I finished my first full manga today! I completed よつばと! v2 (I skipped volume 1 because the bookstore didn’t have any copies.)
Over the last year or so I’ve started and stopped this book multiple times; so I’m especially excited and proud to have finally reached my goal of finishing it.
And though I’ve read a couple volumes of Crystal Hunters, I consider this to be the first official manga I’ve finished because Crystal Hunters was written specifically for Japanese language learners.
(I’d still highly recommend Crystal Hunters to any beginner readers and I plan on reading the rest of the series during this challenge.)
What I read:
よつばと! v2 p.168-190
New Words
限定「げんてい」: limit; restriction
ゴーヤー : bitter melon (Okinawan specialty)
喜ぶ「よろこぶ」: to be delighted; to be glad; to be pleased
Some more 山猫 today! Again not as big of a read because I got distracted by Slime Rancher other things, but still like 6% of the book so nothing to scoff at. I think my lowkey goal is to finish it before the next BU$TAFELLOWS assignment starts on the 13th which should be feasible if I’m reasonably consistent, so we’ll see if I can do it!
Wasn’t feeling too well all day today so I didn’t read too much unfortunately. Starting off the challenge with multiple days of below-average reading has not been a great feeling so far.
Word of the Day: 水難 - drowning, flood, shipwreck. I like how a multitude of water-related disasters have simply been filed under ‘water difficulty’.
Thanks to the posters above who helped me puzzle out where 大味 might have come from… still quite a strange word but I think I sort of get it now.
Congrats! It feels great having that first book under your belt so all your studies feel like they’ve actually borne fruit!
I’ve got about 50 pages left… Hopefully I can read 'em all tomorrow. I’m thinking of playing some more Ni no Kuni after this. I’m just happy it’s the weeeekeeeeend.
Played BU$TAFELLOWS for 1h and read ユージニア for the longest I’ve read it so far (17% → 21%). I got pretty into it but had to stop since it was really late and had to do things in the morning.
Mixed it up today and decided to start my first manga! Well technically, I started this in November after making an impulse buy at Book Off, but didn’t get to finish a full chapter because I was too intimidated and felt like I didn’t have enough energy and time. This time around, I’m feeling a bit more motivated and well, this reading challenge has really given me the push! I’m using the ABBC book club to help me out and I’m incredibly grateful for all the questions and responses posted by everyone in the thread. I learned so much in one day, but I don’t know how much of it will stick with me…
Also just wanted to say how confusing that title is as already mentioned by a few people on the Chapter 1 thread… Of all things, how could you get the translation of the title wrong…
Anyway, I hope this will be a good warm up to the ABBC book club I’ll be joining for the first time scheduled in Feb!
Despite the challenge going on for some time, I’d be happy to join you all while slightly being late.
As I have just restarted with learning the language after a fairly long break I think this is a great opportunity to pick up the pace again. I’m going to progress just about 15-30 mins daily while also revising in the meantime. Planning to read よつばと! - Vol.1, bought the physical copy back in Japan but didn’t get to read it until now so it’s about time. Not sure if I’m going to be able to finish it during this challange, however, I’ll try my best to progress as much as I can while also learning grammar and vocabulary.
it’s the weekend which means it’s time for an easier read! after a bit of deliberation i picked 彼女とカメラと彼女の季節 which is a yuri manga about, well, the title says it all really asdfghjkl surprisingly easy to follow, managed a whole chapter!
some words of note, based on what i looked up: プリ, short for print(ing), printed copy, etc.; ピロティ, pillar, building raised on columns, from the french pilotis apparently; and my personal favourite 恋煩い, lovesickness, tho it was written as 恋わずらい in the manga
マジーク・ツリーハウス pg 41 → 72 - I realized I was actually pretty close to finishing the first story today (The e-book is actually the first 2 books combined into one volume), so I decided to push a little bit harder on this to finish it today! That means I have technically finished my first book in japanese! I definitely didn’t understand everything, and (like @NicoleIsEnough mentioned a while back) even in a kids book like this there’s a surprising amount of pretty difficult grammar. But! 100% perfect comprehension was never my goal here; I understood enough of what was happening to read through and enjoy it, and I picked up some neat vocab and grammar stuff along the way! Now we just rinse and repeat
Good Words
ホリミヤ
フラれる ＝ 振られる ー to be turned down (Weird katakana usage here but 2 different people say it like this)
お似合い 「おにあい」ー well matched (of a couple)
誤解「ごかい」ー misunderstanding
誘う「さそう」ー to invite someone
唇「くちびる」ー lips
マジーク・ツリーハウス
危うい「あやうい」ー dangerous, in danger
悲鳴「ひめい」ー shriek
カモノハシ ー platypus
吠える「ほえる」ー to bark, to roar
脱出「だっしゅう」ー escape
包丁「ほうちょう」ー kitchen knife
しゃがみ込む「しゃがみこむ」ー to crouch down (completely, face looking through knees)
鋭い「するどい」ー sharp, perceptive, keen
たどり着く「たどりつく」ー to finally arrive
街灯「がいとう」ー street light
congrats!
The english title is frustratingly ambiguous, and I think more people read it incorrectly than correctly (myself included ) The english titles of many series are, frankly, pretty bad, but sounds like you’re well on your way to understanding the japanese titles for yourself now!
Aria: the masterpiece volume 3 – progress report Yesterday: (Card Captor Sakura) Continued up to page 189, finished chapter 22 and volume 5 Today: Began reading volume 3 of Aria: the masterpiece, read up to page 16.
The person on the cover confused me for a second but it turns out that it is Aika who at one point apparently gets a haircut and thus, short hair. Problem solved!
I was relieved that I wasn’t once again greeted with several pages of world building which would have made me go back to the volume 1 word list yet again.
Instead, the chapter started like many others with Akari’s diary/letter(?) entries. Turns out that it is spring again and that Akari has officially spent one whole year on Aqua – time sure flies (despite having 24 months over there), huh.
I’ll simply feed on the scenery in this volume as it may take a while before spring arrives in my err vicinity…sigh, I don’t like winter, especially when snow is scarce and everything is just barren and grey.
I can only second @sddsdd : being able to finally read even one book or volume of beginner friendly manga is satisfying and motivating. I hope that this will motivate you to read much more for a while to finish more volumes and eventually a whole series. 頑張って。
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Word or expression of the day:
再び - (ふたたび) - again, once more, a second time
Honourable mention(s):
骨の折れる - (ほねのおれる) - to require much effort, to be hard to do, to be bone-breakingly hard
Skipped a few days, but that’s okay. I’m squeezing in work on a family holiday and have to prioritize how to use unexpected bits of down-time. TBH sometimes catching up on sleep takes top priority.
Satori is easier to pick up when I have a few minutes here or there so going to focus on them. (PS they’re having a sale right now!) Currently reading the one about the jam maker and the one about the mouse
These are adorable! Adding them to my list right now!
Some people read a lot and some of us are just trying to do a paragraph a day. It’s all good.
If you get to that one please let us know how it is? Really curious about it.
There was a book club here for it I believe, and I and some others have read it outside of that. It’s a heart warming and calming book. The writing style is really nothing special, though, and perhaps the pacing could be better. I greatly enjoyed the audiobook and I’ve heard other people loved the movie - and IIRC it was actually based on a stage play.
Finally had a chance to get back to Bustafellows, in the middle of a very long scene I stopped in before because I got fatigued on figuring stuff out. After quite some more talking it finally ended.
The end of chapter one nowhere in sight yet. I haven’t even gotten to all the choice points in chapter 1 yet, and I seem to remember people talking about there being quite a bit after them too.
I knew I’d fall behind on the VN clubs (I haven’t even had a chance to start 9-nine- yet…) in the first half of January, but I had thought I’d at least finish chapter 1 of Bustafellows before chapter 3 begins next week, but… I’d be surprised if I did with how busy I will be.
And it is quite early here yet, so I will probably end up reading some more of the English novel I’m reading later. But I wanted to post right now. ^^
Hurray! Well done!
What is this “technically” I hear? If you in any language bought a trilogy in a one volume set, would you then say that you hadn’t finished a book when you finished the first book of the trilogy?! Shame on you.
I suppose “technically” in the sense that I can’t check it off as done on natively or bookmeter (I did mark it as read and put it on my goodreads japanese shelf though, so you got me there )
Well, I can see that. *nods sagely* But in reality you still finished your first book and in this challenge we don’t care if you can check it off on natively/bookmeter. xD
January 7th
新書太閣記 progress: 00.53% // Volume I: 06.10%
I said it yesterday but again, the descriptions are really good. It’s impressive how much emotional weight Yoshikawa can express in such few words, really makes the scenes feel very real.
Also managed to finish the chapter.
Words found under the kotatsu
旗指物「はたさしもの」ー The small flag that some samurai carry on their back in battle 騎「き」ー Counter for horsemen 荷駄「にだ」ー Pack; horseload 野薔薇「のいばら」ー Multiflora Rose / Japanese Rose 兵馬「へいば」ー Arms and cavalry; troops; military affairs 前線「ぜんせん」ー Weather front; the front lines; action zone 床几「しょうぎ」ー Folding stool; camp stool 籠手「こて」ー Gauntlet; bracer 颯々「さつさつ」ー Rustling; murmuring; whistling 恍惚「こうこつ」ー Rapture; ecstasy
Forms
酬いる ＝ 報いる「むくいる」(to reward; to recompense; to repay)
Alt Meanings
駒「こま」ー Shogi/chess piece // But has an archaic meaning: horse; foal
Character Name List
for easy referencing later, because these will take some remembering
Also probably some spoilers, but this is a historic novel, so can spoilers really exist for things that have (for the most part) actually happened
Main Hideyoshi: 豊臣秀吉「とよとみ ひでよし」// 豊太閤「ほうたいこう」
Volume I Characters 日吉「ひよし」
(Hideyoshi as a child)
Friends
仁王「におう」- Big kid friend
於福「おふく」- Timid kid friend
Family
弥右衛門「やえもん」- Father
加藤清正「かとう きよまさ」- Ojisan (only distantly related)
五郎大夫 「ごろ だゆう」// 祥瑞「しょうずい」(Goro’s Chinese name)
– Servant of Goro: 捨次郎「すてじろう」
– Mother of Goro’s child: 梨琴「りきん」
– Rikin’s & Goro’s child: 楊景福「ようけいふく」
Historical People
阿倍仲麻呂「あべ の なかまろ」ー Japanese scholar & poet (around 700AD)
白楽天「はく きょい」ー Late 700s Chinese poet (Bai Juyi / Bo Juyi) also known as: 白楽天「はく らくてん」in Japan.
道元「どうげん」(or 道元禅師「どうげん ぜんじ」ー Japanese Buddhist Priest, writer & poet (Early to mid 1200s) (also known as 栄西禅師「えいさい ぜんじ」)
空海「くうかい」ー The one and only Kukai or Kobo Daishi - a Buddhist monk. Posthumously given the title of: 弘法大師「こうぼう だいし」born as: 佐伯 眞魚「さえき の まお」(late 700s to early 800s)
Finished the first 20 pages of よつばと！- vol. 1
This was probably the most exhausting reading experience I ever had due to this being the first ever manga I read, not to mention barely reading anything in Japanese recently. I must admit though that getting through just these 20 pages feels great because I’ve revised grammar I nearly forgot, learnt some new words and expressions. Time to take some notes of the new vocab I gained then relax for the day.
This is called a challenge for a reason and I’m happy to be a part of it, looking forward to finishing the first chapter tomorrow.
I completed よつばと! v2 (I skipped volume 1 because the bookstore didn’t have any copies.)
Not sure if I’m going to be able to finish it during this challange, however, I’ll try my best to progress as much as I can while also learning grammar and vocabulary.
１月７日 
) The english titles of many series are, frankly, pretty bad, but sounds like you’re well on your way to understanding the japanese titles for yourself now!
and the one about the mouse 
