That’s why I’m pretending the series is done now 
I figured that since the main story is over, I don’t have to read the other two volumes of bonus content (that might be disappointing anyway)
10 Likes
Depending how the remaining 44% goes, it may actually be my fav in the series so far.
Next after 声優ラジオ 5. Will do with jpdb deck and audiobook. Hoping this will help me get much comfier with L30+ fantasy
Audio-only: I normally wouldn’t read this way, but I read this a year ago, and know the plot well. My recognition has been great, and my comprehension variable. They really did great with the audiobooks tho!
The anime is a bit too hard for me (but I’ll probably watch it anyway), so I figured I’d try the manga. Side note: the girl looks younger on the covers than in the actual story 
In lessons. Probly have another 4 weeks left. I’m getting closer to the first place where it differs from the anime (the male character’s poignant back story was glazed over)
I made some tiny progress. Lookups are annoying, but it seems like it will be worth it
Will read next month (waiting to buy physicals, even tho it’s available for free from the publisher). Seemingly the language is easy, but the content is hard. But either way, it looks fun!!
Finished. Easy most of the time, but some sections had more lookups than I wanted. Definitely wanna read the remaining volumes. Minor spoiler: the younger character is 19 18歳, which at the time of writing was below the age of majority (changed to 18 on 2022年4月1日), and the older character (28歳) panics when she finds out the younger girl is a minor. Additional musing on said spoiler: interesting cognitive dissonance for me, bc in my country they’re both adults with full-time jobs.
2 Likes
Imagine taking all the most boring bonus stories from 本好き, but instead of publishing it at the end of their respective volumes, you combine them all in a single book, thus even losing the proximity to their relevant context.
Volume 11 is slice-of-life-y, but it is a proper continuation of the story, and hints at some future potential plot. It’s unclear if that plot will ever materialize though. I guess it will depend on how well the second season of the anime does (coming next autumn). That being said, the author is working on a different series right now (bought the first volume but had no time to check it)
You could just check the free preview of volume 11, see how you feel about it. Volume 12 should not exist.
10 Likes
No, sexual majority was RAISED to 18, so 19 was well above it anyway. Edit: ah, wait, was that in a non sexual setting, like drinking or driving? In which case, yes, actual majority moved from 20 to 18.
Response
Right, I’m aware of both of those things. Also I mixed up slightly, the character ages are 18 & 28. In any case, it’s after they’ve had sex twice. The 28 year old finds out, panics that she’s done something criminal, tries to kick the 18 year old out, says she doesn’t wanna get arrested, etc. Additional context, this was a hookup, they’re not in a relationship at this point.
So my read on that was it’s bc the younger character was a 未成年 in the broader sense. I’m including the panels below, if you wanna see the discussion for yourself. Note: first panel is a bathtub scene
Answer
I looked at the scene and checked the law (青少年保護育成条例 - Wikipedia) but that never was illegal, and still isn’t. The character is just wrong.
Similarly, cheating on your spouse is not a criminal offense. If you cheat of them they can prove, they can sue you for reparation (typically as part of a divorce process, but it doesn’t have to be). At least, this part is indeed a legal issue.
Fun fact, I found a crazy case that looks like the situation at hand, though, where the husband found out his wife had sex with another woman, and he sued (successfully!) the other woman.
令和3年2月、東京地裁で同性との肉体関係は不貞行為と認める判決がありました。この裁判は、原告は夫で、妻が他の女性Aと性的行為をしたことについて、夫が女性Aを相手に慰謝料を請求したというものでした。判決では、性的行為をした女性Aに対して11万円の慰謝料などを夫に支払うよう命じました。
That’s interesting 
So I guess having sex with a married person is not just their problem.
2 Likes
Response
Fair enough. Also thx for the reference. That’s going to take me… A pretty long time to read through, but I might just give it a go later anyway.
As for the stuff about spousal cheating, and also that case… That is all fascinating. Apparently you can also sue your spouse’s lover in 6 US states. I suspect it’s pretty rare tho
2 Likes
Yeah, what is crazy to me is that until the very case I mentioned (from just 3 years ago!), having sex with someone of the same sex as yourself was not explicitly cheating (from a legal standpoint), since the laws explicitly referred to having sex with someone of the opposite sex. The judge did take the reasonable stance that it also applies in the same-sex case, though 
4 Likes
Does that count as progress for LGBT rights?
5 Likes
I take it as a win! All relationships are now equal in that part of the law (making it that epsilon harder for lawmakers to keep denying people the right to marry regardless of gender), and it’s not like the husband would have stopped being pissed if the judge had ruled against it anyway.
7 Likes
Seems like DN Angel is getting a continuation? There’s a series I’ve never read, but it was everywhere in my childhood.
6 Likes
Oh wow!! Crazy!
I at one point had the whole set but don’t think I finished it and then gave it away to one of my friends. Maybe I’ll finally circle back if we’re getting more…
6 Likes
I ended up reading 嫌いなら呼ぶなよ in an almost single sitting today
Almost, because about 2 weeks ago I read about 10 pages, wasn’t immediately pulled in, saw @cat and @omk3’s reviews and decided to put it down for a while
Then today, I tried reading a few more pages, struck a part that really got me going, and the next thing I know ばば死ね (that joke only makes sense if you read the book, I’m afraid).
So I decided to write a review myself, just in case someone like me can get reassured
It’s pretty interesting to see where our opinions diverge.
9 Likes
Was this your ugly cover bingo card? 
4 Likes
I’m stuck in a waiting room at an auto mechanic’s today, so I decided to plow through the rest of ノルウェイの森 (2) | L32 , which I had been rushing to finish before the Aozora Advent.
I’m still trying to figure out how I felt about it. I’ll probably give it a few days before writing an actual review. I guess I felt it was well-written, with a kind of aimlessness that suits the protagonist well.
I think I felt the story’s focus on sex unrelatable, even if the relationships themselves were relatable. Each of ワタナベ’s relationships ended up being sexual in some way or another, even レイコ in the end. Maybe that’s just a choice of what the book is showing, like it doesn’t cover his work relationships, but really it seemed like the book was missing whole swaths of the human experience of each other. Or maybe that’s the ワタナベ’s issue, and is reflective of the character rather than the author.
I also don’t really relate to the novel’s obsession with 60’s pop music, but that’s definitely me. I’m sure if all of the musical references were replaced with classical references I’d be all over it.
The only other Murakami I’ve read is Kafka by the Shore, which I read in English a long time ago. I think that had at least some interesting magical realism to dilute the sex-focus. Unless someone has a recommendation for a Murakami novel that is even further away from Norwegian Wood than Kafka by the Shore was, I think I’m done with Murakami for the foreseeable future.
10 Likes
I also loved the 3rd story! It lives rent free in my head and I think about it all the time still.
2 Likes
Either ugly (but I have it already) or simple cover.
Right?
Speaking of which, I think my theory that our tastes in books are polar opposites is in shambles.
6 Likes
We both liked:
…maybe the secret sauce is horrible, unlikeable characters 
7 Likes
Now we’re cooking
You made me check and we both liked おいしいごはんが食べられますように | L31 as well!
7 Likes
Oh, oh! Maybe we’ve found the overlap in our venn diagram of book tastes 
(If the hypothesis is true, I think you would also like 静かに、ねぇ、静かに | L33 (in case you ever spot it at the library ) )
7 Likes
