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.
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.)
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…
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.
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.
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.
Is it just me, or is this link broken? It does nothing whenever I click on it. (I was able to get there instead by using the link in the OP here or in the other threads)
I read it on my computer. This looks a bit better than what I get. But if you don’t know the Kanji reading the furigana isn’t that pleasant there too. I’ll probably try other devices to see if that works better for me.
I guess because I it was my job digitalize books for a while that I am used to a better quality (especially since I paid for it) and have problems adjusting to these bad scans.
I have a couple of etiquette questions (for the individual week threads):
It seems like the normal thing to do is put multiple questions in one post, but I think I’d like to post each question separately, so the replies are more organized. Would that be okay, or is there a problem I’m not seeing?
Would anyone have a problem with me adding to the vocab and grammar spreadsheets a couple weeks in advance? Sometimes I get on a roll and start reading ahead a little.
I can perhaps see what you mean about the replies being more organised. Most people will just put all their questions in one post and people will quote the part they are replying to (like I’ve done here).
But I don’t think it’s a huge problem from an etiquette point of view to post the questions in separate posts. Only problem you might hit is that you can only post three times in a row, and then Discourse won’t let you post again until someone else has posted.
Now that we’ve reached chapter two, how’s everyone feeling so far?
First-time readers, has the first chapter been harder than you thought it would be? (This is normal, and necessary!) Has it been frustrating? (It’s okay if it is!) Or has the discussion made things smoother?
Have you gone back and re-read chapter one to see if it feels more comfortable yet? It’s expected to still feel difficult at this point, even when you know what’s going on. Don’t be discouraged. By the time we reach the end of the whole volume, you’ll have been exposed to a lot of the same grammar repeatedly.
If you re-read each chapter once or twice along the way (time permitting), or even just a few random pages each week, and if you review what everything means in English, it will slowly become easier to recognize the grammar patterns. It takes time to get to understand them. It’s no different than failing to burn a kanji the first time around. The more reviews, the more recognition.
After completing the volume, if you re-read chapter one, you may even feel like you have a super power that lets you understand the chapter better than back in early August. But it’s all right if you don’t. Keep reading new (or old) material, keep encountering grammar you’ve learned before (even if you need to look it up and learn it again), and keep learning new grammar. Do this, and a year from now you’ll be able to re-read this series like it’s nothing.
The Absolute Beginner Book Club is NOW VOTING on what book we’ll read after this one. Click here to go to the poll.
There are 8 choices and you get three votes. Have a look through the nomination posts to see a brief description of the books, and some sample pages, and then cast your votes!
The poll will stay open for a few days.
(For those who want to carry on reading the other volumes of レンタルおにいちゃん there will likely be a spin off club for continuing this series - assuming there is an interest in this)
This is my first book/manga that I read and I didn’t really learn any grammar before. Without the discussion in the forums, I probably would have given up already. For now I slowed down WK lessons and started to learn grammar.
I didn’t think to reread but that is an excellent idea and I am curious how much I will remember
It’s a little easier than I thought it would be if only because the first thing I tried to read before was a children’s book and that felt very hard.
I haven’t chimed in with questions yet, but I’ve been finding the threads so through in going through the grammar.
I appreciate the time you all put into it!
Here’s the link to the week 5 reading thread posted a day in advance as I’m going to be busy tomorrow. Keep going everyone we are making steady progress through this book!
