Just a small query here. I have recently recieved a copy of the January 2023 Saikyo Jump from my friend for Christmas (first time seeing them this year) and I also have the first three volumes of Your Lie in April which I received from my brother.
I was wondering if anyone knew what sort of reading level these two books/mangas are so that I have an idea of when I would realistically be able to read them somewhat comfortably (looking up any missing kanji when encountered).
Hopefully this is enough info for someone to help out, thanks!
I’m afraid I can’t answer for you, but you’ll need to give a bit more information like how much vocab you know and how much grammar you’ve studied too.
Just learning kanji in the vacuum of wanikani isn’t enough to be able to read, sadly (it’d make the whole process a lot easier!)
I read some volumes of Your Lie in April and it’s not that hard. There are some music related words used in the manga, which you will need to look up. But it’s probably one of the easier manga to read.
a lot of people in the reading threads and book clubs like to use https://learnnatively.com/ to get the approximate level of readings, but that works better once you have some more readings to compare them to.
Your lie in april is a level 23 on natively , meaning it’s probably going to be a bit challenging as a first manga compared to something like ruridragon (level 18) or yotsuba (level 17), but not as hard as most seinen/josei manga (tend to be closer to level 30), and not as hard some popular childrens’ books like kiki’s delivery service (level 25) or yoru cafe (level 24).
Ultimately, those ratings are subjective, though, and they work off a pretty low sample size. So, the best way to figure out if something is readable for you is just to try reading it! If it’s too hard for you now, you can always shelve it for a while and come back later