July 18th!
Chapter 3 of 玉藻の恋 today. I’m reading it a little early since I’m reading with the ABBC and they dont start the first half of chapter 3 until this weekend - but since I reached the end of Chapter 4 of Orange now seemed like a good time to start my next set of bookclub readings.
July 17th
| Title | Type | Progress |
|---|---|---|
| サマータイムレンダ Another Horizon | VN | 76%-82% |
| 月の影影の海 上 | Book | p35‐72 |
I found that the book got a bit harder to read as the fantastical stuff got into full swing. There was a long action sequence where I wasn’t too clear when visualizing certain things (and I think it was mainly a parsing/ complexity of sentences issue over vocab limitations), and some of that was because I couldn’t just think about realistically what could possibly be happening.
Also the other main “good” guy is so rude to the protagonist. I hope he gets friendlier/ some nicer characters are introduced soon because I just feel sorry for her the whole time 
Yesterday I also ran into the words 黄泉戸喫 (よもつへぐい) [what is with those kanji readings?] and 山彦. I doubt I will remember them, but thought they were interesting.
I had a dream I was driving a manual car and I was so bad at it and the clutch was really hard to push down, and first gear didn’t work at all for some reason?? I originally learnt to drive on a manual but I’m clearly [at least subconsciously] slightly worried about driving my parents’ car when I visit them next month. Although part of me is looking forward to roads that are not needlessly wide with a completely unnecessary number of lanes…
18th july
 |
Title | Type | Natively | Progress |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
テイルズ・オブ・シンフォニア | manga | 24 | pg 53-end |
 |
ブレイブリーデフォルト | game | N/A | 5 journal entries |
 |
axiom’s end | eng book | N/A | pg 74-95 |
 |
aDoAJG | grammar | N/A | pg 84-92 |
aDoAJG entries were どころではない and ども
this nhk article
tales was actually a lot more enjoyable (if understandably rushed) than i was expecting, and easier too! (aside from one character). i might look into getting the game at some point. i’ve got berseria but i’ve been deep in the 龍が如く games for like a year and a half now so i’ve not had chance to get to it (or anything else…) yet.
bravely default:
キュラッサ - cuirass
小手 - gauntlet
斬撃 - slash, slashing attack
白兵戦 - hand-to-hand combat
要所要所 - all important positions, every key point
tales:
照会 - enquiry, inquiry, referral (to doctor/court)
障壁 - obstacle, barrier, enclosing wall
I was so sad when I finished Vol. 1 of よつばと that I immediately ordered the entire series…a couple of years later I’m still only on Vol. 4 but just looking at them lined up on my shelf makes me happy.
7月17-18日
Once again “if you start before midnight it counts as reading for both days”! Brain isn’t in peak form today, so it’s slow progress, but I really wanted to sell potions, so here I am.
There were a few distractions along the way, but reading 
| Reading | Type | Status | |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
原罪物語 -罪- | LN | 44/252 |
 |
ノーゲーム・ノーライフ 1 | LN | 21/301 |
 |
VA-11 Hall-A | Steam game | Day 2 out of ?? |
 |
Little Witch in the Woods | Steam game | Month 3 day 8 out of ?? |
 |
Potion Craft | Steam game | Day 29 out of ?? |
Today’s reading: p. 50-55 of よつばと! Vol. 4.
超える: こえる: to pass through, to overcome
バシャバシャ: splish-splash
平気: へいき: cool, composed
触る: さわる: to touch, to feel
ともかく: anyhow; apart from
なんとも: extremely, awfully
グイグイ: (pushing or pulling) strongly
ワシャワシャ: ruffling, tousling
乾く: かわく: to get dry
賛成: さんせい: approval, support, agreement
Having them on your shelf is a visible and motivating goal. 
Now that Japan Post has reopened, looks like shipping packages from overseas is fairly cheap again. I’m planning to buy the entire series, too!
| 07月16-18日 | Type: | Progress: | |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
ブルーロック Vol 3 | Manga | 126 pages, Complete! |
|
ブルーロック 戦いの前、僕らは。 潔・凪・蜂楽 | Light Novel | 000 → 007/208pgs |
Completed Vol 3 of Bluelock, only another checks shelf twenty one volumes to go.
One of my main Japanese goals for the year, alongside taking the N4, was to read my first book, so I’ve also made a start on one of the Bluelock light novels. It’s partial furigana, but I’m hoping the vocab I’m picking up from the manga will show up a lot and help there. Going to be taking that pretty slow, one or two pages a day.
Gotta make 'em last! New volumes are released so slowly 
Some last-minute reading before bed 
Added Natively levels to my home post and check-ins.
 |
からかい上手の高木さん 2 | L17 | p. 1-20・13% |
Home post // July 18 
・本好きの下剋上 18 (15.0%-> 18.0%) | 5.8k characters (35445 / 197k char.)
Today was very weird. I’ve never felt as lightheaded as I did this morning. Ate breakfast and got ready as usual, went to work, got there. After a short while I started feeling really unwell, my hands were cold, my heart was pounding. I felt like I was going to pass out. Had to lie down on the floor. Coworker was really nice and bought soda for me. It was very effective.
Started feeling better after half an hour, but in no shape for doing work, so I was sent home. I’m feeling better now, but I’m a bit worried for tomorrow. I hope this won’t happen again.
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 仁王立ち | |
| 不埒 | |
| えげつない |
July 18 | Home post
Back to Island today, and I can’t put it down! 6000 characters so far and I still want to keep on reading, even though it’s almost midnight. Just one more line, just one more, just until the end of this scene, just… No doubt that I have found my kind of media now. I’m really looking forward to reading Japanese, to immerse, to read more and more and more, and that’s how my Japanese will keep on improving too, as long as I’m reading.
 |
Title | Progress | Length | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
あつまれどうぶつの森 | +1:00 | ゲーム |
Been watching a streamer play some animal crossing lately and it made me want to dig out the switch. I started an island before I joined my first read every day challenge in fall 2022 and never made it further than a few days in 
With a lot of the qol updates it’s nicer to play than it was at launch for sure. I still think I prefer gamecube versions for less “in control of everything” vibe, but for language learning, honestly the switch version would probably have a bunch of good N3-ish stuff. If you read all the nook miles rewards and business-y/government type stuff, there’s practice short reading prompts almost everywhere you look! Lots of funny N1 words, but also has full furigana. Switch has significantly more and significantly more complex language than the gc versions for sure
I wasn’t sure if I was gonna count this or not because I was just kinda messing around, but then I realized I’d added like 8 new cards from it already today, so probably worth counting
I have several series of Manga & one light novel series sitting on my bookshelf - all unread. I started WK in order to be able to read them without too many stops & look-ups. Not quite ready to take on that challenge yet, but maybe by the end of the year….
July 18
Well, I’ve finished the first volume of よつばと! earlier than I wanted to. 
It was very enjoyable. It actually made me laugh a lot of times, and I looked forward to reading each chapter.
Since I’ll have to wait to order the next volumes of the set, I guess for the meantime I can read something of a higher level a little out of my comfort zone. Maybe finally Shirokuma Cafe (L22) or Dragonball (L22). Or might just stick to the Tadoku graded readers and focus on finishing Robinson Crusoe…
 |
Club | Title | Type | Progress |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Natively | ふしぎ駄菓子屋 | prose | 126 → 129/148pgs |
Just remembered I also read this week’s Tamamo no koi but I’m too lazy to edit the table.
19 July | Study Log
 |
Title | Type | Natively | Progress |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
ダンジョン飯１０ | manga | 30 | 0 → 16% |
 |
悪役令嬢おじさん１ | manga | 28 | 55% ( ) |
 |
紡ぐ乙女と大正の月 1 | manga | 29 | 82% () |
July 17
| Type | Done today | Progress |
|---|---|---|
| ロジカとラッカセイ volume 1 | Chapter 6 7 | 7/8 chapters |
| ふしぎ駄菓子屋 | 1.4k characters | 12.4/42k characters |
July 18
| Type | Done today | Progress |
|---|---|---|
| ロジカとラッカセイ volume 1 | Chapter 8 | Finished! |
| 雨でも晴れでも | Page 45-66 | ⅕ chapters |
| ふしぎ駄菓子屋 | 1.k characters | 13.4/42k characters |
Me too; they are incentives! I have the entire Midnight Diner series, all of Yotsuba and Shirokuma Cafe (both of which I’ve read some of), and several others. They look so enticing; they are on the most prominent shelf in my office so I am constantly inspired. (And they’re so pretty…)
Today I reached my daily quota of 10 new vocabulary items in the space of just 2 pages of よつばと！ Vol. 4. This chapter on fishing is very interesting, but I’m wondering how much use I will get out of some of this vocab. (I guess when i eventually play Stardew Valley in Japanese?)
焚き火: たきび: open-air fire
炭火: すみび: charcoal fire
さばき: handling, -work
だばだば: pouring out in large amounts
えら: gills
内臓: ないぞう: internal organs
引っ張り出す: ひっぱりだす: to take out, to drag out
くねる: to wriggle, to bend loosely back and forth
串: くし: spit, skewer
出来上がり: できあがり: completion, result, workmanship
