Review: Crystal Hunters #2, by Nathaniel French
by
Stuart Holland
少し日本語を話します (“I speak a bit of Japanese”)
This series is remarkable, an absolute ideal for a new language learner like me. So I read the first Crystal Hunters manga about 6 months ago. The first one was manageable but I had to look up a lot. I’ve been practicing and learning in the time in between.
And I tell you, on book 2 I was reading. Not stop, look up, check, move to next panel. So many times I read some dialogue and just thought “Wow, I just understood that”. The language remains incredibly simple, but that’s what makes it accessible and useful to people early on in learning the language. Like last time, I read the English copy after finishing the Japanese one and found that I hadn’t really missed anything, which was a great confidence boost.
The story itself is split into two parts this time. And it manages to give its characters a surprising amount of depth given the short length and limited range of expression available in the simple vocabulary. It also doesn’t shy away from some violence that makes sense in its world, but still took me by surprise. We associate the simplicity of language with being aimed at children, but that’s not the case here - adults learn new languages too.
There is also a touching real world story from the author on the final page, about how one of the characters got her name.
If you’re learning a language that Crystal Hunters is published in, it’s well worth a read. It’s great practice and a fun story.
