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クロックワーク・プラネット / Clockwork Planet (Novel) #2
Clockwork Planet: Volume 2
The Earth has died, but the entire planet has been reconstructed using gears and clockwork. One thousand years later, a mysterious black box crashes into the house of a high school gearhead named Naoto Miura, a machine otaku who is obsessed with tinkering. The box contains the broken body of an automaton girl. When Naoto repairs the automaton and she becomes his clockwork companion, Naoto's world will never be the same again.
280 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 29, 2013
7 people are currently reading
82 people want to read
About the author
Yuu Kamiya
139 books198 followersKAMIYA Yuu
Name (in native language): 榎宮 祐
Associated Names:
KAMIYA Yu
Pix*SUKU
Pixel Phantom
Thiago Furukawa Lucas
Zodiac: Scorpio
Married to HIIRAGI Mashiro.
Thiago Furukawa Lucas, who is better known under his pseudonym, Yuu Kamiya, was born in Brazil and moved to Japan at the age of seven..
He is one of the first foreign manga artists to make it big in Japan from Brazil.
Name (in native language): 榎宮 祐
Associated Names:
KAMIYA Yu
Pix*SUKU
Pixel Phantom
Thiago Furukawa Lucas
Zodiac: Scorpio
Married to HIIRAGI Mashiro.
Thiago Furukawa Lucas, who is better known under his pseudonym, Yuu Kamiya, was born in Brazil and moved to Japan at the age of seven..
He is one of the first foreign manga artists to make it big in Japan from Brazil.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 29, 2020
Conceptually, CLOCKWORK PLANET was always a bit of a longshot in terms of how well it might integrate its faux-sci-fi into the arms of readers whose eyes have glazed over at any inkling of steampunk kitsch or futurism baloney. Alas, nearly all aspects in which the first volume failed to render believability, establish consistent and uninterrupted narrative dynamism, and put forth an enduring pattern of clear and verifiable character dynamics -- the second volume has likewise failed. On a similar note, those facets of the first book that made the title interesting enough to warrant a sequel -- intuitive problem-solving from oppositional characters; multiple threads of espionage -- this second book seems to flaunt these features uncaringly before abdicating with abandon.
The second book takes place several weeks later, with Naoto attending remedial lessons in school, Marie and Halter playacting as regional tourists, and every other citizen of the Kyoto Grid none the wiser. So, naturally, when Marie gets it in her head to hop on over to the Mie Grid to explore an oddity or two, what begins as a quick reconnaissance mission swiftly metastasizes into a race against time to facilitate a military conflict in lieu of global destruction. The group's discovery of a weapon of incalculable power puts everybody into crisis mode. Can they pull together before it's too late?
Not really. But then again, these characters never really fit well in the first place. RyuZU still fawns over Naoto. Marie still maintains her aura of superiority. And the reader is again left wondering how things ever "went back to normal" after the previous volume's events had these characters leading the government to believe they were dead. Regrettably, this is one of the book's many plot holes.
On the whole, CLOCKWORK PLANET #2 unfolds rather lazily. The boring (and strangely vulgar) pitch of the narrative feels listless and without direction. Naoto's interest in resurrecting another automata, AnchoR, is the driving goal of the story, but this goal is easily (constantly) swallowed up and tangled in an array of geopolitical info dumping and melodramatic red herrings.
In the first book, Naoto and Marie used their skill and intelligence to engineer a solution to a problem that was multifaceted (political, militaristic, scientific). In the current book, it's all happenstance. The group must stop a death machine and its guardian before the beast activates and wreaks havoc on the world . . . but instead of using their wits and grasp of technology to defeat yet another technological solution, Naoto and Marie, instead, decide to point two opposing military factions at one another, and run away. And that's it. CLOCKWORK PLANET #2 is cluttered and uninteresting.
The entirety of the magic underpinning the functionality of The Clockwork Planet remains absurd and unexplained. Readers would have to be complete imbeciles to believe the book's authors have any semblance of knowledge regarding how machines (much less actual clocks) legitimately function, further less deigning to explain how they purport to function in the context of the book.
The quality of writing is generally low. Descriptive language is the book's most obvious weak point, as is the talking-head syndrome and the authors' penchant for interjecting multiple sequences of random small talk (bickering) that contributes nothing to the story. Further, inelegant or impractical scenes of dubious role reversals speak poorly of the authors' capacity to craft plausible character development. The book's translation is okay, but not faultless (notably, the vulgar insets leave one wondering if there was "no other option" moving forward).
The second book takes place several weeks later, with Naoto attending remedial lessons in school, Marie and Halter playacting as regional tourists, and every other citizen of the Kyoto Grid none the wiser. So, naturally, when Marie gets it in her head to hop on over to the Mie Grid to explore an oddity or two, what begins as a quick reconnaissance mission swiftly metastasizes into a race against time to facilitate a military conflict in lieu of global destruction. The group's discovery of a weapon of incalculable power puts everybody into crisis mode. Can they pull together before it's too late?
Not really. But then again, these characters never really fit well in the first place. RyuZU still fawns over Naoto. Marie still maintains her aura of superiority. And the reader is again left wondering how things ever "went back to normal" after the previous volume's events had these characters leading the government to believe they were dead. Regrettably, this is one of the book's many plot holes.
On the whole, CLOCKWORK PLANET #2 unfolds rather lazily. The boring (and strangely vulgar) pitch of the narrative feels listless and without direction. Naoto's interest in resurrecting another automata, AnchoR, is the driving goal of the story, but this goal is easily (constantly) swallowed up and tangled in an array of geopolitical info dumping and melodramatic red herrings.
In the first book, Naoto and Marie used their skill and intelligence to engineer a solution to a problem that was multifaceted (political, militaristic, scientific). In the current book, it's all happenstance. The group must stop a death machine and its guardian before the beast activates and wreaks havoc on the world . . . but instead of using their wits and grasp of technology to defeat yet another technological solution, Naoto and Marie, instead, decide to point two opposing military factions at one another, and run away. And that's it. CLOCKWORK PLANET #2 is cluttered and uninteresting.
The entirety of the magic underpinning the functionality of The Clockwork Planet remains absurd and unexplained. Readers would have to be complete imbeciles to believe the book's authors have any semblance of knowledge regarding how machines (much less actual clocks) legitimately function, further less deigning to explain how they purport to function in the context of the book.
The quality of writing is generally low. Descriptive language is the book's most obvious weak point, as is the talking-head syndrome and the authors' penchant for interjecting multiple sequences of random small talk (bickering) that contributes nothing to the story. Further, inelegant or impractical scenes of dubious role reversals speak poorly of the authors' capacity to craft plausible character development. The book's translation is okay, but not faultless (notably, the vulgar insets leave one wondering if there was "no other option" moving forward).
April 20, 2018
I enjoyed this more than the first vol, but that opening was weird and uninteresting.
We meet the 4th automaton in the Y series, and she's adorable.
Seems like Marie and Naoto are falling into a pattern. She gives up hope and he talks crap about her giving up and holding them back until she reacts and figures something out.
The graphic language in this seemed surprising.
I looked this series up, it has four vols and is listed as ongoing, but the last vol was published in 2015... Before that a vol was released every year... Considering A is 4th at min there are only 4 automatons of the Y series, and so far each vol focuses on one of them, so... Well it depends on how things end in vol 4, maybe it is complete and it just wasn't updated.
Some crazy stuff happens, and that ending, whoa.
Really glad
Not sure what else to say.
We meet the 4th automaton in the Y series, and she's adorable.
Seems like Marie and Naoto are falling into a pattern. She gives up hope and he talks crap about her giving up and holding them back until she reacts and figures something out.
The graphic language in this seemed surprising.
I looked this series up, it has four vols and is listed as ongoing, but the last vol was published in 2015... Before that a vol was released every year... Considering A is 4th at min there are only 4 automatons of the Y series, and so far each vol focuses on one of them, so... Well it depends on how things end in vol 4, maybe it is complete and it just wasn't updated.
Some crazy stuff happens, and that ending, whoa.
Really glad
Not sure what else to say.
March 13, 2019
This volume introduces us to the 2nd of the Y-series automatons hinted in vol 1 and the core story is about Naoto's attempts to save her from her forced servitude by a group of rebelling ex-military dudes with a score to settle.
More is revealed in this volume about the structure of the titular Clockwork Planet, and just like the first volume, it is a blast to imagine the concept of a society built entirely on clockwork technology, which somehow manages to cover almost all physical concepts such as gravity, energy, light, atmospheric pressure and even electromagnetism.
A good setting doesn't mean a good book and this is where the writing shines again with the juxtaposition of Naoto and Marie's individual strengths both opposing and complementing each other perfectly and making the character dynamics work out so well.
It's pretty refreshing really to see a pairing of male and female characters who are so close to each other in terms of recognising each others' strengths and weaknesses but not letting a hint of romance come in to play. Not really your everyday's light novel type of character relationship and it is this rarity that makes me rate Clockwork Planet very highly.
Of course, this volume is the first part of a 2-parter arc, with a cliffhanger ending segueing right in to the next volume, so be warned.
More is revealed in this volume about the structure of the titular Clockwork Planet, and just like the first volume, it is a blast to imagine the concept of a society built entirely on clockwork technology, which somehow manages to cover almost all physical concepts such as gravity, energy, light, atmospheric pressure and even electromagnetism.
A good setting doesn't mean a good book and this is where the writing shines again with the juxtaposition of Naoto and Marie's individual strengths both opposing and complementing each other perfectly and making the character dynamics work out so well.
It's pretty refreshing really to see a pairing of male and female characters who are so close to each other in terms of recognising each others' strengths and weaknesses but not letting a hint of romance come in to play. Not really your everyday's light novel type of character relationship and it is this rarity that makes me rate Clockwork Planet very highly.
Of course, this volume is the first part of a 2-parter arc, with a cliffhanger ending segueing right in to the next volume, so be warned.
March 24, 2020
A 3.75/5 stars from me.
Thankfully, the grammar and editing were much better in this volume, whether because of its edition or different staff, I have yet to know. But with that, the story itself was enjoyable. Definitely not without flaw, but good.
This is definitely a straight older teen rating because of the innuendos and such riddling the plot. I personally was getting grated by how many times it halted the story's flow, but ignoring that, it seemed a lot better. Also, I'm definitely here because of the cute little automaton known as AnchoR. I couldn't resist continuing seeing her after my initial impression of the series was "meh". Also, the steampunk aspect. There was a good amount of material used to make this second book survive, so I'm hoping to see it again in the third volume.
The humor was decent considering the amount of risque material it mentioned, and the characters were well and good. This second volume seemed to tie in with the introduction in the first volume, so from here it is up in the air. I do like the idea of a group of rebels exposing the dark side of governmental figure-heads and such, however sloppy it seemed to come across at times.
That being said, I think some steampunk (older generation that is!) might be interested in this series, so I recommend this to them. Otherwise, read at your own risk!
Thankfully, the grammar and editing were much better in this volume, whether because of its edition or different staff, I have yet to know. But with that, the story itself was enjoyable. Definitely not without flaw, but good.
This is definitely a straight older teen rating because of the innuendos and such riddling the plot. I personally was getting grated by how many times it halted the story's flow, but ignoring that, it seemed a lot better. Also, I'm definitely here because of the cute little automaton known as AnchoR. I couldn't resist continuing seeing her after my initial impression of the series was "meh". Also, the steampunk aspect. There was a good amount of material used to make this second book survive, so I'm hoping to see it again in the third volume.
The humor was decent considering the amount of risque material it mentioned, and the characters were well and good. This second volume seemed to tie in with the introduction in the first volume, so from here it is up in the air. I do like the idea of a group of rebels exposing the dark side of governmental figure-heads and such, however sloppy it seemed to come across at times.
That being said, I think some steampunk (older generation that is!) might be interested in this series, so I recommend this to them. Otherwise, read at your own risk!
August 22, 2019
That's 3½ stars. I rounded it down because I very easily put this book down. It wasn't awful, but it certainly didn't grab me the way the first volume did. (I will wholly admit to starting a new Fallout 4 playthrough which may *cough* have cut into my reading time some -- however, considering I picked up several other light novels and read them during this same period while CP2 just sat languishing....)
Once again Marie, Naoto, Halter and RyuZU have to save the planet... or at least a city and have to do so by unconventional means since it would seem those who call the shots are the ones who want to send things into oblivion.
We get to see a lot more of RyuZU's little sister AnchoR, as you probably guessed since she's the covergirl. Resolving that was probably the best part of the book.
Verdict: On the whole it was okay. Not awful, but certainly not great. If you like the concept, it's an okay read. I am still curious enough to pick up vol. 3 at some point.
Once again Marie, Naoto, Halter and RyuZU have to save the planet... or at least a city and have to do so by unconventional means since it would seem those who call the shots are the ones who want to send things into oblivion.
We get to see a lot more of RyuZU's little sister AnchoR, as you probably guessed since she's the covergirl. Resolving that was probably the best part of the book.
Verdict: On the whole it was okay. Not awful, but certainly not great. If you like the concept, it's an okay read. I am still curious enough to pick up vol. 3 at some point.
December 1, 2022
Either this volume was a bit better than the previous one, or I'm just getting used to the writing style. Still not a masterpiece in any way, but it was fun to finally see how and why the terrorist scene from the first scene of the first volume happened. Marie and Naoto are getting some better chemistry working together, and everybody's more used to handle RyuZu's abuse filter so it felt less heavy. Gotta continue~
December 5, 2020
Exciting, brilliant, inspired and perfect. On to book 3!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews