Oh, so you understood the reference Sean was making, I see. 
3 Likes
say no more, i’m in 
8 Likes
If the schedule of Silver Spoon is set, then we’re good for the 31st
10 Likes
Hi everyone, the first week thread for 銀の匙 is now up! Come on by and join us at Ooezo Agricultural High School! 
15 Likes
I didn’t love it at the time, but every now and then I see it on the shelf and think, hmm, maybe I’d like to read the second volume.
Have you read the rest? Does it develop more of a plot or remain mostly slice of life?
4 Likes
I have read the whole series. I would say that the plot does develop further and the character relationships are expanded on. No Manga Time Kirara series is ever going to have a top tier story, but 紡ぐ乙女 is definitely more plot heavy that most.
4 Likes
The advantage of the triple-tie we had last time, is that the book club has been pretty much running itself for a few month now, no work for me 
I did check when we should have the next poll (around 6 weeks before the start of the book that will start after 蟲師), so that will be June 14th.
Until then feel free to nominate anytime, we have 5 spots available.
14 Likes
Can we do a tie break poll next time? I can understand picking two books at once for a club moving at this pace, but three was a bit much in my opinion.
Also, am I prohibited from nominating more manga? I already have three nominated (though one I’m reading now because I forgot I nominated it). I don’t even have anything in mind yet, but I don’t want to waste my time looking if I’m not allowed anyway.
7 Likes
Dr. STONE
Natively: Level 28
Summary
Japanese
一瞬にして世界中すべての人間が石と化す、謎の現象に巻き込まれた高校生の大樹。数千年後――。目覚めた大樹とその友・千空はゼロから文明を作ることを決意する!! 空前絶後のSFサバイバル冒険譚、開幕!!
English
One fateful day, all of humanity turned to stone. Many millennia later, Taiju frees himself from the petrification and finds himself surrounded by statues. The situation looks grim—until he runs into his science-loving friend Senku! Together they plan to restart civilization with the power of science!
Availability
Physical: Amazon
Digital: Bookwalker - can also get it for free until May 7th here.
Personal Opinion
Learn science through shonen manga! All the science! All the shonen! I’ve read the whole thing in English, and enjoyed it a bunch, and have been watching the anime as it’s released. This is, quite frankly, post-apocalyptic fiction at its finest. How do you restart modern civilisation given all of the knowledge but none of the technology? Find out here!
Pros and Cons
Pros
- About two-thirds of it has been adapted to anime (with the next cours due to start in July), so there’s plenty of episodes for listening/shadowing practice.
- Full furigana, which is handy, because whew, the science vocab.
- First volume is free for a limited time if people want to give it a try (though said limited time expires long before the next vote).
Cons
- Whew, the science vocab.
- Some of the characters are… very loud. Yes, even in print.
- At twenty-seven volumes (plus an extra single-volume side-story), it’s a fair time investment if people wanted to keep going with the whole thing.
Pictures
17 Likes
Imagine my disappointment when I checked the translation and found out that the protagonist is not, in fact, a shounen baobab.
7 Likes
Hm, let’s see if it happens again, I’ll check how people feel about that.
No I don’t see any reason to limit the number of nomination per person, go ahead if you find something 
14 Likes
I propose that in case of ties we just use the nomination date as tie breaker and pick the one that was nominated first. The rationale is that there is often a recency bias in votes that favors newer entries, so in case of ties the older nomination is effectively a stronger result. And this way we don’t have to bother with tie-breaker votes that could also result in draws.
On top of that if we settle on a systematic tie breaker ahead of time there won’t be an incentive to engineer ties for the sake of having several winners, and in fact there will be a motive to break ties if your favourite is tied with an older nomination you like less.
I realize that I’m starting a debate that is not very timely but I think it’s better to decide before the vote rather than during or after.
27 Likes
This is actually a really good idea …
12 Likes
Elegant solution, I like it too
12 Likes
I want to immediately have your system implemented in all clubs, please. Sounds like a great idea to me!
14 Likes
I don’t have a strong opinion one way or the other on that specific proposal, but discouraging people from creating artificial ties would definitely be an improvement.
20 Likes
あかね噺 1
Natively: Level 29
Summary (from Wikipedia)
Growing up, Akane admired her father and his rakugo, a traditional Japanese form of storytelling where a lone performer, called a rakugoka, depicts a long, complicated, and usually funny story involving multiple characters, who are distinguished by changes in pitch, tone, slight turns of the head, and hand movements, all while sitting in place. But when she was in elementary school, her father and all the other applicants were expelled from the Arakawa School during the promotional test to obtain rakugo’s third and highest rank of shin’uchi. Six years later, Akane, who had been secretly receiving lessons from her father’s former master, sets out to become a shin’uchi of the Arakawa School to avenge her father and prove rakugo is a legitimate profession.
Availability
Personal Opinion
I think rakugo is a traditional Japanese art that’s not that well known in the west. I want to learn more about rakugo and I think this manga is an interesting way to learn more. It has also been translated to English.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- High rating on Natively
- A chance to learn about a piece of Japanese culture that’s not that well known in the west.
- Furigana
Cons
- ??
Pictures
24 Likes
As I’m steadily falling further behind in book clubs, I’m grateful to see the latest nominations have the lowest number of words I know, meaning if they’re picked, I can skip a couple more reads =D
8 Likes
Ooo, I’ve been reading that one in English. Been finding it a lot of fun, especially they way they show the different characters that the storytellers are portraying. I’ve been considering visiting the Rakugo Cafe in Jinbocho on my next visit to Japan, though I’m sure I won’t be able to keep up with the storyteller at all.
Yeah, I’ve noticed. 
12 Likes