シャドーハウス 1

This is the first manga (series) that I wanted to keep reading even after I had exhausted my Japanese reading stamina. I would be reading for hours up until my brain just can't comprehend any Japanese whatsover and needed a break, and I would sit in frustration because I want to know what happens next but my brain is spent and wouldn't let me. I think this really helped to improve my reading endurance. Reading Japanese is very tiring but this is a rewarding read.

I really like the setting and the theme surrounding supernatural nobility in beautiful costumes living in a big castle with dark monsters lurking inside which reminded me of Vampyria by Victor Dixen. The interactions between the characters and the dynamic between シャドー/お影様 and 生き人形 are rather interesting. The main protagonist, エミリコ, is also adorable.

The story draws inspiration from western nobility, making it more familiar to me. I appreciate that all the characters have western katakana names like Kate, Oliver, Rosemarie, and John since I struggle with Japanese (kanji) names.

The first volume is a bit slow-paced, focusing on setting the scene for future action. Compared to the rest of the series, I found the first volume easier language-wise. Currently on the fifth volume, I consider volumes 2–5 to be of similar difficulty. I'm providing my LearnNatively comparisons based only on the first volume, not the entire series.— this might, for instance, explain why I'm the only one who deemed シャドーハウス to be easier than ルリドラゴン. If we were to compare the whole series, I would also say that シャドーハウス is harder than ルリドラゴン.

I think this is an interesting step-up in polite language compared to what you'd find in mangas set in high schools, without delving into hardcore formal 敬語. It's interesting to observe how characters use language based on their social hierarchy.

The manga contains some furigana but there have been many words that I needed to look up that the author didn't think warranted furigana ¯\_ (ツ)_/¯. You should also look out for the fact that in many cases, the furigana isn't actually a phonetic aid. For example, the speech bubble would show 私・俺・僕 when shadow nobles talk about themselves but since they make use of illeisms (the act of referring to oneself in the third person, using one's own name), you'll see a furigana spelling their name next to the first-pronoun kanji. It can seem a little weird but I've actually found it pretty convenient because I sometimes can't determine who's saying a certain speech bubble in mangas but this clears any ambiguity, so that's a nice side-effect. So, I'd recommend this manga to learners who've already read a full-furigana manga before.

With the help of a Japanese OCR program like KanjiTomo and a little less than 1 year of Japanese immersion under my belt, reading felt pretty fluid despite the somewhat frequent look-ups. Throughout the 5 volumes I've read so far, the grammar got tricky only two or three times.

All in all, an intriguing mysterious world with lovely and amusing characters.

Pro Tip: If reading digitally (the color version is awesome), make sure to use the 2-page view on your reader because there are multiple scenes throughout the series that span the width of 2 pages.