I had already read 7 volumes before I joined Natively.
My gradings are all over the place, but if you gave it a level just on my gradings it probably would be 27 or even higher. At this point I can’t remember when more difficult stuff starts appearing, and most of my gradings were from 2-3 years ago. So I have no idea if I’d stand by them.
@Akashelia I’m going to remove the (1) from the topic title because I keep thinking I have unread notifications.
Page 22, Koko is so starry-eyed about magic that even her present-day self doesn’t think twice about the almighty witch apparently peddling wares from the gutter out of a suitcase.
Page 35, this girl’s clearly never read the story of 鶴の恩返し
It’s not the kanji that’s common, it’s the word, which is usually written in kana.
I’m amused by the way he’s leaning on the edge of the panel. Previous panels have established that he’s standing in a fairly open area, so there’s nothing else there for him to lean on besides the panel edge.
Speaking of which, that guy had so many books one can’t help but wonder how many other kids are running around with one. Not to self: Keep this in mind for next week.
He’s admiring the craftsmanship of the material right? I can’t tell if I should take it as, he’s admiring it and comparing the craftsmanship to magic, or saying it is literally magic. So when he says 魔法だ is there a clue as to whether he means that literally, or figuratively as a compliment to the person who made it?
P20
hmm…, so what… is she freaking out about? I’m guessing he was comparing the craft of making the cloth to magic and she freaks out because she’s saying magic is more (mysterious, brilliant, valuable). Is that the gist?
I think he’s specifically talking about her skill and dexterity cutting the fabric, not the fabric itself, especially when page 18 is just showing her doing the measurements and the cuts. He mentions 集中力 which I don’t think could refer to anything else.
I think she gets flustered just because her yearning for magic is something she tries to keep secret. I can’t tell why exactly yet, but I’m sure we’ll know more soon enough…
oh ok, that makes more sense, thanks, because that was also in the back of my mind, that we didn’t really get any connection to who made the fabric. Wow, that’s quite an overblown compliment just for cutting fabric, though!
I think it is. Magic is so special to Koko that it feels like an embarrassingly over-the-top compliment to her when Ki-furi compares her own “mundane” skill with drawing and cutting sewing patterns to magic. She’ll find out she’s wrong soon enough.
I’d totally buy it, to be totally honest. Especially when there’s a free pen-wand thrown in.
I also wondered why they felt the need to furaganize 上手い a few pages later. Isn’t that an extremely common word? Maybe it’s just easy to confuse with the also extremely common 上手.