Please read the guidelines on the first page before adding any words.
Discussion Guidelines
Spoiler Courtesy
Please follow these rules to avoid inadvertent ネタバレ. If you’re unsure whether something should have a spoiler tag, err on the side of using one.
Any potential spoiler for the current week’s reading need only be covered by a spoiler tag. Predictions and conjecture made by somebody who has not read ahead still falls into this category.
Any potential spoilers for external sources need to be covered by a spoiler tag and include a label (outside of the spoiler tag) of what might be spoiled. These include but are not limited to: other book club picks, other books, games, movies, anime, etc. I recommend also tagging the severity of the spoiler (for example, I may still look at minor spoilers for something that I don’t intend to read soon).
Any information from later in the book than the current week’s reading (including trigger warnings that haven’t yet manifested) needs to be hidden by spoiler tags and labeled as coming from later sections.
Instructions for Spoiler Tags
Click the cog above the text box and use either the “Hide Details” or “Blur Spoiler” options. The text which says “This text will be hidden” should be replaced with what you are wishing to write. In the case of “Hide Details”, the section in the brackets that is labelled “Summary” can be replaced with whatever you like also (i.e, [details=”Chapter 1, Pg. 1”]).
Hide Details results in the dropdown box like below:
Example
This is an example of the “Hide Details” option.
The “Blur Spoiler” option will simply blur the text it surrounds.
This is an example of the “Blur Spoiler” option.
Posting Advice
When asking for help, please mention the page number, and check before posting that your question hasn’t already been asked. As the threads get longer, it becomes more convenient to use the Search function, which is located in the upper right corner of the forum. It is the magnifying glass which is near your profile picture! The best way to search is usually to type part of the sentence you are confused about, and select “in this topic”. This will show you all posts within the current thread which has that string of text.
Be sure to join the conversation! It’s fun, and it’s what keeps these book clubs lively! There’s no such thing as a stupid question! We are all learning here, and if the question has crossed your mind, there’s a very good chance it has crossed somebody else’s also! Asking and answering questions is a great learning opportunity for everyone involved, so never hesitate to do so!
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I am really excited about this. I’m only level 8, and I’ve barely done 6 months of Japanese, so this will be a huge challenge for me. It was hard enough just buying the ebook on the Japanese web site!
I’m sure it will be challenging, but it you make use of the crowdsourced vocab sheet, ask plenty of questions and use the Netflix series to fill in the gaps, I’m sure you will get very far
Everyone’s level is shown in the little numbered badge on their profile picture (although some people hide it and some people might have reset to an earlier level at some point).
read-aloud sessions are now being set up!! refer to the above post for time scheduling, and join the discord at Japanese Book Club if you haven’t already, would love to have you
The Beginner Book Club is currently holding a vote on what to read next. If you are interested in reading the next book as well head over there to vote
Note: Before this Komi-san club started I hadn’t read any of the manga, and only watched the first episode of the anime.
For fun, I re-watched the first episode of the anime after reading the relevant chapters, and then preceded to watch one or two episodes more (also chapters I’d read), and while the anime is done well, I think the story works better in manga format. I wonder if that is because of how faithful the anime is to the manga, or just the story in general works better as a manga. Or just my preference in this case.
I just thought that was a kinda fun observation. I might still keep watching each anime episodes as I’ve finished the manga chapter(s) it covers, but so far I feel like the manga reading experience is superior. ^^
I was able to catch the first few episodes of the anime adaptation of それでも歩は寄せてくる and came to the same conclusion. Except there, I felt they left out the best material and mashed the remainder together. (It can’t be easy adapting eight-page chapters into 24-minute episodes.)
scheduling polls!
read-aloud sessions are now being set up!! refer to the above post for time scheduling, and join the discord at