This book is very problematic, and I wonder how it is that the book (and its movie adaptation) are so popular. I have to spoiler to criticize it, so...
For starters, .
And then you have your time travelling main character who ends up in World War 2 surrounded by soldiers who are going to be sent on a suicide mission. And I think Shiomi, even if they try, criticizing war and , can't but romanticize the Japanese men that were sent on that mission . Again, it is better when Yuri criticizes violence, but, when .
If you add that the writing is very simple, the plot goes too fast, the main character's arc is unbelievable (she changes from one day to the other with little justification) and all other characters are a little bit cardboard-cut...
The best: when it criticizes war
The worst: what was Shiomi thinking (look at spoilers)?; there's no depth to the writing/plot
Alternatives: time travel? many; with Japanese suicide squad members from World War II as the main character? no idea
A bit unbelievable and ridiculous at times, but otherwise very sad and emotional. I listened to the Audiobook, and at first I thought I thought it was pretty silly--basically an isekai where the girl falls in love with a handsome dude in another world...but that other world is wartime Japan.
I missed some details because Japanese is not my native language--for example, I had no idea about the age gap until I read the other reviews. I thought Akira was a kid!
But from what I did understand, the story is a bit hard to believe at first. Yuri has an argument with her mom and runs away. The next time she opens her eyes, boom, she's in the past, during World War II. It's very sudden. And then, , but is rescued by handsome Akira. Instantly, she is obssessed with him. All of this in the beginning is kinda unbelievable and ridiculous--which I love.
But there are more serious moments. There are more sombre moments when Yuri reflects on the war and compares it with the peaceful modern times she was born in. In the end, I think she has more respect for the generations that suffered in the past in order to make the present possible.
I enjoyed this book. It's nothing super literary--the characters aren't very deep and don't have recognizable personalities or anything. It's mostly written to make the reader feel something, to be a tear-jerker. I would like to think that a theme of the book is respect for human life and suffering, even that which happened a long time ago. But really, I'm not sure if it really has a 'theme' like that. I think it's just supposed to be sad.
But, ya know, I still like it. It's a very effective sad book.
A girl who is bored with her everyday life runs away after an argument with her mother. She ends up spending the night in an abandoned tunnel, and when she wakes up, she finds herself in 1945 Japan, right in the middle of the war. There, she meets Akira, a Japanese suicide bomber, who helps her when she falls ill from hunger and sunstroke.
This story had great potential and could have been something truly powerful. But the execution feels amateurish. It tackles heavy and controversial topics like war and kamikaze pilots, which come with a lot of moral weight. The story tries to address these issues but doesn’t go deep enough. It also tiptoes around the ultra-nationalist mindset of that time, never really committing to say anything meaningful about it. Basically, it brings up these complex topics but doesn't handle them properly.
That said, the core of the story is a tragic romance — and that part mostly works. The emotional connection is there, and most of the characters are written fairly well.
I'm sure we have all heard of the kamikaze bombers from Japan, but have we heard of their stories? The honor they hold and the requirement they have to fulfill their duty. In this book, a mischievous girl suddenly travels back in time and finds herself in the era of World War 2. She meets many of these strong soldiers and learns each of their backstories. She even ends up falling in love with one of them. This book is definitely sad and heartwarming because we end up seeing the nicest people who are fated to die to have honor for themselves. They love their country and their people and are fully prepared to die for them.
IT WAS GREAT. I like stories where characters can travel back/forward in time and it was genuinely entertaining to read. The romance part was quite cute and the ending just made me real emotional. BUT, the age gap is kinda large and might disturb people who don't like age gaps more than 5+.
Nếu gặp lại em trên ngọn đồi hoa nở Truyện viết về một cô gái 14 tuổi xuyên không về năm 1945, thời chiến tranh rất ác liệt. Cô yêu một anh phi công cảm tử, cuối cùng thì anh chết vì làm nhiệm vụ.