ちいさな森のオオカミちゃん 🌳 Week 7 (The Wolf of the Small Forest Book Club)

Week 7 June 23 2023
Pages 59–71
Chapter 3
Last week Week 6
Next week Week 8
Home Thread ちいさな森のオオカミちゃん ・ The Wolf of the Small Forest

(This week ends chapter 3, so the final page will be clear.)

We’re reading volume 1 of this manga as part of the Absolute Beginner Book Club.

Vocabulary Sheet

The base for this vocab sheet was prepared using a fair amount of OCR/parsing.

Some notes for using/improving it:

  • Some words might have been recognized or parsed incorrectly, e.g. they are split even though they belong together, or they are simply wrong and aren’t even in the manga. Feel free to correct/remove those if you see them!
  • Words might be missing. Feel free to add them!
  • By default, translations in grey are auto-filled with a list of possible meanings (from a Wiktionary database). If you know the specific meaning in this context, feel free to fill it in! (It’ll turn black then.)

Discussion Guidelines

  • Please blur / hide any major events in the current week’s pages (however early they occur), like so: text here (that’s: [spoiler]text here[/spoiler]).
  • When asking for help, please mention the page number, and check before posting that your question hasn’t already been asked
  • Join the conversation — it’s fun!

Not all pages have page numbers on them, so you may need to find a page with numbers to determine which page you’re on.

Participation Poll

  • I’m reading along
  • I have finished this part
  • I’m planning to catch up later
  • I’m skipping this book
  • I’m reading this book after the club has finished

0 voters

5 Likes

one question:

p67

Mio says その前のお礼. Google translate says that’s “thanks in advance”, but that doesn’t make any sense. It’s something like “They’re thanks for the thing that happened before”, right?

Also, this story is adorable and I love it. Whoever is responsible for picking it, thanks.

8 Likes
p67

FYI, we really don’t recommend google translate if you need a translator. It’s just so unoptimized for Japanese, that it’s almost never a good option. DeepL is a better option, though since this is quite short and you are taking it out of context, it still won’t give you the correct result.

Your understanding is correct “前の” here stands for “the previous thing”, so “it’s a thanks for the previous thing/time”

it was @ChristopherFritz, and yep, it’s perfect for ABBC too, doesn’t have too much vocab, it’s quite short, cute and simple

8 Likes

Really starting to feel comfortable reading this manga now, I absolutely blasted through the reading this week. Only had too look up a few new words: 修行 and 翌日

I am considering starting the next Beginner book club as well as Absolute beginners book club after this one ends to give myself a bit more of a challenge! Hopefully I am not just getting misled by how easy I am finding this though

6 Likes

For what it’s worth, this series is the easiest manga I’ve encountered to date.

The jump from ABBC to BBC is three-fold:

  1. You encounter a larger variety of vocabulary words.
  2. You encounter more difficult grammar.
  3. The number of pages goes up.

It’s never a bad idea to try a more challenging read. The worst that can happen is you can’t match the BBC pace, so you either go slower or set the volume aside until you have more reading practice and experience.

One series I can recommend if you find you’d like an in-between to get from our current ABBC read to BBC is 「レンタルおにいちゃん」. The series has a story which instantly makes it a bit more difficult, but the difficulty also seems to steadily increase across the four volumes, making it useful to grow with.

5 Likes

Honestly the most important recommendation I’d say is to find something you’re interested in.

Of course if it’s too much of a struggle you’re not gonna get very far, but honestly at the beginner level it doesn’t matter what you jump into, you’re gonna struggle, whether it’s a BBC or ABBC. The trick isn’t to choose a book based on difficulty, but to find something that’s good enough to keep you struggling.

I jumped from やが君 straight into 極主夫道 and while it was definitely hard to get used to a lack of furigana, kansai-ben, and a whole different kind of language, it was funny enough that I just kept going. Likewise I’m now reading through a manga that’s honestly a little bit beyond me, especially in terms of vocab, but I like it so it’s fine.

Conversely I tried to read よつばと! when I was just about at the right level to do so and I couldn’t get through it. The little bit of trouble I had reading it was just not worth it because the story itself isn’t that interesting to me. Same with フライングウィッチ, I can read it with minimal trouble but I just don’t stay interested.

Harder and interesting is going to be easier to get through than easier and uninteresting.

And hey, if it turns out to be a bit too hard, you’ve got something to work towards and an easy way to gauge your progress all at the same time.

5 Likes

Same! I feel like ABBC has been so helpful. I’m itching to try to read more!

3 Likes

よしっ!
This week went well for me! I hope it’s going well for you too.

I had a little trouble between pages 67–68:

Summary

pg. 67
Ookami-chan, in response to Mia-chan’s またね, says:
あっ。。。また。。。
pg. 68:
またはだめだよー!!
I’ll include the panel for the visual context. It’s Mia and her two friends leaving the forest, and Ookami-chan with a shocked face.


I guess she’s just going between “Byyeee–hey that’s no good!”
Just a little unsure about what’s being conveyed here.

4 Likes
p67-68

Ookami-chan is on autopilot here, since またね is a common “bye” sentence.
So when she hears it, she of course repeats back “Ah, ye, next time then…”
And realizing, that Mia probably shouldn’t come back to the forest, since dangers and stuff, she says
“Wait, don’t come here again”, or “No, there won’t be a next time”, or similar

9 Likes

this week’s pages done :> very cute!

3 Likes

Yeah I did think that this is so much easier than Ruri that it is a little misleading in that regard. However I think it’s definitely a good idea to challenge myself so I will likely give it a go alongside the ABBC and see how I get on!

I’ll definitely take a look into レンタルおにいちゃん, thanks for the recommendation

2 Likes

But not 竹馬? :laughing:
Funny word, probably won’t ever see it again

1 Like
Depends on what you read ;)

image

2 Likes

Hahaha I’m so happy, was definitely challenging you there but didn’t think that you could prove me wrong! Well done :smile:

1 Like

(Apologies for the double-post, but I’m never sure how closely folks are watching the home threads)

Voting is now open for the next pick!

3 Likes

Translation attempt time! I’m feeling confident this week!

p59

Tower collapsing sfx

p60

オオカミ:いたた
Okami: aye-aye-aye sfx

オオカミ:くまさん、くまさん!大丈夫!?
Okami: Bear-san, Bear-san, are you ok!?

みあ:相変わらずね。。。オオカミちゃん
Mia: As usual, Okami-chan

オオカミ:えっ!?
Okami: ehh!?

p61

オオカミ:みあちゃん!
Okami: Mia-chan!

みあ:久しぶり
Mia: Long time no see

みあ:遊びにきてあげたわ!
Mia: I came to play (lit: for, assumed meaing: with) you

p62

オオカミ:だ… だめだよ! 森からでなきゃ!
Okami: No… No good! You must leave the forest!

みあ:えぇーなんで!せっかくオオカミちゃんと遊ぼうと思ってきたのに
Mia: ehhh… why! Even though I made the effort to come to play with with Okami-chan

オオカミ:だめ!ほら早く帰る
Okami: No good! Here, go home quickly

みあ:それなら
Mia: If it’s that…

p63

みあ:これでどう!?
Mia: How’s this

オオカミ:ひゃっ
Okami: [Pouting sounds]

オオカミ:や、やめっ
Okami: st…stop

p64

みあ:暗くなる前にちゃんと帰るし
みあ:森の奥にはいかないわ
Mia: Before it becomes dark, we’ll certainly return
Mia: We won’t go to the forest’s interior

オオカミ?:じゃあ。。。
オオカミ:少しだけなら
Okami?: Yes…
Okami: If it’s just a little

みあ:やった!
Mia: [Happy sounds]

みあ:じつはね。いいものを持ってきたの
Mia: Truthfully, I brought a good thing and came here

p65

みあ:じゃん!竹馬!!
Mia: Tada! A bamboo horse

オオカミ:たけ。。。うま?
Okami: bamboo… horse?

p66

みあ:そう!
Mia: That’s it

みあ:ここに足をかけて
Mia: Put your foot here

みあ:乗って歩くの
Mia: Ride by walking

オオカミ:あああ
Okami: [impressed sfx]

p67

オオカミ: あ!もしかしてこれなら
オオカミ:ひとりでも大きくなれるかも!!
Okami!: Ah! Maybe if this one
Okami: Even alone I may (best guess: appear?) in a big way

みあ:オオカミちゃんもやってみる
Mia: Does okami-chan also want to try?

オオカミ:うん!修行修行。。。
Okami: Yes! Discipline, discipline… (I guess in a sort of “focus, focus” sense?)

p68

オオカミ:みあちゃん!だいぶできるようになったよ!
Okami: Mia-chan! I’m getting good

みあ:あたしが見込んだとおりね
Mia: I expected [it to be] that way

オオカミ:あ…ありがとう
Okami: Th-thanks

p69

オオカミ:みあちゃんたちはそろそろかえらないと!
オオカミ:はいっこれ返すね
Okami: Mia-chan’s group are returning soon
Okami: Ok, I’ll return this right

みあ:それオオカミちゃんにあげる
オオカミ:えっ!
Mia: I’m giving that to Okami-chan
Mia: ehh!

みあ:その…この前のお礼
Mia: That’s… thanks for before this (i.e. the previous time)

みあ:それじゃまたね!
Mia: That’s [it], [see you] again!

オオカミ:あっまた
Okami: Ahh… again

p70

オオカミ:またはだめだよ!
Okami: Again is no good!

オオカミ:ちゃんと帰ってくれてよかった…
Okami: Certainly it was good they returned to me…

オオカミ:竹馬かぁ
オオカミ:明日みんあにみてもらおう
Okami: Bamboo horse…?
Okami: Tomorrow, everyone can see

p71

Narrator: 翌日
オオカミ:それでね背が高くなるから
オオカミ:驚かせるのに使えると思うの!
ドライアドちゃん:すごーい!!
Narrator: the next day
Okami: With that, you can become tall
Okami: I think you can use that to scare off
Dryad: Amazing!

オオカミ:見てて
Okami: Look, look

オオカミ:よしっここできめる…!
Okami: Let’s go, here I decide

p72

オオカミ:がおー!!
Okami: Rawr!!

ドライアドちゃん:オオカミちゃんー!!
Dryad: Okami-chan!

3 Likes

Didn’t see this as one word/concept, but literally “a bamboo horse” since I’ve ran into both 竹 and 馬 in Wanikani already.

1 Like
p66

That’s actually おおおっ btw

p67

Literally “I may become big on my own”

1 Like

This is so cute! I also think this is a perfect first Manga/Beginner Manga. I’ll recommend this from now on :slight_smile:

My translations for the week:

Page 59

久しぶり
It has been a while

遊びに来てあげたわ!
I came to play with you!

Page 60

だ。。。だめだよ! 森からでなきゃ!
That’s bad! You have to get out of the forest!

ええ、なんで! せかっくオオカミちゃんと遊ばうと思って来たのに
Why? I came all the way here to play with you!

ほら 早く帰る!
Come on, go home quickly!

それなら。。。
If that’s the case…

Page 61

これでどう!?
How about this?!

Page 62

暗くなる前にちゃんと帰るし森の奥には行かないわ!
We will go home before it gets dark and won’t go deep inside the forest!

じゃあ。。。少しだけなら。。。
Then… If only for a little while…

実はね いいものを持ってきたの
The truth is, I brought something good

Page 63

竹馬!!
Stilts!!

Page 64

ここに足をかけて。。。
Put your foot on it…

乗って歩くの
Get on and walk

Page 65

あ! もしかしてこれなら。。。
Ah! Maybe, with this…

一人でも大きくなれるかも!!
I can maybe become taller on my own!

オオカミちゃんもやってみる?
Do you want to try, Ookami?

うん!修行 修行。。。
Yes! Training…

Page 66

みあちゃん! だいぶできるようになったよ!
Mia! I’ve gotten quite capable at it!

あたしが見込んだとおりね
Just as I suspected.

あ。。。ありがとう。。。
T… Thanks…

Page 67

みあちゃんたちはそろそろ帰らないと!
Since you are returning soon!

はいっ これ返すね
I’ll return this.

それオオカミちゃんにあげる
That’s for you, Ookami.

あの前にお礼
As a thank you for earlier.

それじゃ またね!
So with that, bye!

Page 68

ちゃんと帰ってくれてよかった。。。
I’m glad that you’re really returning…

明日みんなに見てもらおう!
Tomorrow I will show this to everyone!

Page 69

翌日
Next day

それでも背が高くなるから
With this you become taller

驚かせるのに使えると思うの!
I think I can use this for scaring (people)!

見てて
Look!

よしっ ここできめる。。。!
Okay, here it goes…!

2 Likes
p67

This is actually closer to “if you don’t return home soon (that would be very bad)”, so this is in fact “You need to return home soon”

Otherwise everything seems to be fine

3 Likes