レンタルおにいちゃん Volume 1 (Absolute Beginner Book Club) - Finished!

And I’d like to add to that if I may.

This is the bookclub I wish we had when I started studying Japanese 3 years ago. I started with Yotsuba and, since then, I’ve kept going with Yotsuba (the bookclub is now on volume 14, still active, and we do weekly live readings too), but this manga here is so much better for learners, like me, just starting out.

The first few days of the club will be pandemonium! There will be loads of posts and keeping up will be a challenge. Don’t worry, it will soon settle down as the club finds its own pace and style. Remember too, that you have a whole week to cover the material and follow the thread.

One thing that makes life easier for everyone is to always, always, always put the page number at the top of your post. I try to make a point of doing that even if I’m replying to someone. Try to make it habit to put the page number at the top of your post.

Page 3

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Then things become easier to find. And if you are looking for an answer to a problem, the best way to search the thread is using the page number. Click on the search button top right, click on “search this topic”, and write “page…” for best results!

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Here we go! Week one thread is up here.

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I’m sorry if this has been asked before, but what
grammar base is necessary for レンタルおにいちゃん? I only started learning it a couple weeks ago and had a long start phase where I didn’t use the right resources/misused the ones I had, so I’m basically still at the very beginning. I’m now using Bunpro and two Grammar books (like DoBJP) alongside it, and this seems to do the trick. Bunpro grammar is divided in the JLPT levels, so my question would be: Does レンタルおにいちゃん require N5 + N4 Grammar to be mostly understood or does N5 Grammar alone suffice?

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Considering how much grammar one knows (likewise vocabulary), it comes down to how much you can tolerate encountering things you don’t know and having to look them up.

In general, for very easy manga, mid-way N4 seems to be the point where it begins to be comfortable, where you don’t feel like you’re looking up every other sentence. This is because you’ll know most of the most common grammar patterns.

For someone with little to no grammar background; for someone who doesn’t mind asking questions, absorbing a lot of new information, and just barely following along by translations provided by others; for someone who goes in with the expectation that they’ll encounter the same unknown grammar multiple times before they even begin to grasp it; for someone willing to take notes and dedicate time every day to looking up extra grammar explanations from various sources; for someone in this position, they can still make it. It takes more time and dedication, but you’ll going to have to put time and dedication to learning grammar anyway.

Even if you reach the end of the volume having just learned one bit of grammar each week (and possibly a couple of vocabulary words), it’ll be a positive gain.

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Just came across this today. I’ve wanted to start reading a book for some time now. I actually was able to understand the gist of the sample for this book and felt really encouraged by that. Super excited for this!

Kinda bummed that I couldn’t get it on Kindle being in the US even though it’s offered for Amazon JP kindle :confused:

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If you are enjoying this book you might want to get involved in picking the next book for the Absolute Beginner Book Club. Clicking here will take you to an explanation of how we go about this, in the Absolute Beginner Book Club Home Thread.

I picked up the ebook today and, ah, ended up finishing it? It made me cry in the first chapter so I really had no choice, and I bought the next volume already…

Oops.

Will read through the actual thread when I’ve more time tomorrow or something.

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So many people are nominating themselves to help answer questions in the weekly threads =D

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Thanks to everyone who joined in to make the first week’s reading so successful. Week 2 thread is now up here.

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Just chiming in to say I read the example chapter and was intrigued by the story and by the easy grammar/vocab, understanding about 80% without looking it up and immediately hooked on it.
I ordered all 4 volumes straight away. Now I have no idea how long until they’ll arrive and I suppose I’ll join late due to them taking a while until they arrive, but I plan to join asap! :smiley:
Thanks for suggesting this manga!

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Hello! I’m new in this particular club.

The premise is more interesting than the “rent-a-girlfriend” preconception I had.

Is this manga worth it to catch up to when the Yotsuba club (join us) inevitably hits critical mass?

How hard is it compared to other manga? (I don’t wanna read all the thread, it’s p long.)

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I’m glad you added “in this particular club”!!!

I agree. I was always going to read it just on @ChristopherFritz’s recommendation, and it turns out it is indeed a very interesting read (at least from the little I’ve read of it so far).

Not sure what you mean by critical mass here, but is this one worth catching up with? Yes! And there’s not much catching up to do - just 22 pages of very light reading so far. It’l take you - Kazzeon - ten minutes.

Compared to other manga - easy-peasy! Everyone says to start with Yotsuba (which I did, with you guys, and I am very happy about that), but actually this is the ideal beginners manga, hands down.

Join us!

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:eyes: :stopwatch:

We’ll see.

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If you scroll to the bottom of the series page on Pixiv, you can read chapters one, two, and four online for free. They don’t have chapter three, but the original release of chapter three without furigana is also freely available from the artist’s Pixiv page. Hopefully your copies will arrive in the mail before we reach chapter three (October).

I give Kazzeon two minutes to get caught up. Or four minutes if ample time is taken to appreciate the artwork. (This is not a recommendation to speed through.)

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Oh, I own the first three volumes of Yotsuba (still reading the first one), and while it is easier than most other manga, it is definitely still hard for a beginner. I felt reading the first chapter of rental oniichan was a LOT easier for me. I thought it was just me maybe, but now that you mentioned it too… :smiley:
Also the story kind of intrigues me more, honestly.

Oh, and: I really dislike reading on a screen. So I want to join when I have the physical books here. I like to take physical notes during reading. I have a faint hope of them arriving soon, at least the shipping is only supposed to take a week.

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It was great to see so many people still reading along in week 2! Week 3 thread is now up and ready for discussion.

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Where did you buy the ebook? I bought mine on book walker since it is the first time I had to buy a japanese book and it seemed to be the easiest option. But the scans are so horrible that I can’t read Kanji or furigana at at all. And zooming in just makes everything even more blurred.

Hmm. I’ve got mine on BookWalker and I can read it ok. Maybe there’s a weird setting or something?

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Mine is from BookWalker, too and ok (for 3.50 €). Do you read on tablet or on phone?
Here is a zoomed extract from p. 23, the furigana is a little blurred but the kanji and kana are clear.

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