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It's a gacha game - You either enjoy it or hate it.
If you loved the anime I highly recommend you to read the Light Novels.
They are sold at Amazon.com digital or physical versions:
Volume 1 - https://www.amazon.com/Wrong-Pick-Girls-Dungeon-Vol/dp/0316339156/
Anime Season 1 is part of Novel 1 to 5.
Novels 5 to 11 are entirely new content related to the anime.
And I highly recommend you to read it all since there are a lot of more content that the anime removed from Novels 1 to 5.
The novels are amazing. The last one is volume 11 and it was recently published.
If you are going to by at Amazon watch out to buy "Light Novels" because they also sell the manga (which I don't recommend since its equal the anime). It usually shows at the product title.
I'm about 100 pages into a book called Musashi you might like. https://www.amazon.com/Musashi-Epic-Novel-Samurai-Era/dp/156836427X
It's not really like Junji Ito horror book but No longer Human is awesome. I really recommend it.
You should first finish your standard textbook learning like genki. Then you can start with something like parallel text books https://www.amazon.com/Short-Stories-Japanese-Penguin-Parallel/dp/0143118331/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1475586006&sr=8-1&keywords=japanese+parallel+text there are a few of them on amazon. Good for practicing your reading.
It seems to be available on amazon for 10 bucks, if you can afford it.
The anime certainly isn't bad, it got me interested in the book (we were also reading Kokoro by Natsume Souseki in literature class at the time, so I already had a general interest in that area). But it might not be to everyone's taste. Idk I'm kinda bad at judging quality.
Yes there is a manga, however the story originally comes from light novels. If still want to read the manga for a slightly different perspective it can be found on MangaReader.net or many other sites. Edit: the name of the manga is found under this name. Dungeon ni Deai wo Motomeru no wa Machigatte Iru Darou ka Gaiden
But here is the link on Amazon to the first light novel. https://www.amazon.com/dp/0316339156/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_UHY4Bb753SB79
I would suggest amazon. Its where I got all 13 volumes that are currently out. They're pretty lengthy. But they're (mostly) fantastic. I found 1-7 to be really fun and great reads. 8-10 I got very bored of and trudged through. But 11-13 is even better than the beginning and blew my mind.
The Rising of the Shield Hero Volume 01 https://www.amazon.com/dp/1935548727/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_FP07Cb2671Z2E
The fan translated ones? Likely not since it's been licensed by Yen Press so I'm guessing most places have taken down their translations. You may be able to find it somewhere though. If you want to buy it legitly, then try Amazon
It's a sort of autobiographical novel about this guy's life in Japan in the 1930's as he struggles mental illness, addiction and maladaptive life choices. It's super super dark. The saddest thing I have ever read.
https://www.amazon.com/No-Longer-Human-Osamu-Dazai/dp/0811204812
For reading, I'd strongly recommend grabbing a copy of Read Real Japanese Fiction. The stories and translation notes are a consistent delight.
I liked your review. Unfortunately it's been so long since I've watched them that I can't give a meaningful comment.
I'll say this though. This is a great compilation of the story and well worth the read. Musashi by Yoshikawa Eiji.
https://www.amazon.co.jp/Musashi-Epic-Novel-Samurai-Era/dp/156836427X
It is not courage but more of giving up the will to live. All the attachments to this world fade away. And then you have one single purpose, to die.
Here is a link of a book about poems from these people before they died.
Another by yukito ayatusji is a mystery horror light novel. its completed at 1 volume. there is a sequel called another s/o but thats basically just a side story after the first novel so you dont need to read that if you dont want to since the first novel finishes itself. https://www.amazon.com/Another-light-novel-Yukito-Ayatsuji/dp/0316339105/
heres the blurb.
In the spring of 1998, Koichi Sakakibara transfers to Yomiyama
North Middle School. In class, he develops a sense of unease as he
notices that the people around him act like they're walking on
eggshells, and students and teachers alike seem frightened. As a chain
of horrific deaths begin to unfold around him, he comes to discover that
he has been placed in the cursed Class 3 in which the student body head
count is always one more than expected. Class 3 is haunted by a
vengeful spirit responsible for gruesome deaths in an effort to satisfy
its spite. To stop the vicious cycle gripping his new school, Koichi
decides to get to the bottom of the curse, but is he prepared for the
horror that lies ahead...?
Sorry that others didn't respond well to your question. It's actually a common topic in zen and here's a book of a collection of zen death poems for you: https://www.amazon.com/Japanese-Death-Poems-Written-Monks/dp/0804831793
This one
Personally I don’t think you need graded readers past N4 level, after that you can start consuming native content. There’s NHK Easy, which can be understood by anyone who is N4 level, and easier media. There’s also bilingual texts, you just need to know where to look https://www.amazon.com/Short-Stories-Japanese-Penguin-Parallel/dp/0143118331 (although this might be a little too hard for upper beginner). There’s plenty of easy manga out there too for example. And for a more traditional approach there’s textbooks like Tobira, Shin Kanzen Master and the Grammar Dictionaries.
Its not officially called learning material in many cases, but it works and I can say its way more fun to use native content than to bury yourself in boring graded readers.
Read about about men in history who have demonstrated the traits you desire. Introspect on these individuals and integrate their (healthy) mental models into your life. For example, a great book to read about a strong man is Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa. (https://www.amazon.com/dp/156836427X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_glt_fabc_KAAKPP9MH35GJ1EX5A4G?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1).
Overall, all men as they grow into young men and men, grapple with these ideas about strength, courage, boldness, etc. We have to learn how to be strong, apply strength to a problem at the RIGHT time but also how to NOT apply strength to a problem at the RIGHT time. A room of 6 men who could pose a threat to you or your date is likely a room that you should not apply brute force to. Rather, turn on your senses, stay alert, signal to your date that you see what is going on and are there with her. Assess the situation, if they are bombarding her with vulgarity, make clear to them that "Hey, come on gents, you can see she's with me Insert sly laugh directed from you to them" and then descalate by leaving the area with your date once your food is ready. Then talk with her about what happened and be genuine. Not every moment demands complete dominance.
In terms of fallout with your date, I would call her. Let her know "Hey about the other night, I wasn't forthcoming with you, I did hear those guys but I didn't say anything because I was afraid. I should have acknowledged that to you after we left. I'm still growing into the man I know I will be and I could have handled that better." Something like that bro.
She should respect you a ton for that, and even if she doesn't want to progress with you after all of this; becoming the man you were always meant to be does not involve her but rather it is a journey between you and you. Chin up my lad, embrace the genuine and communicate what you feel when you feel it.
IIRC, Breaking into Japanese Literature features stories that collectively use every Joyo Kanji. That is partly why they were chosen.
> I must say, Tae Kim is perfect AFTER you've finished both Genki I & II as a refresher of all the material learned. It's as if it was the notebook of the most brilliant student in your Japanese Language class.
I think this is a good observation, but it's probably the same case the other way around, too.
Not a lot of learners take the forgetting curve into account - you are inevitably going to forget things, regardless of how serious you take this, how smart or dedicated you are. Review is essential -- you'll review vocab/grammar in a more natural fashion when you eventually begin consuming content in Japanese, but it's still good to review more "textbook-ish" resources from time to time, too. You will probably pick up a small nuance or detail that you hadn't noticed before, and this will let you get more out of your immersion later on.
I think that your experience will be the same with Tobira, so just get through the book for now and use Anki in a way that works for you. Once you finish, go back through Tobira's table of contents and put an asterisk next to grammar points that (in the time it took to finish the textbook) have grown a bit fuzzy. Then just as you did with Tai Kim for Genki, find another resource that will let you review the stuff you learned in Tobira.
And before long, you'll be able to focus on "real" Japanese resources! the Read Real Japanese readers are great for this sort of intermediate-but-not-confident-in-myself stage.
"would ONLY reading this be helpful?" No. Don't limit yourself.
But at the same time, I don't think it would be helpful to read types of literature you don't enjoy, because what's there to get out of that? So I wouldn't aim to "bring yourself to read things you don't necessarily enjoy", but it wouldn't hurt to go a little out of your comfort zone once in a while.
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This book: https://www.amazon.ca/Breaking-into-Japanese-Literature-Classics/dp/1568364156
is meant to help people transition from newspaper articles to books. I would highly recommend it.
There's also a few free apps meant for people trying to transition into books if you can't spend any money on books. (such as satori reader)
Unofficial links aren't allowed to be posted as per the subreddit rules. Your best bet is to buy either the digital or physical books.
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Wrong-Girls-Dungeon-light-novel-ebook/dp/B00LZYBVJ4
Main series has 14 volumes translated, with volume 15 coming soon. Sword Oratoria has 12 translated Volumes. The Familia Chronicles series includes Episode Ryuu (translated) and Episode Freya (soon tk be translated).
I used https://www.amazon.com/Read-Real-Japanese-Fiction-Contemporary/dp/1568365292 after Tobira. It is arranged a lot like Tobira (readings -> explanations) but the readings are published fiction so it really blurs the line between textbooks and native material.
Musashi authors a book called 'Book of the Five Rings' which I've not read. There's a historical fiction novel based on his life called Musashi to which I am referring.
Bookwalker (e-book)
Amazon (Paperback)