Not sure exactly what you mean there, sorry if my answer is not relevant if I misunderstood. But I would say it’s not completely a closed system: if you have epub files it can read them fine. And it’s technically possible to convert the Kobo files to epub files too.
mainly i’m asking if it runs android or i can hack it open to run android etc, run my own browsers, install apps etc
Correct.
There are some very limited unintended things you can do with it (such as installing KOReader, a third-party reader app), but it’s very much closed.
This either wasn’t available on mine, or I didn’t learn about it when looking into how to do custom sleep mode images. (Probably the latter.) I only learned about the functionality after my device was basically no longer usable, so I never was able to try it out.
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October 17th, I’ve reached 99.9% of my goal for the year.
What does this look like?
I’m in the middle of 22 volumes. The percentage of progress for these volumes totals 999. Divide by 100% per volume, and that’s 9.99 volumes’ worth.
Considering I plan to finish all the volumes I’m in the middle of before January 1st, I’m on track to complete a minimum of 112 volumes.
Once I surpass 100% of my goal tomorrow, maybe I’ll celebrate by catching up on a couple of the more difficult manga book clubs this weekend…
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Love this 
and congrats, that’s amazing progress for such a goal!
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It’s amazing to see you crushing your goals this year
And those composite pictures of all of the book titles are really, REALLY nice to look at!!
WOW
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2024: Another Year in Review
Goals Revisited
I’ve written about how it’s better to have systems than goals.
In some cases, it’s harmful to have goals.
But when placing loose goals (read certain books in 2024) on top of a solid system (read every day in 2024) and not caring if those goals are met thanks to an underlying system, it’s fun to set goals for the year and review them afterward.
How did my individual volume goals pan out?
| Series | Goal | Results |
|---|---|---|
| ARIA The MASTERPIECE | 1 | Completed. |
| Colori Colore Creare | 3? | Didn’t start yet. |
| からかい上手の高木さん | N/A | Completed. |
| からかい上手の（元）高木さん | 6+? | Completed 9 volumes and ongoing. |
| くノ一ツバキの胸の内 | 1 | Completed. |
| この美術部には問題がある！ | N/A | No offshoot. May read more eventually. |
| ご注文はうさぎですか？ CB | 1? | Waiting to see if it wins or drops from book club nomination. |
| それでも歩は寄せてくる | 2? | Completed. |
| ないしょのプリンセス | 2? | Completed. |
| ひとりぼっちの○○生活 | 1? | Completed 1 volume. |
| ひよ恋 | 6 | Completed. |
| ふらいんぐうぃっち | 1 | Completed and ongoing. |
| まじっく快斗 | ? | Did not continue yet. |
| アオのハコ | N/A | Completed and ongoing. |
| シャドーハウス | N/A | Completed and ongoing. |
| ストロボ・エッジ | 5 | Completed. |
| ハチミツにはつこい | 8 | Only completed 4 volumes, and ongoing. |
| ハナヤマタ | 6? | Only completed 1 volume, and ongoing. |
| ホリミヤ | N/A | Completed and ongoing. |
| 可愛いだけじゃない式守さん | 2 | Completed 2 volumes. |
| 名探偵コナン | 6? | Completed…2 volumes. And ongoing. |
| 天野こずえ短編集 | 3 | Didn’t start yet. |
| 好きな子がめがねを忘れた | 1 | Managed not to get to this one yet. |
| 日々蝶々 | 7 | Completed. |
| 桜蘭高校ホスト部 | ?? | Completed 1 volume. |
| 浪漫倶楽部 | 6 | Didn’t start yet. |
| 舞妓さんちのまかないさん | N/A | Completed and ongoing. |
| 藤原くんはだいたい正しい | 6 | Completed. |
| 紅の豚 | 1 | Completed. |
Overall, I’d say I did well. I don’t mind not getting to anything I didn’t get to, although I’ll always wish I had read more Conan.
As for how many volumes I read in total…
Manga Volumes Completed by Year
- 2018: 1 volume
- 2019: 30 volumes (+ 3 children’s picture books)
- 2020: 47 volumes (+6 children’s picture books)
- 2021: 64 volumes
- 2022: 92 volumes
- 2023: 95 volumes
- 2024: 120 volumes
By October, I was aiming to finish the year at 125 volumes.
However, life got in the way.
I took in my brother’s cat when my brother joined the military almost four years ago. After some health issues this year, she passed away in November (at 16.5 years old).
As one may imagine, my daily routine (Japanese and otherwise) took a hit and hasn’t fully recovered yet. I have mostly kept up my daily reading but had a significant slowdown in the past couple of months.
Regardless, 120 is a lot of volumes to read through in a year.
This kind of growth in numbers from year to year is unsustainable.
Eventually, I’ll hit a ceiling.
As such, my plan for 2025 is to read fewer volumes.
I want to get back into SRS for vocabulary.
And, if at all possible for me, I want to figure out learning kanji.
The End of SRS
For quite some time now, I’ve found it difficult to get back into SRS, even though SRS (poor as I am at it) seems to be the best way for me to get (some) things to stick.
One of the challenges is that my potential SRS review time was replaced with reading.
I used to have a 1 to 1.5-hour commute to work, during which I would do reviews.
Then, I worked from home for a few years and made great strides in my reading ability.
Since I transitioned back to working in the office, I have a half-hour commute and mostly spend it reading. It’s short enough that if I tried doing SRS reviews, they would consume my reading time.
Returning to SRS
I have access to Anki.
I have a lifetime subscription to Kitsun (which I bought to support the project).
I have a lifetime subscription to Migaku (which I use for non-SRS purposes).
So naturally, as a programmer, I’ve started developing an SRS solution that ties directly into my manga frequency lists.
I can add a word from a frequency list:
Then review.
Here’s a sample back of a card:
It’s as basic as it can be, and I’ll probably keep it this way. The purpose is to pre-learn words in manga volumes I’ll be reading.
If I want something more detailed for long-term learning, I can incorporate Migaku Memory into my daily routine.
The current plan is to do SRS during my morning commute, read during my breaks at work, and then either SRS or read on my commute back home, depending on whether I have any cards pending review.
As for Kanji…
A major challenging part for me always ends up being kanji.
WaniKani had a nice flow of learning kanji, building from simpler to more complex.
However, it didn’t work for me long-term because the kanji cannot be tailored to the ones I’ll encounter. And daily leech reviews for hundreds of kanji that never come up in anything I read didn’t work out well for me.
Migaku’s “Kanji God” add-on for Anki lets me learn kanji from the material I’m reading. It also brings in the components (radicals) of the kanji for me to learn first. However, it lacks the cohesive flow that WaniKani has.
I’ve lost count of how many different methods and styles I’ve tried for learning kanji, but I hope to give it yet another go in 2025.
I don’t yet know what that will look like.
But I expect it will involve setting aside time daily to work on kanji learning.
I’ll see how that works out.
Volumes Completed in 2024
In all, I read 120 volumes across 41 different series.
| Series | Volumes |
|---|---|
| からかい上手の（元）高木さん | 9 |
| アオのハコ | 7 |
| 日々蝶々 | 7 |
| ひよ恋 | 6 |
| ブラザー・トラップ | 6 |
| 藤原くんはだいたい正しい | 6 |
| からかい上手の高木さん | 5 |
| ストロボ・エッジ | 5 |
| スパイスとカスタード | 5 |
| たいようのいえ | 5 |
| ホリミヤ | 5 |
| シャドーハウス | 4 |
| とんがり帽子のアトリエ | 4 |
| ハチミツにはつこい | 4 |
| 舞妓さんちのまかないさん | 4 |
| ハニーレモンソーダ | 3 |
| 老女的少女ひなたちゃん | 3 |
| 葬送のフリーレン | 3 |
| 魔法騎士レイアース | 3 |
| ないしょのプリンセス | 2 |
| 可愛いだけじゃない式守さん | 2 |
| 名探偵コナン | 2 |
| 鋼の錬金術師 | 2 |
| ARIA The MASTERPIECE | 1 |
| カードキャプターさくら | 1 |
| からかい上手（？）の西片さん | 1 |
| くノ一ツバキの胸の内 | 1 |
| しろくまカフェ bis | 1 |
| それでも歩は寄せてくる | 1 |
| ハナヤマタ | 1 |
| ひとりぼっちの○○生活 | 1 |
| ふらいんぐうぃっち | 1 |
| ぼっち・ざ・ろっく！ | 1 |
| ルリドラゴン | 1 |
| 俺物語!! | 1 |
| 思い、思われ、ふり、ふられ | 1 |
| 文春ジブリ文庫 シネマコミック | 1 |
| 東京卍リベンジャーズ | 1 |
| 桜蘭高校ホスト部 | 1 |
| 玉藻の恋 | 1 |
| 虹色デイズ | 1 |
Honestly, even 41 volumes would sound like a lot to me.
I’m not planning on outdoing this number in 2025, but I look forward to reaching 125 in a year later on down the line!
New Series for 2025?
I have maybe 10 to 15 series I’m reading that I’ll continue in 2025.
I’ll still be reading new volumes of some of those by the end of the new year. Others, I’ll run out of volumes along the way.
Looking at my stats on Manga Kotoba, there are almost 70 series where I know 80% or more of the vocabulary, with the highest being 87%.
Those with furigana will be perfect candidates for reading on my commutes and at work.
Of the 11 lacking furigana, those could be good for reading at home as further practice for reading without furigana. I do well with Hanayamata (83% known vocabulary) and Hitori Bocchi (81% known vocabulary), so the two no-furigana series on my list at 86% vocabulary are top potential picks.
Reading Goals for 2025
Why not? Since there’s no pressure to meet these goals, and because I’ll read lots regardless, I’ll give this another go. But without volume count goals this time around, as I want to reduce my reading overall to focus more on (hopefully) learning more kanji.
| Series | Comments |
|---|---|
| ハナヤマタ | I like this series, but it doesn’t draw me in to keep reading. I expect to complete at least one volume, but maybe not spread it throughout the entire year like I did the prior volume. |
| 思い、思われ、ふり、ふられ | I read the first volume some months ago and didn’t make it to the next volume yet. Just too many things to read. But it’s from the same mangaka as アオハライド and ストロボ・エッジ, so I expect that once I get another volume in, I’ll give the series a lot more attention. |
| ハチミツにはつこい | This one had my attention for quite a bit, but it feels like it’s been going a bit long for the characters and events. I expect to finish up the last three volumes in 2025. |
| ブラザー・トラップ | I made a decent amount of progress on this one, but the series has always felt like there’s “something” missing. That made it easier to set it aside for a bit, but I’ll likely get through the last four volumes in the new year. |
| たいようのいえ | I’m looking forward to continuing this one. Had to take a break from it to ensure I finished up everything I was in the middle of for year-end, and I’m ready to pick up the next volume. |
| からかい上手の（元）高木さん | Just a few more volumes left! This will continue to be my “I want something super-easy to read for a few minutes” go-to. |
| ひとりぼっちの○○生活 | If there’s an offshoot book club, I’ll read along with that. Otherwise, I’ll probably end up with a one-volume-per-year goal for this series. |
| 好きな子がめがねを忘れた | How I went a whole year without getting to this final volume I’ll never know. So, 2025? |
| 一週間フレンズ。 | I want to skim through volume 1 as a reminder from when I read it with the BBC, then contiune from volume 2. |
| カードキャプターさくら | Will continue with the book club at pace. |
| ホリミヤ | Will continue with the book club. |
| 東京卍リベンジャーズ | My nephew’s reading this one in English. I think he’s around volume 6. I read the first volume, so I have a few more to catch up. |
| アオのハコ | I haven’t mathed it out, but maybe the book club will catch up with publication this year? |
| よつばと！ | Will continue with the book club. |
| 魔法騎士レイアース２ | I couldn’t keep up wth the Natively pace for the first series, but it was fun to challenge myself to try and keep pace. I don’t know if I’ll get around to the second series in 2025, but I’m including it on the list. |
| とんがり帽子のアトリエ | The book club will probably catch up with the latest release before I catch up with the club, and I’m okay with that. |
| 老女的少女ひなたちゃん | I don’t know if I’ll catch up with the club, but I’ll likely continue reading. |
| 舞妓さんちのまかないさん | Will continue with the club. I’m curious what direction the series takes that gets it through at least 20 more volumes. |
| ご注文はうさぎですか？ | Waiting to see if it gets picked up in the book club or not. |
| ふらいんぐうぃっち | Will continue with the book club. |
| シャドーハウス | Will continue with the book club. |
| しろくまカフェ bis | Maybe will catch up to the book club and continue with? |
| 名探偵コナン | I hope to read more volumes than in 2024, but we’ll see. |
| 葬送のフリーレン | Will continue and see if I catch up with the book club before they reach the latest publication release. |
Okay, so that’s over 20 series I’ll likely be continuing into 2025…
What do I have on my “want to read” list that 2025 would be the perfect time to consider?
| Series | Comments |
|---|---|
| 君に届け | I started reading the manga in English maybe in 2018 or so. And started watching the anime in Japanese with English subtitles. The plan was to read the source material, watch the adaptation, read more source material, and so on. Then I got to reading manga in Japanese, and haven’t gotten back to this one. I’d love to start it over in Japanese sometime. |
| キラキラとギラギラ | Saw this one recommended and it look like it could be a fun read. At 74% known vocabulary, it’s at the lowest end of “comfortable reading” for me. |
| Something by ヒナチなお | I enjoyed 藤原くんはだいたい正しい. There’s a more recent series by the mangaka that I’d like to check out, but I may pick up an older series from the same to read first. When reading more from a mangaka, I liike to start with their older series and go chronologically. |
There’s more on my “want to read” list, but I don’t expect to get to the other items in 2025.
And anything I pick up from the “manga I know 80% of more vocabulary” list will be kind of a vibe thing, just picking something if it happens to look like it’d be fun to start reading.
Oh, and all the new book club picks I’m sure to start reading will also be there. Am I really going to be able to cut back my reading?
Edit: I forgot, I also need to pick my next Studio Ghibli cinemanga to read.
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This is insightful, thanks for outlining your thoughts! Your systems thinking helped me a lot last year and it was a nice reminder to see this today as I’m writing my year end post
This is where I started 2024 and then adding your systems thinking and just going through cycles of
try something → assess → tweak → try again
was game changing. I’m looking forward to seeing where you land on this.
I love reading about you balancing 20 different series, then it puts my fretting over 3-4 in perspective. I do hope to see you in Shirokuma and Frieren!
Me wondering this halfway through your update 
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I’m sorry for your loss!
Congratulations on the great progress though. I think it’s fantastic that you’re able to combine programming and Japanese in such helpful ways.
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That’s what I want 2025 to be for me with kanji.
The plan so far:
- Spend a minimum amount of time on kanji daily.
- Unfailing daily activity is the key.
- I may utilize multiple resources at a time, switching between them.
- I may naturally gravitate toward some resources and away from others.
- Resources are to be followed from the beginning without skipping material.
- It’s easy to lose motivation when all the material is easy kanji I’ve known since the late 1990’s. However, later material often builds upon earlier material, and skipping past the easy material can render later material ineffective.
- Per resource, I must utilize the resource for a minimum number or pages or kanji.
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