📚📚 Read every day challenge - Summer 2022 🏖 ☀

:books: :video_game: :shallow_pan_of_food: :sunny: July 2

Played バリアブルバリケード for about an hour. Managed to get through one section.

:books: :video_game: :shallow_pan_of_food: :sunny: July 3

More バリアブルバリケード. I played several hours which is rare but with low concentration since there was a lot of noise around me. I might read some more before bed.
I think I’m almost cured so hopefully tomorrow I’ll have the energy to go back to reading books.

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Home post :bookmark: July 3rd :sunny:

・詩的私的ジャック - JACK THE POETICAL PRIVATE (40% → 44%)

Today felt like a good day, so I tried reading ebook with smaller font than usual - kinda felt like I reached the end of the chapter faster :eyes: Probably because there were fewer pages to flip through and no particularly tough passages. So I finished chapter 5.

・SAO Progressive 1 (56% → 64%)

I was going to read just a bit, but there was still some time left when I reached a good breakpoint, so in turn I decided to read some more, and after a while I saw that the end of the next chapter was not too far away, so I ended up reading more than according to keikaku. Not bad :3

Asuna said something I found hilarious to Kirito

「あなた、色々知ってて便利ね。一家に一台欲しい感じ」

“You know, you’re kinda handy - one of those things one would want to have around the house kinda feeling” lmao

Seems like the expression 一家に一台 can be used about people too? I’m a bit confused. Maybe it’ll make more sense tomorrow.

As a side note, my teacher told me years ago when I started learning Japanese that 便利 shouldn’t be used about people, so that was kinda funny too.

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I don’t know about you, but some chapters just fly by for me and others seem to never end :sob: Hang in there!

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I’m still reading at a snail’s pace just four pages of 5分で読める恐怖のラストの物語 regardless I should be done with it in one or two months. Then I read some more Kanzen Master Reading N2.

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Hey, glad you like it :hugs: Looking forward to seeing your calendar and its colors develop!

It didn’t feel extremely horrible, but I’ve long given up on prognosing my results. We‘ll know in the end of August.

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Summary Post

July 3rd
What did I read?: Flying Witch Vol 11
How much did I read?: 27 pages
How long did it take me?: 23 min

Yesterday was a listening day, so no reading got done. But today I actually managed to do both things :o So I had to add a new symbol to my calendar lol. I’m giving myself a gold star :star2: Because I’m a grade schooler, apparently but I feel like we knew this already tbh xD

Today I decided to knock out this week’s Flying Witch reading. This volume is starting off on a good note with the return of my favorite character :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:
Here he is:


Squishy bunny :heart: With mildly terrifying powers but that’s fine

Good luck! :palm_up_hand::sparkles: That’s me throwing good luck dust over you

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Home post

I set out all enthusiastic, launching in this new (surely) final route of Summer Pockets. I’m going to do it! It’ll be like a little epilogue wrapping things up, right? I’ll just read as much as I can and finish it!

Ok, so I see no signs of it ending any time too soon. The good news is I read 16,000 characters today. Perhaps a new highest ever? And that was in, I believe, 3 hours, including a few tiny breaks I made myself take because I’ve been getting a lot of eye strain lately. Good progress on the reading endurance and speed side both for me; I’m like a whole different person from when I started reading this VN.

Everything about Pocket is pretty spoilery, but if you're down for that, this image is cute

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july 3 :sunflower: home post

Reading a little bit of everything today.

  • Read a page of 夜カフェ (ignore my natively activity for that one, i’d forgotten to update last time i read so it looks like i read a lot more today than i actually did)
  • Read a chapter and a half of 極主夫道
  • And then I read Satori Reader for the first time in a while! I only read one section of Koibito, but it was very informative since not only did the story use one of my WK leeches, but it had an entire note about the usage of that word!
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Home

I did not get very much sleep last night. Someone in the neighborhood was blaring their music well past midnight, plus there were still scattered fireworks even that late. And it was the 2nd! It’s not even the 4th yet! Oh, god, it’s gonna be more of the same tonight, isn’t it.

I read the preview of 青春サプリ。自分がここにいる理由, a club activities short story collection that Kabei Yukako recced on twitter, as the second story is about the Fukui HS boys’ VBC relief server (I think? I can’t find the tweet again to check…). 青春サプリ。seems to be a series of true short story collections written for elementary/middle schoolers, though so far most of the characters are high schoolers. So it’s easier than what I usually read, but not overly so, and there’s a lot of furigana without everything having it. It also has definitions for some of the jargon (like 仮入部 and ビブス), which is cool, especially if any of the other stories use ones that I don’t know already. I also read the preview of a couple others in the series, 好きだから負けたくない and 乗り越えられない試練なんてない. I don’t know if I’ll end up getting every book in the series, but it is certainly a series I’m interested in!

I read about 2 pages of 明日をくれた君に, leaving off on page 54. I’m now more than a fifth of the way through the novel!

Some vocab of note:

兼任 (けんにん) [noun, する verb (他)] serving concurrently as; holding the additional post of
早鐘を打つ (はやがねをうつ) [expression, タ五] to beat fast (of a heart); to hammer. Literally “to strike the alarm bell.”
指折り (ゆびおり) [noun] leading; prominent; eminent; foremost; distinguished
怒号 (どごう) [noun, する verb (自)] angry roar; bellow
渾身 (こんしん) [noun] (using) one’s whole body; (putting in) all one’s efforts; (exerting) all one’s energies. Usually as “渾身の~.”
年度 (ねんど) [noun, suffix] fiscal year. academic year; school year.
敵視 (てきし) [noun, する verb (他)] looking upon (someone) as an enemy; regarding as an enemy; being hostile toward
致し方ない (いたしかたない) [expression, い-adj., 謙譲語] there’s no (other) way; cannot be helped; unavoidable; inevitable; (there’s) nothing one can do; having no choice. The humble version of 仕方がない.

And I am really tired, my lack of sleep has caught up to me, it’s not even 7:00 but I can barely keep my eyes open or remain sitting upright, and as there’s not currently any loud music or anything outside, I’m turning in early. Dunno if I’ll actually fall asleep early or not though. I’ll update later/tomorrow with the vocab, and also if I end up reading any more.

Update: I did not end up reading any more, though it took me until like 9:00 or later to fall asleep, because of course it did.

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Home post

REDC
Week 1
:confetti_ball: 1 0 0 % :confetti_ball:

July 3
Final Fantasy 7: 1h 40m.


:tada: Week 1 completed :tada:

Work done:

Video games
    Final Fantasy 7 -> 3h 55 min.


Total reading time: 3h 55 min.

In previous challenges I had my reservations about tracking time because I thought it would add unnecessary pressure, but I’m discovering that on the contrary, when I see what I’ve done in total at the end of the week, it seems to be highly motivating, especially now with the weekly planning. It’s only been three days but I’m already excited about reaching the end of the week and summing up everything that I’ve done, really feels like I’ve done something. It reminds me of when I was reading 君の名は about an hour a day and I had a nice feeling of accomplishment.

This is mainly what I wanted to achieve with dividing the two months in small chunks. Tomorrow I’m starting fresh with the mentality of completing seven days, and nothing else. These Sunday reflections feel like giving an end to something and moving on to another thing. Perhaps I’m starting to discover how my brain likes to work :smile: about time, really… But anyways, it’s way too early to judge anything at all, I’m mostly just guessing. I’ll be on the watch for potential burnout as always.

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:house_with_garden: Home post :house_with_garden:

:four_leaf_clover::sunny: Days 1, 2, 3, & 4 :sunny::four_leaf_clover:

I read and translated the last couple chapters of よつばと! volume 1 which I started during the last challenge. It’s my first completed manga volume :upside_down_face: I also read the first two chapters of volume 2 just now (but didn’t transcribe or translate them yet) and found my unaided comprehension way higher than when I started out in January:)

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Would subtitles still be hidden if you select Japanese as one of your subtitle languages? My account gives me the option to not only choose what display language I want but what language(s) I want to see subtitles in. So I had Spanish, Japanese and Korean in addition to English selected and I have been seeing some of my shows with the option for Japanese subtitles.

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:question: I don’t know to specifically do this one, but if there is already a Japanese subtitle, there is only one thing to do…


Jul 4, Mon of Week 2 of Summer :beach_umbrella: 2022

Planning and results

Thinking back about the last week, there are some things I want to keep in mind.

  • How about finding an easier novel, or non-fiction “books”? Although I don’t exactly give up on Night Cafe, I don’t feel like I understand enough.
  • I need to learn grammar more deeply and remember well in advance. Although there might be less beginner level grammar points that vocabularies; they are usually harder to look up (with Bunpro or Renshuu search engines). Also, what about unlisted nuances or weird Kana/conjugations?
  • Mangas also have different ways to be difficult – vocabularies, Kanji, grammar/language?
    • I try to approach both volumes-to-volumes and natural learning materials.
  • Most useful dictionaries aren’t offline in the app. I find online entries in Goo to be more useful. From time-to-time, I really have to Google; and there are many websites dedicated to explanation; usually in Japanese language.

  • Reading
    • 1 volume of manga
      • Finished JoJo Part 2 Vol.3/4 monochrome
      • Finished 進撃の巨人 Vol.1
    • Death Note Vol.3 Ch.20 ( 先手(せんて) )
    • (Finished) 進撃の巨人 Vol.1 Ch.4
    • Extra reading
      • (Finished) JoJo Part 2 Vol.3/4 monochrome
        • Solitary Caesar arc (from 2/6 to 6/6)
        • Lead-in to Wham! arc (1 chap) + Wham! arc (2 chap)
      • SHADOWS HOUSE Vol.1 (from 34%)
      • SPY x FAMILY Vol.1 Ch.2+ (re-reading)
      • うらら迷路帳 Vol.1 (from 21%)
      • A chapter of Night Cafe (or any novel)
        • (Finished) Night Cafe Vol.1 Ch.12+
  • Unplanned extra materials
    • 妖怪の子預かります Vol.1 Ch.2+
    • Chain Saw Man Vol.1 (3 chaps, 51%)
Fonts / Pictorial differences
教科書体 Actual text
:beach_umbrella:
第2週目 4前 :bookmark: 5 :man_playing_handball: 6 :closed_book: 7 8 9 10

Today’s progress

Today, I listened and read aloud to 佐々木小次郎ツバメ返し, where I find vocabularies and Kanji a little more difficult today.

The story is from 福井県, and said to be a few years before the actual fight.

It's about this guys, who share the names in Japanese version


Vocabularies that caught my eyes.
  • 弟子入り – で.し.いり apprenticeship
  • 根負け – こん.まけ beaten down by persistence
  • 小間使い – こ.ま.つかい maid (servent of the master, I think)
  • 腰に差す – こし.に.さす to hold (a sword) at the waist
  • 武者修業 – む.しゃ.しゅ.ぎょう samurai drill (exercise)
  • I confused (わざ) and (えだ)
  • There must be more misleading Kanji ones. I should have let Yomichan add to Anki.
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If that’s an option now it probably fixes the issue I had been working around, which @omk3 gave a reasonable explanation for. My partner will be delighted to know we can switch Netflix back to English :joy:

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:green_heart: July 3rd :green_heart:

ジョジョの奇妙な冒険18

28 - 69 + 30

I was too unfocused last night :sweat_smile: I got excited because I offered to buy a set of goods and split them with people for a deal. People replied really quickly positively. I ended up just fiddling/pacing unnecessarily past 1am because of getting nervous excited. I ended up nodding off a couple of times while reading so late consequently, but I was so close to the end of the fight that I wanted to finish. The end of the fight felt much shorter than the anime, I’m pretty sure they lengthened this one.

Edit: I realize I also read 30 pages of a doujin.

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I did not realize that’s what that is. I need to buy some now :running_man:

Surprisingly, it doesn’t taste awful. Gatorade without the flavoring imo

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:thinking: preventing the whole thing from falling if a cat jumps onto it? :smile_cat:

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:spiral_calendar: Day 3: July 3rd :ocean::surfing_man:

spacer:tangerine: orange Volume 1 (10% ➨ 29%)
           I made a mistake and read two book club weeks worth on this one. Looks like I’m taking a break from it for a couple of weeks!

spacer:rabbit2: ご注文はうさぎですか? Complete Blend Volume 1 (40% ➨ 41%)

🎀 ふだつきのキョーコちゃん Volume 1 (20% ➨ 37%)


As is often the case in manga/anime, Kenji has the usual back window seat.

image image
From chapter one to two, Hibino’s starting to transition to the bushy eyebrows seen in other series.

It seems this series started publishing in 2013 (September) shortly after 「からかい上手の高木さん」 (July). The latter had its art style slowly change through 2015. I wonder if the same was true for 「ふだつきのキョーコちゃん」.

Whether I make it far enough to find out depends on how much the series leans into the things that I don’t care for in here (“angry” character + “sharp teeth” character design), which are probably going to be a common story beat.

spacer:girl: からかい上手の(元)高木さん Volume 4 (91% ➨ 100%)

🥷🏻 くノ一ツバキの胸の内 Volume 1 (50% ➨ 64%)

Coincidences can be funny at times.

Tsubaki’s design often reminds me of Yucie from ぷちぷり*ユーシィ, so my internal voice for Tsubaki is Yucie’s voice. And one episode of ぷちぷり*ユーシィ, Yucie is babysitting a pet named Mokurin.

Then, in Tsubaki, although not quite the same name, there’s a character named Mokuren.

image

This has the unfortunate side-effect of me “hearing” her name pronounced incorrectly anytime Tsubaki says it…

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July 3 :blossom: Home Post

Well I went a little wild; I didn’t start reading until pretty late and so really had no reason to read an entire chapter of 海辺(うみべ)のカフカ, and yet :laughing: So yeah I read chapter 13 to finish up this week’s reading, which was almost 30 pages in about two hours? While trying to not fall asleep toward the end lmao, what a feat :joy: That also puts me at the halfway mark, we’re getting there! チェズレイ prepared me a bit for all the music talk haha. It was pretty smooth sailing overall, some bits of philosophical/literary stuff that was a little tougher, but generally far smoother than the keigo letter for sure. So yeah, not a bad day’s work!

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:house:
4th of June

I stayed up until 1am finishing a novel in English last night, woke up before 7am and couldn’t get back to sleep, so I spent the day more groggy and unmotivated than usual. I only managed to read page 74 and 75 of かがみの孤城 (20 – 21%).

Tomorrow I’ll be spending the entire day studying in the state library, so needless to say I will be crashing early tonight!

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