Doraemon Plus (Difficulty ＊)
This is a 5-volume series that I started reading with. The stories are great and a lot of adults tell me how they appreciate the storytelling. The short series length stops you getting sucked into the mammoth Doraemon library if you just want something to get you going.
I've been reading Naoki Urasawa lately, although he's technically an illustrator. These are the two I've got through so far.
Master Keaton (Difficulty ＊＊＊＊＊)
Keaton is a ハーフ ex-SAS archeology professor who does investigative work (オプス) for Lloyds on the side. It's written in a kind of mini-story format where each chapter is a separate assignment or event in the Keaton world. The stories usually include a mix of history and interesting facts with a bit of McGuyver-style improvised survival mixed in.
No furigana and wide-ranging vocabulary due to the diverse settings, characters and inclusion of historical elements. Heavy on text, and some non-jouyou kanji also pop up, but many of the challenging words can be guessed or skipped over without consequence.
Monster (Difficulty ＊＊＊＊)
A gifted Japanese neurosurgeon working in 80s Germany saves a young child who turns out to be a psychopathic killer that he then has to hunt down. It's really compelling and I was back-and-forth to Tsutaya with this. I don't rate it as highly as Master Keaton because it kind of trails off towards the end. There is a (72 episode) anime available, and also rumours of a HBO series for anyone interested though.
No furigana and wide-ranging vocab due to the large number of characters. I rate it lower than Master Keaton because I could read through these in a day or two, whearas I can't get Master Keaton back to Tsutaya in time (found them for ￥105 in Book Off luckily
).
This is a 5-volume series that I started reading with. The stories are great and a lot of adults tell me how they appreciate the storytelling. The short series length stops you getting sucked into the mammoth Doraemon library if you just want something to get you going.
I've been reading Naoki Urasawa lately, although he's technically an illustrator. These are the two I've got through so far.
Master Keaton (Difficulty ＊＊＊＊＊)
Keaton is a ハーフ ex-SAS archeology professor who does investigative work (オプス) for Lloyds on the side. It's written in a kind of mini-story format where each chapter is a separate assignment or event in the Keaton world. The stories usually include a mix of history and interesting facts with a bit of McGuyver-style improvised survival mixed in.
No furigana and wide-ranging vocabulary due to the diverse settings, characters and inclusion of historical elements. Heavy on text, and some non-jouyou kanji also pop up, but many of the challenging words can be guessed or skipped over without consequence.
Monster (Difficulty ＊＊＊＊)
A gifted Japanese neurosurgeon working in 80s Germany saves a young child who turns out to be a psychopathic killer that he then has to hunt down. It's really compelling and I was back-and-forth to Tsutaya with this. I don't rate it as highly as Master Keaton because it kind of trails off towards the end. There is a (72 episode) anime available, and also rumours of a HBO series for anyone interested though.
No furigana and wide-ranging vocab due to the large number of characters. I rate it lower than Master Keaton because I could read through these in a day or two, whearas I can't get Master Keaton back to Tsutaya in time (found them for ￥105 in Book Off luckily
).
Edited: 2013-06-09, 8:26 am