Been wanting to read some more light novels lately and this one has been getting popular, so why not give it a shot?
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I’m always interested in literary series, things that could take other books, add them into the story and probably make me see an other angle to them I haven’t seen before, assuming I read them. When it comes to anime, manga and light novels now as well, there are some gems around for bibliophiles. Was this book one of those gems? I don’t think it was per say. The book is split into 4 different stories, each one of them happening at a different time after Daisuke meets Shinokawa, so while the stories are different, they are basically set in the same timeline and had recurring characters which gave it a sense of continuity.
That being said, not all of them were actually entertaining to read. The mystery aspect of the Light Novel is the main theme in each of the stories, so we’ll be given a lead and see how the characters solve it for that particular novel. The main issue that comes into play in this series is that the characters are not actually that interesting to follow or that likable for me, based on the first volume alone. Daisuke has some issues when it comes to reading and he has a certain physique, the novel continuously keeps informing me of both sides of him without giving him something extra to lean on.
Shinokawa is not so different, she’s got these small traits that give her a very meek personality that to me made her very difficult to swallow. When it comes to books, she’s amazing, but when it comes to everything else, she’s a very withdrawn and after the first couple of times, it honestly became difficult for me to appreciate her as a character. This is very odd for me, I’m always drawn to the silent or calmer characters in any media I consume, but with her, it’s just difficult. The other characters were more entertaining sometimes, it reminded me of the different types of characters you can meet in Arakawa Under the Bridge for example.
Now moving on to the stories themselves, the fact that some interlink by the end in some way was a nice thing to get in the end, however, the journey to get there wasn’t very entertaining. Obviously, with 4 different stories, not all of them will be enjoyable, depending on your preferences and with so-so characters it unfortunately wasn’t very engaging. Thats not to say that all of them were terrible, because that wasn’t true. I like 2 of the 4 in the novel and some things here or there, but overall it wasn’t as rewarding of an experience as let’s say Fune wo Amu or Bungou Stray Dogs with their own literary references.
There are only 3 completely translated novels out of the 7 out at the moment (4th almost done) so it’s not that big of a commitment from my side if I want to continue, which I do. I wasn’t a big fan of this volume, but the beauty with series like this is that the next one might be better assuming they all follow the same format and continuing will surely give me a chance to see different things and different books in Japanese literature so I’m looking forward to that. Additionally there is a J-drama made for this series, and an upcoming anime film so it might not be a bad idea to check it out.
Final rating: 2.5/5