What are you reading today?

Japanese Reading
4394
Amusement park

She can withstand it better when lying down on an acceleration seat (or whatever those are called). She is clearly not as good at running around. It’s kinda weird that she is still able to aim after literally collapsing from exhaustion (meanwhile the soldiers can’t seem to be able to hit the broadside of a barn)

All of them, assuming you find a way to log in as a rank 3+ technician. Well, assuming the signal is not randomly jammed by the current occupying force :stuck_out_tongue:

To be fair, it is established that the park is being monitored in real time, so a kid would not be able to jailbreak the horse under normal circumstances… but still, why make it capable of going so fast then?

Right? Barring the publisher rushing production, I feel like the author must have started writing before book 3 had even hit the press :sweat_smile: That’s about as much restraint as me when I say “I won’t keep reading [series] as a webnovel and will wait for the published version instead”

I started the prologue and it’s from the point of view of ジント’s cat. :stuck_out_tongue:

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4395

When I saw the publisher’s name 早川, my immediate thought was: was their name a dig at 角川? :smirk: The latter was established five years earlier, so at least 早川‘s choice could be an reaction to them.

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4396

That’s just the family name of the founders according to the company info.

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4397

Hahaha do not read volume 2 then! :rotating_light: The first book was borderline for me because they were high school students and I had a bit of sympathy for her due to her home life situation, but the MC turns into the ultimate doormat in vol. 2 and even more manipulative girls spawn :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes: hence why I rated it lower. Did love the chill vibes and descriptions of 高知 in vol 1 though!!

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4398

Getting 痴人の愛 vibes :joy:
I’ll definitely steer clear then.

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4399

痴人の愛 except if 譲治 was a steadfast and devoted 90s shoujo manga MC :skull_and_crossbones: In the あとがき of vol 2 the author wrote that she wanted to write a story about a guy who is 美人に振り回された and I was thinking I feel personally 振り回された by this book. :rofl: The levels of melodrama were off the charts.

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4400

Possibly an improvement :thinking:

… I wonder if she secretly wanted to 振り回す some boy toy… or actually did, who knows .

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4401

I asked about this in the seeking recommendations thread, but I’m going to ask here too since this thread is more active in general.

Does anyone have any Fatal Frame adjacent books they could recommend? I’m going to be playing Maiden of Blackwater in japanese this October and I wanted to build up some related vocabulary beforehand. Books between level 23-28 would probably be best. I’m kind of trying to avoid younger children’s books too if I can help it.

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4402

天冥の標 is revving up, just past 16%. I’m getting used to the writing and the text has started to flow. イサリ just made her entrance, a bit of a surprise after expecting a scaly beast.

アンチヨークス

These アンチヨークス also seem more advanced technologically than I first thought. Not needing oxygen, storing electric power in their bodies to use with railguns… I’m guessing I’ll get to know more bit by bit. Funny made up word with them getting 「鉄砲酔い」 after shooting a few rounds. They also seem to command quite a bit of respect, getting a squadron backed by a mech to retreat a while earlier.

I’m sorely lacking in sound effect knowledge. Things have happened ごそごそ、ぎちぎち、よれよれ、ふらふら and じゃらじゃら just these last few pages. It’s not blocking me but I can’t also just ignore these…

冥王斑 & フェオドール

Also, impressive how oppressive the feeling of studying 冥王斑 is for a work from 2009. Echoes of the initial COVID-19 outbreak at least for me. Now, exactly what kind of being is フェオドール? They seem much more than some servant drone made from stone…

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4403

Exactly. The series got renewed attention during Covid because of it (although the reason why will be clearer from “volume 2”, which is the 3rd book)

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4404

Reading in lessons. So far it feels like something I could do on my own, but it’s been helpful doing with a teacher, cuz there’s nuances, readings, etc that I’d miss. I’m definitely being aided by my memory of the anime, and it feels nostalgic

Finished 行進子犬に恋文を | L25 - and I’ll say it really won me over, as it progressed. I found it really original, and the times it did pull in standard yuri tropes, it used them to do something interesting. The military & Meiji-related vocab was definitely a pain as it went on tho, but not to the point that it bogged things down.

Next is 徒然日和 3 | L20 followed by ソードアート・オンライン プログレッシブ9 | L34 and 花物語 上 | L39 (ダーリヤ story). Then I’ll finish the rest of お釈迦様もみてる | L29 2-10. Dropped all other manga until I finish the first 3 things here

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4405

I finished 店長がバカすぎて | L31 yesterday!

It was good fun, and there were plenty of comical bits with 店長 being バカすぎる.
A lot of scenes boil down to the anakin/padme meme of you’re not serious, right???

To some extent there’s a mystery shoehorned in, which actually worked OK too, although it is a little forced.

I’m just starting スマホを落としただけなのに | L28 next!

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4406

I just finished あずまんが大王１年生 today, and I am starting the second one right now! The first one was easy to read and the characters are pretty goofy in the good way, so I plan to keep reading the series.

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4407

I finished 彗星とさいごの竜 | L22 immediately after saying in the bingo thread “there’s no way I’ll read something else with a non-human MC this year” and then for good measure finished out 傷痕のメッセージ | L30 today was well. I had a headache while reading it, but that’s for the best because if I hadn’t had one the main character of that book would have given me one :melting_face:

The former is a cute kids book, I think perhaps a touch under leveled, but I did only listen to the audiobook. The latter is a basic mystery with some medical flourishes.

I’m still working idly on 教団X when brain power allows, as well as of course reading the Mystery Book Club pick, 眼球堂の殺人. Since I am never satisfied I picked up a new book, to be announced when I’ve read enough to have anything to say about it :joy:

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4408

I finished キラキラとギラギラ 2 | L22 today and was pretty disappointed. It was just not nearly as enjoyable as the first volume (with maybe one chapter I liked a lot and the rest were just okay). I’ll still read the third volume since I already bought it, so hopefully it improves.

I also finished スキップとローファー 6 | L24 a few days ago. The series continues to be in that weird “it’s good but it’s never great” position. I’ll likely continue to read it and catch up to publication, because at least the characters are unique.

For books I’ve been reading サイレント・ウィッチ 沈黙の魔女の隠しごと | L31, but I’m gonna slow down on that now that I caught up (and actually went a bit ahead of) the WK book club. With that extra time, I’m thinking of starting 魔法少女育成計画 QUEENS | L36. That series is very much a “gotta be in the mood” kind of series given its difficulty and relatively high amount of violence, but now feels like a good time to get back into it.

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4409

Wow; I just finished this myself a day or two ago and thought the complete opposite, that it was as good as, if not surpassed the first volume!

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4410

Was thinking about this the other day - I’ve only read 1 (and watched the anime, which I think covers vol 1-3?) but it mostly just strikes me as ‘this is pleasant’. alas it’s a liiiittle bit above my comfortable reading level right now, so I’m putting it to the side until later.

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4411

I thought there was too much focus on the artist guy. He was a totally fine character, but it was like half the volume, which I felt was too much. I also found the final chapter lackluster.

That’s a fine way to put it. It’s an enjoyable time, and sometimes that’s all you really need.

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4412

Ok, finished the 3 I mentioned in my previous comment… 徒然日和 was enjoyable the 2nd time around, SAO Progressive 9 is one of my favorites in the series (they’re all great tho), and the ダーリヤ story in 花物語 :heart_eyes: :heart_eyes: :heart_eyes: I’ve decided to read a bit more of 花物語 after all

ダーリヤ & 花物語 going forward

My inspiration for reading ダーリヤ was マリみて related, as it seems like a very likely prototype for a certain character I love. While I had already spoiled the plot for myself (as that is what made me decide to read it), superimposing the character I love onto the character of this story probably slightly enhanced my enjoyment. But even if that hadn’t been there, it was still a really 素敵 story.

Reading it felt very similar to reading マリみて but like a step or two higher in literary-ness. It’s nice seeing alternate (or more specific) kanji for words I already know, and seeing the various things that are just different enough from modern literature (at least light novels and manga I’ve read) to make it interesting. It’s definitely one of the easier stories in the book, and making my own jpdb deck helped.

It’s making me want to try reading the rest of the book again, but I know some of the stories are like a million times harder. So instead, I will read the ones mentioned in this article (major spoilers for various stories in the book, and some parts of マリア様がみてる), at my leisure. I assume there will be some correlation btwn length & difficulty, so I’ve put Kindle’s estimated reading times below, and will tackle them in time order)

  • 忘れな草 (not mentioned, but I’ve seen referenced I think) 42
  • 紅薔薇白薔薇 22
  • コスモス 23
  • 緋桃の花 26
  • 雛芥子 57
  • 白百合 1 hr
  • 福寿草 1 hr 6
  • 露草 1 hr
  • 燃ゆる花 2 hr 36
  • 釣鐘草 1 hr 32

Started 紡ぐ乙女と大正の月 1 | L29 again, had to look up the character names, but otherwise I sorta remember well enough. The language feels a lot simpler now, but nothing is really grabbing me in the 22 pgs I read. A mix of “this part of the story is boring” and “not in the mood for this sort of cgdct rn”. So instead I’ve started:

If the first 36 pgs are any indication, this is way easier than I was expecting - like probably lower L20s (it’s certainly easier than 犬夜叉 | L25). Too early to judge that for sure tho. I’ll probably finish book 1 tomorrow. If I like it after that, I’ll probably hold off on future volumes till I get physicals. Which I’d also do for 紡ぐ乙女 if I do get interested again, bc Mangatime KR 4-koma is A5 size & pretty

Anyway that leaves me with お釈迦様もみてる2 学院のおもちゃ【マリア様がみてるカラー口絵つき】 | L29 equipped for my novel slot

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4413

Any idea, why the price is that high, like almost the double of other light novels?

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