japanese 「開く」 and the English rendering “are offering” do not by themselves establish a completed opening or a fixed future date; the sentence also leaves the reason for offering it again unstated.
Does the course sentence say that good reception caused a repeat offering that has already been completed?
Show the answer and why
No. It gives the course's previous good reception and says it is being offered again this year. It does not establish that reception as the cause of the repeat offering or report completion of this year's offering.