Informal Nisio Isin Bookclub 👩‍💻👩‍🎨👩‍🎓🧙‍♀️👩‍🍳 (Reading クビキリサイクル)

Japanese Language Reading
#19

Oh man I know how tough moving can be on Japanese learning! It took me months to claw my way back on top of my reading and SRS after I moved in March.

This week’s reading was kind of tough. I’m hoping I start getting more used to it soon! The biggest issues is that it’s just a vocabulary gauntlet. I think I’ve come across sentences where I don’t know a single word. I’ve managed to hang on so far though!

I had some notes with thoughts that I had throughout the reading but alas I don’t have them on me when I sit down to actually post. I like the characters so far- I’m a bit of a computer nerd so I actually found the dated conversation about operating systems and computer hardware enjoyable. I like Kunagisa as well (although I thought I was misreading something when ahe called herself “僕様ちゃん“. Is she serious or is she just teasing our protag?)

There was also a short story referenced in the conversation with 深夜 which was pretty cool. Again I don’t have my notes but I think it was called something like “There are Dead Bodies under the Cherry Trees”. If I weren’t so busy with this I would have tried reading it in Japanese! But in English it’s a quick read. Very surreal.

#20

Next two weeks are combined for a total of 43 pages, which should provide for a bit more flexibility. I’ll try not to procrastinate!

  • I Just Moved so I’m a Bit Behind
  • I’m Reading Along

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#21

One reason this book will take me so long is that it keeps sending me on little tangents. Last week was the Motojiro Kajii detour, and this week I’ve decided I need to learn how to play Shogi!

#22

Hope things have settled down a bit! This week’s nice and short. I’ve definitely gotten more comfortable with "である” grammar over the course of the book so far. I’ll admit I’ve cheated a bit by glancing at the English translation now and then to confirm my comprehension–this is a lot harder than Murata! It’s definitely getting smoother as I go, though.

  • I’m Catching Up
  • I’m Reading Along

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#23

More interesting things I’ve learned about from this week’s reading: the origins of photography and of perspective in art, as well as the artist Gustave Courbet.

I love that we’ve gotten such in depth introductions to each character. I’m not looking forward to any of them getting murdered, or being a murderer! (although some already seem a bit insane)

#24

@softlyraining I hope all is well! We’re definitely missing you in the bookclubs but I totally understand that life gets in the way.

Anyway, on to week 6. It’s really flying by.

  • I’m Catching Up
  • I’m Reading Along

0 voters

#25

I’m sorry for not responding! I finally have internet again. Things were kind of dicey with the move, but they’re finally starting to settle down. I’m impressed with how well you’ve been keeping up on the reading! I’m…very far behind. :sweat: BUT, I’m going to try and get myself going again. It might be hard for me to catch up completely, so I hope you don’t mind if my responses are all on past sections you’ve already read through.

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#26

Psyched to have you back! While you’ve dealt with moving I’ve actually happened upon quite a bit of free time–I injured my wrist and can’t fly for a month :cry:. I figure it’s a good time to do some extra reading and maybe a bit of a sprint through some WK levels.

I’m looking forward to hearing your impressions! I’ve gotten kind of lazy with my responses over the past few weeks since I thought I was alone here. But I’ll definitely step it up again and include proper spoiler tags!

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#27

A bit late to post this week, but I’m hanging on with the reading! Not much time to write much but I will say (very minor spoilers) things have started to get exciting. We get a bit of mystery surrounding the island’s newcomer and start to see some potential motives. The dialogue is dense but pretty much everything I hoped it would be from Nisio Isin.

  • I’m Catching Up
  • I’m Reading Along

0 voters

1 Like
#28

Some random thoughts as I read:

This is the first I learned of the concept of Panta Rhei

I googled パーンテナ島 and every hit I got were Japanese speakers reading Kubikiri Cycle who had no idea what this line meant. I ultimately checked the translation and it was “Neverland”, which totally makes sense in context and makes sense with “パーン”, but I’m not sure why it didn’t show up in a Google search. Kudos to Greg Moore.

This chapter ended on a cliff-hanger! We finally get to learn why Kunagisa is really here, and can’t wait to find out what 事件 she’s referring to.

Here goes week 8.

  • I’m Catching Up
  • I’m Reading Along

0 voters

#29

Well it’s finally happened–one of the titular 首切り. The scene seemed more gruesome than I would have expected, partly because we’ve seen so much of かなみ, and partly because of how slowly I read in Japanese. It was kind of similar to the end of 殺人出産 in how vivid it felt. かなみ was probably my favorite character so far next to 玖渚.

I was thinking about crossing out the かなみ Emoji in the title, but I figured that would constitute a major spoiler. :sweat_smile:

I’m pretty sure グルーバーノルベルト and 「川」are made up. At least I couldn’t find what they were a reference to. It’s hard enough to get all the actual references in this book! Does Nisio Isin really need to make some up as well?

Anyway, on to week 9! Longest so far–we’ll see how it goes.

  • I’m Catching Up
  • I’m Reading Along

0 voters

#30

First of all I have to say, all of these characters are insane! They’re not going to bother calling the cops just so Iria can watch her crush solve a mystery?!

Things have really taken off this week, I actually finished the week’s reading several days ago because I couldn’t put it down, and the moment I finish typing this I’m going to get started on next week’s reading. So now that the mystery is underway, it’s time to start making guesses and accusations. Without a doubt Iria is the most suspicious person here. She brought all these people together and she’s the most likely to know secrets about the house and the island. She clearly has a motive–she seems to enjoy watching everything unfold as if it were her own personal detective drama. As for her alibi, she has 4 maids who seem extremely loyal and could be capable of acting on her behalf or corroborating false alibis. And of course freaking out about calling the police is a huge red flag. I’m honestly shocked that nobody has pointed a finger at Iria yet. The only problem is that right now this explanation seems a little bit too obvious.

On to weeks 10 and 11!

  • I’m Catching Up
  • I’m Reading Along

0 voters

#31

A bit late this week. I’m pretty happy that I mostly managed to keep pace even with 66 pages in two weeks.

  • I’m Catching Up
  • I’m Reading Along

0 voters

#32

Past the halfway mark!

  • I’m Catching Up
  • I’m Reading Along

0 voters

#33
  • I’m Catching Up
  • I’m Reading Along

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#34

Weeks 15-16

Some long weeks ahead, but I feel like this kicks off the home stretch. My next few weeks will be busy so I’m mildly concerned about my ability to keep up, but with WK reviews starting to taper hopefully it’s do-able. And there are two e citing bookclubs starting in early November, so that’s motivation to finish on time. I’m also dying to find out who the killer is, which is probably my biggest motivation to keep the pace!

  • I’m Catching Up
  • I’m Reading Along

0 voters

#35

In the home stretch! Mostly pretty heavy reading weeks from here on out.

About this last section: Yaoi’s theory is pretty similar to what I’ve been thinking the whole time! Ilia has been shady as hell, and seems to have some weird fascination with geniuses. She also has (presumably) 4 people who will support her in carrying out any crime she wants to commit. It seems like such a no-brainer that she’s stealing heads if not to eat then at least for some weird science project or collection. But given the last few pages I assume that this actually isn’t the case, although I’m glad somebody finally brought up the obvious.

In some ways reading over such a long time period has been great. I really feel like I’ve known these characters for a while. On the other hand, it makes it difficult to remember clues to try to piece together the mystery for myself. Maybe I should take notes next time.

  • I’m Catching Up
  • I’m Reading Along

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#36

Oh man what an intense section!! Big spoilers, click with extreme caution:

I’ve never wanted my reading speed to faster so much as I did during the fight scene. It was cruelly suspenseful waiting to find out who the killer was. And seeing Kunagisa looking down the muzzle of a gun after managing to make it up the stairs was painful. Had she been shot I’m sure I would have cried.

Sonoyama being the murderer feels right to me. I certainly can’t say I called it and I still have no idea how it happened. The long reading time made it tough to keep the clues straight but I’m sure I’ll be losing sleep trying to put the pieces together in my head before it gets explained. I’m glad it wasn’t Ilia stealing heads for some bizarre science experiment. And I’m glad it wasn’t Hikari given how much 僕 and Kunagisa were willing to trust her. I’m curious to see how Shinya fits into all of this. Was the scheme to kill Kanami purely out of personal dislike? Although it seems she was also lying in wait for Yayoi. So many questions, I can’t wait to keep reading.

#37

Sprinting towards the finish here!

  • I’m Catching Up
  • I’m Reading Along

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#38

I’ve been keeping up with the reading but it looks like I’ve completely forgotten to make posts these last few weeks! At this point they’re really just marking my progress anyway.

  • I’m Catching Up
  • I’m Reading Along

0 voters