Absolute Beginners Book Club // Now Reading: Doraemon

ギャルと恐竜(きょうりゅう)・Gal & Dino

Summary

We’ve all been there—a couple drinks too many, and a hazy wander back to your home, where you wake up wondering how you got there. But in Kaede’s case, not only was she not sure how she got home … she wasn’t sure how the dinosaur got there, either! The two are soon fast friends, but though their personalities jive, they’ll have to learn how to communicate in order to live peacefully together! (Source: Kodansha US)

Availability

Physical: amazon.co.jpamazon.comCDJapanKinokuniya USA

Digital: AmazonKoboBOOK☆WALKER

Personal Opinion

I love the humor of the dinosaur learning about the world and the people around it being kind and accepting in return. Misunderstandings and hilarity ensues! This also gives a good setup to learn a bit about Japanese culture (although I guess this goes for a lot of slice-of-life manga).

I think the difficulty is right for the club. I haven’t read the whole thing, but it starts off fairly easy. Glancing ahead there are a few parts with longer sentences but nothing seems too hard for an ABBC book. The Natively level is 18.

I think it has a good chance of holding people’s interest, even for multiple volumes, but I admit the type of humor may not be for everyone.

The biggest downside is that it may be hard to find a physical copy. Amazon.co.jp has one copy left and amazon.com only has used copies. CDJapan and Kinokuniya are sold out. If anybody finds a better place to buy it, I can edit this post to add it.

Pros and Cons for the Book Club

Pros

  • Furigana
  • Page numbers!
  • Natively level 18
  • 7 volumes released (I can’t tell if it’s a completed series, sources are conflicting)
  • Anime adaptation (12 episodes) for listening practice

Cons

  • Some people may not enjoy the type of humor
  • Hard to find a physical copy

Pictures

First Three Pages of Chapter One

Additional Pages (the rest of chapter 1)

Bookwalker Preview (first 2 chapters)

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 :exploding_head:
  • I don’t know

0 voters

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