I don’t think I’d be able to hang with this club at my level, but for those who are curious about this title and would like to know more about the setting and themes, Kenny Lauderdale did a review of the OVAs: The Most Relaxing Anime Ever Made. Good luck with the club and I will post here if YKK goes back onto the Bookwalker free list (as it does from time to time.)
わぉ neat to see this getting a bookclub. I’ve already read half of the series so I won’t be joining but if anyone’s on the fence, it’s really really good. The setting is really compelling and it takes its time cluing you into what’s going on. If you’re familiar with mushishi, it’s a very similar vibe.
I have heard the title “mushishi” but that’s about it. I thought it was about some kind of insect-based magic/fantasy stuff, based on the title, which feels very different in terms of content? Meanwhile, both ARIA and ヨコハマ買い出し紀行 are in an unknown future with a lot of water around…
@seanblue The mushishi comparison mostly comes from the fact that the quiet moments between plot beats are given equal importance. Personally the slow pace and atmosphere of mushishi were two of the things I liked most about it. Hopefully whatever it was that you found boring is absent here
@Naphthalene in this context mushi are basically kami, so it’s not really about bugs. Basically it’s just random vignettes in the life of a wandering doctor who is able to diagnose and treat supernatural maladies. The two series are nothing alike except for the similarities in tone and pacing that I mentioned above. I’d recommend giving it a shot; the anime is quite excellent imo but it’s based on a novel series if that’s more your speed.
I noticed when you search ヨコハマ買い出し紀行 on ebook sites, a collection of 蟲師 stories by other authors comes up because 芦奈野ひとし contributed to it, so it seems like there’s some basis to the comparison at least
Nice! I’ve been meaning to start reading more. This seems to be about my speed.
I managed to buy my first ebook on bookwalker (this one) and I’ve successfully read the first few pages in their reader-app in chrome as well as in their ios app. I think I’m ready, anyway.
Any tips for looking up the occasionally fuzzy character? I’m a little nervous without my yomichan crutch…
Two issues:
The scan wasn’t terribly clear. The character 岬 was pretty fuzzy on page 12, especially in the browser app.
I eventually managed to guess successfully that it was やまへん, so I was able to look up the character by handwriting it in a dictionary app on my phone. Is that the best way, or are there any other tips for dictionary lookups?
Thanks in advance! I’m looking forward to week one.
Honestly, personally I prefer looking up by radical in all circumstances where I can’t guess the reading, just because if I try handwriting and can’t find it it feels like it’s my fault, whereas at least if I can’t find it with radical search I can blame it on the tool more…
With the right tool and practice it’s not too slow either.
For 岬 for example, using the phone dictionary I like (Takoboto), I can search “yama” and hit “add to radical search” on 山 to start narrowing down, then add 口 as well and now and 岬 is the second one down. Which got me there in a couple seconds since I’ve done that kind of thing a lot at this point.
Incidentally, I thought this was an interesting opportunity to compare print and scan since I have both since the digital was free at one point (and I bought the originals before I knew digital was such an easy thing…). It’s not that different it turns out! You can really tell they just scanned it and color-corrected it.
I use both Yomiwa and Japanese dictionaries on ios. Both have pretty good lookup tools when I don’t screw it up. The “Outlier” etymology stuff available in Yomiwa is amazing.
This is my first attempt at a book club. I need chatter to keep me motivated. Am I the only one catching up on Halloween night?
My thoughts so far:
I’ve only just started trying to add reading practice to my daily reviews. I used to do all my (English!) reading on flights, but who travels any more? I know I like doing reviews with my coffee in the morning, but I’m not up to reading afterward. I think reading this manga twice a week (maybe weekend mornings?) may work for me. When do folks like to fit in their reading?
大阪弁‼️ Yay.
I definitely need two passes as I read this. Once quickly with rough understanding (like my conversations!) then going back through and looking up the correct readings and correcting mistakes. Is this how others proceed?
A new first: I was disappointed to read 「おちつく」 in hiragana because I actually saw the kanji in my head! Thank you WK.
Robot? …
I used to live in 葉山❗️
page 35: I’m struggling to look up what I presume is an instrument: 「オーナーの◯味です」. never mind, I guessed it (趣味 or hobby is a word I use conversationally all the time) but any hints on how to look up that character in a dictionary?
