I’m reading slowly and have mixed feelings. Long long time ago I watched some anime and read some manga (in translation, it was ongoing that time) up to volumes 20s I think. I also dabbled in some fandom so I know vaguely how it’s gonna end and it makes me so sad.
Still reading is great! I started because the enthusiasm in these threads is totally contagious^^ And it’s so fun to finally recognize what does Ichiraku mean. Or hatake and kakashi. Seriously when I play shiritori half of my words are names from Naruto, haha.
Anyway I have a tiny question
AHHH I’m so glad to hear it! I keep having these moments as well, since the names and titles were only names and titles to me for so long. But now realizing how many character/place names have double meanings is such a fun experience. Something that I’ve been especially loving about reading in Japanese is realizing just how much of a little twerp Naruto actually is so much of his blatantly disrespectful or playful nature was lost to the English translation ahaha
RE: あん
The prevailing theory is that it represents 庵 or “retreat” in the noun form, like, a place you’d return to
Whaaa, I’ve reached the first mention of Sharingan. Turned out in kanji it’s 写輪眼, so you already kinda know what it is by it’s mention alone. Well, if you’re able to read kanji of course.
I love when these moments keep happening!! I feel like I’m finally being let in on an inside joke by being able to read some Japanese
anecdote related to names
Somewhat related, this reminds me of when I was reading in English years ago and the group called Akatsuki made reference to a red moon event (trying to be very vague just in case anything is a spoiler nyahaha) and I was extremely confused as to why the Japanese fan community was so surprised by it?? There were sooo many shocked tweets from Japanese fans. Knowing the bare minimum vocabulary back then, I thought it was obvious because 赤 and 月 were about the only two words I’d learned, so I had been picturing “red moon” in my head the entire time. Except I had no idea until recently that “akatsuki” 暁 itself was already another word and Japanese fans wouldn’t have had a reason to make the red moon connection Turns out it was a big double-meaning moment that just couldn’t be translated well. I felt very smart for a long time before realizing I was actually very dumb pffft
I’m about halfway through Volume 2 so far! I’ve paused adding things to the vocab list for now (though I’ve come across a few major new words I’d like to add). But feel free to continue to add/use as necessary.
I’ve finally made it to the first major Kakashi moment…!
Oh I noticed this random drawing inserted between chapters and I think it’s the layout of Kishimoto’s apartment at the time (late 1990s/early 2000s)? So interesting
I remember this drawing from my first reading long ago and how I was so shocked that the apartment is so small. Now I can see うっきー君 too
Looove these drawings and thoughts about design of characters etc. One of my favorite so far - about イチャイチャ . 内容は。。。
i always thought that the frequent flashbacks to events that had JUST happened were an anime gimmick to extend the time of an episode, so imagine my surprise when i realize it’s been a feature of the manga all along
i finished volume 2!! team 7 gets their first real mission beyond the gates and- well, the volume is entitled “the worst client” so…
volume 2 fave moments (spoilers)
this volume goes in on some badass kakashi and sasuke moments, which is so exciting because they’re both set up as super mysterious in the first volume
there are also multiple instances of sasuke speaking normally (and, dare i say, playfully??) which is… groundbreaking honestly
i watched the anime back when it was only available to watch weekly on tv, and i only started watching when it was in the middle of the second arc. so this is my first time experiencing Them
it’s such an honor to meet you, the internet seems to love you both
ウッキー君
i can’t believe i never made this connection before i saw “うっきー君” in his apartment drawing but i had no idea what that meant until i noticed it in the ch. 16 cover quite literally an hour later???
volume 3 is called “For the Sake of Dreams…!!” which sounds very whimsical, despite the quite un-whimsical and rather foreboding cliffhanger, so i look forward to reading what happens next
so much of his blatantly disrespectful or playful nature was lost to the English translation ahaha
I totally understand Iruka now xD
accidentally kissed 
and we were both boys 
i saw “うっきー君” in his apartment drawing but i had no idea what that meant until i noticed it in the ch. 16 cover quite literally an hour later???
And also - fanfics! 
