I missed one day this week. I read another couple of pages in yotsubato, played more pokemon in japanese, and because physical books are harder for me to be consistent with leading to me not really touching yotsubato very often, i stated reading the free stories on satori reader. I’m two episode into Sakara and Suzuki’s long distance relationship. I’m reading both the easy and hard versions of the story and it’s going well so far. I also bought the book the abbc is reading next so I’m ready for that when it starts.
I almost didn’t read today, I didn’t feel like it for the longest time. Then I decided to resume 死体は眠らない which had been put on hold due to the various book clubs. It’s a light, fun read, perfect for unmotivated days like this. I feel I should have been reading it faster, but then again I left it for late in the day, and I’m getting sleepy.
Day 15: January 15th
What did I read?: マグメル深海水族館 Vol 1
How much did I read?: 21 pages
How long did it take me?: 43 min
Wow this chapter was a lot shorter xD But also felt harder for some reason Today I learned the phrase 偕老同穴 (かいろうどうけつ) - happy life partnership; living faithfully together till death. It’s also the name of a sea sponge xD The sponge is so named because one male shrimp and one female shrimp live together inside the sponge for their entire lives (because they literally can’t get out, they get in when they’re larvae and then grow too big to leave While the implication is supposed to be romantic and the sponge is considered a symbol of undying love/sometimes given as an engagement or wedding gift, I don’t know how romantic it sounds when I think about that part of it ). They are very pretty sponges though xD In English, the sponge is called a Venus’s flower basket
まがい = sham; imitation. Kanji form is 紛い, but not written with Kanji here.
言いそびれる = to miss a chance to say. ～そびれる itself is to miss a chance.
駆け落ち = running away with a lover / also, just running away from places to places
家出 = running away from home / also, going outside home (not running away, will probably come back)
逃避行, 出奔, and 逃亡 are simply running away from places to places.
無理強い = pushing to do. From 強いる.
手練れ = skillfulness. Second Kanji’s reading is exceptional. Also, 手足れ. Personally I think of more hanging (垂れる) or spicy paste (タレ).
歯向かう = to rise against; to defy; to bite back at
屯する = to gather in a large group of people
板ばさみ = being in a dilemma. From 板挟み, so being stuck between two slabs.
結紮 = ligation. Second Kanji is a tag (札) to bind, but with a thread (糸); and seems to much limited to this word.
併発 = complication of a disease. Another word is 合併症.
根治 = complete cure. From the root (根). The other word is 完治, and I don’t know whether to expect Rendaku or not.
健康体 = a healthy body; a healthy condition
うり二つ = as alike as two pea in a pod = exactly look-alike. Another form is 瓜二つ, which is about a gourd / melon (瓜, Level 53). The うり is also used in 胡瓜 (sound change from 黄瓜).
元来 = originally
雄叫び = a valiant war cry. Exceptional reading of 叫び. Has Furigana in context (context about 狼)
断面図 = cross-sectional view
肌身離さず = carrying close to one’s skin and body
身も蓋もない = straight to the point = にべもない. What? No lid is OK, but also no content?
人目につく = to be conspicuous. So, 人目につかない = being inconspicuous
SFX
ぞっこん = madly in love
しゅるしゅる = rustling sound (e.g. of silk)
メキメキ = sound of breaking, creaking
わらわら = bustling; scattering; creeping in (like of a gang of people)
notes:
The 13th was the day I dicided Spyxfamily was a bit too much at my current level, combined with how much more enjoyable ばらかもん was the next day, was really the final indication I needed to drop it. Super sad because I love it so much but that will just make it all the sweeter when I finally do get around to reading it
Really excited to join abbc with the next はたらく細胞 chapter. Going on a train ride tomorrow so I should have time to bust out my books including はたらく細胞!!! homepost
Just a little more than halfway through Kona’s adventures! Although nothing much has happened! We end the episode with a hawk circling from above. And I wonder if it’s eyeing Kona as its prey…
Words learned:
恐る恐る with trepidation, trembling with fear, fearfully, timidly
優雅 elegance, grace, refinement
タカ falcon, hawk
Replies
I really like this SFX part of your interesting words! I think I should start noting those down too to prepare for reading more manga!
My goodness that story behind the etymology of the name of the sea sponge sounds so morbid but I love it! Thanks for sharing! One more trivia/fun fact I can collect about sea creatures! The secrets of the ocean always amaze me!
I uh…slept 12 hours last night. My crazy busy week with low sleep finally caught up to me, but my book club reading has suffered recently. I’m sure I’ll get caught up but reading lately has been a ‘cram in where I can’ chore rather than its usual fun even though all the books I’m reading are so good!
I’m traveling this week so maybe I’ll catch up in the airport…
So uh, I will post why shortly in the listening thread, but I’m starting 正欲 and you’re welcome to join if you want! It was in a ton of the booktuber best-of lists and it didn’t seem like my style at a glance, but there’s an audiobook and I was starting to stack credits so grabbed it on a whim.
Also I read part of the ユージニア assignment today and I’m aiming to finish the assigned reading tonight
flagging this part of the manga for unnecessary references to shittler. Like it was a good history lesson I suppose, but if you’re going to talk about the nazi master race idea, then maybe add something about the horrible things they did and why they’re bad?
“Oh Berry, you’re overreacting, it’s just fiction after all!” Nah. Several Japanese JoJo fans do nazi salutes without understanding the meaning and you’d be pretty hard pressed to find Japanese people on the street who can say what the Holocaust was and why it was bad.
On the bright side, Joseph was unnecessarily stupid and extra which was a bit uplifting. I would have read more, but I was so busy cleaning during the day that I ran out of time to read at night. I’m surprised I’m doing alright now tbh. My body tried to wake up at a normal wake up time for me (but with only 4.5h sleep) and then later, the apartment kids being noisy before going to school helped wake me a few minutes before my alarm. While unpleasant on the surface, it gave me enough wiggle room to look at the photos my friend sent of their adorable kitty.
January 15th
What did I read?: にわにはににん
How much did I read?: 7 sentences + 4 pages 庭かるね
(Finished あとがき, Started & Finished Epilogue: 庭かるね)
How long did it take me?: 1 h 29 min
The epilogue was a sequel to the third story. Turns out that Emma remarries, has 2 adorable children, and builds herself a beautiful garden room! This was honestly pretty nice to read since the ending of that third story made it seem like she could have committed suicide. So I’m glad that wasn’t the case!
In other news, today I finished my first volume of manga in Japanese!!!
Here are my ratings for all the stories:
Prologue: 庭師の仕事 : 6/10
水槽屋敷 : 7/10
ユーレカの庭 : 8/10
ワタシのお庭 : 4/10
にわにはににん : 9/10
庭師の休日 : 7/10
Epilogue: 庭かるね : 8/10
Which averages out to an overall of 7/10 . So yes, I did enjoy this manga. Not a favourite or anything like that, but enjoyable none the less!
The mysterious nature of the stories may not have made them the best first-reading material, since then you get situations of, "Am I confused because my Japanese isn’t good enough, or is it supposed to be a little confusing? " But because I was interested in the material, I persevered through the moments of confusion. I started reading this book with the goal of achieving 100% comprehension, and if I had to guess, I think I understood around 90% of it? Maybe a little more than that. But I’m satisfied with that level for now!
I learned a new phrase in my reading today that felt fitting for today's accomplishment:
Finished first sub chapter during my lunch. Will finish the second one on my way home. I might read the last sub chapter and get to the last chapter of the book so tomorrow I can just finish. I am pretty excited to be done, and ready to binge Stardust Crusaders! I am gonna read Steel Ball Run for a bit before jumping into my next LN or Novel while binging Stardust Crusaders to keep my reading up.
As always happens, I got caught up in the story and finished chapter 3 of BU$TAFELLOWS today! Definitely an interesting one I’ll soon have to adjust to the new semester starting so probably good that I got caught up while I can haha. Onward!
Also totally forgot before:
Congrats!!! A very exciting accomplishment indeed
Ahhh great job!! It sounds like you really zoomed through it, congrats
And another one, we’re on a roll it seems! Congrats, it really is an amazing accomplishment
Will do. I love the 4 chapters I read so far! I am too deep into my book now that I haven’t read the last chapter of volume 1 yet, but I went ahead a bought the next 5 volumes because Amazon did their algorithm based discounting and I humbly accepted to give them my money.
The secret is not being on Amazon for a bit, and then the first series you click on will trigger a discount/get extra Amazon points if you buy X volumes of a series.
Today I learned the phrase 偕老同穴 (かいろうどうけつ) - happy life partnership; living faithfully together till death. It’s also the name of 
While the implication is supposed to be romantic and the sponge is considered a symbol of undying love/sometimes given as an engagement or wedding gift, I don’t know how romantic it sounds when I think about that part of it 
). They are very pretty sponges though xD In English, the sponge is called a Venus’s flower basket 
This was honestly pretty nice to read since the ending of that third story made it seem like she could have committed suicide. So I’m glad that wasn’t the case!
. So yes, I did enjoy this manga. Not a favourite or anything like that, but enjoyable none the less!
I’ll soon have to adjust to the new semester starting so probably good that I got caught up while I can haha. Onward!
