I ended buying the first volume… where did his clothes go?? He doesn’t have any bag from there on.
Don’t worry about it! Thank you for sharing; I feel bad I insisted 
6 Likes
You just made me buy the first volume (among other stuff from here).
This thread has been a mistake for my wallet.
9 Likes
Exciting! Hope you enjoy 
“let me solicit recommendations from the entire forums” - yes, I imagine that would be 
7 Likes
Don’t use logic on manga! Also, set your expectations appropriately. This is not a transgender or other LGBT story. Just a het romance that happens to feature some crossdressing.
(It’s also available fully for free on pixiv if you don’t care about the occasional bonus chapters)
5 Likes
Thanks for the warning!
That sounds great. That’s a hefty price tag they put on it.
5 Likes
Unfortunately this year I don’t have many fav 
The only book I rated 5 stars is
誰が勇者を殺したか 預言の章
not many people like it but personally I enjoy it and can’t wait to read book 3 when it’s comes out 
There are also three series I loved that were 4-star, and I’m gonna keep reading them. They are
only one month until 2025, I really hope I can find a new fav
8 Likes
I think, in no particular order, these were my favourites this year:
きらきらひかる
おいしいごはんが食べられますように
むらさきのスカートの女
And in manga (but I only read 2 manga 
)
ギョ 1
7 Likes
I remember you (? I guess) mentioning it in the daily reading thread and thinking that it’s probably about fish, with a title like that. And it is
Yeeeeessss.
I have seen the other two being mentioned before, but since they are mentioned together, I guess I’ll just blindly add them to my wishlist 
The first volume is one of the only physical books I bought this year… and it’s been on my shelf since then (to the point that I even forgot about it). I should probably get to that, huh. Someday.
8 Likes
Most of the books I’ve read this year have been from the Zenitendo series but I’m enjoying looking at everyone’s recommendations and fattening up my wishlist 
8 Likes
If you pick it and like it please let me know
I need to talk about it with someone 
4 Likes
Great idea for a thread @Naphthalene!
Manga
- 椎名くんの鳥獣百科 1 | L26 - I only actually read one volume of this, as opposed to the multiple volumes/full series of the others, but it hit so many of the right notes for me that it’s somehow made it to my number one spot for manga this year. ^o^
- 東京ミュウミュウ オーレ! | L25 - I’m a little surprised I enjoyed this as much as I did, honestly. It’s nothing but cute fluff, but what can I say; can’t say no to cute magical boys.
- 漫画「天官賜福」日本語翻訳版 第1巻 | L32 - Makes it on my list for the artwork alone.
Honorable Mentions
- 光が死んだ夏 | L25 - While this didn’t up being the exact shade of horror I was looking for, I enjoyed it nevertheless! Immediately picking up volumes 2-5 after reading volume 1, and will definitely pick up volume 6 after it drops in a few days.
- 魔法少年なつき×らびっツ | L24 - Speaking of cute magical boys…
Novels
Well, apparently I’ve read a total of four Natively-designated novels this year, and looking back, I don’t think I’d call any of them a favorite. They were all enjoyable, but not much I’m as likely to think fondly back on. Small shout-out to あなたも殺人犯になれる! | L27 for being easy to read and surprisingly entertaining.
Light Novels
Hmm. And looking back at the eight I’ve read thus far, aside from the continually in-progress FLESH & BLOOD | L35, I’m not sure that any particularly stood out to me. 薬屋のひとりごと 2 | L38 in general was great, but I need to work a bit more to get comfortable enough with the language to make it a smoother read.
Children’s Books
Normally this wouldn’t be a category for me, but I ended up listening to more than I usually would due to the listening challenges, and I can pretty easily say that デルトラ・クエスト 1 沈黙の森 | L26 was my favorite. There’s just something about classic fantasy I really enjoy, and it was nice to revisit this book.
Hmm. You know, looking at all that, it’s a bit sad to have so many sections where none of the books I read felt all that impactful. Like, they were fine, but I guess I read less stuff I loved year than I’d realized. That’s just how it goes, of course, but perhaps I need to keep this in mind when planning my 2025 reading. 
12 Likes
Haha yes it is indeed. From recollection, the author Junji Ito said watching Jaws inspired him to make a horror manga around fish . So I’d say imagine Jaws but from a more crazy horror world.
I’ve built up far too much of a backlog of books to order any more this year, but I am hoping to read this next year!
6 Likes
Oh, I have to wish list it immediately.
1 Like
Looking at what I read this year there aren’t really any that super stand out as favourites. So here’s some “best in a subcategory” books:
Best book I would never have read if it hadn’t been recommended on the forum: 小さいおうち | L40 – my reading tends towards genre fiction, so I would never have found this without these forums, but I really enjoyed it.
Best book club book: 悪魔が来りて笛を吹く | L38 – a decent Kindaichi mystery that we read at a good pace and with plenty of active club discussion.
Best Akagawa Jirou book: 黒い森の記憶 | L30 – because it was an interesting divergence from what I think of as “classic Akagawa”, and it kept up the suspense and mystery pretty well.
Best spooky book: 異神千夜 | L34 – I don’t like horror, but I do like a good spooky Japanese youkai influenced ghost story. Close runner up: きつねのはなし | L32
Best next installment in a series I’ve been reading for years: ビブリア古書堂の事件手帖IV ~扉子たちと継がれる道~ | L30?? – I’ve not liked the second Tobirako-focused series as much as the original series, but this was a good one, with a story that spanned the whole book and dealing with an author I was familiar with.
15 Likes
