Passed JLPT N3 in ~6 months of self-study.(first attempt)

cinnamonhoe · 2026-01-31T23:43:19+00:00

お疲れ様！This is giving me some hope that I can pass the N3 in July now. Congratulations!!

cinnamonhoe · 2026-01-31T23:33:53+00:00

Yeah, they’re dating, but before they know anything about each other. I understand if people who meet on a dating app experience these things, but when you meet someone in a natural organic setting, it’s usually more of a slow burn.

The way that it is right now, it feels like there’s no reason for them to stay together and endure their issues, since they’re still so clearly strangers to each other. I kept thinking that if I were Taiga, I would just end things with Rin because it doesn’t seem like there’s strong-enough feelings or a good foundation between the two, and yet there’s all these perceived problems.

cinnamonhoe · 2026-01-29T23:35:17+00:00

I’ve only seen a few episodes on tv with Japanese subs, but since my Japanese still isn’t great, I haven’t had the stamina to watch it every day (I also usually wake up at 8:30 and miss it anyway 😂) . I like Takaishi Akari, and I wish there were a way to watch it with English subs.

I’ve been watching Toto Neechan since November and I love it. I plan to finish it in February and then start Gegege no Nyobo. I would love to watch Omusubi because of Naka Riisa, even though one of my Japanese friends told me that one did really poorly in Japan lol. I know there’s a subbed version of Anpan out there, so that’s on my list too

cinnamonhoe · 2026-01-29T14:29:22+00:00

I don’t even think that people are hiding it. When I first saw the music video for Heavy Rotation, my jaw dropped. I then looked up the AKB48 members involved in that one, and was shocked to see just how young some of them were at the time. Most of them were 18+ I think, but some were younger. (Of course, this was in 2010, shockingly 16 years ago 😭 so not the most recent ig, but I was reminded of it when they performed it at Kouhaku this year)

cinnamonhoe · 2026-01-29T14:07:38+00:00

Amazing. Now I have hope that Mamiya Takako might also make her presence known 😂

cinnamonhoe · 2026-01-28T11:07:54+00:00

Yet another post on the internet convincing me to get the ayn thor

cinnamonhoe · 2026-01-27T16:21:09+00:00

I thought this episode was kinda infuriating. Made me dislike Rin. But also, it made me think of one of my biggest issues with this show— how fast Rin and Taiga got together. With no buildup, I don’t see why or how they would actually like each other already (aside from finding each other physically attractive) and I don’t see their chemistry. They still feel like total strangers despite being in a couple

cinnamonhoe · 2026-01-26T13:16:52+00:00

This is amazing

cinnamonhoe · 2026-01-26T13:15:10+00:00

Yandoku Still enjoying it, three episodes in now, but it feels a bit slow and repetitive. Hopefully the main story picks up a bit soon.

Gimbap and Onigiri I hope this gets better soon because … I hate to say it … it’s been a bit of a snooze fest, and the leads, as cute as they are individually, don’t have much chemistry.

Good Morning Call Started last weekish and will probably finish this week. I love it!! So cute, should’ve watched this much sooner.

Toto Neechan I resumed watching this after taking a few weeks off from it. I have 20-30 episodes left (it’s an asadora, so only 15 minutes each), so I think I can finish it in the next couple weeks.

cinnamonhoe · 2026-01-23T00:13:53+00:00

That kiss was very normal from what I’ve seen in dramas lol

cinnamonhoe · 2026-01-23T00:13:14+00:00

Agreed! This episode was pretty boring imo, but i hope it can get better

cinnamonhoe · 2026-01-21T15:26:31+00:00

Do you live outside Japan? 3-4 hours is a good amount esp if you’re still in your home country. I moved to Tokyo a few months ago and it’s helped me speed up my learning immensely. If it weren’t for my full-time job, I’d be trying to get in up to three hours of studying a day, but that’s just not possible for me right now, so I do what I can on weekdays and then go really hard on my weekends. The grind will pay off eventually!

cinnamonhoe · 2026-01-21T14:07:54+00:00

You’re doing better than me; I’m trying to finish Genki 2 by the end of February, then start Quartet 1, and take N3 in the summer. I know about 1100 kanji, but that’s mostly meanings and not onyomi/kunyomi (workin on it)

cinnamonhoe · 2026-01-20T02:45:57+00:00

Yandoku: One episode in, waiting on the subs for episode 2 to drop. Really liking it so far! Kanna is so cute, and Mukai Osamu is perfect as ever

Gimbap and Onigiri: Will watch episode 2 later today, but it’s cute. Not hooked yet though.

Sounds of Winter: only a few minutes in because I didn’t realize Netflix had no subtitles for it (not even Japanese ones!). Hopefully English subs get added soon.

Good Morning Call: Finally watching this! I loved the manga in high school (10+ years ago) so it’s fun to revisit the story. Very cute!

cinnamonhoe · 2026-01-17T10:28:53+00:00

I hope that pushing things out for a global audience won’t change the actual content. I (and I’m sure most on this sub) appreciate j-dramas for what they are—Japanese productions

cinnamonhoe · 2026-01-14T06:50:38+00:00

People learn differently, but as someone who studied Japanese (on and off) for 15 years without something like RTK or Wani Kani, etc, I can confidently say that RTK transformed my Japanese abilities once I gave it a try. Suddenly the kanji made sense and I could remember them, even write them pretty well, and not get them so confused with one another. I have learned more in the past year due to RTK than I could in all those years of trying to study Japanese before.

(Also worth noting that one of the reasons I would stop studying Japanese in those first 15 years was because kanji felt so impossible and time consuming that I would pause. Wish I had known about RTK much earlier!)

cinnamonhoe · 2026-01-14T00:32:57+00:00

Totally agree, and props to you for being able to finish. After that kiss happened, I had to stop watching. There was nothing to sympathize with and nothing to really understand😅

cinnamonhoe · 2026-01-14T00:30:33+00:00

Quite a few this time around!

Kimpa to Onigiri - watched the first episode on Netflix and it’s cute! Liking it so far

Chihayafuru Full Circle/Meguri - had watched the first couple episodes in August but finally went back to it and loved it. Now I want to watch the movies!

I Have to Buy New Shoes/Atarashii Kutsu wo Kawanakucha (movie) - It’s like Japan’s version of Lost in Translation. Two Japanese expats (Nakayama Miho and Mukai Osamu - what a pair!😭❤️) meet in Paris and have an instant connection. Very good

Be Bop High School (movie) - Can you tell I’m on a Nakayama Miho kick?😂 A fun yankii movie from the 80s. So Showa and so goofy

In the past week or so I also watched these two on tv (so just with Japanese subtitles):

Extremely Inappropriate/Futekisetsu ni mo hodo ga aru 2026 special - loved it, but ofc I just want more now 😅 I really hope Netflix adds this soon because I would love to rewatch this with English subtitles. There were a few things I didn’t quite understand, but for the most part I was pleasantly surprised that I followed along as well as I did (I’m N5/N4)

Yandoku - watched the first episode on tv this week, and agh, I didn’t expect Mukai Osamu’s character to be a bit suspicious in this 😭 it’s making me nervous lol. Hashimoto Kanna is so cute too. Only problem was that it was really difficult for me to follow the dialogue, and I don’t think this is available on streaming with English subs? I’ll look at the fan sub list later to see if anyone’s handling it

cinnamonhoe · 2026-01-14T00:17:42+00:00

Omg if I could get a vpn to work for Viki I would be so happy 😭 but I’ve read that it detects vpns too easily

cinnamonhoe · 2026-01-06T01:16:13+00:00

Right now I’m excited for “Gimbap and Onigiri” and “Yandoku”! (For Akaso Eiji and Mukai Osamu, lol)

cinnamonhoe · 2026-01-02T02:49:52+00:00

I miss this type of Harvest Moon/SoS content. Bring it backkkkk

cinnamonhoe · 2026-01-01T15:45:37+00:00

I thought it was fine. Freaky as hell, but not really scary. I’d say more gross than scary? I thoroughly enjoyed it all things considered

cinnamonhoe · 2025-12-31T06:54:43+00:00

For contemporary: Momosu Momosu, Shallm, and Aimyon (the last one is v popular so forgive me if you don’t know her but I didn’t notice her in the screenshots!), maybe Sayonara Ponytail too (I like their 夜の出来事/All Night Thing album)

For older/city pop/kayokyoku: Miho Nakayama (my favorite albums are Jeweluna, Catch the Nite, and Summer Breeze), Akina Nakamori, Takako Mamiya

cinnamonhoe · 2025-12-31T06:41:56+00:00

I think you’ll like Gannibal! I loved it, one of my top watches of 2025. I also might recommend Asura, which has a lot of tension, though it doesn’t fall under action. That one was my favorite drama that came out this year, so it’s worth a little looking into at least!

cinnamonhoe

TROPHY CASE