Finished Subchapter 2. I tried to speed read a little bit because my thoughts were racing faster than my reading so I thought if I tried reading faster I wouldn’t lose focus as easily. It worked out better than I thought, but I would try to jump to conclusions but luckily they cleared things up about certain interactions later so I wasn’t as lost in the end. Still got everything that happened.
Also read a chapter of 推しの子 and that manga is really fun. I can’t wait for the adaptation!
I remember you posting a snippet from the book somewhere sometime and I thought it was a work setting, which is more appealing to me. So the beginning surprised me quite a bit when I started it. Looking forward to all the twists and turns! I still have a lot of book left 
Guess I have to speed up 闇祓 
I actually thought of you as I was reading because I’m definitely getting those vibes from the book! It’s kind of uncanny, in a „something like this could happen to me in real life“ way.
I was about to ask whether you’ve read 告白 because the vibe feels kind of similar (?) or maybe it’s just the school setting but I remembered I could simply stalk your Natively turns out you’ve read it already.
Home 
January 26th
ジョジョの奇妙な冒険7
90 - 107
海月姫
111 - end (188)
I can free up 1 volume’s worth of space from my shelves now lol
Gonna see if I can finish up vol 7 of JoJo too tonight. Yesterday was weird. Hopefully today won’t be and I can read lots while being stress-free.
Day 25: January 25th
What did I read?: おでかけ子ザメ2
How much did I read?: 13 pages
How long did it take me?: didn’t time, not that long
Day 26: January 26th
What did I read?: I meandered through the first bits of a few random things
How much did I read?: A couple pages’ worth
How long did it take me?: like 15 min
Well, it is Later 
but I still haven’t decided 
I have so many options but nothing sounded good to me today 
I was weirdly not in the mood for a manga, like I wanted to read a book, but I also didn’t have the stamina to actually read a book, so Idk, hopefully I’ll feel more something tomorrow, either more interested in manga or more motivated to tackle a wall of text.
Yesterday, I got home from work kind of late so I did a tiny read of tiny shark that I was too lazy to post about xD But I will post about it today, because Maneki Sharko
And just when you thought it couldn’t get any cuter, they introduce an even tinier shark 
Tiny shark’s tiny shark buddy 
January 26 
Home Post
Somewhat busy today so not the most, but I played some Genshin Impact as is predictable, nothing too crazy to report really It’s funny to think that Genshin is functioning in my language practice basically as Animal Crossing did like two years ago, just at very different points in my language journey haha. Far more comprehension is happening now, that’s for sure!
January 26th
What did I read?: 魔女と猫の話
How much did I read?: 6 pages
(Continued 2nd Story )
How long did it take me?: 45 min
It turns out that this story only partly comes before the 1st one, since now Suzu has gotten her cat. Kei gets her cat as well, and as she expected, it’s the same one she accidentally summoned last time! But when he sees her, the poor kitty thinks he’s messed up yet again…
Day 26: January 26th 
名探偵コナン Volume 13 (57% ➨ 68%)
夢みる太陽 Volume 4 (91% ➨ 100%)
Plan for this past week: Finish three more volumes.
Progress for this past week: Finished one volume, with 160 pages left for me to finish two more volumes. I may not quite reach that mini-goal.
Okay, I’m convinced! 
The book is on the pricier side, but I put it on my check list and will grab it as soon as it’s on offer.
Yes I have and I really liked it. I knew the school setting wouldn’t be a problem because I had already watched the movie many years ago, so I vaguely knew what kind of atmosphere to expect.
By the way, the ユートロニカのこちら側 thread is up, for anyone interested!
It has… been a minute since I posted an update here 
. I ended up getting pretty much immediately swamped by my Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling translation workload. I finished FOUR shows!! The January 7 and January 8 VOD shows, and then the first show in the tag team tournament on January 15 (which had to be split into another part because the workload was too much…), and then the second tag tournament show on January 19 (it turns out if you don’t give Maki Itoh and Miyu Yamashita the mic, the amount of stuff to translate becomes a lot shorter…).
They have two more shows this month, so it’ll be back to the grind for me this weekend, haha . My translations are already up to 8,000 words (in English), which is I think by far the most that I’ve done in any month so far.
Something that made me laugh on one of these shows was this comment from Kamiyu wherein she berated her tag partner Mahiro Kiryu for losing to a woman with a hairstyle that looks like the Mother of Ultra. I had to look up the Mother of Ultra after this, and, well…
Kamiyu isn’t exactly wrong, haha.
I’ve been keeping busy since finishing the January 19 show translation. I considered using the time to dive into some manga, but I’m trying to get a bunch of stuff translated for these Shakespeare deathmatch shows that Big Japan Pro Wrestling did from 2008-2011, which I just recently managed to find (I had to buy them secondhand on limited edition DVDs because they’re not available anywhere else).
I’m a little bit obsessed with the entire concept of these shows (they bill themselves as the first Shakespeare productions to contain real blood, basically), so I’m trying to translate what I can about them. I actually have a hard time watching deathmatches myself, because I struggle with the sight of blood, but my love for Shakespeare has won out . I’m planning on watching them with some friends (hence why I’m translating all this stuff, plus my strong desire to get more info out about these shows so that Shakespeare enthusiasts and such can know that they exist), so I haven’t seen any of them yet.
So far, it has been a pretty research-intense process. I’ve been transcribing stuff from the back of the DVDs and the program for Romeo vs Juliet, and some of the people in the shows have been hard to find! I have a friend who is fluent in Japanese helping do some research on the people I can’t find names for. It’s an interesting look into some experimental artists and musicians who were performing in Japan at the time.
The matches themselves all have interesting names, often with some sort of pun, which really puts my Japanese ability to the test, haha. I’m a little bit obsessed with the title of act 2 of Romeo vs Juliet: “第2幕 パリステイオーの舞闘会”. As soon as I read 舞闘会, I had to take a moment because I was so filled with awe at how Japanese could make such a thing possible.
For folks who haven’t learned the word yet, 舞闘会 is a creative spelling of 舞踏会, which means dance or ball, and which I learned thanks to WaniKani! 闘 (struggle/fight) has the same reading as 踏 (step).
Japanese is so beautiful. Pro wrestling is so beautiful. Shakespeare is so beautiful.
I had to think for a while about how to even translate that act/match name. The nuance there is entirely lost in English… I ended up going with “Paris Teioh’s Ball/Brawl”, which feels so lacking in comparison, but, well, I don’t know if there’s really a way to do it better, haha.
As of right now, I’ve managed to translate the card/cast list for all of the shows, and have started working on some of the supplemental material, like the one program I have, which talks about some of what led to these shows happening, and describes the ~lore~ leading up to Romeo vs Juliet, haha. A friend found the guidebook for Macbeth for me while she was in Japan, so I’m currently waiting on that to arrive in the mail.
Sadly, the program for King Lear (which was the first of the plays to be performed) remains elusive, so we’re going to have to go into that one relatively cold, but there is this neat review of it. A deathmatch on a bed of roses… now that is a concept.
27/1 12 pages 夜カフェ(finished chapter 7)
So I’m behind on Orange and おばちゃんたち. But both should be doable to catch up soon.
I don’t have a great excuse, but think I’m less behind than this time a week ago. And I’ve been reading more in English.
January 26
Read ユージニア (78% → 82%). There’s like 2 chapters left and I have no idea what to expect… I only wish I could read faster/longer. It’s the weekend soo it shouldn’t be that hard but something always seems to happen on weekends to keep me busy. And I also want to finish the BU$TAFELLOWS chapter time is hard.
1 月 27 日
NHK News Web Easy 
Busy day today so I couldn’t plow down to read an episode on Satorireader. Instead a scary news article! Good thing there weren’t any incidents in my area. From what they know or what’s reported at least.
Finished 推しの子 volume one. Absolutely loved it. Can’t wait to read more. Starting Blue Period.
27th jan
oh boy today was rough. combination of the 付録 and 後書 and what’s probably some lingering burnout made for very difficult reading. it’s handwritten, so deciphering some of the kanji was difficult (and in some cases impossible) for me. i pushed through, but it got to the point where continuing would have been more unhelpful than stopping, so i took a break. it’s amazing how two pages can take as long as 40 i’ll read some ace attorney scripts or play granblue later as some other practice.
no words that stuck out this time, though shoutout to the author once again including little notes about each chapter.
@nyxqueenofshadows reply:
教材 I guess?
本来
異質 maybe?
Couldn’t figure that one out either.
Pro tip: If you can read half a word, you can search in Jisho with wildcards! E.g. *材 - Jisho.org or 異 - Jisho.org* (oh this URL won’t work probably, you need to add the star at the end manually).
Looks like it is 憂き目. And I agree with you on the other words, Nicole ^^
The Tanuki Kotatsu Reading Den
January 27th
新書太閣記 progress: 04.75% // Volume I: 55.07% 
Today’s reading followed the same vein as yesterday’s: here’s this guy - but that’s not his real name, that’s his common name, his real name is this - his father is this guy who is related to this guy, but that’s not his real name either, his real name is this… and so on.
Aside from the super confusing lineages, the pace is really picking up now, with lots of deceit and secret plans and missions. Super fun.
単独「たんどく」ー Single; solo; sole
城下「じょうか」ー Land near a castle
戌「いぬ」ー Dog (Zodiac)
宏壮「こうそう」ー Grand; imposing
暫時「ざんじ」ー Short while/moment
明眸「めいぼう」ー Bright or beautiful eyes
頬杖「ほおづえ」ー Resting your chin in your hands; brace / angle brace (construction)
言葉巧み「ことばたくみ」ー Skillful words; deceitful words; silver tongued
問注所「もんちゅうじょ」ー Board of inquiry; interrogation office
Forms
愕く ＝ 驚く「おどろく」(To be surprised/astonished)
(I like the 愕く version better, the two squares look like shocked eyes and the squiggle underneath is like a weird open mouth, kanji version of: 
)
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」
– – – Childhood name: 日吉「ひよし」
– – – Childhood nickname: 猿「さる」
Volume I: 1535 - 15??
日吉「ひよし」- Hideyoshi (as child)
Nickname: 猿「さる」
Family
木下弥右衛門「きのした やえもん」- Father
– – 乙若「おとわか」- Old friend
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
– 七内「なない」- Younger brother
– Married to 松波「まつなみ」
– – 亀一「かめいち」- Son
Retainers:
– – 稲田大炊助「いなだ おおいのすけ]
– – 青山新七「あおやま しんしち」
– – 長井半之丞「ながい はんのじょう」
– – 松原内匠「まつばら たくみ」
– 国吉「くによし」- Gunsmith/blacksmith
– 渡辺天蔵「わたなべ てんぞう」- Deserter - Nobushi (Nephew to Koroku)
– 難波内記「なんば ないき」- Spy disguised as a Komuso
– 仁田彦十「にった ひこじゅう」- Subordinate
(蜂須賀正利「はちすか まさとし」- previous head of the Hachisuka clan)
Saito Clan
((questionable) Alliance with the Hachisuka clan)
斎藤 道三「さいとう どうさん」- Head of the Saito clan
– 斎藤義龍「さいとう よしたつ」(also: 高政「たかまさ」) - Son
明智 光秀「あけち みつひで」(common name: 十兵衛「じゅうべい」) - serves under Dosan
– 又市「またいち」- Underling / foot soldier
弥平治光春「やへいじ みつはら」- Retainer (cousin to Jyubei)
– 明智光安「あけち みつやす」- Father
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
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)
Jan 27, Fri of Week 5 of Winter Q1 2023 
はたらく細胞 Black Vol.5 Ch.25-27 (start volume)
うたわれるもの
詣でる
え疽
塊 (Level 45)
Day 25-26 Progress: スロー ループ - 38-47話 六巻完成!!!
Whenever I get stuck on an exceedingly simple, beginner-level sentence I just get kind of drained and demoralized because it never feels like I can write it off as not having enough practice but that I’m just actually dumb. I know it’s not productive to ruminate and better to just move on but it’s hard…
On another note, I’m about to catch up with Slow Loop tankoubons… I know I’m going to have to return to 天使様 one of these days but if anyone has any SOL/romance manga without English translations they’d like to recommend I’m all ears.
Word of the Day:
