Hmm that might be a way to go - tho 180 per day is still a solid amount!
I go through phases with SRS, but mostly I try to leave it for when I’m procrastinating, tempted to scroll social media, or trying to fall asleep
Maybe I’ll try bumping my proper nouns deck to 4 a day 
It’s definitely about as much as I’m happy doing: I spread it out over the day so usually two or three bigger lumps of 50-60 reviews, and then odd lots of 10 or 20 when I get up from my desk and walk over to the kitchen to get coffee. It’s oddly harder at weekends because I don’t have the same set of “this is a 5 to 10 minute block where I’m walking down some corridors in the office building at work and can do reviews on my phone” habits ingrained.
I’ve finished ch 4 now, and what a delight that was!
Ch 3 was rather quirky. A lot of exposition, but an interesting conclusion & useful lesson. Any has become rather interesting at this point
Ch 4 was a real delight! Seeing Jo do well at her writing 
It’s interesting how the anime took an element of this (her writing regularly for the Spread Eagle), and actually showed the whole process of that happening (tho much earlier chronologically). I feel like the pacing in this book has been quicker overall, which is nice in a way
I could simply be reading too much into this, but it feels like there’s some foreshadowing in this chapter, of something I’ve seemingly been spoiled on (but have no idea when it occurs). It’s entirely possible that’s a next book event anyway.
I loved the final paragraph: 「キーツみたいな天才じゃないんだから、死ぬほどのこともないんだわ」彼女はきっぱりと言った。「結局、笑うのはこっちのことだわ。だって、実際の生活からありのままとった部分は、ありうべからざる不合理なことだって非難されるし、私のけちな頭ででっちあげたところは『いみじくも自然、かつやさしく、真実である』なんてほめられるんだもの。いいわ、私はそれで満足しよう。準備ができたら出直して別なものを書くことにしよう」
The next chapter is 2 hrs 15 min, and it says I have 30 hrs left. Which means I’m probably reading a bit ahead of the earlier time estimate. That’s a bit surprising. I’m not focused on it too much, but seeing the number to down as I turn the page, and how much time is left, does help spur me on at times. I’m assuming chapter 5 is a Beth chapter, since she’s the only one who hasn’t had one yet
Edit: and I made some progress on one letter. Hopefully will get both out this week
Haven’t gotten much reading done yet today, b/c I wasted time reorganizing my bookcases for hours earlier (to mostly poor affect, at that) 
… but just finished my first conversation-only lesson, and that was so much fun! This was very definitely the right choice. I was worried we were gonna hit a lull in conversation, but we never did for more than a moment or two… which is a testament to my teacher, cuz I can barely do that irl half the time 
She mentioned a kinda odd book that she’s planning to read 菊と刀 The Chrysanthemum and the Sword (ラダー Level 3) | L30??
Anyway seems like chapter 5 is a Meg chapter - Meg & John adjusting to married life, and I’m curious to see just what the author will make of it!
Finished ch 5 finally - that was stressful! Comprehension did pretty well. 26.5 hrs left, which really makes me question Kindle’s calculation… Cuz I made sure to read Ch 5 at a moderate pace. But I’d rather see the number dive down like that than the other way around 
. Unless I get some really solid reading in the next 4 days straight, I’ll probably finish it next week
I’m glad she wrote this chapter - it’s probably a good illustration, especially with Meg having gotten engaged at 17 (with parental consent), and married at 20! There was soooo much about this chapter that made me really uncomfortable though (my parents had a very unpleasant marriage for much of my life, with financial struggles, a 10 year age gap, and my mom getting married around that age) - but I thought it was about as realistic as this series gets, and it’s nice that she portrayed them working out their issues constructively. Still the power imbalance (housewife vs salaryman) and a lot of Meg’s
mentality really worried me. Thankfully John is far from abusive.
I was really surprised that she had 2 kids at the end, and even more surprised that anybody thought Demi was a good nickname for the boy, but w/e. Also the use of Uncle Rori was amusing. Obviously in JP it’s 伯父ちゃん either way - so I wouldn’t have noticed it there
It looks like the next chapter involves Jo and maybe Amy? So looking forward to that! Any Jo chapter is a good chapter, as far as I’m concerned
Ch 6 turned out to be largely setup… Jo & Amy’s little debate. I can certainly understand both’s perspectives, and agree/relate more with Jo than Amy - but I can’t say I haven’t adapted some of Amy’s as I’ve gotten older. I have some more thoughts on that, and the mix of conservative, but also egalitarian, aspects in this series (some of which are obviously just a product of 19th Century US) - but I’m in too much pain to get them out clearly rn.
While I’m not too fussed about reading time, I am curious to compare how Kindle’s estimates line up, as I get further in the book. So I’ll add to this table as I go. I suppose Ch 6 will throw it off somewhat, until I stop being in pain
| Chapter | to finish chapter | to finish book |
| — | — |
| 5 | | 26.5 |
| 6 | 1.5 | 25.5 |
On a different note, I started playing 魔法使いの夜 - which is really enjoyable, tho slightly harder than I’d like. I’ll probably try to play a little each day. I’d do more, but don’t want to distract from 若草物語
Temporarily dropped 明日の世界で星は煌めく 2 | L28 until I’m done with 若草物語 2 (or possibly the whole series). Feel a little bad about that, but こいものがたり and トーマの心臓 already are enough on my plate, and I just haven’t felt inclined to read 明日の世界で星は煌めく lately. Maybe I’ll randomly feel inclined to catch up, and then update. But I’m trying to keep my Reading list clean, so I marked that + 対ありでした。 ~お嬢さまは格闘ゲームなんてしない~ 1 | L28 as stopped (since I’m only reading that once every 2 weeks, no sense cluttering the list)
I’m 71% through now, which is further than I expected to be. So I’ll probably manage to finish this weekend, despite D&D taking away from my reading time tomorrow. Then I’ll do this week’s クラにか and at some point こいものがたり
On one hand I appreciate the chapters about Meg & John with the difficulty of parenting and relationship issues all, but at the same time they’re really boring to read
Everyone coming to Amy’s rescue with the fair was cool, as was Amy ending it on amicable terms.
I don’t understand why Jo writing thrillers was such a bad thing, or any different than what she was already doing. If anything I see it as a good thing, since she was earning money for herself/her family - which is not easy to do with writing. I gather the author feels a bit jaded about writing, given how all of Jo’s professional opportunities have been “we’ll publish it, if you take out all the parts you like”. I know the author didn’t even want to write these books in the first place… which is amazing, considering how they turned out
But glad she became friends with the professor. Seemed like it was hinting that they’ll become a couple down the road, which if so, this author really has a thing for age gaps Her time in New York was surprisingly boring, which as a current resident, I found a bit baffling
I was glad of the way Jo turned Laurie down. And it was cool to see Jo actually engage with the prospect of romance and marriage so maturely, instead of just shutting the conversation down at once. Like it wasn’t just “love is dumb, I don’t want to be bothered with it”. Also I love how the conversation did start with her going “please don’t say it” - and then Laurie’s (maybe not so) off-base worry that she was gonna say she was in love with the professor.
I was surprised how much I enjoyed Amy’s first Europe chapter. I’m usually pretty iffy on both Amy & travel chapters. I think it was a little messed up of the aunt not to invite Jo - but it’s also understandable
At first I thought Amy x Laurie was going to fast, but the 2nd chapter totally flipped my perception of that. I really enjoyed seeing her tell him about how she’d come to be disgusted with him, and how the rest of the family would too - since it came from a place of love. Amy has certainly grown up quite a bit. Their relationship development still feels a little too narratively convenient though. Seemingly this will be the one non-age gap
And yeah, stuff with Beth was going exactly where I thought it was (well to be fair 青い花 slightly spoiled it for me). I still think the author should have written her another chapter or two that wasn’t just about her being sick. I feel like she got the least screentime of anyone (besides the dad - but that’s fine, cuz he makes me uncomfortable). Otoh, I cried repeatedly through her last two chapters. Also it’s kinda messed up they didn’t write everyone to tell them to come home… Like I imagine the Lawrence fam & Any especially are gonna feel pretty messed up when they get back… Like if be pretty upset if my family didn’t tell me my sister was literally on the brink of death (I know they’d been giving her periodic updates, but still). It’s seems next chapter addresses this, and it’s not quite what I thought
I hope this doesn’t mean Jo is giving up her writing or anything
Looks like next chapter is a Laurie chapter, and I expect it will be rather enjoyable
Anyway this means it takes me about a week per book, and I should manage to finish all 4 by the end of the month. Then catch up with 明日の世界
For a variety of reasons, I got far less reading some today than I was hoping. Kindle says I have 5.5 hrs left now - so Monday will probably be my final day
Ch 18 turned out to be a Laurie x Amy chapter that was sweet, and addressed my issues around them seemingly both being uninformed of Beth"s death. Their reactions felt rather a bit unrealistic, but the main focus (romance) was convincing enough
Jo chapter is a lot of things, and some of them felt rather hard to swallow.
This portion of the story does feel very “let’s just marry everybody off nice and neatly”, and I feel rather conflicted about it. Anyway, it’s increasingly clear that the professor will be Jo’s husband in the end
Otoh Amy was supposed to come back home in the spring, and I feel fairly confident that enough time has passed where that should have happened. I guess everybody just permanently moved overseas?
Yet again for through very little today. It says I have 3.75 hrs left
Amy & Laurie got married without telling anyone?! (From a narrative approach I like this - nice variety)
Jo & Laurie conversation was soooo good
Professor showing up with that timing is just so stupid and unbelievable
Had 2nd 会話だけ lesson yesterday. I was worried it would be awkward, but this lesson too, we didn’t run out of things to talk about (yet again, to my teacher’s credit - she’s very good at keeping the conversation going). Still feel frustrated at wanting to say something, not being able to say it, and then afterwards finding out that it was something really obvious, and I just wasn’t generating it on the spot… like I forgot the word 近い for a whole while…
I am kinda thinking it might be interesting to record the lesson, so I can listen back to it afterwards, to write down phrases of interest - or phrases to lookup. Granted, I’d have to put up with hearing my own voice… But I think I could tolerate it?
I think I’m gonna pause on 若草物語 after finishing book 2 (books 1 & 2 are a single story, books 3 & 4 are sequels with a different focus), and I think it will be a good idea for me to go back to easier reads, and save the next two for after my reading has improved a bit… But I guess I’ll see when the story wraps up
Ch 21 - Amy & Laurie get all worked up about being philanthropically inclined
Ch 22 - Meg’s kids, I skimmed then skipped the final portion, cuz I just don’t care about them
Ch 23-24 left - 2.5 hrs. Hopefully work will be quiet, and I can read instead
I finally finished!! Don’t have much specific to say on the last 2 chapters. The stuff with how Jo and the professor got together - and like why he just randomly showed up years later was finally fleshed out to an extent I could be satisfied with. It’s still not my favorite part of the book, and I wish the author had dropped some of that info earlier, but I like where she ended up, and the ending was great! I did like the temporary misunderstanding and both thinking the other didn’t like them, while they were in town together on the last day. Also I’m glad the author didn’t feel the need to write Jo and Amy’s weddings - I feel like I would have gotten bored with the repetition. Anyway, what a great read! I’m not continuing to book 3 rn
Picking up 青い花 3 | L26 first instead of 花物語 | L31 - cuz my brain just craves something fast & easy for a bit rn, and now I’ve got クラにか, 明日の世界で 2, こいものがたり, and トーマの心臓 to catch up with (thankfully I have a 5 day weekend this week 
). Plus I have to finally catch up with my letter writing!
明日の世界で星は煌めく 2 | L28 is fine, but hard to catch everything in real time. I think just reading would be better for my comprehension, but it’s good listening practice to do it with the audio, and I need more of that
こいものがたり 2 | L26 is going much better - my only real issue at this point is speaker identification, and I think that’s a flaw in the work (even if I could also be better at it)
クラスで2番目に可愛い女の子と友だちになった | L27 is fine of course, tho I wish the pacing were faster. Lookups are usually 0-3 per page, though have gone up as high as 9 on one page
トーマの心臓 | L30 continues to be hard - I could not read this without translation. The sentences are so fragmented, and btwn that + sometimes lack of kanji and stuff, my comprehension is just so variable on my own. It’s the sorta thing where I think I understand, but actually I was kinda off the mark, a lot of the time.
ロックは淑女の嗜みでして S1 | L26 latest ep was amazing. I caught a lot/most of it without subs, but would like to rewatch and see if I can do better this time
神無月の巫女 S1 | L30?? was mostly fine. I missed some of the fantasy babble, due to a mix of tired, not caring, distracted, etc - but it didn’t really matter.
Anyway, right now I feel like I’m at a point with audio comprehension where I can understand a lot naturally, but also don’t always get everything. While my preference is to watch things with subs, watching audio-only is like a nice challenge. With reading comprehension, I’m both happy in general, but surprised at what I still don’t comprehend without translation… like I’ve still got a lot to go
I feel like in terms of comprehension, the two things that give me the most gain are audio & novels… which is a problem, cuz there’s a million things I wanna read, and most of them are manga lol. Maybe I should read manga during the week, and then a novel over the weekend, to keep that balanced…
For novels I’m thinking I’ll stick with 花物語 上 | L38 2 stories at a time, and for this weekend, finish 薬屋のひとりごと 1 | L37 . I’ll plan on 花物語 tonight - which should be 2-3 hrs of reading. I have 8 stories left, so if I do 2 a week, I can finish it in a month. 薬屋のひとりごと says about 13 hrs left - but that’s based on my in-lessons reading pace. So it should be less than that.
Got through ch 2 in 赤毛のアン. Except for a very occasional sentence or two, or a small fragment here and there, it feels very easy in terms of comprehension - certainly much easier than 若草物語! Lookups are anywhere btwn 3-12 per pg, depending on the section. I’ve added 7 words to an anki deck that I’ll probably forget about 
Update: I drafted this on Thursday or Friday, and yup totally forgot about it
I was feeling a bit disappointed to have picked such a long book (27.5 hrs left) right after finishing 若草物語. So I wound up reading all of ささめきこと, and another two volumes of 青い花 over the weekend. 青い花 feels much more comfortable at this point. It’s possible I’ll drop 赤毛のアン for now and read something shorter. Who knows. I still need to catch up with book clubs, plus finish some letters too (I will finally do this today!!!). I really wanna read the rest of クラにか, but have to go at book club pace (I mean I suppose I could write thoughts in advance, but probably better not too)
Got through two more stories in 花物語. Just 7 left to go (12 hrs left). Deleted the decks for the last two stories and クラにか, which knocked my jpdb reviews down to 118. The proper names deck has been kinda frustrating lately, cuz it’s been a bunch of “single kanji, never seen irl before” sorta names… which I’m bad at. Created a new Anki deck for names I encounter while reading.
Somebody asked me about writing a guest review for トワ・エ・モア(1) | L18 so I guess I’ll be rereading that! Not at all something I was expecting to get asked Hopefully it will be good enough to get posted.
And then I got through them and discovered I had 243 new items waiting for me. I think I’ll get to my letter writing now
Book Clubs:
Caught up with クラにか、こいものがたり、明日の世界。Finishedトーマの心臓 ch 5. Still have to write notes
Yuri/GL/wlw book club - Reading 付き合ってあげてもいいかな 6th July soon
Schedules are frustrating, when I want to read ahead. Also having to catch up with everything after 若草物語, took a lot of time this week. So I’ve felt like I haven’t had as much time to read things that aren’t obligations.
こいものがたり has taught me the importance of not being lazy about keeping names & characters straight in the first chapter or two. I’m often lazy about that, and it’s made things really confusing here. Most things I read aren’t that homogenous with character designs, so I can usually get by with a “figure it out later” approach. I’m definitely looking forward to being done with it.
I would like to get back to Class S club at some point too.
Letters:
Should be getting a 3rd letter early next week. So even more practice opportunity lol. I feel like if I wanna practice writing more, using quartet or tobira might be a good method.
Comprehension:
In general I’m getting more into this whole “watch anime without subs thing”
Conversation:
Lesson was good. A few more awkward pauses than last week. I asked a few times “how to say” or “what’s the word for” - but I don’t think I had any points where I was unable to say something I wanted to say. Drafting the letter has definitely helped a bit. But still so much to improve
Review:
I’ve managed to read 1/5 chapters and take notes. Feel kinda stressed about it, but will hopefully get another chapter or two in today.
YH Aug 2025
So far わたおし is the only one with significant lookups (18 words in 36 pgs), tho there’s still 崖っぷち令嬢は黒騎士様を惚れさせたい! 1 | L25 and 陰キャギャルでもイキがりたい! | L30 and 小春と湊 わたしのパートナーは女の子 | L23 to go - those are all prone to lots of lookups
Hm, that synopsis sounds pretty interesting, but I’m jaded and have to wonder how much the “haven’t chosen a permanent sex” is just an excuse for lots of young girls on screen. I’ll be interested to hear your thoughts!
I can’t promise that wasn’t a design consideration, but It’s not like the ones who delay the process stop aging. In ep 1-2 the cast is mostly female - only 2 males (afaict) who seem to be commanders of some sort, otherwise a few adults, a few seemingly 17-20s, and some younger teenage pilots.
That said, already there are solid story reasons:
That said, as I always feel with these sorta shows: what idiots designed spaceships that can only be piloted by a tiny, select group of teenagers and people who’ve delayed their transition to adulthood. I mean I know they’re anime teenagers, and not as incompetent at things like driving as IRL
Anyway I’ll update when I’m further in
For better or for worse you’ve piqued my interest. It’s gone on the wishlist but at the same time, so has half the anime that’s been produced in the last 25 years, so…
Actually it turns out they’re just one unit of a larger fighting force
The permanent gender thing is being put to use as a plot point elsewhere. Also all the male characters all seem to retain their original voices, and only physical appearance changes. I’m a bit unclear on what exactly the societal implications of gender change are so far, but some of the characters are aiming for it.
I will say some of the outfits are fan service-y (but I’ve seen far worse as that goes), also their is a bit of gore, and one thing that’s skeeved me out so far: the youngest character - an indecisive 12 year old genius with PTSD - gets paired with a domineering 19 year old named Dominura who says some things that frankly sound rather groomy. Maybe I’m reading too much into it, and I’m not sure whether that pairing will be ongoing or not, but seeing them do the pre-flight kiss made me shudder, even if it’s just a quick ritual thing (some others do a long kiss)
I’m really into it so far (ep 1-5), and having to hold myself back from binging (tho all bets are off on the weekend). I will say, I’m definitely missing a lot of the more technical discussion, and I really wish there were JP subs somewhere.
Also OP & ED are both phenomenal
I’m planning on going back to Gundam Wing sometime this summer (it’s currently in my jpdb) so maybe if I make it through that I can think about yours next…
