Ya I’m definitely noticing that this is a step up from レンタルおにいちゃん , especially due to density.
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Ahhh, not sure if I should join… On one hand, I’m a fan of Haikyuu, and it becoming the first Japanese manga I read would be amazing, but on the other hand…
My grammar knowledge is near to nothing… 
I might still join and just let everyone else pull me along while I spend countless hours translating each and every sentence… Might be fun? 
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Okay, the vocabulary list for this week should be more or less done (I’m sure some words are missing, but…). Finally! So dense.
At least you’ll have a full vocab list to guide you along, and a group who can help figure out grammar with you!
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Hey everyone, what’s up. Names Peter stoked to be here, loved reading 魔女の宅急便 and I’m ready to fucking spike this バレーボール of learning.
Sat down to start today and had a good morning coffee and benkyo, and just wanted to post a q.
I get that the line is about what their goals are, like it was to get to the tournament. But I’m lost on the second part and which のに it is. Is the sentence expressing that at first their goal was to just become club members? That’s my guess 
Hope everyone having a good weekend and looking forward to reading 
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「よく出場まで漕ぎつけたよなァ。。。最初は部員一人だったのに。。。」
This sentence (spoken by Kouji) is actually about Hinata’s experience, not any of the other members. In the first part, he says Hinata has finally made it as far as the tournament (not a direct translation, but kind of the idea he’s trying to get across).
The second part can actually be broken down a bit differently than what you suggested. 最初は refers to the beginning - specifically the beginning of Hinata’s volleyball club journey. 部員一人 is referring to how Hinata was the only club member. Finally, the のに is there to mark something along the lines of “despite” or “although”. Putting that together, we get something like Even though you (Hinata) were the only club member in the beginning…
The completion of this thought is actually the first part of this sentence. You finally made it as far as the tournament, even though you were the only club member in the beginning or something like that.
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Ah! I get it. Thanks so much.(btw I think the wrong さいしょ came out but worth a lol😂) .so here like 部員一人 is describing one person with be 部員 so it’s one club member.
Just talking it through, it makes sense.
Thanks!
I feel the same way! I’m also relying a lot on my many rewatches of the anime. But I’m really excited to get more comfortable with reading by the end! We got this 
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I think there are a few of us here earlier than we maybe technically should be due to our love of Haikyuu haha! I’m only about 2/3rds through N5 grammar content but while it definitely feels more like studying than reading so far it’s still been fun. I’m also going to try to use this as incentive to focus more on my grammar studies so yeah, I’d say that so long as you are prepared to take quite a long time to read the pages (though the vocab list should be a big help!) then welcome along!
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It’s like @BarelyFragile says:
When used before a sentence, it’s like a pause before speaking. It’s used in novels as well. I remember it from the Harry Potter reading we’re doing.
Yeah the kanji 一 (いち/ひと) is always horizontal in vertical text. So that’s one way to differentiate it from the vowel/pause extender.
Yeah, the definition of this definitely gets nuanced throughout the course of the series. 
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Thank you! I decided to join and see how it goes 
(Especially after the fact that I stayed up until 2am trying to create a Amazon JP account and getting the Japanese ebook 
)
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Try BookWalker. Amazon stopped letting me buy after about ten titles but Bookwalker’s been no problem using PayPal. The only downside is you have to navigate the site in Japanese to get setup but I guess it’s good practice.
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Oh no, why do you do this Amazon 
Ok, thanks for the tip-off, I’ll keep Bookwalker in mind!
(Ok, expect now for me to question practically every single bubble, pardon me in advance 
)
Does the thing I circled above basically mean something like:
“[I wonder?] How does the view look like on the other side?”
P.S.: also, does anyone know how I can mark stuff as spoiler on the phone? I’ll need it from here on out lest I spoil anyone in the future 
Yeah you pretty much got it right
そのむこうは
Translates roughly to “That place over there” - in this context he means over the “wall”.
どんな眺め
Translates to “What kind of view” or maybe more english: “How does it look like”
だろうか
Which is emphasis on the question, something like “I wonder…”
So together we get something like:
What is the view like from over there, I wonder…
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Thanks a lot for the breakdown, it was very helpful 
I just finished reading this part and I have to say that the vocabulary/kanji used is a little harder than I expected it would be. So far at least I didn’t get lost and could always get the meaning from the context (apart from the gym (spray) smell which I only understood because I watched the anime) but a lot of vocabulary I didn’t encounter before.
So I’m actually kinda glad this book club exists as I get to go slow and actually try and understand every single sentence/word that I otherwise would have definitely skipped if I were to read this alone. Mostly due to impatience as it would not be as fun trying to figure out everything by myself.
As for Haikyuu itself - it’s really good on par with the anime so far. It’s actually a nice coincidence since after many years of delaying watching this anime (because I wasn’t into sports) I finally broke and started watching it 2 months ago and absolutely loved it. Which is why I wanted to participate in this book club for sure. 
Still have to find a solution for making reading these kanji for ants easier as I sometimes spend much too long trying to figure out what even is this character than actual reading. Maybe some reading glasses/lamp will help?
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I also finished week one’s reading today. I agree that the vocabulary is somewhat harder/more plentiful than expected. I’m used to Yosubato&! and Card Captor Sakura, where I only have to look up a few words per chapter. With Haikyuu!! there are sometimes 10+ words per page I don’t know! I think this is because the manga is about such a specialized topic, and because this is my first time reading either a sports manga or shounen manga in Japanese.
I’m extremely grateful for the vocab sheet, as it makes it so much easier to decipher unknown kanji and makes reading much quicker. I read the first four pages without the vocab sheet and it took me almost two hours - most of which was spent trying to look up kanji by radicals because the furigana was completely impossible to read.
Another thing I noticed was that the first few pages were the hardest for me because they had the most new vocab. I was relieved that the second half of this week’s reading seemed much easier/less dense!
I’m really enjoying the story so far and am excited to keep reading!
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I can’t believe I just now saw the Kanji for Hinata’s first name. 翔陽 makes so much sense.
Hey cruising a long and just wanted to post a q from my reading session before I go out o shabu shabu 
I understand the individual vocabulary components of the sentence, but I guess I don’t really understand the meaning of it overall. The １年生 are saying it but I don’t understand in reference to what. What is the subject of 終わっちゃった？
Thanks 
Hope everyone staying warm, snowing all day here in Akita 
What page is this from?
I think you’re talking about pg. 12 Izumi saying「俺達人足先に大会終わっちゃったし」. Let me know if this is the wrong instance please.
Izumi and Kouji, along with Hinata, are third years, and the remaining three players are first years. Izumi and Kouji aren’t actually part of the volleyball club, they’re just Hinata’s friends and helping him out. Izumi is originally from the basketball club, and Kouji is originally from the soccer club.
When Izumi says this, he’s referring to 大会, which would be their (his and Kouji’s) tournaments for their preferred sports. 大会終わっちゃった means that the tournaments have completely ended, and 人足先 tells us that it ended before this tournament. The 俺達 (and the context that Hinata just thanked the two of them) tells us that Izumi is referring to both his and Kouji’s tournaments.
Note that Izumi is almost certainly not including the first years in this. The first years haven’t given any indication of being part of another club, and since they’re first years, wouldn’t have participated in any other tournaments.
The し is a particle used to list reasons. Based on context, he’s likely giving reasons why he and Kouji could attend.
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