Thanks to @bungakushoujo’s suggestion I discovered ルポ塾歴社会 日本のエリート教育を牛耳る「鉄緑会」と「サピックス」の正体 幻冬舎新書 | L30??.
read a few pages and according to the book most of successful students in Japan come from only two cram schools, and the author wants to discuss the reasons behind these 2 huge cram schools’ success and domination.
It caught my interest because in my country too there’s a competitive university entrance exam and each year many of those accepted in top universities come from few specific schools. So I like to compare the 2 countries.
I’ll skim through the book for now and only read parts that I’m most curious about, then pause and come back to it later when I have more time and focus for a nonfiction.
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Nice! I’m glad that led you to something interesting! 
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Yes, I love this book! It’s a really wholesome set of stories, almost hard to believe they’re based on real life at times.
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I finally finished both of these. Had slightly mixed feelings on クラスで2番目 4. Read the manga adaptation, which is still in the events of book 1. So glad to be done with the Fate/Kaleid volume finally… Don’t think I’m gonna continue reading those anytime soon. Fun series, but I’m just not in the mood for it rn.
I’ve picked SAO Progressive 1 back up (only 30% left!!), and also started 週に一度クラスメイトを買う話 ~ふたりの時間、言い訳の五千円~ | L27 because I wanted another high school romance around that level. It’s odd, but might be interesting enough to stick with so far… If anyone has any other recs, lmk!). Trying to read both more intensively.
I’m kind of considering rereading クラスで2番目, to see if I get things better the 2nd time around… But that might be overkill
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So, as my stats page is reminding me, I’ve kind of fallen off of reading for the last month and a half.
This is largely due to simultaneously getting a (nearly) full-time job and a custom SOUND VOLTEX controller, a.k.a. a lot less free time and something else to fill it with. But I want to get back into reading and keep up my JP momentum before taking the N1 this December, so I’m going to set a goal for myself:
Another big distraction for me is coming when The Talos Principle 2 releases on November 2nd, so before then I want to finish the two books I’m reading right now (狼と香辛料 4 | L35 and 本好きの下剋上 20 | L30) as well as one manga (probably 葬送のフリーレン 3 | L25). That should be manageable for me in a week and a half… but only if I don’t slack off! Wish me luck 
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Yesterday, I finished the トラップヒロイン (series) | L25?? series and it was not what I expected.
I looked at the summary (a guy who has a past trauma related to femboys (男の娘 specifically) starts high school and finds out that his dorm roommate is a femboy) and expect BL.
I don’t think anyone would fault me for that. Sure, the main character says he is straight, but they always say that.
But then fanservice started showing up??? And that’s when I realized it’s a shonen comic.
So I was a bit disappointed, especially since the story (MEGA SPOILER TERRITORY) starts hinting that said femboy may be actually a girl just pretending to be a guy. Honestly, that felt like a stretch when thinking of the logistics that would involve… but I thought maybe the story just had that much of a plot hole. At the same time, there is some fan service, and cis girls in bikini look like this 8 while his bikini look is more like that ▯ (in case the character doesn’t properly shows up, that’s a tiny rectangle; it would be a very flat rectangle too, if I could bring 3D to the screen). Still, at that point, I was a bit annoyed that it might just end up as a regular straight rom com. I will leave the answer to that to the Great Spoilering™ section, because that’s like the main major point of the story 
Anyway, (back to regular spoilers) the main character (チロダ) gets convinced (as in, he intellectually knows) that 小日向 (I’m getting tired of saying femboy) is a guy, but at the same time, he sees him as a girl (with his err feelings). チロダ is crazy confused about that but still think, well, maybe it can work out. Honestly, I found the depiction of his internal conflict more realistic than what I usually see in BL, so that was nice, at least. And now, we move on to
The Great Spoilering(tm)
チロダ ends up confessing to 小日向 who, at first, gets angry about it (“you are only saying that because you are not seeing me as a guy”). They still kinda patch up and 小日向 says “let me think about it”. At that point チロダ is getting confident that, no matter what, things can work out. AND THEN, a few days later, when asking for an answer, there’s an “accident”, causing 小日向 to fall on top of チロダ and, well, the poles (sfw link) end up touching. If it was BL, things would ensue I assume… but it is not. Instead, チロダ’s feelings (?) go nope as hard as they can (… that sounds wrong; hard is definitely not a thing they do). Both characters are emotionally hurt in the process.
After more shenanigans, though, it turns out that 小日向 has been presenting (and behaving) as a girl since like, 5. It is strongly hinted that 小日向 also experiences gender dysphoria, especially when it comes to stuff related to puberty. Imagining having to present as a guy once puberty makes it impossible to pass makes him (?) have suicidal ideation (that scene was hard too). While 小日向 didn’t want to trick チロダ, being treated like an actual girl just felt too good to stop either.
While I didn’t like the way it was done, they still patch things up (again?!?), admit that they do love each other, have no idea how things will work out in the future (meanwhile I think that, you know, transition is a thing if 小日向 feels like it) but that they are willing to try it out.
Now, that sounds like an extremely interesting development. What will happen next?
Next page: THE END thank you for reading.
Me: just pure unadulterated rage.
Without spoiler, I would say that I really liked the theme of the book, but found the approach quite frustrating. In the end, I see what the author is going for, but I found the pace and introduction of some developments quite clumsy. Also, that was the MOST FRUSTRATING ENDING I HAVE EVER EXPERIENCED IN MY LIFE. WHAT THE HECK STOP. (Or, technically, DON’T STOP)
It terms of trigger warnings, I guess I could say the title includes a slur that is used as a slur in the story. At the end of the story (SPOILER, obviously) there’s a call back to that part, but it turns out that love was the trap all along. Reeeeally cheesy, but at least it’s positive. But there’s also a short scene with suicidal ideation at some point.
Boy, that was a lot of stuff I had to get off my chest.
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A shonen-muke book with that kind of plot? We have come far. 
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Finished 君死にたもう流星群4 | L29 and thoroughly enjoyed it. As a series it has some problems - the theming is painfully unsubtle, the time travel mechanics make no sense, and some things feel pretty contrived, but it makes up for it in pacing and drama.
Was going to move on to Red Data Girl #3, but was having trouble getting enthused from the first few pages. I remember really liking the anime of this, but am not feeling it book-wise. And then a box full of books arrived so I picked up the new-shiny instead.
I am now reading 竜歌の巫女と二度目の誓い | L30??. Really enjoying it so far.
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Right? It was serialized in something I have never heard of (裏少年サンデー; 少年サンデー itself is famous though) and it is quite minor… but still, progress indeed!
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So after finishing チーズスイートホーム (series) | L13, I read up to volume 5 of スーと鯛ちゃん (series) | L11 (apparently it’s still publishing), which is similarly cute, and started ふくふくふにゃ~ん (series) | L9-24??, which is quite a bit different (unsurprising since it was written long before the other two). The cats don’t talk the way they do in the mangaka’s newer works, so the stories are mostly conveyed through the images, but if you enjoy cat antics, it’s pretty fun.
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read the newest chapter in 最強勇者パーティーは愛が知りたい
it doesn’t have volumes yet so no natively entry lol (it’s free btw 
)
this chapter was so simple and yet so good I honestly want to see it animated with all of my heart lmao
edit: to summarize this experience, your entire perception of the premise of this manga broken in an extremely nonchalant way and turned into something so much more wholesome 
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Not much time to read, but even when I do, instead of catching up with the book clubs, I am reading a manga I “randomly” started (セクシー田中さん). I had seen that series pop up in my recommendations before, but between the title and the cover, I just expected some 男性向け garbage, if I am being honest.
However, yesterday, I saw that the first two volumes were free to read. The announcement also made me notice that it’s published in Flower Comics alpha (so, 女性向け) and that completely flipped my perception of the cover.
Also, here’s the announcement
For a short while, it seemed to go the GL direction (there’s even a 壁ドン happening between those two and 倉橋 is way too happy about it) but most likely not.
Overall, I am just happy to read about the titular 田中 who is both 40 AND indeed quite セクシー.
I am slightly annoyed by details telling me “hey, you are in the target audience, we know what you like (and what you are like)”. Shut up. But, at the same time, more please.
Also, volume 2 ends on a massive cliffhanger. Then you have to pay. They obviously did it on purpose.
(I bought the whole series).
In terms of plot (?), it’s a lot of romantic shenanigans and the usual misunderstandings but it’s really fun anyway.
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I’m still reading 少女地獄 | L40??, but I need to look up a lot of words and I’m reading the paperback copy, so it is really inconvenient for bedtime wind-down reading. 
So, I picked up ハンチバック | L30?? as a new bedtime read since it’s currently on sale with 25% points back (and I already had 700 points エヘヘ 
). One day I want to read all of the 芥川賞 books so this shall be one more towards that challenge! 
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bookclub? 
(just joking. please don’t. 
)
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I would be extremely prepared to start that, don’t tempt me! 
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I started reading 空芯手帳 | L31 and really like it so far. It’s about a woman who fakes being pregnant to get out of stuff at work they assign to her just because she is a woman. (Cleaning, making coffee, …)
This scene cracked me up:
Main character assigning her coffee duties to someone else because she is now (allegedly) pregnant
私の帰る時間などよりも、部長や課長が気にしたのはコーヒーの対応だった。誰が来客時に人数分のコーヒーを淹れ、片付けるのか。ミルクが切れたら社内のどこに頼めばいいのか。ワードでマニュアルを作っておいてほしいという。そして私がいない間に男性社員の間で話し合いが行われ、一昨年新卒で入社した男の子が担当することになった。
「意外と簡単っすね」
淹れ方を教えてほしいと頼まれたので給湯室でやってみせると、彼は感心したように言った。インスタントだからね、と私は答えた。
I wonder how this story will turn out in the end! Also, I am very slow in reading it because I want to understand all the nuances and am not as content with ambiguity as I am usually
I also started to read PLUTO 1 | L33 – It’s very difficult for me to get into a manga nowadays, but I really enjoy it. Although I went in blind and got a whiplash when I saw german words and that it’s set in Düsseldorf (at least in the beginning) 
And then I realized there will be an Anime coming out soon (actually, it got already released I think), so what a convenient timing. I read the first volume on my e-ink reader, but I like the manga so much that I would love it in physical form. But I haven’t decided where and which edition to get 
I finished a bunch of other stuff and am very happy about how my comprehension and reading speed is coming along. I am also warming up to kid’s books again, since I started 怪盗レッド 1 2代目怪盗、デビューする☆の巻 | L24 and enjoy it as a light read inbetween.
Speaking of kids book, after randomly picking up an used volume 6 of 三姉妹探偵団 | L25?? I decided to start reading the first volume digitally before jumping into 6. And despite the appearance, I don’t think this book is targeted towards kids as there is a lot of (light spoiler) problematic age-gap relationships, cheating, murder, (sexual) harassment and talk about sex and prostitution. But maybe I am the only one who misinterpreted the cover as being for kids
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Aww 
Thanks for the credit!
If anybody is interested, I can open that challenge here as well 
(also for Naoki Prize and Honya Taishou, the three major book prizes)
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That would be cool! I read a lot of books from all those prizes so it’d be fun to have a place to share reviews/what I’ve read and see what others get up to.
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I have read quite a few books aimed at 小学生 and Japanese are def. less squeamish about including certain topics in their kid lit.
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