So with the Akane-banashi anime coming out, I’m curious if there’s any books (for kids with furigana) explaining rakugo terms.
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I’ve had a quick search but the only one that seems to keep popping up is Akane Banashi manga.
Or CD Japan has an individual manga volume with 41 stories in it here (embedded links not working from my mobile atm):
Not sure if that would help though
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I’m looking for a fantasy or sci-fi series to read. I’ve finished 本好きの下剋上 | L32 and the main arc of サイレント・ウィッチ | L31. Then 転生王女と天才令嬢の魔法革命 | L31 was my next attempt, but I don’t like it enough for it to become my next series.
Preferences:
- Difficulty 33 or below preferred, though feel free to suggest above that
- No isekai of the “I’m the strongest” or “I’m the weakest (which somehow actually means strongest anyway)” variety.
- No “self-insert loser guy gets all the girls” story
Other than those tropes that I hate, I’m open to whatever. Thanks!
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灰と幻想のグリムガル | L32 is the opposite of a power fantasy. It’s a party of 5 who are basically the worst adventurers around, and struggle to get by and make their daily living. Mostly serious tone, with the exception of one character who’s annoying… @Naphthalene and I discussed them a bunch a while back, and even made a separate thread eventually. I’ll warn that in Book 16-17 the tone of the series really changes a lot.
It’s above the difficulty level, but ソードアート・オンライン | L33 or ソードアート・オンライン プログレッシブ | L35 would also be my recs.
The former is the original/main series and will cover a mix of virtual worlds, with fantasy and sci-fi. The latter reads much more like straight up fantasy, but with video game elements (since they’ve been trapped in a VRMMO). That said, it’s by far the more fun of the two. The first 2 books of the original series have a heavier tone, a more limited supporting cast, and are written in a non-linear form (4 stories per book, not chronologically ordered). After that it’s a linear story like one would expect.
The only other series I have is 『人斬り』少女、公爵令嬢の護衛になる | L28 which was fun yuri fantasy, but only 3 volumes
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I think I know who you’re talking about. From a quick look at the character list, Ranta probably? I watched the anime a long time ago, but I remember finding him annoying.
I do remember liking the anime after it got past its slow start (probably after the one guy died, though I don’t remember if that’s when it got better for me). The background art is what kept me watching until it improved.
I don’t think I can read this one. 
Kirito is very much power fantasy guy who all the girls like for no reason.
I haven’t heard of this one. I’ll check it out.
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Yup, definitely Ranta. I’ll say this, Book 2 is a lot more interesting plot wise than the anime got to be (bc it had to do an ending)
I don’t really agree… tho the anime kinda tweaks it in that direction a bit… Ok I do agree on the power fantasy part. Fwiw in Progressive, literally the only girl with any interest in him is Asuna. The two of them as an eventually budding couple (and party members) are basically the focus… As well as increased focus on player politics and such. Also fwiw a lot of the books are written from other characters’ perspectives.
Anyway hope you enjoy the 人斬り books!
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That’s when things really picked up for me as well. I only got there because 3 volumes were free to read for a while. That was a good promotional stunt on their part.
I stalled at volume 13 12, though. I can’t remember why, though. I do remember why. And I can’t really blame the characters for that, but I’m still disappointed about it.
How about https://learnnatively.com/book/d5414a2683/ (裏世界ピクニック)? I see that you are owning volume 1 too, according to Natively. I really like this series. It’s a mix of SF and horror, and I found the setting really creative. On that front, I caught up with publication at the time, but there has been 3 more volumes since then?? Time sure flies.
How about a guy who gets all the guys instead? 穏やか貴族の休暇のすすめ。 | L32
(It’s kind of a joke since he isn’t a loser at all; that being said, he is overpowered, so maybe not a good match)
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That’s the only volume I genuinely thought was awful. What was the specific reason
+1 on 裏世界ピクニック… At least what I read of volume 1 was unique and interesting, and I’ve only heard good things
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There’s a club starting for Tearmoon Empire… Maybe that would fit your criteria?
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The lack of maturity when it comes to romance/relationship stuff. Part of it is explainable from the context (they are young, stress affects people differently, …), but a lot was just a problem with the writing (I can see multiple ways of keeping the same context and yet making meaningful progress on that front, especially when it comes to the situation during volumes 11-12). Technically, that problem isn’t specific to volume 13, it just happened that I got fed up with it at the very beginning of volume 13.
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Oh yeah, forgot about that one. I read half a chapter before and wasn’t in the mood, but I never gave it a fair chance.
I saw that. I’ll need to double check what it’s about, but maybe? Pretty sure I own the first volume already anyway.
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Interesting that’s totally different than what I hated about it
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Wait never mind, it’s volume 12 I stalled on. Just move everything back one volume.
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Ah, I see. Yeah, fair enough
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Btw it’s above the difficulty threshold, but 処刑少女の生きる道 | L36 might be of interest if it isn’t already on your radar. It’s yuri and has a really interesting twist on the Isekai thing.
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I’m looking for some books to increase my gardening vocabulary. Bonus points for books set in Tochigi Prefecture!
I’m mostly interested in fiction, but I’d also be happy to get a few nonfiction recs as well.
よろしくお願いします！
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Here are some titles: https://search.rakuten.co.jp/search/mall/ガーデニング/101266/
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Thanks! I finally got a chance to deep dive into some book descriptions and found a few that look interesting.
I haven’t read many nonfiction essays in Japanese before, so I think ベランダ園芸で考えたこと will be a nice way to dip my toes into that kind of writing. For fiction, 園芸少年 looks interesting! I just added both to Natively 
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