I know the feeling too well. But between the OFM issue and the new DRM, I’ve moved to other platforms that allow me to remove the DRM (mainly Kobo)
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On my quest to empty (or at least greatly reduce) my wishlist, I’m still focusing on manga (because it’s quick and easy).
The last thing I read was
which, according to booklive, is a standalone. But then it just ends, which felt frustrating… except that the あとがき informed me that the series continues. Checking booklive, I can see a bunch of XXと加瀬さん, but they are not ordered. Thankfully Natively provides the ordering.
I wonder if it’s the different titles that confused Booklive?
As a standalone, I would give it 3*, but if that’s not the end (so, as a prologue of sort) that’s a solid 4* for me.
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Finished Limit which I talked about before here, I liked the first few volumes better than the last few (gave everything 4 stars besides the last 2 which I gave 3). It felt a bit too simplistic in the end, I wanted more exploration of the mc rather than her basically realizing she was wrong to just go with the flow a few chapters in…still a solid read.
I started and stopped a bunch of yuri afterwards. Nothing really kept my interest, or I didn’t like the art… Currently reading 割り切った関係ですから which was harder than I would have assumed, then I checked natively and it’s level 27 (most yuri is around 20-25) so that makes sense. Not even sure what trips me up in this one exactly. A lot of “I understand all the words but not how they make sense in context” , I ended up looking up the translation a lot…
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This is “about Japanese” rather than “in Japanese”, but I have been reading “Language and the Modern State: The Reform of Written Japanese” by Nanette Gottlieb, which is about the Meiji era “言文一致” shift from writing in kanbun or with classical Japanese grammar forms to the colloquial style. It’s an academic book but not a difficult read, and I’m finding it very interesting. I think the part that was the biggest surprise to me was how many different writing styles there were in the Tokugawa and early Meiji era. I had vaguely assumed everybody wrote in “Classical Japanese”, but Gottlieb describes four distinct categories:
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漢文, i.e. more or less Chinese in syntax and vocabulary, possibly with annotations hinting word order and verb inflections. This was used for “serious” writing including newspapers, essays, and some forms of literature right into the Meiji period. In addition to its inherent difficulties, kanbun writers often used obscure vocabulary to show off their education and style. The book cites an amusing anecdote about a Russian trade delegation being given a diplomatic document written in kanbun, which was incomprehensible to the Chinese speakers among the Russians, and then when they returned it to the Japanese for clarification the Japanese interpreters had to find a Confucian scholar to translate the kanbun into more normal Japanese that the interpreters could then translate into Dutch which could then be translated into Russian…
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候文, used by men for letters and diaries, also public notices, laws and ordinances. Fairly heavily influenced by the Chinese vocabulary, but more approachable; educated non-samurai could generally read this.
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和文, or actual classical Japanese. The language of the Tale of Genji and poetry, with many honorifics and a vocabulary almost entirely Japanese with little use of Chinese loanwords. Used by women for letters, men writing to women or to close relatives, and for certain kinds of literature. One Meiji writer described it as “naturally suited to euphemistic, elegant prose” but “not appropriate for descriptions of violent emotions, bizarre behaviour, or debauchery, let alone savagery”.
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和漢混淆文, a mixed style incorporating elements of 漢文, 和文 and the colloquial speech of the time, used in popular literature. The colloquial speech would be used in dialogue, with narration using more classical grammar forms.
So there wasn’t just one way that people wrote, but multiple significantly different styles for different purposes, and even if you were literate in some sense that didn’t mean you could necessarily read all of them. The tendency for “serious” newspapers to use 漢文 effectively locked a lot of people out of the discussion of national and political affairs.
The other surprise was how long it took for the last holdouts against colloquial style to fall: the last major newspaper only switched in 1926, and whether the post WW2 constitution should be written in colloquial style or not was a real question.
Recommended if you like academic/history books and reading about the language.
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Wow, thank you for the great recommendation! It’s definitely going to go on my wishlist.
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It’s one of the few series I collect physically. It’s really confusing. The first few volumes just have names. Then they start numbering them starting from 1. So 山田と加瀬さん。(1) is book 6, but has 1 in the title.
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Finished this. The first 4 chapters are all from the author’s PoV, about the author - who frankly is kinda cool, but also not the most interesting in terms of story. Chapter 5 is interview style, with a friend of the author’s. I assume the next volume will also follow the interview format. It’s cool to gain some knowledge of LGBT culture in Japan, but neither comprehensive, not a must read. To the author’s credit, a variety of identities and orientations are depicted.
Felt pretty good about this series. I should have realized from the title that the trans girl was the deuteragonist. Auto I appreciate having a story with a non-passing trans girl, even if it didn’t go as into her experiences as I expected. Otherwise I appreciated the inclusion of various identities among the cast - including an aro-ace character. At times it got a bit too monologue-y or unrealistic for me, but putting that aside I thought it was decent and enjoyable writing.
4-koma, 22 pgs in & enjoying, but it’s kinda a lot, cuz the protagonists live in a share house, and I need to get more sleep b4 I can continue
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Somewhat on the topic of LGBTQ+ content, I’ve been ruminating 魔入りました!入間くん 22 | L27 over the past few days.
I liked the plot, but I’m really not sure how I feel about queer representation in this series. Around volumes 19-20, you have a gender non-conforming character hitting on all the guys, and it’s treated as a joke, in volumes 21-22, you have a lesbian hitting on all the girls, and she gets them somehow. Literally no one is immune except the main character’s love interest (wow, how surprising). It would be easier to shrug it off as “heh, it’s a magic world” if it wasn’t just after the same thing gender swapped (well, mostly. I think the former character identifies as a guy? It’s unclear from their behavior and choice of pronouns, but I have zero expectations about the authors knowing anything about non-binary people; death of the author and everything, but I think the character is intended to be a guy).
Anyway, I still think this series is fun, and I like where the plot is going, but things like that are just annoying.
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started reading a new book today
I want something short and easy after a Silent Witch volume 2. judging from the premise this is a bit on the sadder side of books.
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I was reading the night is short walk on girl and The black death hall murder both of those are great books. 黒死館殺人事件 | L51??. https://learnnatively.com/book/6ccfa255b8/
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Welcome! And there’s actually a small book club for 黒死館殺人事件 if you’d like to check it out!
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It took a while, but I finally finished ifの悲劇 | L35
I have to say, I wasn’t that interested by the book until like 30 pages from the end. Then, everything changed.
I’m not quite sure why the book has such a low rating (it was like 2* before my vote), I thought it was pretty good (once I got the point). It’s not quite too little a reward, but it does feel too late. I guess that’s a book you need to read really quickly instead of dragging it out like I did… but, at the same time, the book doesn’t give you a reason to rush forward.
The book itself is already pretty short, but I guess it would be better if it was even shorter. So, 4* for me.
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Yeah, right? 
I was wondering whether I didn’t get it straight away because of lacking depth of understanding, but I guess if you didn’t get it straight away either (as soon as the later event’s story started) then it was probably undetectable.
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There were times when I thought “huh? That’s weird”, but I didn’t think too much about it until the reveal. Then I was like “ooooooh I get it”. That prologue really tricked me.
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Alrighty, my first update here of 2026! 
I want to get a little bit better about posting here; I like seeing what other people are reading, which means I need to chat about what I’m reading!
I finished 王と夜啼鳥 FLESH & BLOOD外伝3 | L33 earlier this week; it took me far longer to finish than I’d care to admit, but all is well. I have a few more F&B 外伝 stories I want to finish before I start the next main series volume (volume 20), and I’m hoping to get to it April at the very latest. (I’m aiming more for early March.)
As a small reward for myself, my next book I’m jumping to is the much, much easier 小説 スキップ・ビート!キョーコの全力フルコース! | L30?? (my initial reading has me wanting to put it around L25 so far). It’s a collection of prose short stories set in the スキップ・ビート！ universe, which I’ve been slowly re-reading in English and thoroughly enjoying myself. (To the point where I’m having to constantly tell myself, no, you don’t also need the entire series in Japanese… but the siren call is strong.) I highly recommend the series to those wanting a fun, energetic shoujo about a young lady scorned by her first love who decides to seek revenge in showbiz. 
Let’s see… I’m about done with the fifth 本好き book, so I’ll need to pick a new audiobook for my regular listening soon. I’ll be starting BUTTER | L36 with the WK ABC, but I’m assuming the listening for that won’t take up my whole week.
I’ll also be starting はめふら with our own LN club on Monday, so looking forward to that.
And other than that, the only other thing I’ve been picking at is オタク用語辞典 大限界 | L30??; I’ve wanted to make Anki cards out of the entries for a long while now, so I’m doing 2-3 entries every morning. It’s quite slow going, but I’m in no rush. 
If I get to the point where I’ve got a section finished, I’ll be sure to share the Anki deck here!
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What! I love the series (though read it translated)! We had novelized content too? 
As someone who read the first one, wrote the comment that it’s too hard for my current level and then proceeded to buy 51 more volumes during the New Year’s sale I feel called out.
How much time do I have to catch up before you’re tempted to pick up vol 6?
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Just this one! There’s also a fanbook.
You’re living my dream. 
Probably at least a month, unless @shitsurei is feeling ambitious.
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I haven’t been reading much but didn’t want パラサイトムーン 風見鳥の巣 (電撃文庫 わ 4-2) | L31 dragging into the next month so just sat down and read yesterday. Was not at all what I was expecting, unfortunately. Fine for what it was, reasonably enjoyable, but that’s about all.
Started 楽聖少女 | L30?? - I have no idea what this is about, or why I bought it…
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I’m thinking of sneaking a different read+listen book in before I do another 本好き, so yeah, thinking March. (Although I haven’t yet read this exciting finish to #5, so maybe I’ll want to move up my timeline after I finish, who knows!)
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Reading another novel in English so currently it’s just manga now and then on the side. 86 chapters of Bastard are currently free on the SJ app so I just finally read some of it
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