Nothing stood out about it grammatically so far… So I think it’s probably around that level, based on Ch 1
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I’m liking the set up. I didn’t have much of an issue with the 3rd person narration once I figured out the name of the main character, but then I’m used to that style of narration from the majority of the books I’ve read so far.
I feel like we’re going to get a shed load of information about 弓道 and probably more 神社 terms too as the book goes on (which I’m happy about since I have an interest in both anyway).
Really the only thing I know about this book is what’s in the blurb so I have very few expectations for how this will play out.
Off on a tangent about how I feel my reading skills are
So, I think most of my issues are going to come from not knowing the meanings of the words instead of not knowing the readings. I’ve just finished the first chapter (which I feel kinda sets up the story quite nicely as well as the few characters we’ve met so far), but it’s taking me average of about 10m per page with all the look ups. I’m guessing that will get easier as I continue with it. Granted the grammar doesn’t seem that difficult for me and the dialogue was fine.
To be fair, this will be the first book I’ve read around that level where I actually understood the sentences minus the new vocab without having to look up full sentences (Zoo book 1 and キノの旅 I was having to check grammar as well and only understood about 60% or so of it).
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I definitely hope that will be the case
Basically the summary of chapter 1, minus the conversation with her family at the end 
Same, on the few expectations
Glad the grammar level seems to be fine so far 
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Random question about the reading of some of the wording for a particular sentence that threw me for six.
Page 23, line 5, first section of the dialogue
「真田の真は真実の真、」
I’m guessing it’s read as in the brackets below?
真田（さなだ）の真（さな）は真実（しんじつ）の真 （しん）、
This is my first time coming across this kind of explanation but I’m guessing they are explaining how to write their name?
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Yeah you got it… I kept wanting to read 真 as ま (like with 真っ直ぐ)… which didn’t work lol
Yeah, it’s the standard way to explain what kanji are in a name or unfamiliar word, when you’re speaking… Really keeps you on your toes as a learner lol
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I keep wanting to read it as しん from 真実. I totally forgot about in being ま in 真っ直ぐ
I remember my language exchange partner telling me his name like that but I just thought it was because I was a learner, didn’t realise this was a standard thing.
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I find it funny how Marimite and this book both reference the greenery of Musashino right on their first page.
Marimite
武蔵野の面影を未だに残している緑の多いこの地区で、神に見守られ、幼稚舎から大学までの一環教育が受けられる乙女の園。
This book
それまで楓が住んでいた名古屋の都心部に比べて、このあたりは緑が多い。公園や民家の庭や道路脇などいたるところに、樹齢一〇〇年くらいはありそうな太くて大きなケヤキやイチョウの樹を目にする武蔵野の雑木林の名残だ、と母は言っていた。
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Makes me think I should look up some more about 武蔵野 
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Ended up re-reading a few pages from yesterday dealing with all the parts of the bow as it went way over my head til I found a handy image online with the names of them, so hopefully that will help for later too.
11 and a bit pages left in the 2nd chapter so hoping to finish that today if possible.
Edit: I managed to finish the last of the chapter and was pleasantly surprised at how much I’m about to actually understand without as many look ups. I don’t know if it’s just getting easier to read or if I’m actually retaining more as I go.
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Finished chapter 2. Lots of 弓道 vocab of course. Otherwise I feel like we’re still in the setup portion. So I can relate to the MC’s feeling of “I just wanna shoot already!!” - and I appreciate that it’s been portrayed in the way it has.
It was cute seeing how happy the guy was that she’s attending, and then her skipping away happily after their conversation. I assume there will be some romance down the line… 知らんけど (and I wouldn’t mind being totally wrong)
I’m curious to see just how 人見知り she actually is, as the story progresses. So far it doesn’t seem so intense
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Poor Kaede, Frederic is putting her to shame 
「はい、ワタシ、日本に来る前に練習しました。日本人、正座する。できないとシツレイ」
Also, this passage about anime reminded me of decade-old holy wars on forums about whether anime can be considered cartoons or if it’s its own thing. For the Japanese, every cartoon is anime, but in the West, ‘anime’ specifically refers to Japanese cartoons only.
「いえ、フランスから来ました。こっちの大学で勉強をしています。弓道のことは、アニメで知りました。とても楽しみ」
テレビに出てくる外国人タレントのような流暢な日本語でモローは答えた。
「アニメって日本の？」
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I had the same thought
In general, enjoyed that section… since that is how I discovered Kyudo (probably from Fate/Stay Night, or maybe looking up why Sinon’s (SAO) hand position was “weird”, back in the day), and decided it was cool. I’ve always liked archery in the first place tho.
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Finished chapter 3. It was much shorter than the previous one, and mostly provided some background info about other characters, and one solid infodump from Maeda-sensei. It was fun to see how she was breaking things down for Frederick. I could see myself in his position 
.
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I’m curious to see what info dumping looks like in a non-fantasy setting Feel like the book has been pretty balanced with giving technical info so far.
Should be able to make some progress over the weekend. So guess I’ll see then
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Finished Chapter 4. Unexpectedly, Kaede didn’t outright join the club. Overall, her composed portrayal is rather refreshing. She doesn’t seem all that shy around people, and she didn’t lose her cool after witnessing the boy in question with the local 美少女。 So far, I’m enjoying the absence of typical teenage drama.
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Interesting. Making me look forward to catching up tonight!
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Finished Chapter 5. This one is relatable to a lot of people, if I had to guess. Most of us have probably experienced being part of a larger friend group that eventually split into smaller, tighter-knit circles while still preserving the bigger group, even though it doesn’t quite feel the same as it did.
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Ch 3 thoughts - that was quite the info dump. A lot of it I already knew. I appreciate how they defined a lot of the harder words via the “foreigner doesn’t know these things”, and thus split it up with conversation rather than the overly long paragraphs that fantasy novels often do
Also I appreciate the interplay of how having someone else who’s only partially knowledgeable helps teach Kaede about her own culture. I’ve been on both sides of that kinda thing before - and it’s nice to have your knowledge and perspective expanded like that
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Chapters 6 and 7 done.
It was pretty weird how 善美 whisked Kaede away and basically forced her to participate. I didn’t quite understand why she was like “I told you so, I’ll bring her” to her brother. It doesn’t seem like they are too desperate for members or anything.
The relevant definition of 道行 (mentioned in ch. 7 as a traditional women’s coat) seems to be missing from JMdict, so this will be my first attempt to contribute 
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The numbering is driving me nuts (has been the whole time)… Like if it’s paperwork or something I get it, but why write someone’s dialogue with ー○○○円 or 五〇〇円… just write 千円 or 五百円 already!!
Not the end of the world, I just keep misreading the numbers momentarily
Ch 4 thoughts
Yeah I figured right away it was the same boybイツヤ
I liked the part about her feeling kind of exhausted after imagining them as a couple and stuff… And her not wanting to bring drama into the doujo… I feel you my fellow 人見知り friend
Interesting she’s the only one who didn’t sign up
せっかく面倒みたのに、期待を裏切った、と思われていないだろうか。
Oof I felt that
I’m sad she didn’t continue right away, but it’s realistic. And obviously she’ll pick it up eventually.
Yeah it’s like normal shy - not extreme anime shy, so far. You can tell she has some social anxiety tho.
There wasn’t really any reason for her to. But I agree it’s refreshing compared to other novels that thrive on teen drama
I do really appreciate that the chapters are fairly short so far. Not that I need to have a formal 一段落, but like it’s nice when it’s there
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