I bought a manga called "Women" yesterday and I am already halfway through it. I am employing a strategy I came across on a weblog the other day. The premise is simple - read for fun and don't worry if there are words (or in this case kanji) that you don't understand - DO NOT LOOK THEM UP - just plough on through the text and guess/deduce from context. The idea is that you imitate the way you learnt to read when you were learning your first language. Subject matter is important - it has to be something that will pique your interest. I have never read an adult manga before - sure, I've flicked through them at bookshops and laughed at the titles, but I have never sat down and read the dialogue. "Women" features a nerdy hero and an impossibly bosomy woman with multiple personalities. Despite the regular scenes of wild abandon, compliance with Japan's amusing obscenity laws means that no genitalia are shown - the nether regions are alternately covered by hands, faces etc or simply whited out. Ironically the story now has me hooked and I expect I will finish it tomorrow. If I am not careful my reading will catch up with my speaking...
Recent Comments