What I Learned from 130 Hours of Visual Novels in Japanese

130 hours of Japanese visual novels over a 30 day period. I played them to improve my Japanese reading speed and understanding, and here is what happened. You'll often seen visual novels shortened to "VN".
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Links to tools used:
Steins;Gate Textractor: bit.ly/3wUwZeU
Textractor: bit.ly/3wYTe3j
Yomichan: bit.ly/3RtVaKF
Site for Hooked Text Pasting: bit.ly/3JDYAZC
Clipboard Add-on: bit.ly/40oEuIL
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ToKini Andy MERCH: bit.ly/380JkDc
DISCORD: / discord
MUSIC
GATE OF STEINER - Piano | 阿保剛
Laboratory | 阿保剛
Noisy Times | 阿保剛
Human Community | 阿保剛

[@anacreondjt]

Hey! Glad to see you like my text hooking site. I hope more people get into VNs because of this. I also use it for anime as well.

[@ToKiniAndy]

It is SUPER helpful! I really appreciate it, and some of the other recommendations and stuff on there too! I hope others get lots of use out of it. =)

[@chciken]

He sipped anacreon's yogurt!

[@jayp9158]

Honestly, the Eroge factor in the VNs is the only thing that keeps me invested enough. I’ve learned a lot thanks to my lewdness and I’m not ashamed.

[@jay-annesabrosio7542]

True... I found my people

[@ozoneislucky]

this is your best video ngl the ando-san cuts go craaaazy, also the editing/subtitles are very appreciated

[@ToKiniAndy]

Thank you! I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it. I had a blast with this one. =)

[@vanessameow1902]

And the fact that this follows in with the visual Novel aesthetic 👏.👏.👏.

[@dashi3l]

I'm glad to see that you enjoyed Steins;Gate about as much as I did. It's truly one of the greatest pieces of media to ever be created in my opinion. Great video as usual too!

[@ToKiniAndy]

It was sooo good, right?! I'm currently listening to a few Drama CDs based on it, one of the manga series, and Yuki and I watched the whole anime in like... 2 or 3 days. lol I started Steins;Gate 0 recently too, but haven't had time to play it, because I was working on this video. Have you played that yet?

[@dashi3l]

@@ToKiniAndy I've played Steins;Gate 0 too and 100% recommend it. I think it's almost just as good as Steins;Gate but I might just be biased haha.

[@ToKiniAndy]

@@dashi3l That's exciting! I'm an hour and a half in, so I think now that I'm done with this video I'll start spending my reading time doing that! =)

[@dashi3l]

@@ToKiniAndy I hope you like it!

[@shiraoriii]

@@ToKiniAndy You can check the other SciAdv titles as well. There are several references to Chaos;Head in S;G, and all the titles are connected (S;G is mostly standalone though). I recommend checking them all.

[@GeorgAnkar]

Also, for those who haven't read a VN in Japanese yet, I'd recommend you to start with one called Axanael. I'd say it's the best choice for the beginners, because more than 90% of lines in this novel are voiced, and the language is pretty easy as well. The story is also pretty engaging, with great characters.

[@ddrrdd1010]

Steins;Gate is one of my favorite vns and one of the first ones that got me into that genre. I also used it for learning, but I studied English, not Japanese, so It was about 50 hours for me for 100% completion.

[@forbiddensuper2369]

Have ya read the rest of the series that steins;gate is in

[@user-kk1ys2oo2t]

Freaking awesome man

[@yowo6105]

I'm at an intermediate Japanese level and I've really been trying to get up to a more comfortable immersion stage. I've tried reading physical novels in Japanese but I realized that its still a bit too hard for me to stay motivated with looking up all the kanji and vocabulary every time. This combined with the fact that I'm a bad reader (though i used to be an avid one), made it that i kinda gave up on reading as immersion strategy. After watching your Nintendo video I started getting curious about visual novels however, and after this video I've made up my mind to regularly practice reading Japanese again. Visual novels in combination with a texthooker sound great! It'll make looking up things so much easier and keep me in the flow of the story.

[@ToKiniAndy]

I'm glad the videos were able to give you the extra push to give it a shot! I hope you have a ton of fun with them! =)

[@butterfly22432]

hey it's been a year later, how's your progress been? have you noticed a big difference in reading with playing VNs?

[@rbarker68]

I had no idea that video novels existed before your videos. It is definitely something I am going to try when I finish Genki II. Thank you for all your hard work.

[@krazyxki]

VNS are probably my main reason for learning the language lol, been playing them since I was like 9 and I'm 25 now. They're a big part of my life honestly. Definitely a whole world of amazing stories and games! If you just now are finding out about them then I'll be rooting for your success in not being distracted by the English/English translated ones and ignoring language learning hahaha.

[@myon9431]

​@@krazyxki what is your favourite VN?

[@krazyxki]

@@myon9431 Depends on the category tbh! I've got a list of top faves on VNDB, but the ones that came to mind for specifically otome VNs is "Ayakashi Gohan" and "Scarlet Fate". I play mostly otome, but for a non-otome, "999" is an amazing classic. (There's plenty of great English VNs too btw! Some dope Russian, Korean and Chinese ones too.) I've never been a BL person but my ultimate favorite now is a BL "Slow Damage" that I played recently.. some really messed up and dark, psychological content but changed my life lol, nothing has been able to fill the void since and it's been months ;_;

[@ellessar5]

Just wanna say your videos are all spectacular and I hope you find lots of success and happiness this year! You’ve become one of my favorite channels ever since moving to Japan and I’m always excited for new content ✨🫰📚

[@ToKiniAndy]

Thank you so much Ellessar! That makes my day! =)

[@nexftw6959]

Another banger! You really don't miss, do you? It was definitely worth the wait!

[@ToKiniAndy]

I'm glad to hear you think so! Thank you so much for watching! =)

[@Macy1997]

really nice video!! i'm reading steins;gate now and i've found that reading definitely gets easier the more you read. i started with chaos;head and then chaos;child (would recommend both!) and it's crazy how much i've grown!!

[@owynwithawhy1768]

The 安藤さん cuts and visual novel esc subtitles definitely spiced up the video in comparison to some of your previous ones! So fun and engaging, looking forward to more!! Also I've used your videos and some content on your website throughout my Japanese language learning journey, and it all has been so valuable thank you so much :)

[@zoeynorman]

I love these types of videos so much! I loved the video where you read a bunch of manga and the video where studied with the Nintendo 3DS so much! And now you posted this :) Thank you!

[@Lesandira]

Steins;Gate is really one of the best visual novels out there. I remember when I played it, I started dreaming about walking around Akihabara.

[@ToKiniAndy]

There are videos on KZbin of people going to the actual locations that the CG is all based on. First time I've ever considered actually doing something like that! haha

[@Joe_Harrison]

If you want to enjoy visual novels and just learn japanese as a bonus then i think playing visual novels in english for 1000 hours and the you will get proficient at listening, then switch to japanese text and then the listening will help you understand whats going on and reduce the need of lookups.

[@Garchr]

Reading VNs in Japanese is the main reason I'm learning the language. Currently reading Higurashi in English, it gets *good*, hope you enjoy. Fingers crossed I can read it in Japanese someday. Some VN recommendations: Fate/Stay Night (I've heard the native Japanese is on the more-complex side so it might be a good reading challenge). Muv Luv (mentioned in another comment) - read Extra->Unlimited->Alternative. It might start off a bit strange but it comes together fantastically by the time you reach the final game. Umineko (when you're done with Higurashi) - it's a 10/10, IMO surpasses Higurashi in most aspects. Ciconia is also a sequel to both and has the first chapter released, so there's plenty in the series to check out.

[@ToKiniAndy]

Thank you for the recommendations! I’ve heard great things about Fate/Stay Night too. Might have to pick that up somewhere. Not on steam I believe, but I’m sure it’s somewhere. And Umineko is one of the ones in my backlog! =)

[@fartedge]

@@ToKiniAndy yeh you wont find it on steam, however kzbin.info/www/bejne/haKseYiBpNtgl8k this yt video tells you how to download it easily on pc, though if youre planning to download it through "official" means, i only know of the ps2, psvita and play store in some regions. pc version used to be on amazon apparently but it got taken down Game in jp language also works perfectly with x86 textractor from my experience

[@dschehutinefer5627]

@@ToKiniAndy Oh god yes! Umineko will floor you! It's similar to Higurashi in that there's some sections where characters repetitively contemplate the same concepts, but it's such a brilliantly constructed story where Higurashi's use of unreliable narration looks like child's play in comparison to Umineko's narrators that are actively out to get you! I must admit, I'm also trying to learn Japanese in part because I want to read some of Ryukishi's works that haven't gotten translations yet, like Trianthology.

[@NeroLordofChaos]

Ditto. I've wanted to read the EVE series of VNs for a while now (I blame G4's Cinematech). They get re-released every other console gen it seems, in addition to the Hgame computer versions. Lots of older VNs I want to read through because the art, story, or music seemed really awesome.

[@tapferetomate914]

If you liked Higurashi you might enjoy Higanbana no saku yoru ni aswell, it's from the same author

[@jingz6225]

Gotta give you a kudo for that thumbnail there. One of the best :D

[@ToKiniAndy]

Thank you! I think only people who have played the game will understand it, but it's totally worth it. haha I had so much fun making it. =)

[@dabi_]

This is so sick. I’d love to use this for a VN like Rewrite.

[@user-nb1vf5nv6v]

When i hear you felt empty inside after finishing steins gate... I'm crying... Aah someone can understand the pain... The characters the voice actors... The story.. The pacing... Everything is perfect... Thanks man... I was thinking about getting into new vn for learning aspects... This really helped.

[@GeorgAnkar]

Great video! I'd recommend reading another great psychological horror VN - Subarashiki Hibi. It has one of the best stories ever told, imho - for me it's just second best after Umineko (which was already mentioned a lot in the comments).

[@dominikseljan3043]

Haha Ando-san parts of the video were awesome and so funny. I love watching your videos Andy 😀

[@tzakman8697]

Steins gate is my favourite anime ever man. So glad you liked the story so much

[@ToKiniAndy]

It’s so good, right! I enjoyed the anime too. I think I’m glad that I played the game first, but the anime was still great. =)

[@chelciethegamer4089]

You should read Chaos;Head NoAH, it's the previous game in the series Steins;Gate is a part of. Best thing I've ever read.

[@Kassina]

This video popped up in my recommendations and this is exactly what I've been doing! :D I got really into 'purely' visual novel games (i.e. ones without significant gameplay) a couple years ago starting with Raging Loop. When I found out that デスマッチラブコメ, which is by the same studio and shares a character with Raging Loop, was never released in English I decided to try playing it in Japanese, which has led me further down the visual novel rabbit hole! I'm now playing ひぐらしのなく頃に in Japanese and am having a lot of fun, even though it takes me longer to finish each game than if I were just reading it in English. I also play on my Switch primarily so it's a bit more of a process to get all the words I look up into Anki, since I'm often playing in bed or on the bus (on my commute) while looking up words on my phone. I don't have the stats to show it, but it's definitely been noticeable how my Japanese reading comprehension and speed have improved. My listening comprehension, as well, since I'll often just listen to the voice acted lines before I read them. It's fun to see other people enjoying visual novels and using them in the same way! :D

[@DR-pl8tu]

This had exactly what I needed. The fan made text hook! thank you!

[@kiiturii]

steins;gate is my favorite anime and I really wanna play the VN at some point to, glad to hear you liked it so much

[@titnesovic4522]

New face here, fantasticly fun video. I'm a few years into German, planning to take up Japanese in a few months. Videos like this really raise the spirit.

[@ruggero3988]

A cool game series with time travel/time paradox is zero escape!!

[@2_ratsplz]

You're telling me i have to read in order to learn. 😩😩

[@derekstacey9330]

I wanted to do this but with jrpgs! I just started learning so it's a long ways off but I like the idea of using games and other media to help learn. Glad you liked steins gate it's my all time favorite visual novel.

[@callmejobson]

Great video! I am putting Higarashi on the list and moving it up! This is the 10th time someone has recommend it and my close friends have been on my case for not paying it!

[@ToKiniAndy]

I hope you enjoy it! Keep in mind, it's a slow start! Very daily life manga feel. Until it's not. lol Thanks for watching!

[@gajesenpai-470]

Love this series

[@ToKiniAndy]

Thank you! =)

[@fulgenzio89]

I don’t know if it’s good for learning Japanese, but I suggest you The House in Fata Morgana. I consider myself an expert reader (lol) and I put some parts of it among the best I’ve ever read, like Joyce/Dostoevsky level. Steins Gate is really good too

[@beng3360]

Good VN but bad suggestion, the while point of this video is VN good because it has voice acting.

[@lordhadaward5564]

Your vídeo is really cool man, trully steins gate was my first visual novel too, but i'm a brasilian and when I first play steins gate I learning English. Now I'm searching something that I can play in my smartphone to learn truly Japanese

[@ilikefrenchfewd]

I love the scenes with you and Ando in between the video 😂😂😂😂

[@juniperlilac4408]

I love these videos. They’re so HELPFUL! Saving my Japanese grades in 大学!

[@merkoo7]

Now you just gotta read Umineko

[@ToKiniAndy]

That's on my backlog! Soon as I finish the other 7 games of Higurashi, it's on to that one! haha

[@Pure_117]

You should read Umineko if you want to try another visual novel. Its made by the same creator of Higurashi. Imo Umineko is the authors masterpiece. Its story and mystery layer is incredible and very unique Think of: -"and then there were none" + Fantasy + Psychological stuff - metatexual - story takles Human problems/conflicts/emotions/relationships - touch of romance and drama ‐ mystery is its main focus (reason why I have to be vague). But its a mystery executed like a game of the reader vs the author. The hints are all there to solve the mystery before it revealed. Its very hard tho but its possible

[@ToKiniAndy]

That's one of the games in my backlog! Looking forward to it!

[@forbiddensuper2369]

Should’ve read chaos;head before steins;gate tbh

[@curiousme7353]

Really great video for learning Japanese and having fun

[@EverydayJK]

The Ando-san cuts were hilarious! Well done!

[@Ushiromiya_Beatrice]

Now play Steins;Gate 0, then My Darling's Embrace, then Linear Bounded Phenogram.

[@ToKiniAndy]

I wish I could post a screenshot of my "Up Next" folder in Steam. haha Those are all there. Except "0" I am playing now. ;-) Also reading a Steins;Gate manga, finished the anime in 2 days, and listening to a Steins;Gate Radio Drama... I think I might be obsessed. haha

[@Ushiromiya_Beatrice]

@@ToKiniAndy There's also a play! The actor playing Rintarou is so effing good! Look it up on youtube!

[@ToKiniAndy]

No way! haha That's awesome. Thank you for the heads up!

[@brainysmarticus]

Hello and thank you for the video. I'm glad to see your progress. It's very humble, as a teacher, to show your learner side :) I didn't know what was visual novels before watching the video. I'll try to look for them, they do sound very interesting. Maybe for people (like me) who have no idea what it is, it would have been useful for us to say where and how to get them. You mentionned the DS, so I assume it's like a game to buy ? Yeah I'm completely ignorant in the matter :) Have a nice day.

[@mochimochioimo]

really good japanese !! ill do my best study too the english ! これも、運命石の扉の選択か…

[@myon9431]

Good luck :D!

[@a_a3595]

3:44 EXACTLY WHAT I FELT 😭

[@GRNKRBY]

Steins Gate is nice. Other time travel: The recently released manga / anime Summertime Rendering was pretty decent. Chrono Trigger is amazing. I would love to read Remake Our Life light novel (that did get an anime).

[@tomtom98]

Just wanted to drop a similar comment to the one I made on your JLPT videos earlier. I decided to do both an N3 vocab ANKI deck alongside reading (and just nearly completing) an entire playthrough of Sister Princess for the PS1 as my primary source of study for JLPT N3. Up to this point I had only done a bit of light reading with short visual dramas or manga. Sister Princess is kind of a VN, but falls much more into the category of "bishoujoge-" so the literature and language level isn't quite as advanced and chaotic as that of a VN. As a result I was able to follow along and not feel too overwhelmed while reading through the story (the voice overs were also helpful for typing in words with kanji I didnt recognize) and by the end of it I really did walk away understanding a huge chunk of what I had just read, it was an amazing feeling. Furthermore while playing, I took TONS of notes, I must have added easily 250 cards to my main ANKI deck from the whole playthrough. While my JLPT N3 score was not great at all, I still somehow managed to pass. I think if it weren't for me spending hours everyday playing Sister Princess and studying all the expressions, words, and new grammar I learnt (while of course keeping up with my daily reviews as well), I probably wouldn't have passed N3 period. And now from this experience I HAVE started my first VN! It can be really frustrating and confusing at times, but I'd say in general I have a good understanding of what I'm reading most of the time. Still have to spend a lot of time looking things up and researching, but from the VN alone I think i've added 600 cards to my ANKI deck now, and I'm only about halfway done this VN XD So I would really recommend VN to those who are looking to get into more advanced Japanese for sure. I think it's safe to say if you are around N3 level, you can start a VN. It will be very discouraging and hard, but as long as you take notes for later reviewing while playing, and make sure to pace yourself so you don't get burnt out every time you play, you can learn a LOT.

[@ToKiniAndy]

The discouraging point is important. Around N3 it’s GOING to be a grind at times. But it’s totally worth it. Thanks for watching and for your story! =)

[@neongooroo]

Love your video man!

[@KyushuTrail]

Awesome. I wanna try some VN on the switch

[@ToKiniAndy]

There are a TON! The entire Higurashi Series in it's best form is available actually! Steins;Gate Elite is on there too. Some people don't like Elite, because it doesn't use the original visuals, but the story should still be good. =)

[@CarlosJimenez-lc7ix]

That's great! I am trying to go through Persona 4 at the moment. When I am farther along in my journey Ill try Higurashi!

[@ToKiniAndy]

That's one of the games in my backlog! How are you liking it?

[@CarlosJimenez-lc7ix]

@@ToKiniAndy i am really having fun with it! The intro sequence had some tricky vocab but once it got into its small town setting, it was very easy to get invested in.

[@ToKiniAndy]

Good to hear! I'll have to jump into it someday soon. =)

[@OpuYT]

@@ToKiniAndy Persona 4 is honestly one of the best games for japanese learners and one of my personally favourites!

[@Kolak2000]

you should play steing gate 0 too

[@MidosujiSen]

Super clean thumbnail haha

[@ToKiniAndy]

Hahah thank you! I think… most people have no idea what’s going on in it, so it’s not performing so well… But I like it, so I’m leaving it. lol

[@gargantuan2810]

Do you have any recommendations for finding light novels and VN other than Steam? Something like a GoodReads but for VN and Light Novels?

[@theredcop7218]

You should try to read Muv-Luv. It’s quite the investment, sure, but not only is it my favorite piece of fiction and something that taught me a lot about myself as a person, it’s also the main inspiration of Attack on Titan and it will probably have a lot of complicated words for your vocabulary when you’ll reach its final installment - Muv-Luv: Alternative.

[@ToKiniAndy]

It was on sale right now, so I picked up the first game in the series! Thank you for the recommendation!

[@brianhoward9649]

​@@ToKiniAndy The first game is notoriously VERY different from the sequels. It's full romcom dating sim esque style. It's supposed to act as a real departure when the eventual mech/alien stuff starts happening to be as impactful as possible (I believe back when the game was releasing, there was no advertising or promotional material of what the 'second' game - latter half of MuvLuv being MuvLuv Unlimited - was actually about. It was just thought to be the same romcom game all the way through). I would say that even if you don't like this first part, skip the side routes and just do the main two (Sumika and Meiya) to get to the Unlimited portion to see whether or not you like it. It was the highest rated on VNDB for over a decade(?) for a reason (just recently being overtaken by Steins;Gate).

[@victoriamarfina9819]

@@brianhoward9649 do you have to play the first part first or is it okay to start from the second?

[@brianhoward9649]

@@victoriamarfina9819 i would recommend playing the first part. If you don't want to play all the routes, then doing just Sumika/Meiya is fine.

[@victoriamarfina9819]

@@brianhoward9649 got it. Thank you for replying.

[@kammy912]

I'm starting to think that Ando-san is the real you; "ToKini Andy" might be just an alter ego.😂 Loved seeing Ando-san after so long though.

[@ToKiniAndy]

👀

[@CanalWolfy]

Steins Gate is amazing and I will try reading it now in japanese. Btw I recommend YU-NO: A girl who chants love at the bound of this world. It is also kinda about time travel and sci-fi

[@ToKiniAndy]

Oo! Thanks for the recommendation! I've seen that one a few times on Steam, and considered it! I'll have to pick it up next time it's on sale! =)

[@speedclips_858]

I recommend ChuSinGura 46+1 for who love historical type vns, hope you can as i am:D

[@Carlos-pm6ig]

Thanks for the video, I was looking for a way to extract the text of Steins;Gate, I try to follow what you mentioned. By the way I got a question, what was the setup you were using to read rezero? I mean software and the book, because all LN I have seen so far are JPG images and not text I could select for lookups, did you buy it in some specific website?

[@geauxtama]

An inspiration!

[@ToKiniAndy]

Thank you!

[@jeremiahgrayest]

Not all VNs have voice acting. Only 1/5 of them do, and thats being generous

[@user-mv3tx5ds9g]

what are the other favorite stories of you andy?

[@tyan4380]

actually i did vnr with anki some years ago , it really was fun and super promising way to learn , however i struggle to find genres other than eroge....stein:gate and stuffs are for general gamers, which i already played all series back on ps vita or somewhere....

[@venkatasivanagarajureddy7213]

Thank you. Could you please let me know how do you extract Japanese text from steins; gate novel ?

[@firstdecade7703]

That's it, I'm going to do too! Fate/Stay night baby!

[@jays8083]

Hey Andy, at what point would you recommend to start reading? I really want to practice, but it's still too difficult for me at this time. Loved the video by the way, always inspiring!

[@OpuYT]

Great video! Visual Novels are such a great resource for Learning Japanese, really. I just feel like it is a bit hard for me to find one that appeals to me enough. I played Steins;Gate almost 2 years ago. I really loved it but it was way to hard at first language wise 😂 The good thing is it becomes easier the longer you play since you will encounter the same vocab again. I hated reading the black hole and time travel theory sections tho, so exhausting😅 I think back then it took me around 130 hours for all endings, so you were way faster, good job!! Still have to play Steins;Gate Zero~ What was the first ending you got? I feel like with Visual Novels I always get a bad and early ending first half way through 😂

[@ToKiniAndy]

Thank you! Yeah, I had the same issue honestly when I first started reading them. Most of what I tried at first I didn't enjoy. But Stein's;Gate and Higurashi finally hit the spot. Just wish Textractor worked with more! Just started 0 recently, and looking forward to continuing now that I finished this video. =) My first ending was the Mayuri ending! Then I went back and did the rest "in order". =) For when I'm feeling tired, I actually started a new playthrough recently, where I just put it on auto at a slow speed, and try to keep up. Enjoying it again! haha Not sure which ending I'll aim for this time though.

[@tapferetomate914]

There are websites listing which visual novels are simpler than others. I've you're really new to reading Japanese VN I'd just pick one of the simplest, it's more fun the more you understand.

[@moundkallefbenoit313]

Hi, can someone help me with the Steins Gate textextractor please? I managed to get it running and to hook it to the VN but it only shows me question marks instead of Japanese characters. I tried following the instructions on Github but it doesn't seem to work.

[@fonebone2825]

At what time should I try this? After learning hiragana and katkana? How much japanese should I know before starting somthing like this? I tried this with nekopara but it was just not my thing? Does it come with furigana?

[@joejo4549]

Did you play steins;gate 0 steam edition? In wondering if it has dual language options.

[@DianaProudmoore]

Tbh, I learned more japanese on visual novels than actual classes~ and I was good in the actual classes too~

[@myon9431]

Dia~

[@TimBrownYoutube]

That alt+f4 was clutch

[@definitelyhuman4510]

My man literally play Higurashi to learn Japanese lmao that's a brutal

[@MisterM2402]

Anyone got recommendations for VNs that aren't too difficult (N3-N2) but have more mature/interesting themes? I've looked at a few different lists online and it seems to be a sea of cover art showing "~5 highschool girls on a nondescript background", which doesn't tell you much about the contents and it just isn't a vibe that appeals to me. I've been really enjoying Ace Attorney so far, mostly adult cast with good humour and intriguing storylines. Steins;Gate sounds like an interesting plot but I think the science-y language might be too complex (and the character art is... unappealing).

[@danielwolstenholme9649]

How are you finding Ace Attorney difficulty wise? I'm just starting quartet 2 and level 26 on Wanikani so wondering if enough to tackle. A lot of the other visual novels look like they are targeting a younger crowd shall we say 😂

[@MisterM2402]

​@@danielwolstenholme9649 I've not done Wanikani before so I'm not sure on that front, I did RTK so kanji's never been an issue. I know about 4-5k words though, for another point of reference. Ace Attorney can be tricky: there are points where I understand ~90% and those are great, but other points where it's less than 50%. Some sentences I have to skip past because my brain just can't make sense of them though I can still follow the overall thread of the story. Some people worry about not knowing the legal terms but these aren't bad since they're repeated so often, and they're fairly basic like "lawyer/victim/evidence/fingerprints" rather than real-life legalese. I have more trouble with the casual speech/grammar, honestly. I've had to use an English walkthrough a few times because I just couldn't figure out how to progress. Sometimes I've missed subtle clues, e.g. in one of the first trials, there's a coroner's report that says the victim died instantly - I didn't know the word for "instant death" (即死) so I glossed over this. The game definitely engages your brain though, it's good. I also like that there are lots of different characters with different ways of speaking. The judge speaks formally, one of the witnesses is a kid with lots of slang, one is from Osaka (tricky Kansai-ben!), one lawyer is old-fashioned and arrogant using words like ワガハイ. This ups the difficulty but it's worthwhile. Another thing I like is often when a character uses a complicated word that's full-kanji, another character will repeat it back in hiragana as if they're confused or shocked. Makes it easier to look up in a dictionary but also shows it's an important word, say if you were going to skip over it before. Sorry, that was a long comment. Basically, I can recommend the game, even if it's a bit above your level. Lots of twists and turns, with funny dialogue and interesting themes (not just "Will Tomoko-chan be able to confess her love for Sosuke-Bosuke AND pass her math final?")

[@danielwolstenholme9649]

@@MisterM2402 Thanks very much for such a detailed reply, I really appreciate it. I think I am around the same number vocab wise and I've been wanting to play it so I guess I will take the plunge and see how it goes! I think I ask as beginner material is now too simple but engaging with native material can be like banging your head against a wall at times but I suppose you just have to work through that as best as possible. Any other visual novels you can recommend? Just got Textractor set up so hopefully that should make it slightly more accessible to tackle things.

[@MisterM2402]

@@danielwolstenholme9649 I'm in the exact same position! Beginner material too easy, native material too hard. I think we're unfortunately both at the stage where it takes a bit of extra effort and frustration to make progress. Ace Attorney is actually the first visual novel I've played which is why I watched this video, for more ideas. I bought the remastered trilogy on Switch so I've still got two more entries to play once I finish the first, at least. I've been playing this on my TV so only access to a dictionary on my phone and Google Translate's camera option. If you're able to use Textractor and a dictionary extension like Yomichan, you'll have an even better time than me. I'm trying to find various native resources at the right level but it's tough. I'm struggling through several books and TV shows too though I keep switching back and forth when I get too frustrated with any of them. There's a site called Natively with user-submitted difficulty ratings of Japanese resources, though it's tough for it to be accurate without a lot of ratings. Any reccs for TV shows? I'm enjoying Shirokuma Cafe (kids show) and I just finished Million Yen Women (also good, a proper adult drama). So much pausing and rewinding and dictionary lookups though, not ideal.

[@danielwolstenholme9649]

@@MisterM2402 Yes I know what you mean, I have been a bit inconsistent too jumping between different things. I still do NHK easy/Satori Reader daily but in terms of Japanese media consumption it's a bit stop and start. I've recently watched Hajime no Ippo, Way of the househusband, Akuma Kun, kotoro lives alone and enjoyed them all. I do a mixture of extensive and intensive approaches when watching as some days the grind of looking everything up can be a pain, although Language Reactor extension is great to ease this somewhat. Are you practicing any form of output yet or just purely focusing on input? I am the latter and just trying to get as much comprehension as possible, never enough though haha!

[@user-lk6rl4vf8x]

maaaan you made me laughing so hard when that person in the end of the video played Nekopara 😂😂

[@lordkronos5470]

I wish I could read ReZero!!! That’s my dream!!

[@asaiasai405]

Some visual novels can have two language at the same time.ATRI is a example.

[@ToKiniAndy]

That's true! I believe if you press some button while playing Higurashi, it switches back and forth between Japanese and English as well. =) I picked up ATRI and Adabana Odd Tales together on sale during the last Steam sale! Looking forward to them. =)

[@electricant55]

"and it's back to the..." "eroge?" I spit out my drink

[@trappercap]

dune but if you want more SCIADV go try out chaos;head or chaos;child

[@BakedBanana]

oh.

[@Fragamitake]

Just letting you know that if you like Higurashi, there’s 2 more in the franchise

[@victoriamarfina9819]

And which one was your favourite? ^^

[@ToKiniAndy]

Steins;Gate for sure. =)

[@emiu5394]

you have to play steins gate 0 !!!

[@Ryyza7]

I think n1/n2 reading consist a lot of business email/letter which you rarely meet during immersion. How do you deal with this, anywya congrats you have really good score

[@ToKiniAndy]

Thanks! I didn't really do anything to deal with it. You'd be surprised how much N1 relevant language shows up in VNs! =)

[@fromant65]

Ando san playing an eroge hits hard

[@ToKiniAndy]

I see you made it to the end! That's Yuki's favorite part of the video. haha Thank you for watching! ^-^

[@sandeevalley8677]

Danganronpa!! Good stuff.

[@Rhythm162.]

I have a question, would you say that studying flashcards is as important once you reach a high vocab count and are able to read visual novels? I'm at around 10k and can real VNs fine with lookups but don't know if studying the vocabulary will help me or just waste my time as reading may be more helpful Anki for real takes way too long...

[@ToKiniAndy]

I would just read to your hearts delight at that point. 😊

[@Rhythm162.]

​@ToKini Andy will do! Thanks for response!

[@m1bl4n]

Now read Umineko No Naku Koro Ni >:)

[@Miria_Mirai]

I really enjoy your videos! You are my motivation to study Japanese But I can't visit your site, why?

[@ToKiniAndy]

Thank you so much! I'm not sure! www.tokiniandy.com didn't work?

[@Miria_Mirai]

@@ToKiniAndy "Error code: 1020"

[@lordkronos5470]

Fate stay night is the only visual novel I’ve read. But it is an Ero lol

[@quasar8744]

Do you have video for how to use the links to tools used in your description?

[@ToKiniAndy]

I have a video for Yomichan, and one for Textractor as well, although I seriously need to update at LEAST the textractor one: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pXKzo2iJa81pr6c

[@quasar8744]

@@ToKiniAndy Yes please update Sensei

[@rachaelkent3303]

アンドーさんは面白いですね

[@elfchild9]

Any other non-eroge recommendations? The VN format sounds like it would be good for learning, but it's kind of a minefield if you're not into eroge.

[@kadabra8]

Це прекрасно) субтитри у стилі візуальних новел є, один збоченець є, чудове відео є) 🔥.🔥 дуже круто,неможливо відірватися

[@ToKiniAndy]

Дякую ! ☺

[@michaelbowen4275]

Based

[@kyleclark8958]

Does sassy Andy have a name?

[@ToKiniAndy]

Ando-san! haha "Sassy Andy" 😂 love it

[@Natheria]

lol, Ando-san learned all his Japanese through nekopara. XD

[@user-ol4xy6jk9o]

ero game is a perfect motivator

[@angelinananana]

has anyone got the coupon code to work?

[@ToKiniAndy]

Oh my god! I’m sorry about that! It should be working now, and there is a new link in the description. Thank you for your interest by the way. =)

[@micbrn]

Ando cracks me up 😂

[@TJCorporation]

How did you track how many new words you had to look up?

[@ToKiniAndy]

By adding every word I looked up to an Anki deck with the Yomichan add-on. The number of words in my deck at the end are how many new words I looked up. =)

[@TJCorporation]

@@ToKiniAndy Ah that makes sense, i personally don't add every single word. I use multiple frequency lists added to yomichan to gauge if it is worth adding to Anki. That's why i was wondering. Thanks for your answer!

[@ToKiniAndy]

I normally wouldn't add any words at all, unless I was really interested in one, or thought I really should have known it. But since I wanted to track for this video, I added them all. =) The frequency add-ons are great too.