On a bit of a S-literature run rn lmao. After this work I would probably start Yaneura no Nishojo but with how my schedules go probably only after October this year at the earliest (Also want to read some other regular Japanese Literature like Ningen Shigetsu after Yaneura and some Spanish lits perhaps). I can’t really find any more S-lit works past this point though (maybe asides from Nobuko’s other works), any recs?
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So I’ve read a few more of her books. 暁の聖歌 (吉屋信子少女小説選 1) | L29 does feature an S relationship later in the story - and honestly some of that story is kinda wild. Otherwise I really like わすれなぐさ | L36 - which is a love triangle, but has a lot of deeper societal and philosophical themes beneath it.
Otherwise I’ve been trying to work this out myself, and the impression I’m getting is that S-lit was seemingly published in the magazines (Shoujo no Tomo, et al), but generally not collected into books. You can sometimes find old volumes on Mercari JP, but I’ve never ordered any. They’re quite beautiful tho.
Modern S-yuri (at least what I’ve read) seems to basically be マリア様がみてる derived, with the exception of 拝啓、在りし日に咲く花たちへ | L26 - which is new, and kinda just doing its own thing.
I’m not sure what this is
If you wanna read this together, in an informal book club (like whoever joins reads at their own pace, and comments) lmk. I’ve been avoiding it for a bit because it seems difficult, and also like it would be interesting to read with other ppl
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Sorry it’s Ningen Shikkaku. Been up for too long so for some reason I tyed Shigetsu instead of Shikkaku.
Very interesting recommendations. I will look into it, thanks heaps!
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Really fun use of onomatopoeia (or ideophones or whatever) in 精霊の守り人 describing a character’s appearance (particularly, for me, ぐいっと & ぎゅっと):
青霧山脈の山奥に小さな老婆がたたずんでいた。麻の貫頭衣を縄でむすんだだけの粗末な衣をまとい、濃い茶色のしわだらけの顔に、ぼうぼうと白髪がかぶさっている。ぐいっとひろがった鼻、ぎゅっととじられた口。細く切れめを入れたような目。その目が、黒くぬれぬれと光っている。
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Short and sweet (2 vols) 2010s shoujo yuri. Loved it overall, but I wasn’t crazy about the ending. Artwork is very beautiful. Thx to @cloverff for introducing me to it 
五等分の花嫁 4 | L23 - A harem series I actually enjoy. Easy reread, which is good b/c I’ve been a mix of sick (I’m better now) and mildly burnt out, the last few days. Well I guess I enjoy DanMachi anime as well - but that’s in spite of it being a harem
クラスで2番目に可愛い女の子と友だちになった7.5 | L27 - Restarted this. It’s a “whenever I’m in the mood” read, since it’s short stories. Thankfully they all have plot relevance (though not significance)
Starting this, 多分… the cover character is the 公爵令嬢 this time - who I’m somewhat surprised to see holding a sword, and even more surprised to see one of the pictures with her dueling her former maid/protector. Apparently this volume also features a blind character
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So far I’ve only read the first Kirby book, but I’d like to try another. If for no other reason than to see how my Japanese has improved since March.
Volume 2 is next on my to-read list. I shall let you know my feelings on the ending after that. 
I should really put together my review of it, since I thought it was a really approachable early read, with all the school vocab and whatnot.
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Good point - I added it to my list (which incidentally is mostly yuri): 初心者の漫画 (Beginner's Manga) | Japanese list by 暁のルナ | Natively
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Before Natively I didn’t read yuri, not because I wasn’t interested, but mostly bc I didn’t really know where to start. But on average it skews so beginner friendly that I’ve read so much of it in the past two years now (and have a neverending backlog, lol).
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I’m reading わたし、定時で帰ります! At first I wasn’t too sure about it and I was low-key going to drop it, but it’s really growing on me now! I’m also keeping some easier manga in there ナナ! It’s definitely a kind of genre I enjoy, and it’s great on times I don’t have the strength for a BOOK yk
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Your pfp 
Apparently already on my wishlist. Sounds interesting
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Finally done with tests and interviews so I can get back to reading “fun” stuff. Picked up 芽むしり仔撃ち | L30?? for 132円 while I was in the city. I continue to be impressed with Oe’s early works. There’s something addicting about the atmosphere he creates and I always find myself thinking about his stories or depictions long after I’ve finished reading them.
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Satori Reader wrapped up two of their stories recently.
Withered Tree: A short horror story (which I thought was kind of boring)
and
Trees of Happiness: I haven’t read yet, so no comments…
Current stories are
John and Friends in Tokyo: The Return of John and Friends in Tokyo. I had actually fairly recently started this series and I kind of think John is a bit of a dingdong. 
Like a lot of their earlier stuff, this isn’t really a story so much as a framework to relay vocab words and sentence structures one might run across.
The Gate of Years: A re-telling of Ted Chiang’s short story “The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate” but set in Edo-era Japan. The goal is to introduce vocab that one might find in period dramas. Just started and I’m definitely going to follow along with it.
Yuyu no Nihongo Podcast: These are basically transcriptions of Yuyu’s normal podcasts, but with Satori Reader’s grammar/vocab notes. They’re fun, but also a challenge because people don’t tend to speak as intentionally as they write.
I feel like a lot of people here are past the point that they need something like Satori Reader, but I have found it immensely helpful with transitioning to stuff for native readers. And I keep saying I’m going to cancel my subscription (because I’m probably past the point that I still need it) but then I don’t.
But anyway, for anyone who is curious about Satori Reader, that’s what they’ve got going right now.
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I somehow went from Satori Reader is kinda hard to, oops, now everything is too easy accidentally, but kinda want to hear the stories that I missed out on when they were still hard… I’ve been considering subscribing during one of the end of year sales but then I think of the opportunity cost of spending the time in a far too easy tool, along with the literal cost and then don’t do it
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Props to them, that’s cool! Now if only I liked the acting style in JP period dramas (or dramas in general)
Exactly what it’s for. I still used it for a while, when I started reading native stuff, and it was helpful
It sounds like you’re still getting something out of it. So as long as you are, may as well keep it
It should be fairly little time spent though, b/c the material would be simple for you. So I think this is probably less of an issue than you might think. Probly not that different than reading a few volumes of L17 manga. That said, I decided the gains weren’t enough as well (particularly given the money), and I’m not that interested in the 1 or 2 stories I didn’t finish.
Natively is also responsible for my yuri addiction. I hadn’t heard of it, till I discovered やが君 here… and then it was down the rabbit hole
Yeah this really surprised me, and I think really did a lot for me - both in the beginning, and for making my reading in general a lot smoother (particularly when I decided to catch up w/ all the ongoing Yurihime series in 2024). Also for better and worse, a lot of it is very similar setting (high school) and rhythms. So it really helps reinforce a good set of vocab. In a vocab sense, I should probly try to read other genres a bit more, but I’m too addicted. Thankfully it does have some diversity (which I’ve been seeking more lately), and there’s harder titles too.
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Mainly what im getting out of it right now is that if i have 10 minutes before bed, ill read satori reader because its so much easier than even a kids chapter book 
Where did all my free time go lately
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You always have 10 minutes before bed if you’re irresponsible and don’t mind being chronically tired from staying up too late. 
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In case anyone missed it, let me know if you want to join!
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YASS an icon❤️
Yeah I saved it to my reading list because the theme and possible dynamics sounded cool!
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I finished Lv2からチートだった元勇者候補のまったり異世界ライフ | L30?? nearly out of spite. I was on a 13h flight and nothing else I had downloaded managed to hold my interest. Not that this one was interesting, but the writing is so bad it’s kinda hard to see where things were going.
Anyway, as the title implies, the main character is completely broken. He has literally infinite stats, and possesses all skills/spells/whatever in existence. He didn’t have to work for it either, he got all that from becoming lv2.
On top of the plot making no sense, it involves mostly just women (except for the main character) who, in most cases, end up falling for him. All characters felt completely flat, and obviously the women characters felt like sexist stereotypes.
Ah, and also there’s a rape scene in the bonus story played for laughs (the evil goddess who got defeated by the MC and became is servant is curious about what he is doing every night with is wife, magically grows male genitalia and then uses them on one the enemy wizard woman she (the goddess) captured during the main story until she (the wizard) passes out; the joke (?) is that the goddess has no idea of what she is doing, I guess; “bonus” points for the wizard screaming that girl on girl sex is unnatural)
Anyway, 1* for you, I’m glad I can now remove that book from my 積読. I got it for free, and it still feels like it was too expensive. I technically didn’t read the bonus stories past the one I detailed above, but close enough to call it read.
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Ah. My condolences.
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