Just Because！ (メディアワークス文庫)

by 鴨志田 一

「あいつを好きな君の横顔が、たまらなく綺麗だったから―」中学時代に福岡へ転校した瑛太は、高校生活残り3ヵ月という時期に、再び父の転勤のため地元・鎌倉へ戻ることになる。転入した高校には、かつて淡い恋心を抱いていた美緒と、美緒が心を寄せる陽斗の姿が。瑛太にとって中学時代の野球仲間である陽斗は、ある女子に「告白してくる」と言い出して…。受験、卒業、恋―高校生たちのきらめきと揺らぎを描き出す青春群像劇。アニメ『Just Because!』原作小説。

Genres: Light Novel, Japanese Literature

247 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 25, 2017

Reviews

[Erickson · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first light novel, purely in Japanese language. I chose this based on the fact that I watched the 12-episode anime a few years ago.

Now I understand why anime can be quite different from the novel. At ~330 pages, this light novel is -short-. The anime expanded a lot on several events that only appear as mere comments in the book. They also restructured some events so that they happen at different place, and even with different people (example: Hazuki's new haircut is first seen by Mio in the book, but by Eita in the anime). This is to be compared with 君の膵臓をたべたい ("I want to eat your pancreas") story, which is also a one-volume book but converted to a movie (which is about half the length of 12-episode TV series).

Overall, I like the light novel's own flavor. Compared to the anime it felt like a lot of things were "skipped", like the final part of the story with Mio and Eita's exam. At the same time, in texts it felt like the characters' personal conflict (especially Mio and Eita) and thoughts are much better conveyed. Note that because a lot of things "skipped" are between Hazuki and Haruto, it means that compared to the anime these two characters are much more secondary and feel less important in the novel. In that sense, Mio and Eita really stand out in the book.

I bought the e-book from Bookwalker, so it's also convenient to read. It's good to know that I am at a level where despite the need for dictionary search (sometimes a lot), I can read this quite alright. What got me stuck often is the name of the monorail/train stations, which follow real Japan's setting, as well as baseball terminology (the sport that both Haruto and Eita are involved in the story).

I don't know how many Goodreads users read books in Japanese here, but I recommend this to anyone who likes slice-of-life story of young adults (the characters are in their final year of high school, facing graduation).

[Violet · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars
Leave it to Kamoshida Hajime to take a fairly straightforward love polygon story and make it so that by the end of it I would die for these kids and their inability to communicate with one another. I just wish more people knew about this anime so that more people will appreciate it when I inevitably write fanfiction of it.
I sent a passage to my wife where the author describes a purely incidental train ride in great detail, down to each station it stops at and tunnel it goes through, and she instantly knew who the author was. Combined with his inability to write a neurotypical character ever, I think that Kamoshida-sensei is exactly my kind of autistic.

[Cell · Rating 3 out of 5]

以下包含與動畫的比較
小說與動畫相比
因篇幅的關係，很多地方比不上動畫

小說在美緒的心境描寫得較詳細
而動畫在瑛太以及美緒以外的人物互動完整多了
導致動畫突兀感要靠小說消除
而小說的閹割感要靠動畫消除(動畫中關於手機背景的劇情挺多餘就是了)
小說中強行導向好結局的感受太嚴重
無法給予好評

3.5/5
==
還是感謝這部小說讓我留意到動畫
再被 Yanagi Nagi 優美的原聲帶還有不錯的OP吸引
特別是以小號為主角的的樂曲《in unison》
雖然以前因為小號的個性與我相差太大，練得相當痛苦
事後回憶還是好懷念啊

[Minh Trang · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chắc do mình qua tuổi mộng mơ cũng lâu rồi á, nên mình chả hiểu sao Izumi lại thích một con nhóc hâm hấp như là Mio 🤣 Nhưng dù sao đến cuối câu chuyện, hai đứa cũng nói với nhau được những gì cần nói, vậy cũng vui rồi 😁
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Btw, bạn nào muốn mua sách đẹp với giá hợp lý thì ghé page mình xem nha :")
facebook.com/hieusachcuaGaby ❤

[Ottoshi Intel · Rating 4 out of 5]

ชีวิตรักวัยมัธยมเตรียมเข้ามหาลัย รักสามเศร้า
แอบรักเขาแต่เขาไปรักคนอื่น วุ่นวายใสๆ กลิ่นอายญี่ปุ่น
เมือง Kamakura เกาะ Enoshima
กับความรู้สึกแอบรักแต่ไม่กล้าบอก สนุก อ่านเพลิน

[Hà Phương · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thấy đoạn Mio thích Eita hơi nhanh, còn lại ok.