I read 羅生門 today and I need to re-read it a few times (hooray for short stories!).
but I will say that it took me an incredible amount of time to realize that Rashomon was not, in fact, a torii. Below I present some thoughts to the jury for consideration : P
hmm strange that this character is sheltering from rain under a torii gate. I would think that doesn’t really stop you from getting wet.
how are there corpses on top and what is this ladder doing? (not me imagining a pirate ship crow’s nest stuck on top of a torii)
Wikipedia has an article about the gate and an image of how they think the gate looked at Rajōmon - Wikipedia.
The Rashōmon in Kyoto was the grander of the two city gates built during the Heian period (794–1185). Built in 789, it was 106 feet (32 m) wide by 26 feet (7.9 m) high, with a 75-foot (23 m) stone wall and topped by a ridge-pole
This sounds big enough to find shelter from the rain.
I finished 若草物語 | L39?? and left a review that probably doesn’t do it enough justice. Somehow I often find it hardest to review the things I truly loved the most.
Now to catch up with book clubs, finish 花物語 | L24?? manga and 青い花 | L26 reread, and then maybe just maybe start book 2, since it’s also on Kindle Unlimited. Edit: yeah nevermind, I started Book 2 guess those will go back on the shelf for now
I just finished おとうさん、いっしょに遊ぼ ~わんぱく日仏ファミリー! ~(2) フランス望郷編 | L22?? which is the most recent (I think) non-fiction update on the life of a Japanese mangaka who is married to a French journalist. While I didn’t read volume 1, it’s not a huge issue since I am familiar with that collection of books (they are split into different series which cover (1) the author’s life in France, coming back to Japan, getting married, (2) their life together, (3) getting their first kid, and now (4) getting their second kid, who is now (at the time of writing, that is) 5).
Mostly, my spouse likes those books because of the parallel with our situation, which makes some situations extremely relatable.
Me too! If you’re interested in continuing the series when you’re done, I’d probably join you! It’s been on the list since I finished the first one, but there’s always so much to read. I’d love the motivational boost of a fellow reader.
What I’ve been reading ~
I’ve been mostly keeping to a book at a time recently, which has been nice! Will try to continue with that. I finally finished 神去なあなあ日常 | L33 that way and am now half way through 神去なあなあ夜話 | L33. Very different style - short stories instead of one long arc, but it fits with the mood very well. I was wondering what the second volume would be like since the first one felt so complete.
I did start 香君 上 西から来た少女 | L36 between those books, that’s why it’s just mostly one book at a time. Week 1 of the bc stopped at a good place for me though… it doesn’t feel like I’m reading them concurrently.
I’ve also been reading quite a lot of manga. The most recent being ONE PIECE 96 | L26 and ノラガミ 1 | L28, both of which I enjoyed a lot. I didn’t like OP 95 that much so I’m glad it was just the one volume and not a whole sub arc. Noragami was a bit of a surprise! It’s been sleeping in my ‘got for free before I could read it’ pile for so long. Super fun, looking forward to the other 2 volumes I got.
Maybe after I get through book 2. I assumed you had read it already. If nothing else, I imagine it will be a much easier reading level. Edit: the synopsis kinda just spoiled me on something I’d already had unintentionally spoiled a week or two ago that I’d managed to forget about
Have just finished the new ふらいんぐうぃっち 14 少年 | L21. Actually I wanted to read it after my current book, but I just couldn’t wait these two days…and squeezed it in.
Didn’t realize it was still ongoing - cool. Anything interesting in recent volumes? (I read some of the manga at some point, but idrc how far I got. So mostly just familiar with the anime)
Not sure anymore how far the anime went, as I watched it several years ago, and I am also not sure any more what came in which manga. Btw: #15 is announced for start of June next year.
That said, she went to Aomori to conclude her training (so far, the blurb) and iirc in the anime Makoto already did some jobs with her supervisor as part of that training. Later she visits the witch administration, did some jobs further away in another world, pays a visit to her parents, also had some darker adventures. There are several chapters about her older sister Akane, and the problems she got in, when she came up with the idea to stop time, a development which finally also let to her taking part in a sumo tournament in this latest book. In-between are always some chapters with less action and more humour, something about side characters, ghosts, or some school and farm activities.
Ah vol #4 is the one I liked the least, but don’t ask me why. All forgotten. After that the series gains more speed again, and the author seems to get a new idea of where they want to head towards.
Continuing w/ 続 若草物語 | L39?? (book 2). 25% through - enjoying, and it’s gotten easier sometimes than book 1. It’s dealing with more grown-up issues than book 1. And it’s put its 3 year time skip to good use. I can’t help but feel like the author is neglecting Beth so far, and I can’t help but feel like that might be foreshadowing… but hopefully I’m wrong. One of the chapters was very tense for me personally, but overall, I’m excited to keep reading
Started this in my lesson. It’s very fun, gay, and over-the-top (character personalities, and お嬢様語)… The last time I tried it (7 months ago), the general language level felt a bit too hard to enjoy reading (on top of the fighting game lingo and random abbreviations), but now it’s accessible. The style is pretty unique. The first chapter was 74 pgs, but a number of them are pretty text-minimal spreads or panels from fighting games w/ SFX
The initial hook and behavior is definitely eerily similar to ロックは淑女の嗜みでして | L21 [1] (which I happened to be watching, right before I read this), but they feel very different already. But I keep getting stuck on how to articulate it, and considering I’ve watched the equivalent of 23 chapters of ロックレディ vs having finished 1 chapter of 対あり, it’s probly a silly to compare at this point. I’ll just put it this way: if you asked me what ロックレディ is about, I’d answer “being trapped by (and overcoming) your own facade and societal expectations”, but I suspect my answer for 対あり will end up being “Fighting games w/ a bit of romance”. Speaking of romance, I don’t expect ロックレディ to ever go out of extremely blatant subtext land - and that’s fine, it’s doing that quite wonderfully!
Note: 対あり came out 2 years earlier than ロックレディ - so maybe ロックレディ was intentionally imitating 対あり’s setup?
I’ve been a fan of his books for years. You can find my reviews on Natively for 文庫版 姑獲鳥の夏 | L42?? (his debut novel and the one immediately before this in that series), 巷説百物語 | L42 (first in his historical fiction series) and 今昔百鬼拾遺 鬼 | L35 (first of what seems like a new series focusing on the sister of one of the major characters in the 姑獲鳥の夏 series; it stands by itself and you don’t need to have read the other books first).
My recommendation for a starter is probably 今昔百鬼拾遺 鬼 | L35 because it’s notably shorter and easier. But the others are both good and fine places to start if you like the sound of one of those better.
It’s been a little while since I updated here. June is always a really busy month at work, so I’ve given myself a free pass to read as much manga as I want.
Finished up ニッターズハイ!3 | L20 and I’m actually knitting the scarf pattern from book 2. I think Kento and Rui should kiss.
And then onto volume 2 of ざつ旅-That's Journey- 2 | L24. There’s a lot of really specific travel/architecture/temple vocab in this one I haven’t run across yet. Also it makes me curious to learn more about the manga industry…
Even though I said I was going to take a break before I read more 私の拳をうけとめて! 2 | L22, I did it anyway. The yancha speak is getting a little easier, but it’s that outside of that, the vocab is pretty familiar. It’s really cute and I’m liking it a lot.
Then I read volumes one and two of きみの色 1 | L20 and I guess this is what it feels like when one barely has to stop and look up unfamiliar vocab. (Although there is a tiiiny bit of church related vocab.) You cannot convince me that Totsuko isn’t at least a tiny bit gay. I mean…
slight spoiler
This is a normal and not gay way to respond to being told your hair looks pretty, right?
And finally, I’ve started on シャンピニオンの魔女 1 | L24?? because I’m going to stop waiting to read the stuff I want until my Japanese gets better. Maybe in a few months I can look back and remember when this was difficult to read.
