#reading manga in Japanese

[haridraws]

delicious ordinary food. completely normal. no catch

[donelywell]

Jumpscare- sudden transformer post! You thought because I mentioned Undertale/ Deltarune in the past that I was gonna post fan art of it here?! Get bamboozled! I uh- do have a mountain of Undertale fan art- I'm just keeping it all away from you because I'm mean >:)

I'm so mad at all of you for never telling me about Transformers Go! Go!- HOW DARE YOU ALL KEEP THIS FROM ME!! It's like- the cutest thing in the worlddd!!!

Finally giving myself an excuse to practice drawing robots! (Ignore the fact that Sonic has a bunch of robots)

[old-skyguy]

The silly stupid alien show about ghosts that steal your cock and balls just pulled the most gut wrenching, poignant shit possible and portrayed it so artistically and meaningfully what is even life.

This was MASTERFULLY done. The visual and environmental storytelling, the subtle foreshadowing, and inject those motifs into my fucking BLOOD.

Ho. Ly shit. Good fucking lord.

[anisaanisa]

Tomie Control | by Junji Itō | Nemuki+ No.5, Issue #67 ☆

[1000sunnygo]

Law novel sequel's title will be "Novel Law: The Hour of Kikoku" (Kikoku no Toki).

... or 'The Time of Kikoku', 'Hour' just sounded catchier.

It's going to be a multichaptered spinoff, the upcoming magazine doesn't conclude the story. Here's an update from the official website.

Seems it's the story behind Law acquiring his sword? Sakagami Shusei (Novel Law author) has shared some initial thoughts (the first tweet was before the title revelation).

Felt the last one 🤝

Once again, Oda's involvement is expected to be minimum. It's almost entirely written by Sakagami Shusei, like its prequel.

Let's hope we finally get to know the names of the other members of the Heart pirates!

Nishimura Kinu's sketch seems to hint at Law's interaction with Hakugan, maybe we'll get to know how he got recruited.

[neonredhex]

No need to tell him, he knows exactly where his hands are

[mustardyellowsunshine]

I love their dumb faces so much.

[dokushoclub]

Tumblr community for langblrs that like to read in Japanese

✨My tumblr community for reading in Japanese got approved ✨

I would like to use this community for the following:

Sharing recommendations: When you finish an interesting article, manga, novel, children's book, or blog post in Japanese, share it with the community and tell us if there's furigana, complex grammar or keigo to watch out for!

Asking for recommendations: Would you like to read more in Japanese but don't know where to start or which genre to try next? Ask the community for their recommendations for your specific level of Japanese and reading experience!

I'm looking forward to more recommendations and discussions of Japanese books form the perspectives of other learners! If you have any input for this community please let me know.

Let's read some books together! 📚🇯🇵

[lylaseb]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JEAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

YOU DESERVE ONLY GOOD THINGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[benkyoutobentou]

Beginner Manga Recommendations for Japanese Learners

It's time, you've done your due diligence in studying. Now it's time to jump into native material. But where to start? Here are a few manga series that I've read that I think would be a reasonable place for a Japanese learner to start their immersion journey.

Disclaimer: I haven't read every series, and the manga that's interesting to me might not be interesting to you. We also all encounter different words as we go along our language learning journeys. A series that I find relatively easy might have you looking up every other word. The trick is to not get discouraged and just keep on pushing through! As with everything, it gets easier the more you practice.

消えた初恋 - アルコ＆ひねくれ渡: This BL series follows a group of four friends and their experiences with love in high school (it also has a drama adaptation that I highly recommend! Available to watch for free on Viki). This series is so silly and just a fun time. The art has great visual gags and it's definitely a series where you can sit down and not even realize that suddenly you've gone through an entire volume and why didn't you buy more of this series to start with? It has furigana on everything, but the characters do speak pretty casually, so there's some slang and less standard language. This series is completed with nine volumes.

佐々木と宮野 - 春園ショウ: This is another sweet BL about Miyano, a high school first year, who catches the eye of an upperclassman, Sasaki. After asking to borrow Miyano's book, the two bond over a shared enjoyment of BL manga. The vocabulary is pretty simple in this one as well, but it does use quite a bit of otaku slang, which can be difficult if you've never encountered it before. It has furigana on everything, though! This series is ongoing with nine volumes and also has a spin off series titled 平野と鍵浦 which is also ongoing with four volumes.

月刊少女野崎くん - 椿いづみ: The first manga I ever read in Japanese! This series follows a high schooler, Sakura, as she confesses to her crush and classmate, Nozaki. However, Nozaki thinks that Sakura is just a fan of his shoujo manga series, and recruits her to be his assistant. This series is so enjoyably silly with a wonderful cast of characters that absolutely steal the show. There's a bit of vocabulary specific to the process of making manga, but it isn't too overwhelming. There's also plenty of casual speech and some great moments that can't quite come out in translation (bonus fact: I actually wrote a paper on this series and how humor is translated in one of my university linguistics class). It also has furigana on everything. It's ongoing with fifteen volumes.

加瀬さんシリーズ - 高嶋ひろみ: This adorable little GL series follows two high school aged girls, popular and athletic Kase and the shy gardener Yamada, as their relationship develops over their high school years. The vocabulary in this one is relatively simple with the exception of some more specific words, but those tend to pop up time and time again. This one doesn't have furigana but I think it's a great introduction to readying manga without furigana! This series is completed with five volumes, but there's an ongoing sequel series called　山田と加瀬さん that currently has three volumes released.

ささやくように恋を唄う - 竹嶋えく: This is a music based GL series about a high school first year, Kino, who tells an upperclassman, Nagi, that she loves her music. Nagi, however, misunderstands this as Kino confessing her love for her. The story follows both the relationship between Kino and Nagi as well as the trials and tribulations of Nagi's band. This is another one without furigana, but the vocabulary tends to be simple enough that I think it's still pretty accessible. It's ongoing with eight current volumes.

かけた月とドーナッツ - 雨水汐: Our last GL, this follows two coworkers, Uno and Satou, and their blossoming relationship in a society that pushes conformity and marriage on women. I really loved the way this series depicted coming into one's sexuality as an adult. Another one without furigana, but simple vocabulary regardless. A possible difficulty with this one might be the office vocabulary, though. This series is completed with four volumes.

[tokidokitokyo]

レタスクラブ

I wanted to recommend レタスクラブ to advanced Japanese learners.

レタスクラブ (Lettuce Club) is a site that has both レシピ and 読み物 that someone introduced me to recently. I came for the 読み物, but the レシピ looks good too.

I have been reading through some of the comics under the 読み物 section 趣味, which has a variety of artists and themes to choose from. This is definitely a site for advanced readers, but if you'd like to try to navigate around the site you can practice reading.

Start Here for Comics, then try:

趣味

くらし

育児・子育て

Happy reading!

[elirium]

Recently i noticed that one of my favorite panels is way more boring in the english version than in the one i read. So. I decided to share it with you.

English version:

German version:

Translation: "Red... I understand your feelings [...] but in a battle there should be no romantic feelings."

[from chapter 40]

[crepes-suzette-373]

Isn't a direct reference, but the name choice of Hiyori's oiran alias and her being part of the plot threads involving "slash killers" is based on the historical fiction from the Edo period about the "tragic romance" between one Shirai Gonpachi and an oiran named Komurasaki.

There are many different adaptations of this, from Kabuki to puppet plays and later movies, generally referred to as the "Gonpachi-Komurasaki story" 権八小紫物.

The general summary of the story was like this: Shirai Gonpachi was originally a samurai, but he killed a man who slandered his father. He went on the run to evade punishment. He found his way to Yoshiwara (red light district), and became involved with Komurasaki, one of the top courtesans there. The two fell in love, but high rank courtesans cost money. To get money to meet her, Gonpachi turned to robbery. He became a slash killer and stole money off his victims.

And of course the guy ends up executed, because he was a criminal. That's why One Piece doesn't really reference the whole plot directly. Just the name Komurasaki and her being a high class oiran, and the theme of "slash killers".

I say this was a historical fiction because apparently there really had been a real person named Gonpachi who was involved with an oiran named Komurasaki, and he really did commit a lot of murder-robberies. It's just that I can't really find the real historical version of what happened, and what I described up there is only the fiction/dramatized version.

Anyway, this isn't a theory or anything, just "inspiration analysis". I really don't think there's anything deeper to it. If anyone thinks this is an interesting material for making fanfics and such, go for it.

[nihongoseito]

ok here's your last vocab list from me for at least a few days lol

nouns:

チンピラ = young hoodlum, delinquent; brat, little shit

目配せ（めくばせ） = exchanging looks, signalling with the eyes

だる絡み（がらみ） = persistently bothering someone (for no good reason), making pointless conversation

慢心（まんしん） = pride, self-conceit

あざ = birthmark; bruise

お門違い（おかどちがい） = barking up the wrong tree

愚痴（ぐち） = idle complaint, grumble

待ち受け（まちうけ）画面（がめん） = wallpaper (electronic)

既視感（きしかん） = déjà vu

即断即決（そくだんそっけつ） = making a swift decision

感慨（かんがい） = deep emotion, strong feelings

一日千秋（いちじつせんしゅう） = (waiting) impatiently, each moment seeming like an eternity

verbs:

チクる = to tattle, tell on

こける = to fall down, collapse; to flop (e.g., movie)

振り絞る（ふりしぼる） = to muster all of (e.g., one's strength), exert fully

背負う（せおう） = to be burdened with, take responsibility for

脅す（おどす） = to threaten, menace, frighten into doing

adjectives:

白々しい（しらじらしい） = barefaced (e.g., lie), transparent, hollow (compliment)

好都合（こうつごう）な = convenient, favorable, expedient

喧嘩腰（けんかごし）の = belligerent

バレバレの = obvious, transparent (e.g., lie)

難攻不落（なんこうふらく）の = impregnable

無垢（むく）な = pure, innocent; unadulterated

鬱陶しい（うっとうしい） = gloomy, depressing

adverbs/onomatopoeiae:

願（ねが）わくば = i pray, i wish

expressions:

あわよくば = if luck would have it, if things go well

大見得（おおみえ）を切る（きる） = to declare impressively

[piracytheorist]

"Sy-on boy" vs. "Second son"

As someone who a) watches the anime first and then reads the manga (and doesn't read manga chapters that haven't been animated yet), b) is quite cautious about Damian's character and c) doesn't even like Damιanya as a ship, I think I have a very different perspective on Anya's view of Damian - at least, according to the point the anime has reached - to the point that I can get VERY confused whenever I see some shippers talk about that. To the point I go like "Is there something I missed?"

And there IS something I miss. And that's manga-only (or at least manga-first) context.

In Japanese, Loid thinks about Damian being the second son of Donovan Desmond, using the word "次男" (jinan) which literally means "second son".

Damian uses the same word for himself later,

and Anya picks that up from then on (though using hiragana characters instead of kanji, as she does in general). And maybe because of that use of simpler characters, the manga translation team decided to have her call Damian "sy-on boy" - a mispronounced "scion boy" - instead of simply "second son".

The thing is, though "sy-on boy" makes Anya's speech sound simpler and more imaginative, fitting her age more, it can also sound more endearing, cute and affectionate, if you lean towards that. Meanwhile, "second son" can range from neutral at best to derogatory at worst - especially considering that Damian is not dealing very well with the fact that his older brother is already an accomplished Imperial Scholar and has raised the bar very high for Damian.

Again, my first contact with the story was from the anime, where Anya simply calls him "second son".

Which, if I'm honest, already sounds appropriately silly. Who calls someone, even the second child of a family, that? Anya's use of "haha" for mama and "chichi" for papa is already kind of incorrect when she talks to them, she's young and has still got lots to learn, in the same chapter/episode she called Becky "milady" until Becky reminded her of her name, and also Damian pissed her off so she has no reason to refer to him with his name (yes I'm fully taking her side on this, bully victim for bully victim). She heard both Loid and Damian use "second son" in their thoughts, so same way she called Becky "milady", she picked that up as a way to call Damian.

I actually wonder why the manga translation team went for "sy-on boy". There's no indication that Anya heard the word "scion" ever before, so it sounds out of place, and honestly, with what I said above, out of character for her. In a weird way, though, it actually fits with how she manages a decent score in her "Ancient Language" test many many chapters later.

(I am aware that there was a fan translation of some chapters before the manga got picked up for an official translation. I have no access to the fan translation, so maybe "scion" was used there and it passed on to the official translations in that way?)

Anyway, what I mean to say is that the use of "sy-on boy" may have encouraged a more lenient and even "encouraging" view of Anya's feelings for Damian, even though through her actions and words she keeps showing that she would rather not be around him, but she has a mission to accomplish.

And with that, though I don't know any Japanese myself, I'm leaning towards the conclusion that "sy-on boy" is not a translation that accurately communicates Anya's sentiments.

And as someone who is very passionate about defending Anya's mistrust of Damian, the use of "sy-on boy" in the manga translation sounds... misleading. Maybe it just feels that way to me because I am a bit more cautious, but it also explains why some fans are so passionate to the point of saying Damian never actually bullied Anya - or to tell me to my face that I shouldn't call Damian a bully because it upsets his fans. If the manga has her use a nickname that could show she's on equal footing with him and could betray, under a certain interpretation, some hidden affection for him, then you kind of understand why people reach that point. It doesn't mean it's right to say Damian was never a bully, or to tell me that after I've shared I still carry scars from having been bullied, but you know. Fandoms will be fandoms.

[multiiocular-mushroom]

Me before reading the Wraith Arc: the timeloop is broken, and after 12 years of autumn Homura is finally gonna see winter and have a poofy coat to put all her guns in!.. right?

Me while reading the Wraith Arc: well they sure have some ice in there :/