It’s still going too faaaast, but I am somehow managing to keep up. Despite playing Klonoa 2 way, way too much as a kid, I can’t remember if the text auto advances in that game… Guess we’ll see when I finish the first one. Love the goofy characters in this game… I hope someone’s working on a Klonoa 3 because I want to play it
Oh my gosh, what a sweet kitty. Thank you for sharing Kiro with us
Ooo! I play Genshin Impact in English every now and then (when I’m not burned out on the gameplay + event loop) but haven’t tried it in Japanese. Interested to know how difficult it is! though there’s no way I’m starting over just to play it in JP… I’ve worked too hard on my team
after dithering over the stuff in my 読みかけ list on bookwalker i went with 四月は君の嘘 cos i’ve got a couple of volumes and i remember the anime being alright (even if it was very 泣きゲー). baffled that kaori’s name is actually spelt かをり. first chapter was very long but not that difficult, just character introductions and stuff. back to 蟲師 tomorrow just in time for the JLPT results to come in
ohh man i’ve not been to a mr simms in ages! instant nostalgia
Halfway through chapter 4, but will probably reread again another day! Little by little getting the hang of recalling the kanji learned from WK that I read in the manga. There’s still more than a handful of moments where I know I should know the meaning and I try to wrack my brain for the answer but it won’t come and I’ll look at it in the vocab list and slap myself on the forehead…
Depending on how sleepy and how much time I have after my shower, I might read some JoJo too. I have everything but my clothes ready for work tomorrow, so it’s not like I should need extra time in the morning…
みかじめ = management; supervision. No Kanji in context, nor in IME.
ほぐれる = to be relaxed. Kanji form is 解れる.
すかさず = without a moment’s delay. Kanji form is 透かさず.
パワハラ = power harassment; harassment from a position of power = パワーハラスメント
ノネナール = nonenal; non-2-enal. A C9 aldehyde (-al) with a double chain at 2nd position (-2-en)? A chemical responsible for kareishū (加齢臭, Old person smell).
クレーム = claim; customer complaint
やぶさかでない = willing to do (not reluctant at all). Kanji form is 吝かでない
一介 = merely a …
吹っ切る = to get over lingering attachment
しゃちほこ張る = to stiffen (ceremonious). Full Kanji form is 鯱張る, and Shachihoko is a mythical sea creature.
苦々しい = being disgusted; unpleasant
漉き = paper-making. 漉き紙 in context.
達筆 = good handwriting; skillful handwriting
原価 = cost price; original price without profit
名残惜しい = reluctant to part. 名残 = relics; vestiges
憂さ = gloom; melancholy
懐具合 = one’s financial standing = 懐 + 具合
工面 = devising a trick (工夫), esp. to raise money
返済 = repayment
渡来 = imported
仕入れ = laying in stock
品薄 = stock shortage
清冽 = crystal clear and cool (of water)
居住まい = seating posture
無骨 = unrefined; uncouth
精悍 = masculine
毛色 = one’s nature
沽券 = dignity; public face
追い風 = favorable development of the situation
泣き言 = complaint
機転 = quick wit
依然 = still; remain to be. Has a different pitch pattern from 以前.
病魔 = demon of ill heath
症候群 = syndrome. エコノミークラス症候群 (= economy class syndrome) in context.
静脈 = vein (blood vessel). I misread this for a while (ジョウ part).
退職 = retirement
皮脂腺 = sebaceous gland. 皮脂 is skin sebum.
人身事故 = accident (traffic, train) that harms persons (resulting in injury or death)
Incidentally, the other day, I heard 人身売買 (= human trafficking).
湯治 = hot spring cure (e.g. for medical purposes; resorts)
内装 = interior design
絡繰り = machinery; mechanism
悪戦苦闘 = hard fight
見晴らし = an extensive view (e.g. of a city from an observation tower)
音信不通 = hearing no news; loss of contact
バツが悪い = being awkward = きまりが悪い
意を決する = to make up one’s mind
途方もない = wild; outrageous
絶え間ない = incessant; without interruption
人心地がつく = to come to one’s sense; to feel relaxed
一息つく = to take a breather
縁は異なもの = There is no telling how people are brought together. = 縁は異なもの味なもの.
Only my 2nd day of reading but wanted to share nonetheless. Started going through SKM N2 reading these past two days. It is a jump from N3 for sure, but it being more challenging than the usual manga/articles I read is also motivating me to do WK lessons and reviews. Can’t wait to look back at these first pages and see how far I’ve come
I’m back to Orange, my old friend. The club have now been active for slightly more than 6 months. Feels a bit surreal.
Today was chapter 23 from start to finish. Took me a little bit to get back into the writing style, I haven’t read Orange for a month, but then it flowed well.
Me gushing about Orange—well me recommending Orange to others xD
I can’t recommend Orange enough. The thing that takes it from being a really good beginner manga is probably the amount of casual language, it is literally everywhere, and those of us who read with the book club so far, already had pretty good grasp on it, so there aren’t really questions and answers about that.
But outside that, Orange is fairly simple. Mostly using everyday, high school vocabulary. With really good characters, a great story, and beautiful art. What more could you ask for? Well, no casual language I guess, but nope, lots of it everywhere. A tiny bit of science fiction, time travel-ly vocabulary, but only crops up 2-3 times across all 5 first volumes, so not much in general. If it sounds interesting, you can check out the club for additional info (such as content warnings).
Unfortunately, we just started volume 6, so you might not be able to catch up with the club itself, but please read it. It is great. ^^ And the threads are available for questions and such, of course.
January 22nd
新書太閣記 progress: 03.37% // Volume I: 39.13%
Not had much time to read today, but happy year of the BUN!
Words found under the kotatsu
後手「ごて」ー Losing initiative; being forestalled; second move/going second (Shogi/Go term) 物見「ものみ」ー Sightseeing; scout; patrol; lookout 小勢「こぜい」ー A small force 嶮岨「けんそ」ー Steep terrain; precipitous // (also: 険阻)
Character Name List
Probably some spoilers, but this is a historic novel, so can spoilers really exist for things that have (for the most part) actually happened
Family
木下弥右衛門「きのした やえもん」- Father
筑阿弥「ちくあみ」ー Step-father
大政所「おおまんどころ」// also お奈加「おなか」ー Mother
おつみ - Older sister
小竹「こちく」- Baby brother
加藤清正「かとう きよまさ」// also 弾正「だんじょう」- Ojisan (only distantly related (before marriage))
– Married to: おえつ (sister of お奈加)
Friends & Acquaintances
仁王「におう」- Big kid friend
於福「おふく」(Nickname - full name: 福太郎「ふくたろ」) // 楊景福「ようけいふく」(Chinese name/birth name) - Timid kid friend (older than Hideyoshi)
– 五郎大夫 「ごろ だゆう」// 祥瑞「しょうずい」(Chinese name) - Father
– 梨琴「りきん」- Mother
捨次郎「すてじろう」- Previous servant to 五郎, later the adoptive father of 於福, and owner of a tea ware shop - and employer of, and master to, Hideyoshi
Hachisuka Clan
蜂須賀小六「はちすか ころく」(also 正勝 「まさかつ」) - Head of the Hachisuka clan
– Married to 松波「まつなみ」
– – 亀一「かめいち」ー Son
Oda Clan
織田信秀「おだ のぶひで」- Daimyo
– 織田与三郎「おだ よさぶろう」- Younger brother
Shiba Clan
斯波義統「しば よしむね」- Head of the Shiba clan, at Kiyosu castle
Others
今川義元「いまがわ よしもと」- Daimyo
Historical People
阿倍仲麻呂「あべ の なかまろ」ー Japanese scholar & poet (700s)
白楽天「はく きょい」ー Chinese poet (Bai Juyi / Bo Juyi) also known as: 白楽天「はく らくてん」in Japan. (Late 700s)
道元「どうげん」(or 道元禅師「どうげん ぜんじ」ー Japanese Buddhist Priest, writer & poet (also known as 栄西禅師「えいさい ぜんじ」) (Early / mid 1200s)
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 / early 800s)
源頼政「みなもと の よりまさ」ー Prominent poet and warrior (1100s)
The last couple of days have just been kind of a blur of being sick and having to go to work still… despite that I did manage to get more reading done than I expected.
Word of the Day: 灰汁 - soup/broth scum, lye. “Ash soup” certainly makes the scum seem as unpleasant as possible… and the reading itself doesn’t quite contradict it either!
Replies
Thank you!! I haven’t been able to get in as much R&R as I would like with work and all but I’ll hang in there.
夜市 is at 51%, so just 9% this week.
I didn’t feel to well for a few days so I did less. I also did not read anything on Friday but that’s okay. I don’t feel too bad about it. I’ve been a lot more consistent than usual so it’s kind of a win already.
And I did read a couple of YT comments, so I technically did read something, but I don’t want to count that.
Finished manga from last week and started reading Spirit Circle. Still in Volume 1 but I hope I’ll finish it after writing this post. done! Some chapters with some old speech stuff is a bit of a slog.
I forgot to thank everyone for their appreciation of the photos. ^^ I will try to catch Kiro when he is being super cute. I might just have to let my phone be glued to me for a couple of days for that though, because if I try moving to get it, he stops to watch me. xD
And since I’m here anyway. I have now also read some fiction in English. ^^
He’s really growing into his own. Although I’m sure he’s not done yet. Just noticed today that he isn’t as easy to move around with just one hand.
Also, did I tell you guys that he charmed everyone in my friend’s family so much when they met him, that I think all of them threatened to kidnap him? (I can’t remember if I told you guys or not.) He is very social and purrs for anyone, likes being petted by anyone. He’s a good cat. ^^
Must of my reading was from pokemon scarlet. I’m starting to be and to piece together what I’m reading better without needing to breakdown every sentence first
I also read another couple of stories in Satori Reader. I finished the free content for long distance relationship, which i really enjoy, and the first story for jam maker, really good practice for descriptive text at least in part 1. Looking to subscribe once money isn’t as tight.
Lastly, my 5yr old has been interested in doing japanese with me so we’ve been reading level 0 graded readers together, which are too easy for me but fun for her
Today I’ve read chapter 24 of チュベローズで待ってる AGE32. My brain is still a little foggy from the illness and it makes it so hard to keep track of what’s happening… Especially the conversations - I keep having to go back to re-read sentences and try to piece together who said what It also doesn’t help that I’m finding it quite hard to get invested in the plot.
The Tanuki Kotatsu Reading Den 
からかい上手の(元)高木さん Volume 10 (80% ➨ 87%)
It also doesn’t help that I’m finding it quite hard to get invested in the plot.