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我的腐女友
什麼是「宅」？什麼又是「腐」？乍看之下毫無關係，但似乎又是一體兩面。將超人氣部落格的內容集結成冊，在日本熱銷十五萬冊的本書，藉由原是平凡大學生的作者與腐女友的「對戰紀實」，讓您更了解「腐女」。由於內容中有許多跟御宅族有關的題材與詞彙，請您在閱讀時務必遵照正確的使用方法與用量。
267 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
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253 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
August 10, 2011
A better title would be, "My Girlfriend Has Interests that Differ from Mine and Go Against the Grain of Japanese Society, but Instead of Being Supportive I'll Write a Passive-Aggressive Blog Belittling Her for Her Individualism." I'd like to see a sequel from Y-Ko entitled, "My Boyfriend's a Dick."
November 3, 2014
I was unimpressed.
I mean, I found myself snickering about some of the stuff, but if this were a real blog, it wouldn't be enough to keep me reading.
The title pretty much sums up the book. It's about a guy who's not all that geeky who's dating an otaku. She's a Yaoi-fangirl and in this "blog" comes across more as a caricature than a real person.
This is a strange book in that unless you are very familiar with otaku-culture, you won't understand it--even with the glossary in the back. However, if you're a fan of anime, manga, and so on, you'd probably get irritated with the caricature of an anime fangirl, even if you do snicker at some of the things she does. I thought this would be more of a "Help! I don't get my girlfriend!" type of blog, with "we did fun geeky things together" thrown in (like a "she took me to a maid-cafe. I didn't expect it, but I had fun" kind of thing), but what I got was more of a "Seriously, is there something wrong with her? She did X today!"
My biggest question about this is why is "Pentabu" still with this fujoshi? She obviously drives him crazy. She does things like order eroge (pornographic games) with his amazon account, calls him an uke ("receiving" end of a guy x guy pairing), and just does stupid irritating things constantly. I know this is a "blog" devoted to complaining about the girlfriend, but she comes across as a total jerk. Even with one of the last few "posts" being about how they met and how nice she is and that she likes her regardless, that didn't do much to save my impression of her. Too little too late, you know?
So... yeah. Was just kinda disappointed. It wasn't bad, but it's certainly not my favorite light novel. Why Yen Press picked this one to translate is beyond me. There are so many better ones out there.
I mean, I found myself snickering about some of the stuff, but if this were a real blog, it wouldn't be enough to keep me reading.
The title pretty much sums up the book. It's about a guy who's not all that geeky who's dating an otaku. She's a Yaoi-fangirl and in this "blog" comes across more as a caricature than a real person.
This is a strange book in that unless you are very familiar with otaku-culture, you won't understand it--even with the glossary in the back. However, if you're a fan of anime, manga, and so on, you'd probably get irritated with the caricature of an anime fangirl, even if you do snicker at some of the things she does. I thought this would be more of a "Help! I don't get my girlfriend!" type of blog, with "we did fun geeky things together" thrown in (like a "she took me to a maid-cafe. I didn't expect it, but I had fun" kind of thing), but what I got was more of a "Seriously, is there something wrong with her? She did X today!"
My biggest question about this is why is "Pentabu" still with this fujoshi? She obviously drives him crazy. She does things like order eroge (pornographic games) with his amazon account, calls him an uke ("receiving" end of a guy x guy pairing), and just does stupid irritating things constantly. I know this is a "blog" devoted to complaining about the girlfriend, but she comes across as a total jerk. Even with one of the last few "posts" being about how they met and how nice she is and that she likes her regardless, that didn't do much to save my impression of her. Too little too late, you know?
So... yeah. Was just kinda disappointed. It wasn't bad, but it's certainly not my favorite light novel. Why Yen Press picked this one to translate is beyond me. There are so many better ones out there.
July 29, 2018
It's a really quick read but I think that you will enjoy it more once you have read the manga. Without it, you might think that Pentabu and Y-ko are just bad/annoying people. Having the manga as a background made me look at it with more of the comedic scenes in my head. It made it a much more enjoyable read I think.
If you are into Japanese culture, specifically anime and manga and you can read this with some humour in the back of your mind (which is easier if you have read the manga) I think you could enjoy this. I certainly did but because it does not feel like a proper novel (really short and abrupt blog posts is what this book consists of) I can't give it any higher than 3 stars.
If you are into Japanese culture, specifically anime and manga and you can read this with some humour in the back of your mind (which is easier if you have read the manga) I think you could enjoy this. I certainly did but because it does not feel like a proper novel (really short and abrupt blog posts is what this book consists of) I can't give it any higher than 3 stars.
February 17, 2013
I'll start this review off by listing a few questions you should ask yourself prior to deciding whether to read this book:
- Do you consider yourself to be a fan of anime and manga?
- Do you have at least some idea of what these things are, and what their appeal is? - Gundam, Neon Genesis Evangelion, shoujo and BL manga, maid cafes, cosplay, and slash pairings
- Are you okay with reading a book consisting of a bunch of blog entries?
If you answered “no” to any of these questions, except possibly the second one, you should probably give this book a pass. A good chunk of it will go over your head if you don't have at least a basic understanding of anime and manga fandom. Although the explanations included in some of the blog posts help, and the glossary at the end is decent, those things won't do you much good if you've never seen examples of shoujo and BL manga and anime, and don't know what Gundam is. For example, while the glossary explains that Hagaren is an abbreviation of Hagane no Renkinjutsushi, the Japanese title of Fullmetal Alchemist, it does not explain that “Roy x Ed” refers to a fan-invented romantic/sexual pairing between two characters in the series. And Pentabu's embarrassment about Y-ko storing her shoujo and BL manga at his place is best understood if you've seen examples of them.
And I should mention that, if you've never seen Neon Genesis Evangelion and plan to do so at some point, you might want to save reading this book until afterward. In one blog post, Pentabu watches some of the show with Y-ko and one of her friends, who shamelessly spoil all kinds of story and character details. I've only seen a little of the show and thankfully don't plan on watching more, or I might have found the spoilers to be more upsetting. Oh, and there are also a few Fushigi Yuugi spoilers.
Now that I've gotten all the warnings out of the way, it's time for my review.
I'm not a fan of epistolary novels and usually won't even go near them unless their descriptions interest me, as was the case with My Girlfriend's a Geek. Another strike against the book was my dislike of Pentabu, which was fairly strong during the first third, came and went in flashes for most of the rest, and sorta kinda went away by the end.
Pentabu's reactions to Y-ko during the first third or so of the book often had me thinking something along the lines of “The lady doth protest too much.” He'd frequently write stuff like “my fujoshi girlfriend is dragging me into her world, the horror!” and “the only anime I've ever really watched is [fill in the blank],” and I don't think he considered himself to be an otaku. Certain details struck false notes, however. How could a guy who said “I basically don't watch anime” have a favorite Fushigi Yuugi character and know enough about the show to have cried over the death of a character? This, and other details, had me viewing Pentabu as a hypocrite, a secret otaku (and possibly secret shoujo fan?) who enjoyed making fun of his girlfriend's fujoshi interests via his public, semi-anonymous, and hugely popular blog.
In later posts, Pentabu wrote about Y-ko's cosplaying efforts. Her Christmas present to him was to dress up as a pink nurse with cat ears (Pentabu has a pink nurse fetish – seriously, is this guy really in any position to be making fun of his girlfriend?). She also spent a period of time dressed up as a maid, greeting him when he came home. Pentabu's response was annoyance that she didn't act like a proper maid (the only real change in her behavior was to add “Master” to the end of all her sentences) and that her outfit was so difficult to remove.
Which leads me to one of the things about this book that made me a little uncomfortable – the references to Pentabu and Y-ko's sex life, which, if Pentabu was to be believed, was fairly active. Pentabu never mentioned having told Y-ko about his blog (although the final few pages of the book indicate that he probably told her at some point, if not from the very beginning), so it wasn't clear if he had her permission to refer, even in a fade-to-black way, to moments in their life that lead to sex and/or making out. If he didn't get her permission, and if I were Y-ko, I'd have been mad. There were quite a few indications that Y-ko was too embarrassed to be very “out” about her interests, so I'd imagine that even semi-anonymous references to fujoshi-fied aspects of her sex life would be hugely embarrassing. Fade-to-black sex/making out while wearing a dress shirt she bought Pentabu (Y-ko has a suit fetish), while wearing Pentabu's high school uniform (Y-ko also has a gakuran fetish), and during Y-ko's maid cosplay period, etc. You get the idea.
The book had its good points, though. Although the depth of Pentabu's embarrassment over Y-ko's interests sometimes annoyed me, other times I laughed and felt more sympathy for him. I liked the entry about a sick Y-ko asking Pentabu to read her new BL doujinshi to her - “Put all your emotion into it and play both roles” (73). Oh, poor guy. And I laughed when he realized all of Y-ko's friends knew him as Uke-Sebas.
There were cute relationship moments too, and those are what eventually won me over and convinced me that (assuming those sex life details weren't posted without Y-ko's permission) maybe Pentabu was a decent guy after all. I loved reading about Pentabu meeting Y-ko's family for the first time (Y-ko's mom was fabulous), and the entry on Y-ko's Christmas present was good, too. The final entry (in this volume, anyway) was incredibly sweet and could be summed up like so: “I know I gripe a lot about Y-ko's fujoshi interests, but, in reality, none of it really bothers me, because I love her and enjoy having her by my side.” Everybody, say it with me now: Awww.
I probably would have enjoyed this book more if the sentiments Pentabu expressed in that last blog post had been clearer from the beginning. Actually, there's a lot that Pentabu made clear in his final few posts in this volume that I would have liked to have known sooner: how he and Y-ko met and became a couple, and that, at some point, he must have let Y-ko know about the blog (the final post mentions Y-ko sitting behind him, giggling over BL manga, and an epilogue features Pentabu and Y-ko answering questions asked by Pentabu's readers). The occasional blog post written by Y-ko would also have been nice.
All in all, I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this book. I spent much of it annoyed at Pentabu and a little uncomfortable about some of the things he wrote, even as he occasionally charmed me and made me laugh. I have a feeling I'd probably get along well with Y-ko – we'd at least make great shopping buddies. The final few pages were very sweet and managed to improve my overall opinion of both Pentabu and the book – my romance-loving heart melted over Y-ko and Pentabu's comments about Pentabu using bookmarks. I don't know if I'll hunt down and read the second volume, but I also don't resent the time spent reading this volume. I'll have to see if I like the manga adaptation of Pentabu and Y-ko's story more.
(Original review, with read-alikes and watch-alikes, posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)
- Do you consider yourself to be a fan of anime and manga?
- Do you have at least some idea of what these things are, and what their appeal is? - Gundam, Neon Genesis Evangelion, shoujo and BL manga, maid cafes, cosplay, and slash pairings
- Are you okay with reading a book consisting of a bunch of blog entries?
If you answered “no” to any of these questions, except possibly the second one, you should probably give this book a pass. A good chunk of it will go over your head if you don't have at least a basic understanding of anime and manga fandom. Although the explanations included in some of the blog posts help, and the glossary at the end is decent, those things won't do you much good if you've never seen examples of shoujo and BL manga and anime, and don't know what Gundam is. For example, while the glossary explains that Hagaren is an abbreviation of Hagane no Renkinjutsushi, the Japanese title of Fullmetal Alchemist, it does not explain that “Roy x Ed” refers to a fan-invented romantic/sexual pairing between two characters in the series. And Pentabu's embarrassment about Y-ko storing her shoujo and BL manga at his place is best understood if you've seen examples of them.
And I should mention that, if you've never seen Neon Genesis Evangelion and plan to do so at some point, you might want to save reading this book until afterward. In one blog post, Pentabu watches some of the show with Y-ko and one of her friends, who shamelessly spoil all kinds of story and character details. I've only seen a little of the show and thankfully don't plan on watching more, or I might have found the spoilers to be more upsetting. Oh, and there are also a few Fushigi Yuugi spoilers.
Now that I've gotten all the warnings out of the way, it's time for my review.
I'm not a fan of epistolary novels and usually won't even go near them unless their descriptions interest me, as was the case with My Girlfriend's a Geek. Another strike against the book was my dislike of Pentabu, which was fairly strong during the first third, came and went in flashes for most of the rest, and sorta kinda went away by the end.
Pentabu's reactions to Y-ko during the first third or so of the book often had me thinking something along the lines of “The lady doth protest too much.” He'd frequently write stuff like “my fujoshi girlfriend is dragging me into her world, the horror!” and “the only anime I've ever really watched is [fill in the blank],” and I don't think he considered himself to be an otaku. Certain details struck false notes, however. How could a guy who said “I basically don't watch anime” have a favorite Fushigi Yuugi character and know enough about the show to have cried over the death of a character? This, and other details, had me viewing Pentabu as a hypocrite, a secret otaku (and possibly secret shoujo fan?) who enjoyed making fun of his girlfriend's fujoshi interests via his public, semi-anonymous, and hugely popular blog.
In later posts, Pentabu wrote about Y-ko's cosplaying efforts. Her Christmas present to him was to dress up as a pink nurse with cat ears (Pentabu has a pink nurse fetish – seriously, is this guy really in any position to be making fun of his girlfriend?). She also spent a period of time dressed up as a maid, greeting him when he came home. Pentabu's response was annoyance that she didn't act like a proper maid (the only real change in her behavior was to add “Master” to the end of all her sentences) and that her outfit was so difficult to remove.
Which leads me to one of the things about this book that made me a little uncomfortable – the references to Pentabu and Y-ko's sex life, which, if Pentabu was to be believed, was fairly active. Pentabu never mentioned having told Y-ko about his blog (although the final few pages of the book indicate that he probably told her at some point, if not from the very beginning), so it wasn't clear if he had her permission to refer, even in a fade-to-black way, to moments in their life that lead to sex and/or making out. If he didn't get her permission, and if I were Y-ko, I'd have been mad. There were quite a few indications that Y-ko was too embarrassed to be very “out” about her interests, so I'd imagine that even semi-anonymous references to fujoshi-fied aspects of her sex life would be hugely embarrassing. Fade-to-black sex/making out while wearing a dress shirt she bought Pentabu (Y-ko has a suit fetish), while wearing Pentabu's high school uniform (Y-ko also has a gakuran fetish), and during Y-ko's maid cosplay period, etc. You get the idea.
The book had its good points, though. Although the depth of Pentabu's embarrassment over Y-ko's interests sometimes annoyed me, other times I laughed and felt more sympathy for him. I liked the entry about a sick Y-ko asking Pentabu to read her new BL doujinshi to her - “Put all your emotion into it and play both roles” (73). Oh, poor guy. And I laughed when he realized all of Y-ko's friends knew him as Uke-Sebas.
There were cute relationship moments too, and those are what eventually won me over and convinced me that (assuming those sex life details weren't posted without Y-ko's permission) maybe Pentabu was a decent guy after all. I loved reading about Pentabu meeting Y-ko's family for the first time (Y-ko's mom was fabulous), and the entry on Y-ko's Christmas present was good, too. The final entry (in this volume, anyway) was incredibly sweet and could be summed up like so: “I know I gripe a lot about Y-ko's fujoshi interests, but, in reality, none of it really bothers me, because I love her and enjoy having her by my side.” Everybody, say it with me now: Awww.
I probably would have enjoyed this book more if the sentiments Pentabu expressed in that last blog post had been clearer from the beginning. Actually, there's a lot that Pentabu made clear in his final few posts in this volume that I would have liked to have known sooner: how he and Y-ko met and became a couple, and that, at some point, he must have let Y-ko know about the blog (the final post mentions Y-ko sitting behind him, giggling over BL manga, and an epilogue features Pentabu and Y-ko answering questions asked by Pentabu's readers). The occasional blog post written by Y-ko would also have been nice.
All in all, I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this book. I spent much of it annoyed at Pentabu and a little uncomfortable about some of the things he wrote, even as he occasionally charmed me and made me laugh. I have a feeling I'd probably get along well with Y-ko – we'd at least make great shopping buddies. The final few pages were very sweet and managed to improve my overall opinion of both Pentabu and the book – my romance-loving heart melted over Y-ko and Pentabu's comments about Pentabu using bookmarks. I don't know if I'll hunt down and read the second volume, but I also don't resent the time spent reading this volume. I'll have to see if I like the manga adaptation of Pentabu and Y-ko's story more.
(Original review, with read-alikes and watch-alikes, posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)
June 24, 2024
I don't even remember why I put this on my list years ago. But since I did, I read it.
YIKES this is SUCH a toxic relationship. She completely manipulated and abused him and never shuts up about BL even though he's made it clear he's not into it and doesn't respect his boundaries at all and won't accept when he says no.
On the other side of it, all he does is complain about her and her interests and is so ashamed of her and afraid her Otaku stuff being seen at his house because "what will his friends think" and he doesn't even act like he likes her how have they been together for two years?
They need to break up. Now.
YIKES this is SUCH a toxic relationship. She completely manipulated and abused him and never shuts up about BL even though he's made it clear he's not into it and doesn't respect his boundaries at all and won't accept when he says no.
On the other side of it, all he does is complain about her and her interests and is so ashamed of her and afraid her Otaku stuff being seen at his house because "what will his friends think" and he doesn't even act like he likes her how have they been together for two years?
They need to break up. Now.
January 21, 2016
His girlfriend is a world-class jerk, is what he means. At this point in my life, I’ve read my share of unpleasant female protagonists. (The blunt Ida from The Lost Journals of Ven Polypheme series, the inexplicably crass sexual harasser titular character of the The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya series or the murderous, violent Jane G-23 in the Shades of Grey books are a few who come readily to mind.) But Y-KO, with her relatively innocent manga fetishes, is worse than all of them. Why? Because she’s a real person and they’re just fictions.
Y-KO has got to rank as one of the worst girlfriends ever. If she’s supposed to be a real person (and Pentabu assures us she is), then she comes off as manipulative, uncaring, pushy, arrogant, intrusive, destructive, childish, unapologetic, physically and verbally abusive.
What, what, WHAT does this man see in her? She’s an older woman (although not by much—they’re both in their twenties) and it seems he has a penchant for that type. But he never tells exactly what else draws him to her. Is she kind, sweet, giving, good natured, charming, lovely? He doesn’t give you a clue about any of that.
His love seems potent, consuming and sincere. So does his deeply submissive nature, one that has him weakening and kowtowing to her every whim, no matter how off putting he initially finds her requests. She demands that he bring his old school uniform so he can wear it? Fine. Then she decides to wear the outfit herself while he’s taking a shower (which she suggested so she could nick it while he’s bathing)? Oooookay. Then she asks him if it wouldn’t be more fun for her to wear it while they’re screwing…only it’s clear that it’s not a request. What?!?
It’s like that throughout the whole book. Y-KO makes it obvious that it’s her whims she wants catered to and hers alone. She and her friends cackle in front of him about how Y-KO has got him trained (read: whipped) like a butler while he helplessly fumes. He gets pulled into her nerdy fetishes and finds his closet filled with her silly paraphernalia. He doesn’t like any of it but he puts up with it nonetheless.
I couldn’t help but flip the genders in my mind. If Y-KO were a man and Pentabu a woman, would any of this be remotely amusing or entertaining? Would being trained into being an upset, reluctant submissive be absorbing to read? Would it be fun to read about Pentabu’s foot being stomped on twice (which he confesses really hurts) because he makes a stray comment about Y-KO’s age?
No, it would not. I hated learning about his travails and felt angrier and sicker the longer I read. Even reading the penultimate pages about how much he cares for her, how little her crazy demands bother him less and less as time passes couldn’t sway me to a positive opinion about his relationship or this book.
Is he in love or just thoroughly beaten? Hard to tell, really. Maybe there are people out there who’d claim it’s pretty much the same thing. I don’t. If you like the idea of love as harassment, domination, selfishness and barely restrained violence, then throw this book a glance. If not, then throw this book into the garbage.
Y-KO has got to rank as one of the worst girlfriends ever. If she’s supposed to be a real person (and Pentabu assures us she is), then she comes off as manipulative, uncaring, pushy, arrogant, intrusive, destructive, childish, unapologetic, physically and verbally abusive.
What, what, WHAT does this man see in her? She’s an older woman (although not by much—they’re both in their twenties) and it seems he has a penchant for that type. But he never tells exactly what else draws him to her. Is she kind, sweet, giving, good natured, charming, lovely? He doesn’t give you a clue about any of that.
His love seems potent, consuming and sincere. So does his deeply submissive nature, one that has him weakening and kowtowing to her every whim, no matter how off putting he initially finds her requests. She demands that he bring his old school uniform so he can wear it? Fine. Then she decides to wear the outfit herself while he’s taking a shower (which she suggested so she could nick it while he’s bathing)? Oooookay. Then she asks him if it wouldn’t be more fun for her to wear it while they’re screwing…only it’s clear that it’s not a request. What?!?
It’s like that throughout the whole book. Y-KO makes it obvious that it’s her whims she wants catered to and hers alone. She and her friends cackle in front of him about how Y-KO has got him trained (read: whipped) like a butler while he helplessly fumes. He gets pulled into her nerdy fetishes and finds his closet filled with her silly paraphernalia. He doesn’t like any of it but he puts up with it nonetheless.
I couldn’t help but flip the genders in my mind. If Y-KO were a man and Pentabu a woman, would any of this be remotely amusing or entertaining? Would being trained into being an upset, reluctant submissive be absorbing to read? Would it be fun to read about Pentabu’s foot being stomped on twice (which he confesses really hurts) because he makes a stray comment about Y-KO’s age?
No, it would not. I hated learning about his travails and felt angrier and sicker the longer I read. Even reading the penultimate pages about how much he cares for her, how little her crazy demands bother him less and less as time passes couldn’t sway me to a positive opinion about his relationship or this book.
Is he in love or just thoroughly beaten? Hard to tell, really. Maybe there are people out there who’d claim it’s pretty much the same thing. I don’t. If you like the idea of love as harassment, domination, selfishness and barely restrained violence, then throw this book a glance. If not, then throw this book into the garbage.
June 29, 2012
~4/5
[Taken from my blog: http://geekyreading.blogspot.com/2012... ]
I finally got around to reading this. I think it took me so long because of the journal style, which I do enjoy, but seems to slow me down for some reason. But I only had a few books with me in Japan, and this was one, and I got through it pretty fast.
It is different from the manga, which isn’t much of a surprise. The story is the same, but this time is strictly in his head, and showing how he took everything that happened between him and Y-ko. There’s more to the story, too. Pretty much all of the book focuses on their relationship and her crazy antics, which are entertaining. But there was also a lot more romance, and cute scenes between them, which I enjoyed. There wasn’t… heavy romance or anything, just hints as to what was going to happen, but I liked it nonetheless.
There was also more… chemistry shown. More cute moments and closeness between them than was given in the manga. And it showed more of them at the beginning, how their relationship grew before they actually became a couple. It was nice to see all of that, which I hadn’t noticed too much lack of in the manga, but now that I kind of do. They were cuter and sweeter in the novel, much more than I was expecting.
I still like their characters. He is sweet and caring, and takes all of Y-ko’s antics. She’s enjoys bothering him and making him do things for her, which he complains a bit about, but overall enjoys doing for her. They work together well. He’s happy with her, very content to stay with her, which is obvious, and she’s happy as well.
(I think that, seeing all of the happy couples around me, including the family I stayed with, and then reading this book and seeing how well they work together, just… made me happy. A bit envious, to be sure. It just… fills me with happy feelings, I guess?)
The writing is a bit exaggerated, which at first annoyed me, but grew on me about half-way through. I don’t think it was all that more exaggerated than the manga, just that seeing it only written and not in manga-form wasn’t as good, and I didn’t like it much at first. (I don’t know if it got better, or I got used to it. Maybe a little of both. Either way, I enjoyed it.) I was glad, though, that it grew on me, because I wanted to like it.
This was just… really good. Better than I was expecting, and even than was hinted it would be at the beginning. I was pleasantly surprised. If you liked the manga (or didn’t read it, whatever;) then you should really pick this up. And I’m pretty sure there is another book to go with it, which I am definitely planning to pick up the first chance I get.
[Taken from my blog: http://geekyreading.blogspot.com/2012... ]
I finally got around to reading this. I think it took me so long because of the journal style, which I do enjoy, but seems to slow me down for some reason. But I only had a few books with me in Japan, and this was one, and I got through it pretty fast.
It is different from the manga, which isn’t much of a surprise. The story is the same, but this time is strictly in his head, and showing how he took everything that happened between him and Y-ko. There’s more to the story, too. Pretty much all of the book focuses on their relationship and her crazy antics, which are entertaining. But there was also a lot more romance, and cute scenes between them, which I enjoyed. There wasn’t… heavy romance or anything, just hints as to what was going to happen, but I liked it nonetheless.
There was also more… chemistry shown. More cute moments and closeness between them than was given in the manga. And it showed more of them at the beginning, how their relationship grew before they actually became a couple. It was nice to see all of that, which I hadn’t noticed too much lack of in the manga, but now that I kind of do. They were cuter and sweeter in the novel, much more than I was expecting.
I still like their characters. He is sweet and caring, and takes all of Y-ko’s antics. She’s enjoys bothering him and making him do things for her, which he complains a bit about, but overall enjoys doing for her. They work together well. He’s happy with her, very content to stay with her, which is obvious, and she’s happy as well.
(I think that, seeing all of the happy couples around me, including the family I stayed with, and then reading this book and seeing how well they work together, just… made me happy. A bit envious, to be sure. It just… fills me with happy feelings, I guess?)
The writing is a bit exaggerated, which at first annoyed me, but grew on me about half-way through. I don’t think it was all that more exaggerated than the manga, just that seeing it only written and not in manga-form wasn’t as good, and I didn’t like it much at first. (I don’t know if it got better, or I got used to it. Maybe a little of both. Either way, I enjoyed it.) I was glad, though, that it grew on me, because I wanted to like it.
This was just… really good. Better than I was expecting, and even than was hinted it would be at the beginning. I was pleasantly surprised. If you liked the manga (or didn’t read it, whatever;) then you should really pick this up. And I’m pretty sure there is another book to go with it, which I am definitely planning to pick up the first chance I get.
April 20, 2016
I’ve never read a book written as a blog before so I was pretty excited to read this. But it turns out this is a collection of blog posts the author actually wrote about his girlfriend Y-ko.
This is a silly book.
I think the reason for this is that Pentabu (the narrator) is 21/22 years old, and Y-ko is 23/24. That and this is only a glimpse in their lives pertaining to funny otaku moments, while I get to read about them as a couple Pentabu doesn’t go into anything deep or serious. He just sticks to him trying to be funny about his girlfriend being an otaku.
Just based on the glimpse Pentabu writes about I’m pretty envious of their relationship, I’d like to find someone I can joke around with like that.
Pentabu does that thing I do where he’s trying to be funny while having a conversation a lot. I totally understand, but one thing I’ve learned is that while I feel like I’m being funny that’s not always reality. But I emphasized hard whenever he did it.
Random thoughts: Since this is a real blog I learned things about Japan I never knew before, like the existence of Otome road. And I was left curious about the fact all Y-ko’s friends, who I assume are the same age as her (23/24), are all described as housewives.
My favorite sections were the cosplay ones, it was refreshing how open he was about their sex life (nothing gets shown or described, but it’s obvious what happens next).
Some things that bugged me:
- The way certain words/sentences were enlarged and bolded every page . It was just unnecessary.
- There were times I wanted to tell Pentabu it’s not a big deal so like chill.
- How young Y-ko sounded, she seemed much younger than a woman in her 30s (I found out later that she was not 30 and I have no idea why I thought she was, but yeah she’s around 23/24 and this bothered me less once I found this out).
- The random one panel illustrations, like why bother?
I love love loved the cover art, so pretty.
Anywho this was a sweet and happy glimpse of a couple’s life from the boyfriend’s pov, and while I enjoyed it I’ll probably hold off reading book 2 for now.
This is a silly book.
I think the reason for this is that Pentabu (the narrator) is 21/22 years old, and Y-ko is 23/24. That and this is only a glimpse in their lives pertaining to funny otaku moments, while I get to read about them as a couple Pentabu doesn’t go into anything deep or serious. He just sticks to him trying to be funny about his girlfriend being an otaku.
Just based on the glimpse Pentabu writes about I’m pretty envious of their relationship, I’d like to find someone I can joke around with like that.
Pentabu does that thing I do where he’s trying to be funny while having a conversation a lot. I totally understand, but one thing I’ve learned is that while I feel like I’m being funny that’s not always reality. But I emphasized hard whenever he did it.
Random thoughts: Since this is a real blog I learned things about Japan I never knew before, like the existence of Otome road. And I was left curious about the fact all Y-ko’s friends, who I assume are the same age as her (23/24), are all described as housewives.
My favorite sections were the cosplay ones, it was refreshing how open he was about their sex life (nothing gets shown or described, but it’s obvious what happens next).
Some things that bugged me:
- The way certain words/sentences were enlarged and bolded every page . It was just unnecessary.
- There were times I wanted to tell Pentabu it’s not a big deal so like chill.
- How young Y-ko sounded, she seemed much younger than a woman in her 30s (I found out later that she was not 30 and I have no idea why I thought she was, but yeah she’s around 23/24 and this bothered me less once I found this out).
- The random one panel illustrations, like why bother?
I love love loved the cover art, so pretty.
Anywho this was a sweet and happy glimpse of a couple’s life from the boyfriend’s pov, and while I enjoyed it I’ll probably hold off reading book 2 for now.
August 10, 2016
I did enjoy it somewhat and read it really quickly, but I think part (most) of the enjoyment was more due to the anime/manga references than the interesting relationship between the blogger and his (slightly) older girlfriend. If one doesn’t know much of that aspect of Japan’s popular culture, I can’t really see what one could get out of this, since it basically focuses on only the narrator’s frustration with trying to grasp and deal with what his girlfriend is obsessing over.
All right, I understand that it is a blog and only restricted to depicting that one thing the author wanted to focus on, but it really doesn’t give a very good impression of either character. Y-ko comes off as incredibly self-obsessed and annoying and Pentabu as weak-willed and spineless for not sticking up for himself more. Moreover, I can’t understand how he is still with her if he finds this obsession so annoying? Either embrace it or get out. Or maybe it’s not as bad as it comes off in the blog. Maybe they do some other things as well? I think the blog/novel would have benefited from some other stuff included in it, since now we only get Y-ko the crazy fujoshi and Pentabu the guy, who is annoyed with it. What else is there to their personalities or their story?
All right, I understand that it is a blog and only restricted to depicting that one thing the author wanted to focus on, but it really doesn’t give a very good impression of either character. Y-ko comes off as incredibly self-obsessed and annoying and Pentabu as weak-willed and spineless for not sticking up for himself more. Moreover, I can’t understand how he is still with her if he finds this obsession so annoying? Either embrace it or get out. Or maybe it’s not as bad as it comes off in the blog. Maybe they do some other things as well? I think the blog/novel would have benefited from some other stuff included in it, since now we only get Y-ko the crazy fujoshi and Pentabu the guy, who is annoyed with it. What else is there to their personalities or their story?
May 1, 2012
I'm not sure what came first, an actual blog, the manga or what, but this form, novel, is well...not great.
The entries are occasionally funny. Mostly however, I found myself thinking what a jerk the boyfriend was for having all these bizarre expectations of his girlfriend, but attributing all oddity in the relationship to her, because she is a 'fujoshi.'
One in particular struck me as odd. His girlfriend ordered a maid uniform for cosplay. First she suggested that he wear it, he absolutely (in bold) refused to do so. So she wore the uniform when greeting him after he came home from university. He then complained that although she wore the uniform and called him 'master' she didn't do anything else to 'please' him. Who is the true otaku here?
I found that although any geeky tendencies he had he blamed on his girlfriend, she was much more open to experiences of all types whereas he just hid in the closet. A true Otaku.
This makes a much better manga than book. I often found myself skimming through bits rather than really concentrating on it.
The entries are occasionally funny. Mostly however, I found myself thinking what a jerk the boyfriend was for having all these bizarre expectations of his girlfriend, but attributing all oddity in the relationship to her, because she is a 'fujoshi.'
One in particular struck me as odd. His girlfriend ordered a maid uniform for cosplay. First she suggested that he wear it, he absolutely (in bold) refused to do so. So she wore the uniform when greeting him after he came home from university. He then complained that although she wore the uniform and called him 'master' she didn't do anything else to 'please' him. Who is the true otaku here?
I found that although any geeky tendencies he had he blamed on his girlfriend, she was much more open to experiences of all types whereas he just hid in the closet. A true Otaku.
This makes a much better manga than book. I often found myself skimming through bits rather than really concentrating on it.
May 4, 2010
Pertama kali saya membaca buku ini di kantor, saya harus menahan diri untuk tidak jatuh terguling dari kursi. Biasanya saya kurang suka dengan true story, tapi yang satu ini perkecualian.
Pertama-tama, saya suka karena buku ini bukan melecehkan otaku atau fujoushi. Sebaliknya malah, di sini diperlihatkan betapa sulitnya orang biasa menjalani keseharian di tengah otaku, sukanya BL (Boys Love) pula. Mulai dari dibujuk menulis doujin novel BL Gundam benih, menampung komik-komik yang jelas-jelas bukan selera, sampai menonton siaran khusus Evangelion, di tengah maniaknya, tanpa punya bayangan sama sekali, film tentang apa itu.
Dan karena buku ini sebenarnya bisa dibilang copy-paste dari blog Pentabu (Si cowok yang pacarnya fujoushi ini), formatnya sederhana dan mudah dibaca.
Semoga bisa terbit di sini!! Dan lengkap dengan neta-neta animenya yang asli :D
Pertama-tama, saya suka karena buku ini bukan melecehkan otaku atau fujoushi. Sebaliknya malah, di sini diperlihatkan betapa sulitnya orang biasa menjalani keseharian di tengah otaku, sukanya BL (Boys Love) pula. Mulai dari dibujuk menulis doujin novel BL Gundam benih, menampung komik-komik yang jelas-jelas bukan selera, sampai menonton siaran khusus Evangelion, di tengah maniaknya, tanpa punya bayangan sama sekali, film tentang apa itu.
Dan karena buku ini sebenarnya bisa dibilang copy-paste dari blog Pentabu (Si cowok yang pacarnya fujoushi ini), formatnya sederhana dan mudah dibaca.
Semoga bisa terbit di sini!! Dan lengkap dengan neta-neta animenya yang asli :D
June 11, 2012
Okay, so I'm not as otaku as Y-ko, but there were definite "OMG that's me" moments that had me laughing out loud. Yes, I can be a total fangirl at times, and I'm sure my awesome and loving (and supportive) significant other is just as confused as the poor protagonist seems to be. This isn't a book for those who have no clue as to the Japanese pop culture references, not is it a book for someone who takes things way too seriously. This is light and fluffy reading that's fun. The irony is the poor boyfriend is well on his way to becoming fully otaku himself. By the way, being a fan of Maya Shinju's Sensual Phrase, Vol. 1, it was nice to discover another series which features the characters from that manga (which I will havve to find).
March 7, 2016
Thank goodness there's a glossary in the back of the book. I only wish I had realized it was there sooner.
I read a few manga titles here and there but I'm nowhere near knowledgeable about the genre and the nuances of Japanese culture that I feel I needed to be in order to understand a lot of what is discussed in this volume. I don't have any familiarity with some of the concepts so that made the read a lot more difficult for me.
I feel as though a lot was lost in translation and more lost since I am unfamiliar with the slag and many of the references.
I was really expecting a different story altogether from the synopsis. No plans to read additional titles in the series.
I read a few manga titles here and there but I'm nowhere near knowledgeable about the genre and the nuances of Japanese culture that I feel I needed to be in order to understand a lot of what is discussed in this volume. I don't have any familiarity with some of the concepts so that made the read a lot more difficult for me.
I feel as though a lot was lost in translation and more lost since I am unfamiliar with the slag and many of the references.
I was really expecting a different story altogether from the synopsis. No plans to read additional titles in the series.
December 9, 2013
I have some hope that the manga version of this is better, and that the story just didn't translate as well into a text only format.
While I still want to give the Manga a try... My expectations aren't super high both the protagonist, and his Fujiyoshi girlfriend are annoying in their own particular ways. The narrator is maybe a touch over sensitive, and super weak willed. Y-ko is not only the sort of woman that you casually ignore friend request from on tumblr, but doesn't seem to show any real depth of emotion.
I really can't recommend this.
While I still want to give the Manga a try... My expectations aren't super high both the protagonist, and his Fujiyoshi girlfriend are annoying in their own particular ways. The narrator is maybe a touch over sensitive, and super weak willed. Y-ko is not only the sort of woman that you casually ignore friend request from on tumblr, but doesn't seem to show any real depth of emotion.
I really can't recommend this.
August 13, 2016
تجميع لمدونّات ذات شعبية باليابان صاحبها ولد يسجل يومياته مع البنت الفوجوشي* اللي يواعدها
التدوينات أغلبها إذا مو كلها حلطمات على البنت والمواقف المحرجة اللي تصير له بسببها،لدرجة تخليك تستغرب إنت ليه لسه تواعدها من الأساس!
ما أنكر جزء مني يحس القصة بكبرها ملفقة من شخص أوتاكو زهقان ويبغى شهرة، خصوصًا إن الكوميديا والحوارات شبيهة بالأنميات والمانغا بدرجة شنيعة، لكن هالجزء بالذات يخليها ممتعة حتى لو كانت خيالية
يستحق نجمتين، بس لأن قراءته الخفيفة قبل النوم وبعد مذاكرة غثيثة بجو الاختبارات رفعت أسهمه
فوجوشي : لقب للنساء بفاندوم الياوي*
google it
التدوينات أغلبها إذا مو كلها حلطمات على البنت والمواقف المحرجة اللي تصير له بسببها،لدرجة تخليك تستغرب إنت ليه لسه تواعدها من الأساس!
ما أنكر جزء مني يحس القصة بكبرها ملفقة من شخص أوتاكو زهقان ويبغى شهرة، خصوصًا إن الكوميديا والحوارات شبيهة بالأنميات والمانغا بدرجة شنيعة، لكن هالجزء بالذات يخليها ممتعة حتى لو كانت خيالية
يستحق نجمتين، بس لأن قراءته الخفيفة قبل النوم وبعد مذاكرة غثيثة بجو الاختبارات رفعت أسهمه
فوجوشي : لقب للنساء بفاندوم الياوي*
google it
August 31, 2016
This was overall a cute and fun read, contrary to all the negative reviews this LN is so sweet that I tea without sugar and didn't notice, is so funny that I embarrassed myself while laughing between classes and got spoiled SO HARD because I have yet to watch Neon Genesis Evangelion (yeah, I haven't, sue me!) you have been warned!
This-I think- is my first "review" for a book(I know it's not a real review). My full review of both vols. will be after finishing vol.2 (that I'm already reading and enjoying).
This-I think- is my first "review" for a book(I know it's not a real review). My full review of both vols. will be after finishing vol.2 (that I'm already reading and enjoying).
November 19, 2015
I am not the type to start reading a book and not finish it. I have read books that I absolute hated (well hate is a strong word) but still finished because I have to know the ending. The worst is when those books finish on a cliff hanger and then I feel that I have to read the sequel too.
Anyway, this book, well this book I didn't finish. I'm not sure if it was because I didn't really understand any of the terms but I found it so incredibly boring. I'm sorry Pentabu your book just did not tickle my fancy.
Anyway, this book, well this book I didn't finish. I'm not sure if it was because I didn't really understand any of the terms but I found it so incredibly boring. I'm sorry Pentabu your book just did not tickle my fancy.
July 24, 2016
Strip out the oh so cute otaku/weeb crap and you have here is a wearying set of journal entries highlighting an unending pattern of abuse, bullying and belittling. Creepy as fuck. Flip the relationship around so that it is a male pulling this crap on a female and Goodreads would come screaming down on this book like it had been written by Vox Day or someone similar. But since it isn't , Goodreads doesn't. Typical.
May 11, 2011
It is so amazing. I admit that you need basic knowledge of Japanese pop culture to enjoy the story (The glossary won't cut it if you don't know what GUNDAM is)
But It gave me hope, for I saw myself in every single thing Y-ko did. I actually have done 90% of the things she did.
It was also an easy read and highly entertaining
But It gave me hope, for I saw myself in every single thing Y-ko did. I actually have done 90% of the things she did.
It was also an easy read and highly entertaining
August 8, 2016
This book was an absolute delight. I found this at a thrift store and thought it sounded cute. I wasn't fully prepared for what was inside. As a slight Otaku myself I found myself relating to Y-Ko with the turn of each page. This book is great for lovers of anime, humor, or just romance in general.
January 26, 2011
This is absolutely hilarious! Can't wait for the continuation if there is going to be one. :D
September 18, 2023
2.5 stars, rounded down. Unless you are some type of vintage otaku yourself, most of this will be gibberish. Blog format.
May 15, 2013
So funny and hard to put down. The things this guy goes through are very entertaining.
December 20, 2013
I gave up during the first 10 pages. For me, this book is not that interesting. The cover was appealing but looks can be deceiving.
August 28, 2014
3.5 stars
December 18, 2014
There's not really much to say about this book to be honest. It wasn't that bad but it wasn't that good either.
One thing I will say is it's something that's good to read for short journeys.
One thing I will say is it's something that's good to read for short journeys.
July 12, 2015
Funny, especially if you're not new to otaku culture. I like the manga a bit more, though, because the original formatting (blog style/one-line paragraphs) didn't work for me.
July 20, 2016
This was too funny. I couldn't help but laugh at every chapter. If you're feeling sad and down, this book will do the trick for you. XD
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews