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Discussion Guidelines
Spoiler Courtesy
Please follow these rules to avoid inadvertent ネタバレ. If you’re unsure whether something should have a spoiler tag, err on the side of using one.
Any potential spoiler for the current week’s reading need only be covered by a spoiler tag. Predictions and conjecture made by somebody who has not read ahead still falls into this category.
Any potential spoilers for external sources need to be covered by a spoiler tag and include a label (outside of the spoiler tag) of what might be spoiled. These include but are not limited to: other book club picks, other books, games, movies, anime, etc. I recommend also tagging the severity of the spoiler (for example, I may still look at minor spoilers for something that I don’t intend to read soon).
Any information from later in the book than the current week’s reading (including trigger warnings that haven’t yet manifested) needs to be hidden by spoiler tags and labeled as coming from later sections.
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Click the cog above the text box and use either the “Hide Details” or “Blur Spoiler” options. The text which says “This text will be hidden” should be replaced with what you are wishing to write. In the case of “Hide Details”, the section in the brackets that is labelled “Summary” can be replaced with whatever you like also (i.e, [details=”Chapter 1, Pg. 1”]).
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This is an example of the “Hide Details” option.
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This is an example of the “Blur Spoiler” option.
Posting Advice
Obs! Do note that the physical version seems to come with zero page numbers (yes, zero, I saw none while flipping through a good portion of the first volume). So alternative means of identifying page might be needed.
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I’m reading along
I have finished this part
I’m still reading the book but I haven’t reached this part yet
Wanting to help out but being sent to eat cake instead lol
Also what a long author’s note. I thought it would be important but it mostly sounds like a psuedo apology for the title?? Please correct me if I’m wrong lol
Also feeling really hit by the somewhat dated face shape aesthetics.
I love Mori’s assist at the end of this section lol. Following the assignment to the letter but not the spirit lol
I guess it’s a mix of psuedo apology + explanation to why she chose the title?. I didn’t read it 100%… I feel like I can understand most of what is written, but at the same time that I have to use a lot of brainpower to decode the handwritten text, and I just feel so exhausted after a few sentences!
I’ve finally reached the point where I can understand most twitter comics I see with handwritten Japanese but geez, I feel you, this mangaka’s is a pain.
I also finished this weeks section. I must say it went way better than last week. But it is still the most difficult manga I have ever read
I think it really helped that we slowed down and I didn not feel so rushed. (I know we still only have saturday and the whole week in front of us…but I never know when or if I’ll have time for a somewhat longer read )
And I did not have the patience to read the author’s note (yet?)
Unfortunately german netflix does not have the anime. So I will keep learning everything about the Ouran high school host club through the manga now
It’s been a while since I read through several volumes of this series in English, so I don’t recall what the author’s notes tend to be like. Maybe this one will give an idea of what to expect from the notes, which may help decide whether to try deciphering future notes.
Finished this weeks section, It really did feel a bit easier than last week. Maybe because there were less explanatory sections? (I skipped the author’s note, though)
I also found this week a bit easier, I believe in week 1 we also still had a bit of the introduction to the host club / getting into the more specialised vocabulary, which is why perhaps this week felt less hard (+ we had less pages as well, which helps)
So, the first section felt really difficult but do-able, but this section I haven’t gotten past the first three pages yet … I don’t know if I’m just getting fatigued or what, but I can only barely get the gist of what the twins are saying, and the handwritten bits are getting overwhelming. Maybe I’m just at a lower reading level than everyone else in the club?
I really wanted to keep up with this club cause I loved the anime and really want to continue the story, but … Hmm, I’m not sure what to do.
I would recommend skipping over the handwritten bits at the least. For the fatigue, of course you could take a break, but it seems like people often quit when they take a break. What about setting a minimum goal of 1 page a day for a week and then evaluating your feelings on it again?
I’ve read 4 pages into this part and it took me probably an hour and I had to really work at getting it. (Meaning I probably don’t have full comprehension, but most of the way there.)
So this is proving a lot harder than I thought it would for sure.
As for the handwritten bits, at least I don’t have problems figuring out what is written, but I do have to work at understanding it.
Contrast the boy and girl in that example with Tamaki and Haruhi in the panel before Hikaru uses the expression.
Knowing this expression, does Hikaru’s line become more clear? (That is if you were uncertain of it before.)
Kaoru replies that the situation with two guys, Tamaki and Haruhi here, is completely uncalculated.
It’s understandable if this line doesn’t make much sense at this point in the comic. The next page clarifies it. But since you’re familiar with the anime, this won’t be a spoiler: They think Haruhi is a boy, so Tamaki’s offer of a thank-you kiss to another boy is the twins’ territory. Everything the club members do is calculated to please their guests, so the twins see Tamaki lacking their refined “two guys” technique.
At least, that’s how I take it. If anyone has a different take, please do tell!
This brings us to the page with the twins in the first three panels. I can try breaking these down if you’d be interested. (The gist of it is talking about how the “two guys” technique works when there’s a close relationship, but being twins is best for it. Then they finish by saying Haruhi’s looks exclude “him” from being able to play the part.)
@DIO-Berry Thanks for these ideas! I think skipping the handwritten bits could be particularly helpful, and I can always reread it later when my kanji recognition is better and I’ve gotten more used to the writing style. Also aiming for just one page a day to keep a little momentum sounds good as well!
@MissDagger Sorry you’re struggling as well, but it is nice to know that I’m not alone. We can do it!
@ChristopherFritz Thanks for the breakdown! I sort of guessed at the meaning of “not being a picture” but was having trouble with what 計算 was doing there.
@ChristopherFritz Thanks for the cheat sheet for the author’s note. Comparing that with the manga shows they do take a bit more time with the manga to make it more legible. Perhaps not a lot, but enough that I can always figure out the handwriting in the manga, but that note… I couldn’t read it better than skimming because I couldn’t be bothered to keep each full sentence in my head while I deciphered kanji.
Finally read the rest of this assignment today (did the first four pages a whiiiiiiiiile ago. Mori-senpai is good senpai, and thanks to the vocabulary sheet I could read what Kyouya said without needing to look anything up myself. Thanks to everyone who is filling it out!
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