Book Girl

Japanese reviews were originally posted on Comic C’moA. Some reviews may contain spoilers for unreleased content or topics unrelated to MangaPlaza services.

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  Posted by Readers in Japan

  May 26, 2018 (PST) | Translate to English
  他人とうまくいかない少年少女のための青春
  Youth for boys and girls who don't get along with others
  主人公は、好きな女の子を目の前で失うという痛ましい経験をした少年です。それまでの自分の世界が全て崩れ去るような想いをした彼は、それ以来、人との関係の構築を避けています。しかしあるとき、そんな彼の前にとある“文学少女”が現れます。彼女は、人間関係の複雑にもつれた感情や意思を物語のように読み解きながら、主人公ひとりでは見えない世界の扉を開いてくれるのです。友達とうまくいかなかったり、好きな人と傷つけあったり、家族に見捨てられたり、信じた人に裏切られたり、大切な人を失ったり……それでも私たちは生きていかなくてはならない。そんなときにページをめくると、苦悩を感じて生きているのは自分だけではないと、そっと勇気づけてくれるような優しさのある青春小説だと思います。一方で、作家の孤独や、作品が他人を傷つけることの業にも踏み込んだ作品でもあります。自分が描くことで誰かが傷つくことに苦悩したことのある人間なら、主人公の苦悩に共感するところがあるかもしれません。それでも尚、この作品はそういった愛憎の全てを含んだうえで、物語を生み出すことを信頼を込めて肯定しています。その信頼は、読むたび私の心をあたため、小さくとも確かな灯を胸に抱かせてくれます。

  The main character is a boy who has had the painful experience of losing his favorite girl right in front of his eyes. He felt that all his world up until then would fall apart, and since then he has avoided building relationships with people. However, at one point, a “literary girl” appears in front of him. While deciphering the complicated and tangled emotions and intentions of human relationships like a story, she opens doors to a world that the protagonist alone cannot see. Things don't go well with friends, get hurt by people we like, get abandoned by our families, betrayed by people we believe in, lose loved ones... but we still have to live. When I turn the pages at such a time, I think it's a gentle youth novel that gently encourages me that I am not the only one who feels anguish and lives. On the other hand, it is also a work that also delves into the artist's loneliness and the work of hurting others. If you are a person who has ever suffered from someone getting hurt by drawing, you may sympathize with the protagonist's anguish. Nevertheless, this work includes all of that love and hate, and I confidently affirm that it will create a story. That trust warms my heart every time I read it, and it makes me hold a small but reliable light in my heart.

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• 

  Posted by Readers in Japan

  May 05, 2019 (PST) | Translate to English
  遠子先輩…ほんとに食べてるの？
  Togo-senpai... are you really eating?
  This review contains spoilers. 本のページをむしゃむしゃ食べる、っていうのが、比喩なのかリアルなのかで「えぇ…？」となりました。ファンタジーなのかなと見せかけて、「ある人の人生を読み解いていく」という『読解力』を武器に謎を明らかにしていくという、不思議なお話。独白が、まさかあの人のものだとは…。有名な作品のオマージュなので、原作本も読み返してみたくなります。

  This review contains spoilers. I wonder if munching on book pages is a metaphor or real thing, and I'm like, “Huh...?” It became. It's a mysterious story where they pretend it's fantasy and uncover mysteries using the “reading comprehension ability” of “deciphering someone's life” as a weapon. I had no idea that the monologue belonged to that person... It's a homage to a famous work, so I want to reread the original book as well.

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