I think I’ll throw two entries in and keep a few in reserve so as not to steal all the slots. First up is the relatively easy one which I think is only a bit harder than 小さな森:
桜井さんは気づいてほしい 1 / Sakurai-san wants to be noticed!
Summary
(Anilist) Makoto is a laidback teen who just wants to keep his head down and get through high school. His busty best friend Sakurai, however, is constantly pulling him into one shenanigan after another! Not only that, but she’s always teasing him in provocative ways. Sure, Makoto’s noticed that his friend has gotten super flirty, but that doesn’t mean she “likes” him, right? Right?
Availability
Personal Opinion
This is maybe one of the easiest books I’ve read, especially if you’ve tried anything in the rom-com space. There’s just enough slang and shortening to keep new learners on their toes, but with low amounts of text and a fairly limited vocabulary and standard set of scenarios to follow, I think it would be a perfect confidence-booster for Absolute Beginners who are eg struggling with ホリミヤ.
Pros and Cons for the Book Club
Pros
- Furigana.
- I think it’s among the easiest manga I’ve ever read that doesn’t have irritating baby talk throughout - it’s currently sitting at Natively 15 … though I’m the only person who has rated it.
- Limited vocab and grammar structures used, but still well within the ‘realistic’ range of what average high schoolers might say without seeming ‘dumbed down’ like in a graded reader.
- Basic high school scenarios you will see often in other anime - think of this as a basis for other shoujo or shoujo-likes.
- Art is decently cute imho and so is the main couple.
- Looks like it has read-alongs so people can hear how it sounds.
Cons
- It might be too easy for some of the more experienced members of our club. I tore through the first volume in like half an hour, and it’s currently occupying my ‘relaxing read’ slot in my reading rotation (though I still have to make the occasional lookup, of course).
- Occasional egregious fanservice (panty shot) though this mostly is lost in the cuteness and so on.
- Scenarios become fairly repetitive pretty quickly.
- People may be bored with the ‘genki manic pixie girl gently teases a guy she’s interested in but who is completely dense’ genre.
Pictures
First three chapter preview on ComicWalker
First Three Pages of Chapter One
(These aren’t the first three pages, but the first few pages are textless, so… sorry they’re a bit small)
Additional Pages
Since this is a pretty unknown manga generally, there aren’t that many preview pages out there. 残念
Difficulty Poll
How much effort would you need to read this book?
- No effort at all
- Minimal effort
- Moderate effort
- Substantial effort
- So much effort my head might explode
- I don’t know
- I am an experienced reader, so this is not much effort for me