Day 33: July 3rd
What did I read?: ふたりのライオン
How much did I read?: 144 pages (3 chapters - finished the manga)
How long did it take me?: 4 hr 45 min? Or 5 hours maybe? (some rando kept calling me and leaving blank messages on my phone while I was trying to read earlier this afternoon…while that was happening I paused my timer at some point and forgot to restart it, so that’s why I’m not sure -_-)
I didn’t intend to finish this today, but…somehow that happened xD I read one chapter and took a break, thinking maybe I’d finish the rest off tomorrow, but I wanted to see how things resolved so I picked it up again.
The first chapter I read today was a very text-heavy and backstory-heavy chapter so it took me a while to work through. (I feel like I always spend lots of time on these types of chapters…my need to make sure I understand increases like 50-fold Backstory is very important to me lol) But it was worth it. Now we know how all the rumors started… Onizuka so did not deserve to have such a crappy high school experience, but the fact that he still doesn’t seem to regret it because he feels like it was the right thing to do is just I think his grandpa would be so proud
…On a lighter note, Onizuka apparently gets drunk in like five seconds That was quite cute.
And I love how his response to finding out Junpei has feelings for him was basically dude, why are you freaking out, that’s fine lmao, he’s so chill about it I love him so much
And it ends with them playing with the cat again and having a first kiss, how cute is that :3 Kind of wish this had a continuation, but I don’t think it does. May check out some of this author’s other work, though. The growth of their friendship and Onizuka’s character development was just sweet and heartwarming to watch
For several months I’ve been giving myself a vacation from studying/job searching/working on weekends, and it’s been nice, but to keep up with this challenge I want to read at least a little on Sat/Sun as well. I feel like 1 section plus daily 100 catch up reviews is enough
I haven’t posted anything here for ages or updated my calendar, oops! I know I missed two days in June, so I left them empty where I think I didn’t read. Otherwise, I’ve been reading regularly still.
So, update. It’s been nearly a month since I started the challenge. I think my understanding has improved at least a little, same with speed.
I finished Takagi-san with the book club last week (thanks, all of you!) and had decided to read Volume 2 with the spin-off club, although seeing that it’s free on Bookwalker for the next five weeks, I might just speed ahead and not spend any money
As for Kiki, I’m now at 224/265 pages left to read, and 181 days left of 2021. Dang I better speed up in the later months, hopefully I’ll have improved enough by then
July 3rd
Moving house today (the first of many such days), so was absolutely shattered and didn’t think I’d be able to get much if any reading in at the end of the day.
Thanks in part to this challenge, I forced myself to sit down and once I started going I didn’t feel like stopping.
からかい上手の高木さん Chapter 4 page 13 panels 4 and 5, all of page 14, all of page 15, and half of page 16. All up I read 8 non-trivial/difficult panels which is much more than my daily target of 1 lately. The panels today were full of lots of new constructs, but somehow I pushed through, I’m really super stoked!
Read some more Yotsuba and finished volume 10 today. A good start for July. I don’t have any more volumes with me, so I’ll focus on reading Polar Bear Cafe volume 1 next.
chapter 66
Energetic Fuuka joined the party in a quest to buy a camera at the electronics shop. The faces she makes and the interactions with Jumbo and Dad are very good.
And the chapter ends on a very well done to be continued panel
Browsing the electronics store is very fun. I love how Yotsuba is opening the fridge and commenting that there’s no food there. Fuuka takes a nap, I guess that’s post exam fatigue. Which leads Yotsuba to the discovery what is probably hard rock music:
And they leave with batteries, very anti-climax… but at least the trip was fun.
chapter 68
Yotsuba bringing Fuuka’s bouncy ball with and discovers a fun use of it. Of course something goes wrong and she lies about it so obviously. Dad is so done with the lies and teaches her an important lesson that she probably won’t forget soon. He makes up for it by telling her that making mistakes is Yotsuba’s job. Then he sees the ball and they experiment some more with its bounciness, so everything’s good again.
chapter 69
Been a while since we saw Miura, so it’s nice. She completely forgot about Danbo and of course that almost ruined Yotsuba’s innocence. And we can’t have that, so Danbo has to be revived and they go to the park together to play. Very wholesome end.
Can I count the reading section of the JLPT? Today I read 2 pages in 僕はイエローでホワイトでちょっとブルー！Luckily the reading was really kind, and I only had to look up two words. : D
July 4
Last day of vacation, so decided to read some ふしぎ駄菓子屋 銭天堂 1 while I still had the time and energy. Ended up reading 27 pages, much more than I had hoped. Also read 3 pages of 青春オカルティーン.
Fingers crossed I can continue finding time and energy to read this much even when my vacation ends. I’ve been enjoying reading daily a lot but as expected it does take up a lot of time.
Reading section of the N3 JLPT
(I’m satisfied with it, btw. I’m not satisfied with listening.)
乙女ゲームの破滅フラグしかない悪役令嬢に転生してしまった…4 (44% → 50%)
Proud here, because I managed to read 1% in the queue to the exam site and I usually really struggle with reading in public places. I needed to convince myself I still know Japanese, because I was starting to doubt it during queuing.
Summary post
July 4 Taking jlpt mock exam was tiring I’m glad I decided to read a bit before that.
・Read the rest of this week’s Ningen Shikkaku.
・Finished Kono Oto Tomare vol. 3 (read half of it before going to sleep last night)
・Read the last bit of the second side story of SAO 8. (p 352 → 360) Just one side story left!
I finished the first volume of the アポカリプスの砦 manga. The protagonist’s group stole a car and they left the prison. Outside they visited the protagonist’s home but his parents and older sister already turned into zombies. Then they noticed something strange happening. Using their bodies the zombies are building a pyramid. Lol the zombies are so silly.
Day 34: July 4th
What did I read?: 不可解なぼくのすべてを Vol. 3
How much did I read?: 52 pages (2 chapters - finished the volume)
How long did it take me?: 50 min
Wow, ngl, reading this felt easy breezy compared to ふたりのライオン Yay for Kotone coming out! I’m glad Mogumo finally had that conversation with her. And angel Mogumo was stunning Will be interested to see what happens in the next volume with Mogumo’s sister…they really did not look thrilled to see her
Read 1 manga chapter today - went a lot faster than the last few - about 30 minutes. Started on the next one, but got a message from a friend and opted for a virtual hangout instead - it looked very text heavy when I opened it, so expecting it to take a bit longer tomorrow.
More moving house today. After today there is only 1 panel and I’ve finished this chapter, but I’m way too exhausted, I’ve already spent longer than I’d like to admit procrastinating and putting off this reading.
It’s been a very rainy and dreary day, and with it has come a strong lack of motivation. I just managed to read the last chapter (and omake) of the 3rd volume of ハイキュー！！ Glad that’s done, though this chapter was slightly more effort than the previous few. Everyone in the reading group agreed to go at a 2-chapters (ish) per week pace, so it’ll be interesting to see how that holds up over the next few months. Well, one more volume of ハイキュー！！ down, 42 more to go!
June 4 Update
Today I attempted another few (4.5) pages of 君の名は. Probably took about an hour or an hour and a half to get through, and looking up words is becoming less and less troublesome (mostly because I’m getting used to it, not because I necessarily know more words on kanji). Though, I do feel like I at least partially recognize way more kanji now than I did at the beginning of June, even though I haven’t made nearly as much progress through WK in that time.
For once I’d like to read a body-switch story where it doesn’t focus on a woman’s breasts in great detail but perhaps I’m asking for too much.
I should probably look at the pace that was used by the intermediate book club for this book and try to keep up with/surpass that. I think if I can manage that, I should be able to join in the next intermediate book club’s pick.
Backstory is very important to me lol) But it was worth it. Now we know how all the rumors started… Onizuka so did not deserve to have such a crappy high school experience, but the fact that he still doesn’t seem to regret it because he feels like it was the right thing to do is just 
I think his grandpa would be so proud 
That was quite cute.
Day 34
I’ve been enjoying reading daily a lot but as expected it does take up a lot of time. 
Day 8
I’m glad I decided to read a bit before that.
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Yay for