Most Japanese novels use a combination of hiragana, kanji, and sometimes katakana. Kanji is commonly used for key nouns and verbs, hiragana for grammar and function words, and katakana for foreign words or onomatopoeia.
Well, typically, Japanese novels incorporate all three - hiragana, kanji, and katakana. Hiragana is for grammar and function words, kanji for nouns and important concepts, and katakana for foreign words or names. But the balance varies depending on the style and genre of the novel.
Stories make the learning process more interesting. Instead of just memorizing individual characters in isolation, you see them in context. For example, if you read a story about a family, words like 'お父さん' (otousan - father) and 'お母さん' (okaasan - mother) will be more memorable because they are part of a real - life - like scenario.
One way is to read the practice story aloud multiple times. This helps you get used to the katakana characters and their sounds. For example, if the story has words like コンピュータ (konpyuuta - computer), repeating it aloud will reinforce your memory.
One way is to start with simple stories. Read the story slowly, focusing on each hiragana and katakana character. For example, if the story has basic words like 'こんにちは' (konnichiwa), first recognize the individual characters 'こ', 'ん', 'に', 'ち', 'は' and their sounds. Then, try to read the whole word smoothly. Repeat this process for all the words in the story.
I don't think it's a straightforward true story. Usually, such shows take liberties and combine various elements to make it more captivating. Maybe there are loose connections to reality, but it's not a pure retelling of actual events.