On Hidarimaki-shiki Last Resort

The cover.

A wimpy nerd named Yuu wakes up in a school with amnesia. If that wasn’t troubling enough, the school is far from normal. There is literally nothing outside of it, not even the horizon is there. The school building seems to be suspended in the air. Apart from Yuu, only twelve people inhabit the school complex. Twelve girls, each weirder than the previous one. Usana, the katana-wielding tsundere and the person the closest to being in charge, gives Yuu an order: investigate the series of sexual assaults which has recently happened in the school. It’s the beginning of a mystery story… I guess?

Year 2003. An minor eroge titled Puni☆Fugo comes out, and thus a certain troubled nerd makes his para-literary debut. He’s been in a yakuza gang, has an extensive knowledge of illegal perception-changing drugs and is into all kinds of weird shit in general – the more off the rocker it is, the better. His name: Uminekozawa Melon. Which is also the name of a character in the game. See that green-haired loli in a PE uniform? That’s Melon-chan. The author (?). A year later, Eagle Publishing, a small company putting out books targeted at nerds, including porny novels, releases an unlikely title. “Puni☆Fugo EX: Hidarimaki-shiki Last Resort” – at a glance, a novelization of the eroge. Why would anyone want a novelization of something as obscure, though? At a second glance, it’s a spin-off. An entirely new story featuring the characters you know (duh, of course you do) from the original. At a third glance… this book is a dazzling bolt from the blue. Today, at least among experts, it’s considered one of the literary landmarks of Japanese subculture of the 2000s. The weird little paperback based on an eroge slowly climbed its way to cult status and in 2014, the “complete edition” of Last Resort was published by Seikaisha, the publishing company you might associate with the Faust crowd – all those cutting-edge nerdy writers like Nishio Ishin. The complete edition I purchased recently after hearing about the book for ages.

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I read “Otto no Chinpo ga Hairanai”

The cover.

Once upon a time while reading Yaraon, I stumbled upon THIS article. “Otto no Chinpo ga Hairanai” (or “My Husband’s Cock Won’t Fit”) by Kodama – a non-fiction book storming the bestselling book charts. Why of course my favorite shitty net tabloid picked up this news item. The title easily remains in memory, doesn’t it? It certainly did remain in mine, since I recently encountered the book again after all those years and decided to read this meme novel. Or is it not a joke at all? Whatever is the case, the book sold enough to warrant a TV series and a movie based on it. There has to be something relatable about it then.

I got through Kueki Ressha

The cover.

It’s been a while since I last wrote about any high literature, so it’s time to set all those light novels aside and discuss… Kueki Ressha, a 2010 novel by Nishimura Kenta, an Akutagawa Prize winner – that’s how I learned of its existence. It was introduced to me as a modern example of an I-novel, so I decided to give it a spin, not knowing much about what would await me and expecting some nice Dazai vibes. The book was adapted into a movie, too (haven’t seen it). And on that occasion, given an official English title: The Drudgery Train. Before anything else: it has no trains in it, unless a brief mention of the protag commuting by train counts. I want my money back.

On Babylon v1

The cover.

Hi twitties! (because who else reads reads my blog?) I haven’t written anything here for a while, so it’s time to do something about it and immortalize my impressions on yet another Nozaki Mado novel. It’s the first volume of Babylon (subtitled “Onna” – “Woman”), a three volume-long series put out by Koudansha Taiga. This blogpost will be a bit special: for the first time I bought a novel with an animated adaptation in the works, with the intention of writing about it before the anime airs. Remember that time when Twin Engine announced a whole bunch of shows? Babylon is one of them. I made it in time, but barely – it’s starting in October. I got only the first novel, though – I’m guessing the anime will adapt the entire story. Babylon starts with a quote from the Bible, the one about the Whore of Babylon (Revelation, chapter 17, verses 5 & 6). Just in case you have doubts whether you’re in for a wild ride. Prepare for nothing but spoilers, more with every paragraph.

On Eighty-Six v2

The cover.

Hi. I’ve just finished reading Eighty-Six volume 2. I don’t really have much to say about it, but decided to at least try writing a thing on it. Well then, here goes nothing.