For me, h-scenes usually feel really tacked-on without much thought for how they impact the story, and are just there to make the VN sell. Example: Type-Moon's earlier works (Tsukihime and Fate/stay night) have some really bad h-scenes, but their more recent stuff (Realta Nua and Mahou Tsukai no Yoru) lack them completely.
Of course, my problem is not with sex in general, but rather how it's handled. I think such scenes should be meaningful to the plot in some way, either as a device (like in Saya no Uta, as someone mentioned above), as a way to show the development of two characters' relationship, or whatever. One VN that comes to mind as having some nice sex scenes in this regard is Katawa Shoujo.
And regarding nukiges... though I do like reading some every now and then, there's nothing keeping one of those from having an interesting story as well.
Ok with 3 days to spare i am now 500 Kanji in. My review times are getting kinda crazy but My new goal is 800 Kanji by March 31. I know to some of you kids, 10 a day seems a snap. Well ill just say ive been out of school longer then most of you have been alive so my brain is working overdrive lol.
Thanks to all who have offered encouragement and support so far. Its MOST appreciated and I am grateful.
Do you want to play Visual Novels/Read Love Hina/Watch Pokemon in Japanese?
Do you want to learn to do so with a bunch of friends?
Then join with me and take Super Challenge 2013!
(Background Music for this post - Link)
QUICKSTART GUIDE
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Introduction to the Challenge
There's been a lot of talk about learning Japanese on the forums. I, myself, essentially found Fuwanovel through Aaeru's landmark blog post about learning Japanese ( link). For many, learning Japanese becomes a years-long (or lifelong) quest that is full of fresh starts, re-starts, and re-re-starts. Some make it all the way to the level of reading/writing/speaking (or a combination of those three), and some never do.
I'd like to propose a Fuwanovel group dedicated to learning as much Japanese as possible this year.
Here's what the group will look like:
Sign Up. People interested in taking the challenge will sign up - The "Founding Members" (aka, anybody interested in starting ASAP) will sign up by responding to this post. If there's enough support, we'll create our own little sub-forum with a dedicated sign-up page Strength in Community. Members will post progress updates at least once a week (more on this below) as to how they're doing. People who are struggling can request (or, if we like the idea, be given right off the bat) a "buddy" -- somebody dedicated to the program, or who is further along in the program than they are -- to regularly check in on them and give them encouragement. We'll all be encouraging each other in the forums along the way. Once we have a sub-forum, each person will have their own "topic". Four Stages. There will be four stages in the program:
1) The Kanji Stage
2) The Kana Stage
3) The Grammar Stage
4) The Advanced Stage Fuwa-Centric. All material necessary for success will be linked to/provided as we go. While we all have different learning styles, some tools are important for everybody to use. We'll link to lots of different resources to help us out on the way.
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The Four Stages
The Kanji Stage
We will start by learning ~2200 Kanji (the Jōyō kanji, or a list of kanji the Japanese government determined to be the most used and most important in regular life). This is the biggest hurdle for learning Japanese, but once it's over, the rest is MUCH easier (for two reasons: 1) you already have good study habits, and 2) Kanji are a huge psychological barrier).
The easiest way to study the Kanji is by using Dr. Hesig's Remembering the Kanji (RTK) method. This involves two resources: #1) Hesig's book ( amazon) (link) and a SRS-based memory program like Anki (program link) (RTK 6 recommended deck). I will be using the 6th Edition of his book, and recommend you do the same, as it has multiple corrections as well as new kanji.
Kanji Stage Breakdown:
Members are encouraged to choose a study plan: Pick a number of new kanji a day, such as 10, 25, 50, etc. Ex: 25/Day - Done in three months! Ex: 50/Day - Done in less than two months! Using Anki on your computer/phone/tablet, you will study 25 NEW kanji a day per Hesig's study method (more on this below), and review old kanji based on SRS spacing technology Seems like a big hurdle, but it's not! Once you get going it's fun and quick
One important point about the Kanji stage (and, really, the other stages): you will continue to SRS the Kanji through the rest of the program (and, in fact, your life). The day you finish RTK1 you'll have tons of reviews (though you'll be used to the load/pacing). Those will start spreading out further and further, though, proving mastery.
The Kana Stage
For those that have already studied the Kanji, whipping out these puppies is a snap. I got both alphabets down in about 3 hours. My big advantage: I've already got great study habits from learning the Kanji (plus, I've learned great strategies for memorizing Japanese symbols). For this program, however, we're going to be a little more conservative.
Kana Stage Breakdown:
1 week of study One day devoted to Hiragana, one to Katakana Five days of practice (waaay more than you'll need, but just in case ) Mastery will come quickly, especially when we move on to grammar studies
The Grammar Stage
This is where Japanese becomes very real and very fun. With our now-solid foundation of Kanji/Kana, we're now ready to move forward into learning how the language is structured. We will be using the AMAZING (and free!) grammar guide by Tae Kim. You can access the guide a number of ways:
On Tae Kim's website Via complete PDF version, compiled from the website A hardcopy version (my choice, which I'm very happy with) (Pic 1) (Pic 2) (Pic 3) On iOS devices via iTunes.
This grammar guide is AWESOME. You should plan to work through it at your own pace. I'm not to this step yet, so I'm not sure what's a reliable timeframe to suggest.
The Advanced Stage
There's a lot to do once you've got this amazing super-foundation. I'll post resources for advanced students, but at a glance they include:
Reading VNs (for both enjoyment and vocab/practice) Watching Anime with subtitles Reading Manga Practicing vocab/grammar through "Sentences" and "Cloze Deletion" decks on Anki (more on this later) Farming sentences And more!
At this point you're ready to really start enjoying your Japanese skills. From what I've heard by many folks, reaching this stage generally takes 6-8 months for the power-learners, but still less than a year for those who are persistent.
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The Roadblocks and Why We Need a Community
Research has shown that any large undertaking is likely to hit a barrier at a few different points in the process: after 3 days, after 1 week, after 2 weeks, after 3 weeks, after 4 weeks, and then ~once every three months after that. Hitting a barrier can come in different forms: discouragement, feeling overwhelmed, and -- very pertinent to our project -- getting so busy with other things a person "puts the project on hold for 'one or two days', and never returns."
One fantastic solution to this problem has been demonstrated by repeated clinical trials and observation: a phenomenon called "Community Recruitment". Community Recruitment means that a person tells a friend/spouse/child/or group of people about a goal, and then asks for encouragement and follow-up. They then have to regularly report their progress. By utilizing community recruitment, success rates DOUBLED in most trials.
So how are we going to use this in our program?
All members are asked to write up a progress report at LEAST weekly for the Kanji stage We ask a special report be written on day 3 about how it's going, as well as first impressions By doing a day 3 report, as well as weekly reports during the Kanji stage, the community can encourage each other through the toughest part of the trip Post-Kanji stage, we'll recommend monthly updates
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Signing Up
For now, if you're interested in signing up, please post your desire below. Also indicate when you' like to start. Tay (me) will be starting on Monday 1/28/2013.
The first comment under this topic is a "Quick Guide to Starting". Refer to that for instructions on how to start, as well as a forecast through the Kanji stage.
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The Tools / Resources
Below is a list of recommended/alternate study tools and resources.
http://kanji.koohii.com/
Anki (ankisrs.net)
Remembering the Kanji, by James Heisig
(Also, see this note if you can't afford the books)
Hmm... I don't have a top 10, but I do have a top n that I add to sometimes. It's n because the number of ranks in it is variable, and some of them are shared by more than one anime in particular.
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