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紫色のクオリア [Murasakiiro no Qualia]
自分以外の人間が“ロボット”に見えるという紫色の瞳を持った中学生・毬井ゆかり。クラスでは天然系(?)少女としてマスコット的扱いを受けるゆかりだが、しかし彼女の周囲では、確かに奇妙な出来事が起こっている…ような?イラストは『JINKI』シリーズの綱島志朗が担当。「電撃文庫MAGAZINE増刊」で好評を博したコラボレーション小説が、書き下ろしを加え待望の文庫化!巻末には描き下ろし四コマのほか、設定資料も収録。
323 pages, Paperback
First published July 10, 2009
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258 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews
November 5, 2025
genuinely an interesting light novel, had a lot to think about in regards to the mentioned quantum theories, and love it more bc it's high-school girls discussing these topics (girls in STEM!)
but the pacing in the middle of the book was a bit too slow, and i cant always focus on physics sorry 3
but the pacing in the middle of the book was a bit too slow, and i cant always focus on physics sorry 3
February 27, 2024
This seemingly-simple light novel turns into a science-fiction, arguably slipstream epic that rivals the movie "Everything Everywhere All At Once". At first, it's a fairly simple light novel about a girl who sees robots from the point of view of her normal friend, Manabu "Gaku" Hatou. But after Gaku's run in with a serial killer involving Yukari replacing Gaku's arm with a cell phone, it gets far more complicated. Introducing complex hard sci-fi quantum physics concepts such as Fermat's Principle and other such things even beyond the simple "Schrodinger's Cat" phenomenon referenced in Japanese science fiction, fantasy, mystery, and slipstream fiction, I'd say Qualia the Purple is enjoyable for a certain audience: specifically, the audience of people who want a complex w/w relationship (and there are MANY) and equally complex science fiction plots.
September 22, 2025
I considered giving this 5 stars just because it was written in 2009 yet its discussions of pop physics concepts don’t feel out of place today. A super fun book, though, and it reminded me of Quarantine by Greg Egan, and also a little of Story of Your Life by Ted Chiang.
July 30, 2014
...wow. This is the craziest shit I've read in a really long time.
April 26, 2017
:c
Friendship, compassion and determination. And some quantum physics. And "What! Wow, that took off..."
Intelligent author makes the philosophy and human interactions really good as well.
Friendship, compassion and determination. And some quantum physics. And "What! Wow, that took off..."
Intelligent author makes the philosophy and human interactions really good as well.
March 3, 2025
Sci fi quantum lesbian yearning idk I don't have any words to explain how good this is, read it.
June 29, 2023
Ugh. I don't even wanna talk about it rn. Just.. everything interesting is brushed past (TTATT)... theres like no real cute shoujo-ai or cool robots parts. Like my god for pages it goes on about different quantum physics theories. Brah i came for cute yuri and cool robots. Basically its like a bad movie where the end is "it was all a dream". THATS A GIANT NO NO. NO ONE LIKES THAT. AAAAGH!! So.. thanks I hate it.
October 20, 2020
Wow. Ok. Wow. Alltså… Wow. Jag har länge försökt att skriva en recension av denna manga, men jag fastnar alltid på wow och har inte tagit mig längre. Men skam den som ger sig!
Jag tänker inte börja med att berätta vad denna serie handlar om utan istället börja med att prata om hur den ser ut. Jag läser inte så mycket manga, men min uppfattning är att den är ganska stereotypisk i hur personerna gestaltas, stora ögon, små munnar, alla är supersöta. Några av försättsbilderna är färglagda, resten är svartvitt. Jag önskar att hela serien var färglagd (även om jag definitivt förstår att man väljer att inte göra det), men jag känner att färg hade tillfört en extra dimension till berättelsen. (Har en tanke om att jag själv ska färglägga hela serien för hand, för skojs skull).
Men vad handlar denna serie om då? Bra fråga. Jag skulle säga att den egentligen har två handlingar som båda är lika viktiga.
Första spåret handlar om Gaku och hennes vän Yukari. Yukari har lila ögon och ser allt levande som robotar. Denna syn ger henne oväntade insikter om andra människors förmågor och svårigheter, och polisen ber henne om hjälp att fånga en mördare. Det visar sig att Yukari inte är ensam om att ha denna egenhet, men vad innebär det för en människa att se alla andra som saker? Och vilka konsekvenser får denna syn?
Nedan följer SPOILERS! (För jag vet ärligt talat inte hur jag ska kunna prata om denna bok utan att spoila).
Andra spåret handlar om Gaku och vad hon är beredd att göra för att rädda sin vän. Vi pratar inte om en liten skala, ett personligt val eller två. Nej, vi pratar om stora existentiella frågor och ifrågasättande, multi-universum och parallella verkligheter. Vi kommer till The Point of No Return där berättelsen tar ett tvärkast, lämnar spår ett och istället tar oss med på en hisnande resa med Gaku som lever och dör, om och om igen på olika sätt, allt för att rädda sin vän. Gakus enda mål, enda vilja, enda orsak till att existera, är för att rädda Yukari. Ingenting annat spelar någon roll, och Gaku gör vad som helst, vad som helst, för att lyckas, det finns ingen gräns, inget stopp. Men hon misslyckas även om och om igen, inget hon gör funkar.
Att läsa detta andra spår var magiskt, och fruktansvärt, på samma gång. Det var många tankar jag fick om frågor som inte är så lätta att besvara, typ, skulle jag vara beredd att gå till samma längd som Gaku för en vän? Varför finns jag? Finns jag ens? Hur många jag finns det? Vad är meningen med livet, universum och allting?
Jag rekommenderar denna historia, och rekommenderar att du har någon annan som läser den med dig, eller har läst den tidigare, som du kan prata med. Jag tror du kommer behöva det.
talaomte.se
Jag tänker inte börja med att berätta vad denna serie handlar om utan istället börja med att prata om hur den ser ut. Jag läser inte så mycket manga, men min uppfattning är att den är ganska stereotypisk i hur personerna gestaltas, stora ögon, små munnar, alla är supersöta. Några av försättsbilderna är färglagda, resten är svartvitt. Jag önskar att hela serien var färglagd (även om jag definitivt förstår att man väljer att inte göra det), men jag känner att färg hade tillfört en extra dimension till berättelsen. (Har en tanke om att jag själv ska färglägga hela serien för hand, för skojs skull).
Men vad handlar denna serie om då? Bra fråga. Jag skulle säga att den egentligen har två handlingar som båda är lika viktiga.
Första spåret handlar om Gaku och hennes vän Yukari. Yukari har lila ögon och ser allt levande som robotar. Denna syn ger henne oväntade insikter om andra människors förmågor och svårigheter, och polisen ber henne om hjälp att fånga en mördare. Det visar sig att Yukari inte är ensam om att ha denna egenhet, men vad innebär det för en människa att se alla andra som saker? Och vilka konsekvenser får denna syn?
Nedan följer SPOILERS! (För jag vet ärligt talat inte hur jag ska kunna prata om denna bok utan att spoila).
Andra spåret handlar om Gaku och vad hon är beredd att göra för att rädda sin vän. Vi pratar inte om en liten skala, ett personligt val eller två. Nej, vi pratar om stora existentiella frågor och ifrågasättande, multi-universum och parallella verkligheter. Vi kommer till The Point of No Return där berättelsen tar ett tvärkast, lämnar spår ett och istället tar oss med på en hisnande resa med Gaku som lever och dör, om och om igen på olika sätt, allt för att rädda sin vän. Gakus enda mål, enda vilja, enda orsak till att existera, är för att rädda Yukari. Ingenting annat spelar någon roll, och Gaku gör vad som helst, vad som helst, för att lyckas, det finns ingen gräns, inget stopp. Men hon misslyckas även om och om igen, inget hon gör funkar.
Att läsa detta andra spår var magiskt, och fruktansvärt, på samma gång. Det var många tankar jag fick om frågor som inte är så lätta att besvara, typ, skulle jag vara beredd att gå till samma längd som Gaku för en vän? Varför finns jag? Finns jag ens? Hur många jag finns det? Vad är meningen med livet, universum och allting?
Jag rekommenderar denna historia, och rekommenderar att du har någon annan som läser den med dig, eller har läst den tidigare, som du kan prata med. Jag tror du kommer behöva det.
talaomte.se
March 18, 2020
One of the best time travel based manga I've ever read. Though there were a lot of interesting elements that never were finished off, I loved every minute of this massively mind bending read.
August 9, 2023
Once upon a time, every school-based manga featured a young woman who was confident she was different from everyone else, despite being a regular human being (and she is always right!). This girl, and the unmemorable doofus she brings with her, are agents of chaos; they'll burn the entire setting to the ground before engaging with mid-terms or going to a school dance.
By the mid-point of these novels, the setting is unrecognizable, the story-logic is pseudo-Freudian, and the plot leaps 200 light-years every few chapters. And in the absence of all else character relationships shine through.
I love these stories; they're incredibly innovative and confident and rely on strong-willed women to bravely explore, utilize and unite in these complex stories. Qualia the Purple continues this wild ride.
In Qualia the Purple, Gaku befriends Yukari, who is unable to see human beings as distinct from mechanisms and robots. This distinction allows her to view humans for their parts and value machines for their souls. In school she is a bit of a loner, but her skills have already been proven in the world outside school, where she builds model robots, helps the police, and is a capable handyman. After a few plot events, Gaku is separated from Yukari. To see her friend again, she engages in an epic quest across time and reality to reunite with a version of her friend. She will travel, commit unimaginable crimes, cross universes, and become other people throughout this epic quest. In doing so, she will question the nature of her existence and Yukari's, and try to reason with the way the world is.
Two things I will say in Qualia's favour:
1) I really jived with Yukari's character. Yukari is uncompromising and spoiled; a necessity for this genre's hero. She is also gentle (she likes robots but hates the mech anime where they fight) and a true friend to Gaku and others. Hisamitsu plays with each character's attributes and explores the total possibilities of each world, but I liked how through it all Yukari kept her flawed vision. It was understood that without her vision she would not be who she is.
2) You may not like the ending, which is meta, quantum, time-wimey and all other splashword equivalents of "it was all a dream" but you have to respect the journey to get there. I found myself consistently mind-blown by Hisamitsu Ueo's style and creativity. Even when something was demonstrably wrong with their quantum analysis, it still felt fun to let it slide.
I think this is a great choice for fans of Steins Gate or Otherside Picnic; it's bleak lesbian representation with a large dose of sci-fi hypothesizing. It's a real Man-Vs-Universe story that will hit you in the feels, and then in the head, and then in the head a second time.
By the mid-point of these novels, the setting is unrecognizable, the story-logic is pseudo-Freudian, and the plot leaps 200 light-years every few chapters. And in the absence of all else character relationships shine through.
I love these stories; they're incredibly innovative and confident and rely on strong-willed women to bravely explore, utilize and unite in these complex stories. Qualia the Purple continues this wild ride.
In Qualia the Purple, Gaku befriends Yukari, who is unable to see human beings as distinct from mechanisms and robots. This distinction allows her to view humans for their parts and value machines for their souls. In school she is a bit of a loner, but her skills have already been proven in the world outside school, where she builds model robots, helps the police, and is a capable handyman. After a few plot events, Gaku is separated from Yukari. To see her friend again, she engages in an epic quest across time and reality to reunite with a version of her friend. She will travel, commit unimaginable crimes, cross universes, and become other people throughout this epic quest. In doing so, she will question the nature of her existence and Yukari's, and try to reason with the way the world is.
Two things I will say in Qualia's favour:
1) I really jived with Yukari's character. Yukari is uncompromising and spoiled; a necessity for this genre's hero. She is also gentle (she likes robots but hates the mech anime where they fight) and a true friend to Gaku and others. Hisamitsu plays with each character's attributes and explores the total possibilities of each world, but I liked how through it all Yukari kept her flawed vision. It was understood that without her vision she would not be who she is.
2) You may not like the ending, which is meta, quantum, time-wimey and all other splashword equivalents of "it was all a dream" but you have to respect the journey to get there. I found myself consistently mind-blown by Hisamitsu Ueo's style and creativity. Even when something was demonstrably wrong with their quantum analysis, it still felt fun to let it slide.
I think this is a great choice for fans of Steins Gate or Otherside Picnic; it's bleak lesbian representation with a large dose of sci-fi hypothesizing. It's a real Man-Vs-Universe story that will hit you in the feels, and then in the head, and then in the head a second time.
November 14, 2025
Trial and error. Trial and error. Trial and error.
I went in almost blind so I didn't expect for this book to terrify me (Chapter 12, to be exact). I actually wished they showed more of what Yukari could do and expanded whatever the mystery was with her toy robots. Other than that, I enjoyed how the concept of qualia tied into the plot from start to end, I'd never heard of it before until learning about it here. A thought-provoking and easy read if you like doomed yuri and scifi, definitely got me back into tracking my reading. I thought the main couple (Gaku and Yukari) was cute, get you a girl who will bend universes for you to live.
This would've been a 4 if not for the unnecessary (in my opinion) "romantic" relationship between Alice and Gaku in some of the parallel universes. Though it was just a teensy part of the book, I can't shake the fact that I found those parts off-putting and would've done well without it. I also felt it dragged for a while around the end due to the various Gakus throughout existence and extensive talk about the theory of everything. But it didn't bother me too much because I was reading along with the audiobook at 2x speed, it helped a lot.
Overall, it's a 3 for me! I had fun and learned some things from it, I think that's great. 💜 Remember to hug your friends tight!
I went in almost blind so I didn't expect for this book to terrify me (Chapter 12, to be exact). I actually wished they showed more of what Yukari could do and expanded whatever the mystery was with her toy robots. Other than that, I enjoyed how the concept of qualia tied into the plot from start to end, I'd never heard of it before until learning about it here. A thought-provoking and easy read if you like doomed yuri and scifi, definitely got me back into tracking my reading. I thought the main couple (Gaku and Yukari) was cute, get you a girl who will bend universes for you to live.
This would've been a 4 if not for the unnecessary (in my opinion) "romantic" relationship between Alice and Gaku in some of the parallel universes. Though it was just a teensy part of the book, I can't shake the fact that I found those parts off-putting and would've done well without it. I also felt it dragged for a while around the end due to the various Gakus throughout existence and extensive talk about the theory of everything. But it didn't bother me too much because I was reading along with the audiobook at 2x speed, it helped a lot.
Overall, it's a 3 for me! I had fun and learned some things from it, I think that's great. 💜 Remember to hug your friends tight!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 25, 2023
Most complex way to internalize jealousy, longing, and yearning, spanned across billions of years in an instant, Qualia the Purple shines when it pivots from its surface level understanding of quantum mechanics and fully embraces Manabu's love for Yukarii told through her so-called "adaptability" and utter need for her beloved's survival despite everything. While the first section isn't bad in any sense of the word; it's a good introduction to both of our leads, it's when Manabu learns of Yukarii's planned transfer that the book starts to massively ramp up in scale and quality, becoming a time travel story spanning millenia.
The scale serves to sell the reader on Manabu's devotion to Yukarii, as both her love and passion is easily reflected in what she goes through to keep Yukarii safe and alive. I found it to be extremely engrossing; the quantum physics are an extremely interesting angle and their application functioned as a sort of ship of theseus, the more Manabu changes the more she still stays the same, even when her body is destroyed, the fact her love exists is what makes her identifiable to Yukarii in the last moments of the chapter.
Despite the question on if these events really happened or if it was just a dream, I do vouch for its approach to that subjective reality; it's not really necessary for all of that to have happened. It was Manabu's way of justifying itself to her, to understand her needs, the reality, and Yukarii's own want, and realizing that even if she does her best, most grandiose attempt, it won't mean much if it doesn't make her happy. In that sense, I can't be critical of the dream angle if Manabu as an individual still learned from that experience and it lead to the sweet ending between the two.
The scale serves to sell the reader on Manabu's devotion to Yukarii, as both her love and passion is easily reflected in what she goes through to keep Yukarii safe and alive. I found it to be extremely engrossing; the quantum physics are an extremely interesting angle and their application functioned as a sort of ship of theseus, the more Manabu changes the more she still stays the same, even when her body is destroyed, the fact her love exists is what makes her identifiable to Yukarii in the last moments of the chapter.
Despite the question on if these events really happened or if it was just a dream, I do vouch for its approach to that subjective reality; it's not really necessary for all of that to have happened. It was Manabu's way of justifying itself to her, to understand her needs, the reality, and Yukarii's own want, and realizing that even if she does her best, most grandiose attempt, it won't mean much if it doesn't make her happy. In that sense, I can't be critical of the dream angle if Manabu as an individual still learned from that experience and it lead to the sweet ending between the two.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 28, 2024
The first 60% of this book introduces mathematical concepts with the same enthusiasm as reading about them in a textbook does. I wanted to call it quits and dnf then and there, but then the next 30% actually applied them. I really, truly enjoyed the next 30%! Then the final 10% came apart. It's not so much that this book is bad, but it has a ton of plotholes that begin to appear if you think about them critically.
In the end literally nothing changes from the beginning of the book, and the main character slots comfortably into her role as the helping hand of an assisted suicide. Smiles all around!
If it helps, there's literally more het in this book than yuri. The manga, at least, actually makes it clear that these girls love each other.
There are some cool google-able terms though, so that's nice.
In the end literally nothing changes from the beginning of the book, and the main character slots comfortably into her role as the helping hand of an assisted suicide. Smiles all around!
If it helps, there's literally more het in this book than yuri. The manga, at least, actually makes it clear that these girls love each other.
There are some cool google-able terms though, so that's nice.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 19, 2025
The first story by far was my favorite of the collection I would have loved to read so much more of how the different perspectives of the character im pact what they can do, or how that might impact more people they meet. (or even what new gadgets can be grafted into Hatou)
The second story felt much more generic to me the quantum stuff while fun and delightly meandering. I've read and watched that story before, but I felt it lost the charm of the world setup.
I would excitedly still read more stories in this setting.
The second story felt much more generic to me the quantum stuff while fun and delightly meandering. I've read and watched that story before, but I felt it lost the charm of the world setup.
I would excitedly still read more stories in this setting.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 14, 2025
Very impressed by the accuracy in which various quantum physics concepts/thought experiments are presented in their original form, even if they are then used to justify various fantastical occurrences. Reminded me of Steins;Gate in terms of themes, in a good way. Worldbuilding is a little loose but in a way that benefits the story - too much exposition would have done more harm than good, and this novel focuses well on the core aspects that it needs to. Would recommend.
August 27, 2025
The premise is interesting, but it's a pretty typical light novel in that it doesn't elaborate on how things are done. The main character just says "I did this" without elaborating a bunch of times and I guess that's just how it goes. I know this is the source material but I think this is better suited as a manga.
September 30, 2025
Idk what to say besides that this is the craziest thing i've read so far and is probably one of my favorite books.
The creativity is mind-blowing and while I understand that it might not be for everybody, it's something that has to be appreciated.
i recommend reading it without knowing anything about it like I did. I enjoyed every second of the twists and turns the story went through.
The creativity is mind-blowing and while I understand that it might not be for everybody, it's something that has to be appreciated.
i recommend reading it without knowing anything about it like I did. I enjoyed every second of the twists and turns the story went through.
December 6, 2025
I think this might stay one of my favourite light novels/manga of all time. It feels like the author's never heard the phrase "kill your darlings" but sometimes that can lead to something really special
January 16, 2019
Un manga muy interesante que da perspectivas diferentes sobre el mundo y la realidad.
March 19, 2021
This is a very easy read, while also being super interesting and unique!
April 2, 2022
Ummm... Wtf??
April 22, 2022
very special to me
July 11, 2022
kinda sorta kinda like a twisted version of This Is How You Lose the Time War. sorta. kinda. not really.
January 30, 2023
Manages to incorporate both yuri and sci-fi in an episodic first person manner not from the titular character but her friend.
May 13, 2023
That was a weird book. First part was the story of a girl who sees all people as robots and can repair them, the second part was about her girlfriend who starts to travel through all the parallel worlds in an attempt to save her life, which somehow involves a lot of discussion about quantum physics.
I quite liked it, although I was not sure at the end what the book was about. A love story between Schrödinger's lesbians ? A discussion about the way we perceive reality ? Who knows ? The only thing I know for sure is that it was really weird.
I quite liked it, although I was not sure at the end what the book was about. A love story between Schrödinger's lesbians ? A discussion about the way we perceive reality ? Who knows ? The only thing I know for sure is that it was really weird.
Read
July 21, 2023FERMATS THEOREM!!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 16, 2023
what the fuck
December 1, 2023
i Reallllyyy enjoyed this book. like a lot.
Read
February 10, 2024interesting philosophy was sprinkled in which was a nice surprise.
My first light novel.
My first light novel.
August 12, 2024
oh my fucking godddd read this
Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews