(📚📚 Read every day challenge - Spring 2022 🌸 🌱 - #12 by DIO-Berry)
6/15
65-104
I didn’t make it through the whole arc. I need to more strictly follow my rule of no messaging past midnight. I went to bed before 2am, but I really need to be asleep before 1am… Funnily enough I did start reading at 11 something but I got distracted
Oh man, I missed that preorder. This style of ova seems to be becoming more popular. Due to the way it was released, I would be surprised if it wasn’t meant to be a stand alone
I discovered 上北健 (relatively) recently (it was a few months ago, but I’ve barely listened to any new music since then, so it kinda still counts?), and I finally got around to listening to some more of his music today while reading (and working on two new fics; pry the only reason I didn’t play any DQ until this afternoon). I love his voice so much. I think my favorite of his songs so far is still Share Hearts/心分け. idk it just makes me feel things.
Anyway:
Today I read ch 21 of クールドジ男子!
I’m dying, Hayate calls Shun to apologize for running late (they’re meeting at Mawarimichi to help him do his summer homework) because he lost his cell and was looking for it, but couldn’t find it. “Eh? Then how are you calling me now?” / “…I’ll be right there.” (Cue Souma trying not to die of laughter.)
Right, they did mention summer homework last chapter, too. So it’s August already. Shun’s birthday (7/7) is in this chapter as a flashback. And I am back to not really knowing when anything is set. I wonder if this whole volume is set in August, then.
終わった!!
数学だけね。
He’s such a dork lol I love him.
It seems the next chapter will be a 夏祭り!
I played about 5 to 6 hrs of DQXI today—I got distracted at a few points while the game was still going, so it’s hard to judge just how long it was lol. I made it to the ruins of Yugunoa Castle and obtained the Seven-Colored Branch as well as the Red and Yellow Orbs and got Rab/Rou and Jade/Martina to join the party, and then made it to Saltico. The next step is to sail The Sylvia through the channel and out into the outer ocean, but I decided to stick around in the city for a bit longer and try the casino. That’s where you get the bunny suit, which I need for a quest. I had zero luck, though; I think I’m just gonna buy the coins needed for the prizes rather than try to win them, since that’s clearly gonna go absolutely nowhere. Guess I’ll be pinching and forging a bunch of weapons to get the gold—it’s 20 GP per coin, and some of those prizes cost several thousand coins. Ugh, I dread when that one floor of the tournament hall in Grotta gets turned into a casino; that took me absolutely forever to complete that last time.
緑閃光 (りょくせんこう) [noun] green flash (optical phenomenon occurring shortly after sunset or before sunrise)
おまじない [noun] good luck charm
末っ子 (すえっこ) [noun] youngest child
甲冑 (かっちゅう) [noun] armor and helmet
あたたかい [い-adjective] considerate; kind; genial
笑止千万 (しょうしせんばん) [四字熟語, noun, な-adjective] highly ridiculous; quite absurd
二言 (にごん) [noun] going back on what one has said
ピカイチ [noun] something or someone that stands out above the rest
一望 (いちぼう) [noun, する verb] one sweep (of the eye); sweeping view; unbroken view
言いっこなし [expression] let’s not say (such things) to each other
Aw thank you! I had not noticed that and will definitely want to watch 
June 15 
Home Post
I played some more バディミッションBOND! It’s been a good time; the characters a lot of fun, plenty of like over the top shounen nonsense vibes 
ルーク is just so aggressively good and wonderful, I want good things for him only but hmm… bad feeling about that lmao. And アーロン… he’s so much 
He’s so pointy! I know the like “anime boy with red hair and sharp teeth” is a thing (for some reason??) but this man takes it to the extreme, and he’s just so aggro, it’s a good time.
He’s so sweet :') this is a serious criminal investigation, the perfect time for plot-relevant meowing lmao
This is a good game You can only kinda see here but he’s so pointy!! Even like his coat lmao, his whole design is absolutely wild but it’s fun 
This is a serious investigation, the code to open the door to the electronics company’s storage unit definitely isn’t a dumb oven pun, no way
So yeah that’s been fun; I also read some 風つよ which was nice as always. They’re actually about to run in an actual meet so yay for them! 走 is having a complicated time 
He ran into his old teammate which… yeah, not a great time. But he has friends now!! ハイジ supports his spite, just like not in a fighty way lmao. Pretty good all around!
The June Tanuki Den: Date 20220616 
No Longer Tanuki Progress: 24.89%
I wanted to keep reading so I could get to 25%, but my brain has become tired and no longer wants to cooperate.
Japanese found in the tall grass
形貌「けいぼう」ー Appearance; shape; figure
持参「じさん」ー Brining; taking; carrying
原色版「げんしょくばん」ー Tri-colour printing
口絵「くちえ」ー Frontispiece; illustration in the first few pages of a book
自画像「じがぞう」ー Self-portrait
印象派「いんしょうは」ー Impressionism/impressionists
鑑賞「かんしょう」ー Appreciation of art/music/writing etc.
裸婦「らふ」ー Nude/naked woman - 裸婦画「らふが」for nude painting
暴風雨「ぼうふうう」ー Storm; rainstorm
お手本「おてほん」ー Example; role model
一揃い「ひとそろい」ー A suit/set [of something]
Artist’s Japanese Name Guessing Game
ゴッホ ＝ Vincent van Gogh
ゴーギャン ＝ Paul Gauguin
セザンヌ ＝ Paul Cézanne
ルナアル ＝ Jules Renard
モジリアニ ＝ Amedeo Modigliani
June 16th!
I read chapter 72 of Yotsuba today. It was a fun chapter about blowing bubbles. There was some really nice art for some of the panels.
June 16th
・SAO Progressive 1 (38% → 40%)
Smol read, but started part two of the book. Was focusing on getting reviews done and before I knew it the day was done. This is why we don’t let reviews accumulate 
Even if it was because I was focusing on reading instead
June 16
I wish I’d had more time to read today, but I’ve spent over an hour, so…
I read 2 pages of Zenitendou. 
What a come down after finishing 1 chapter of manga a day. The reason isn’t the difficulty though, or not because it is difficult for me. Instead it is more or less +1, so I’m taking the opportunity to fine-tune my understanding of the grammar.
I think I spent about 20 mins trying to figure out if adding も at the end of より changes the meaning in some way. And after floundering around (I wasn’t sure if the whole phrase というよりも was the thing to search for or only parts of it), I learned that も doesn’t seem to add anything, instead it is an optional part of より. So whether it is there or not seems to be stylistic choice. 
The second factor for why I am slow is that I haven’t read narrative sentences for a month, so need to get used to that again.
Honestly, I didn’t expect Zenitendou to be this easy for me to read. So that is a happy realization. Though, I do hope I’ll be able to pick up speed, even with some grammar deep dives to fine tune my understanding.
Also, starting a book club takes a lot of time. And tomorrow I have to spend a ton of time on yard work since it will rain all weekend. 
So rain will make tomorrow suck, but I look forward to cozying up with a book when it is raining. 
I think よりも is just more emphatic than より, a lot of cases where も isn’t really doing anything specific it just emphasizes stuff. Kotobank agrees:
［連語］《格助詞「より」＋係助詞「も」》「より」を強めた言い方。
Thanks! In context, I think that makes sense too.
I might be posting about the sentence(s) with よりも in the Zenitendou book club, I will see after I finish what the first week covered. Basically, I will see how I feel tomorrow since I need to read 2 more pages to cover the first week’s reading. xD
Reading atleast one chapter of this book everyday. The stories are short so it doesn’t take more than 5-10 minutes.
I love the cover!
You know how you can tell the author of a book by how it is written? Well, I’ve also found that you can tell the publisher of a book by how it is formatted. I started 実は私は １ today and realised that the formatting was different from what I was used to. So I looked up the publisher and realised that it wasn’t Shueisha or Kodansha but Akita Shoten. That’s a publisher that I’ve never heard of but on their Wikipedia page, some of their popular series were ones that I’ve heard of often. I just was never interested in reading them.
Anyway, the point that I was trying to make was that the fonts are almost as crazy as in a shoujo manga and there is handwritten Japanese everywhere (which I just ignored like in となりの怪物くん) . It was too hard for me to try to make it out even though I was reading in my web browser with the manga zoomed to 100% but the picture quality was not clear so the words were blurry. That’s what made me realise that there was a difference in format from previous manga that I’ve read.
I’ve been reading more 生命のスペア. Nothing too interesting to report on but I did come across a grammar term in the text.
現在進行形 is not a vocab I thought I’d see in a VN but guess it fits 
june 16 home post
Today I read chapters 6 and 7 of 夜カフェ, and just a few minutes ago I got to about the halfway point of 神々のトライフォース!
It wasn’t as hot today as I expected, at least not this morning, so work wasn’t as awful as it could have been. And I heard the first cicadas today! It’s cicada season!! They’re, like, the one good thing about summer.
I played like 9 hrs of DQ today. I’d wanted to read some books today, but it wasn’t happening. I left Saltico without getting the coins to get the bunny suit (and then got distracted and forgot to go back and get it lol); explored some of the islands before going to Nagimuna and completing that, getting the Green Orb from the mermaid queen; and then made my way to the Girls’ Mini Medal Academy. I’m pretty sure in one of Ittetsu’s journals, he says he went to the Academy and was turned away at the gate because it’s girls only, but I could be misremembering. But I wasn’t really expecting to be made a guest/honorary student so easily; I’d thought maybe we’d have to disguise as girls. But also I got it partially mixed up with DQIX, where you’re actually there to investigate mysterious goings-on at the school and have to pretend to be a new student. You just go there to enquire about the Orb, and the principal sees you and is like, “I can see in your eyes that you’d make a wonderful medal collector! Hm, but this is a girls’ school, what should I do… Ah, yes! I’ll use my authority to make you an honorary student!” and then you learn about the birds of paradise living in the nearby valley who steal shiny things and likely have the Silver Orb.
みなぎる [ラ五, intransitive] to rise high (of water); to overflow; to swell (e.g. a river full of water). to be filled with (emotion, energy, etc.); to be bursting with; to be brimming with; to pervade
敵に回す (てきにまわす) [expression, サ五] to make an enemy of
お安いご用 (おやすいごよう) [expression, noun] easy task; no problem
不意をつく (ふいをつく) [expression, カ五] to take by surprise
紙芝居 (かみしばい) [noun] picture story show
突拍子もない (とっぴょうしもない) [expression, い-adjective] astounding; tremendous; crazy; exorbitant
好奇心 (こうきしん) [noun] curiosity; inquisitiveness
探求心 (たんきゅうしん) [noun] spirit of inquiry/enquiry
手口 (てぐち) [noun] modus operandi; criminal technique; trick
Jun 17, Fri calendar post
I am a little busy this week, and has worries (of assignments for a monthly course I am attending). So, yet to read Night Cafe.
For much time of next week, I won’t have access to my PC (with a graphic card), so much less gaming. ATRI can still be considered (as it is synced to all machines).
For the language / grammar, I have 18 vocabularies / 54 context sentences left in Level 2. I guess it is now best to focus on not only context sentences, but also Pattern of Use. I haven’t read any more grammar.
For listening, I will progress in Listening Every Day topic, but in short – Some materials are relative hard, but still can be listened. Some are just right, but I may still miss something; also still need some focus… I did watch quick some anime, but definitely on hard side.
I am listening to a anime song I have problem noticing the lyrics right now…
I want to listen to DIO’s songs later too, if they are any good. (I think I saw a listing on its concert a while ago.)
June 16 Home Post
Alright if I wasn’t in on バディミッションBOND before, I definitely am now; interesting plot things are happening 
and the characters are an absolute delight, ルーク and アーロン have maybe one braincell between them ルーク is like “hmm アーロン sure shares a lot of characteristics with 怪盗ビースト, that’s a wild coincidence” like sweetheart… it’s literally so obvious It’s okay he got there. Language-wise it’s still pretty good, I’m starting to get a feel for the writing I think. There’s definitely more gratuitous use of specific set phrases and slang than I’ve seen in other stuff I’ve read, which is a bit of a challenge but also fun! So many specific metaphors
Okay you have to see how pointy this man is:
Like?? He even ripped his clothes to shreds so you can see his abs, rip
They’re fun!! Don’t mind the life or death situations, it’s about the goofs obviously
He’s warmed up to us :') And clearly I’ve latched on the loud aggro man, who could’ve guessed! I would never lmao
But yeah it’s a lot of fun, it’s very much like “oh you wanna say a bunch of nonsense and read side stories about all these characters hanging out? got you” but also there’s interesting overarching mystery plot stuff So entirely up my alley basically. I’m glad I came across it!
The June Tanuki Den: Date 20220617
No Longer Tanuki Progress: 28.17%
今日は暑いぃぃぃ
Japanese found in the tall grass
ぎょっと ー Being startled (onomatopoeic word)
陰惨「いんさん」ー Sadness and gloom
胸底「きょうてい」ー Bottom of one’s heart
陰鬱「いんうつ」ー Gloomy; melancholy; depressing; dreary
官吏「かんり」ー Government official; public/civil servant
寮生活「りょうせいかす」ー Dormitory life
粗暴「そぼう」ー Rough; wild (in a behaviour sense)
辟易「へきえき」ー To be fed up with; to be tired of; to be bored with
肺浸潤「はいしんじゅん」ー Infiltration of the lungs
診断書「しんだんしょ」ー Medical certificate
歪める「ゆがめる」ー To bend; to warp; to distort; to disfigure
性欲「せいよく」ー Sexual desire; lust
滞在「たいざい」ー Sojourn
別荘番「べっそうばん」ー Caretaker of a villa
登校「とうこう」ー Going to school; school attendance
本郷「ほんごう」ー One’s hometown
デッサン ー Rough sketch (from the French: dessin)
聴講生「ちょうこうせい」ー Auditor
白々「しらじら」ー Growing light (like at dawn); pale
画塾「がじゅく」ー Private painting school
淫売婦「いんばいふ」ー Prostitute (out-dated kanji form)
アトリエ ー Studio; Workshop (French: atelier)
へどもど ー Flustered; stuttering
美男子「びだんし」ー Handsome young man
浅黒い「あさぐらい」ー Dark or tanned skin
ポマード ー Pomade (hair wax)
含羞む「はにかむ」ー To be shy/bashful
敬意「けいい」ー Respect; honour
与太者「よたもの」ー Hooligan
Kanji Form
煙草「たばこ」ー Tobacco; cigarette
Other Forms
馴れる ＝ 慣れる「なれる」(to get used to)
Extremely Confusing Word
ビイル
I was like, what on earth is a biiru? Then it suddenly dawned on me… it’s just ビール.
