Week total: 183 pages in 4 hours and 8 minutes.
Grand total: 668 pages in 14 hours and 43 minutes.
Finished the second volume of IDOL×IDOL STORY! I’m still enjoying this manga. I was going to start volume 3, but I felt like I should finish the third volume of 安達としまむら since I had already started that earlier.
I think I was really tired when I read chapter 15 of 安達としまむら because it took me longer than usual to read 30 pages. It could have also just been a harder chapter to read because it was more introspective/monologue-y than most chapters since it was a Shimamura POV chapter. I stopped reading at the halfway point of Chapter 16 because I thought the blank page was a chapter break, but it wasn’t. I found out the chapter kept going when I was looking up the pages on the table of context so I could write down the pages for this post. It was probably better I stopped there because Chapter 16 in its entirety is 59 pages long. I will be finishing up Chapter 16 later today.
Blasted through the final few chapters of スーと鯛ちゃん 1 (it wasn’t actually that much haha!) because I’ve been really looking forward to getting started with the second volume of ふらいんぐうぃっち / Flying Witch. I quite enjoyed my time with Sue and Tai-chan as it’s a very easy-going read but I think Flying Witch is a much better difficulty level for where I’m at and I’ll get more out of it
I also played a little bit more Animal Crossing and managed to properly trip myself up trying to translate the nonsense name that I gave my own island and then apparently forgot. A real brain fade moment of trying to get my head around a weird looking katakana word that doesn’t exist in any dictionary before realising how dumb I was being I took it as a sign to put down the switch and make my tea instead!
23/7/26 WK L:27 23 : ジャム屋さん、第7話
Daily reading done
I miss my holiday reading when I was reading 4-5 chapters of a story per day still, I am reading a chapter per day (of Satori Reader) which is great and more than I ever was before! I make sure to pat myself on the back whenever a tricky new word comes up but I get the reading right and can surmise the meaning because I know the kanji. Woot!
Have you had a look at Natively？ They have a range of books (including children’s’ ones) reviewed in terms of difficulty and interest. https://learnnatively.com/search/jpn/books/
Prior to you telling me, I have not. But I’m going to dig in a bit. Especially since I spotted “The Hungry Caterpillar” in Japanese (will have a nostalgia moment in addition to learning). That site looks like it will be extremely helpful!
had a slow day today because i was out of the house, and i still need to catch up with the absolute beginners but i’m struggling to find a e-book of it (i haven’t looked in natively yet tho so i’ll see), anyways tomorrow i have more time so i’ll do more reading:)
Came across a stomach-turning Japanese proverb today in the novel I’m reading: 爪の垢を煎じて飲む; to take a lesson from (someone serving as an example), to learn from someone’s example, to boil the dirt under (someone’s) fingernails and drink it
Wait, I thought Amos was added in the DS ver? But apparently he was an optional party member in the original too. Where did I even read that, then. Anyway, I didn’t get to them, but vol 6 has a couple chapters titled “Amos.”
Played:
・ドラクエⅨ「星空の守り人」 (220:24 ⇒ 228:53)
So, I found Yab’s site (it’s got a hoimi table; the JP site linked on the Dragon’s Den seems to be defunct, but he also linked Yab’s EN version, which works), and he’s got a grotto search. It seems that, with my highest-level map (79) and max number of revocations (1), I’ll need to be a minimum of lv 64 in any vocation to even have a chance of getting a grotto with Excalipurr, which would explain why all I’ve been getting is Atlas. My highest level is 54. So it’s back to the grind as a gladiator ig
Orgodemir is apparently considered easier than Malroth, and I’m guessing it’s because Orgo can’t crit (and his status effects can be resisted with equipment) and Malroth can raise his tension at higher levels, but I’m finding Orgo to be more difficult at lv 1. Man, can he hit hard. If I don’t get Kabuff x2 in at the beginning, he ends up killing someone nearly every round. That first time took me 17 rounds, though I managed to knock it down to 5. Anyway, I grinded him until I got a blue orb to alchemise that Tropotoga I got from Atlas. (They’re a 10% drop. It took me 18 tries. He dropped 3 pairs of Estard boots and Botts auto-stole another 2 before then.) Shion only gained 3 levels from that.
(I used a hoimi table for both of Atlas’s drops, and it worked a charm. Couldn’t figure it out for Orgo, but it seemed like I’d only need a few Heals, so I decided to just start at 0 and then increase by 1 until I got it. Got it the first time. Something apparently went wrong with Shogum, so I still don’t have the apprentice’s gloves. Apparently his summons mess with it, but I thought it was only killing them, and I took care of him first, so who knows.)
Tomorrow I’m planning on grinding 10 or so levels on the MKSs in my lv 79 map and then completing it, and then maybe. maybe I can finally get Excalipurr and complete that quest.
Finished reading 残骸少女、きらきらな世界の底第３話 today. I’m so enamoured with this series. The worldbuilding and plot setup is really starting to build in this chapter and I’m excited to see where it goes. The title is starting to make sense to me, as the story is about people finding brightness in a gloomy and dire world.
I also keep finding myself getting lost in the artwork while reading. This is the same mangaka that did the 大正 era witch manga I read in spring, and has this distinct really loose and sketchy style. I love how polished the composition and design is while retaining this unfinished look that lends it movement and contrast without using screentones. I’m super happy that this got into Yuri Hime and hope it continues for a good while.
Anyhow, the next chapter is in Yuri Hime 8, which my local shop should be getting in next week, so I’ll have to wait until then.
A few screenshots and thoughts:
I love the composition of this panel. The clear character arm against the busy sketchy buildings with the speech bubbles up in the empty space… awesome.
Aoi (on the right) has such an expressive face here that absolutely sells the break from her reserved and guarded nature for a moment of genuine vulnerability, and Ari (on the left) has the perfect contrast with her reaction.
Also just generally happy with my studying process lately. I finished all the kanji lessons for WK level 16 today, so I should be leveling up shortly. Also have been keeping up with my grammar SRSS and doing new lessons there too. Gotta keep the momentum going!
This one feels very Japanese - not just because of the sakura and shrine - but because the main object of the picture, the shrine, is heavily obscured. This is something that Hiroshige did a lot with his works, have the main object of his prints be obscured in some way.
It was hard finding a picture of this one for some reason, the blue in the book is so much more vivid though. I really like Kasamatsu’s single colour pieces.
二銭銅貨
Read about a 1/3 of the middle chapter - not read as much today as I have been a little busy.
Bookmark"
マアいい。一寸訳があるんだ。
It does! It wouldn’t feel amiss in a dungeon somewhere.
Need to look up strategies on how to beat the 大弐王亀 boss halfway through the game
Saturday was a traveling day and I didn’t read Japanese at all Sunday, July 19: I have played a bit of Zelda Wind Waker. That was actually a section with a decent amount of text, so I’ll let it count - did the second visit to 魔獣島 after getting the master sword and there’s quite a bit of dialogue in the scenes following the dungeon’s boss Monday, July 20: Played some more Zelda Wind Waker and Xenoblade Tuesday, July 21: Started volume 6 of Blue Box / アオのハコ and got up to page 86 Wednesday, July 22: Finished volume 6 of Blue Box and read one chapter of 薬屋のひとりごと 2
That’s the last volume of Blue Box I currently own. Maybe someone remembers from the spring thread how I was unsure whether to continue Blue Box after reading the first 3 volumes for free on bookwalker. Well, my feelings are still the same There are plenty things I can criticize, yet at the same time I kinda wanna know how it continues
I took it as a sign to put down the switch and make my tea instead!
July 22
Silly game making me stop reading entire June 
23 
: ジャム屋さん、第7話
still, I am reading a chapter per day (of Satori Reader) which is great and more than I ever was before! I make sure to pat myself on the back whenever a tricky new word comes up but I get the reading right and can surmise the meaning because I know the kanji. Woot!
7月22日
63% → 73%
July 23rd 
There are plenty things I can criticize, yet at the same time I kinda wanna know how it continues