くまクマ熊ベアー 1

If You Want To Start Reading Japanese Books, Try This

This is probably the best book for a beginner learner to read first. It's available for free online at Syosetu. This is great for two reasons. You can use a pop-up dictionary like Yomitan to help your progress, and you don't have to spend any money.

The use of language is perfect for beginners. The sentences are super short. It was the first thing I noticed. Many sentences don't have multiple clauses. Additionally, the dialogue is simple with no characters using difficult-to-understand speech styles or excessive keigo. Before reading, I was slightly concerned that there would be too much fantasy jargon, video game terms, or internet slang, but they were infrequent to the point of being nonexistent. The vocabulary is common and grounded in daily life, and the number of lookups I needed to do significantly dropped toward the end. I also felt a noticeable increase in my reading speed in the final chapters.

The book is a great resource, but it's not perfect. I would not recommend this for entertainment in any way. It's a generic Isekai--an overpowered protagonist who doesn't have problems in a stereotypical realm with archetypal companions. Even though I finished the day I'm writing this, I can only remember a handful of moments. The plot is very straightforward, so much so that you could probably read the story out of order and not have problems understanding what's happening. (That is a good thing for studying though, as you should be able to understand everything no matter how much you struggle.)

In typical light novel fashion, this is highly serialized. This is great if you liked the book or found it helpful as a resource. However, I found the story dull, so I have no plans to continue reading. Even if it wasn't the most captivating, I recognize how this book can be a great stepping stone into more interesting media, and I strongly encourage you to check it out.