Alright, I’m all done for the day, at long last!
I’m cheating just a little bit by stretching it to 1AM of the 22nd, but considering I joined at a bit past 1AM on the 21st, that’s still just 24 hours, so I’m counting it as a single day.
My primary goal was to finish reading 「怪盗レッド ー 2代目怪盗、デビューする☆の巻」 and I accomplished that (albeit just barely, with a mere 10 minutes to spare), so I’m well satisfied with my effort. I also wanted to read some of my manga, but that’ll have to wait for another time.
I kept meticulous track of when and how much I read, so here are the stats, for those curious.
| Time of Day | Pages Read | Time Spent Reading |
|---|---|---|
| 04:05-05:05 | 15 | 60m |
| 14:35-15:00 | 8 | 25m |
| 15:50-16:00 | 3 | 10m |
| 16:30-17:10 | 11 | 40m |
| 18:00-18:30 | 8 | 30m |
| 19:00-19:35 | 6 | 35m |
| 21:30-22:00 | 8 | 30m |
| 22:40-23:10 | 7 | 30m |
| 23:30-00:00 | 8 | 30m |
| 00:10-00:50 | 10 | 40m |
| Results | 84 | 330m (5:30) |
This was a really fun experience!
I’ve never read this much Japanese in a single day before, and it’s been many, many years since I read this much in any language in one day. I feel pretty mentally drained, though, but that’s to be expected after forcing myself to focus so much for so long.
As for the book… Eh, it’s alright. I’m very glad that I’d already read the introductory sections and gotten all of the set-up out of the way before starting this challenge, so I got to enjoy the pay-off to all of that today.
The story is told from the perspective of the female protagonist, Asuka, who is told that she, along with her cousin, Kei, are going to inherit their fathers’ shared title as Red, a Robin Hood-esque thief that steals from the wicked. The first half of the book is dedicated to introducing the various characters, like Asuka, Kei, their fathers, and Asuka’s friend Misaki, and it gets to be pretty dry at times, frankly. Once you’re past that, however, you get to their first heist, where all the action of the book happens, which is pretty fun to read through. I really liked how Kei’s personality completely changes when he’s in “work mode”, where he starts speaking far more energetically and uses different pronouns, which really messes with Asuka for a while.
Overall, not bad, especially for a book aimed at children, but I only really cared for about half of the book. Hopefully the next volumes get to the action more quickly.
Best of luck to those of you still reading or about to begin!