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keykM-my sketchbook has gone MIA on me. I could have sworn it was in that case of mine, but it wasn't. A-and one of my tamagotchi toys went missing too. IT WAS RIGHT THERE. And then it went AWOL.
WHHY. CURSE YE FATES. WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME. DX
I have also finished reading Ballad of a Shinigami (in English) volume 1.
Impression:....hmm....okay, nothing great. But not so bad that I stopped reading it. Btw, I'm a horrible reviewer so don't take everything I say too seriously.
I don't think there are spoilers in this review, but just in case:
The writing itself is nothing magnificent. It flows, but it feels...flat. There's no depth to the descriptions, and sometimes they don't really tell you what things look like. Like, for example, Momo, they like to concentrate on how white she is. Maybe it's just me, but I have no idea what a "snowy complexion" is supposed to mean. I know they emphasize how different and how white she is, but I can't think of a complexion that is snowy, metaphorically or literally so. There are other examples of here is a person, this is what she looks like, I will tack this adjective on to emphasize this trait. But it's definitely readable.
The descriptions do work to give off a certain atmosphere. Again, they create that unusual atmosphere that seems to exude from Momo very well. And the descriptions (that are always at the beginning of something it seems like) show people's emotions very well. Hasegawa's use of colors helps a lot. I'm not sure if all light novels read like an anime, but this one does from actions to facial expressions to inner monologues. Thus, the images the novel created in my head looked like I was watching an episode of anime. Of course, Nanakusa's provided character designs helped aid that.
As for the stories themselves, they felt like cliche anime episodes of angsty adolescents or tragic love for the most part. Sometimes, I feel like Hasegawa is trying too hard to pull people's heartstrings that he misses completely. He tries to make the characters relatable (if that's even a word, gah), but they all just seem to be TRAGIC I AM SAD people to me. I had lots of difficulty relating to anyone. If one of those more depressed friends of mine read this on the other hand, I'm pretty sure she would relate pretty easily, and if I had read this a few years ago, I would have enjoyed it, angsty and lonely as I was back then. So this book definitely has a limited audience. I'm sure plenty of other people would cry reading this (I've heard plenty of people have), but I could not get in touch with the characters. He develops them very well, but I really felt like Hasegawa tries too hard to make them sob stories.
I really liked the last story of the book. It didn't have any angsty teenagers or broken hearted prepubescent children. It was an extremely unusual story, I thought. Also, the one in focus was Momo and Daniel this time. The other characters weren't as developed--the story kept you guessing. Even though I had most of it figured out before the big revelation (but that happens so often to me, I don't think it's worth saying anymore D:), I was able to enjoy it. He begins the sotry with a cute and friendly atmosphere, but the big revelation was great. : )
I also really like the overall story. Momo is a great character, I have to say (even though this "snowy complexion" is still bothering me--maybe I just don't get it. Icy? Fluffy?....is that it? @_@; It's such a small part so I should just leave it, but...). The shinigami concept and how they're organized is pretty intriguing. I shouldn't say anymore to keep this spoiler-free, but the overall story is enough to make me want to read more, and that story centers around Momo herself. And the writing isn't TERRIBLE, it's just nothing great (but it's still better than mine DX).
So this book to me is interesting in concept, but poorly presented through several sob-attempt stories. I kind of wish it was focused more on Momo. If it had less tragic or in love characters and felt more realistic, I would've liked this book a lot more. The anime didn't have all tragic stories, and I like the anime adaptation of the second story more than I did reading it because it didn't start out sad. I didn't like Romeo and Juliet because you know they'll die, and all of this SAD just felt really forced. But since the other stories in the anime are also in the novels, I will continue reading. I'm sure Hasegawa will improve. And I still love Momo.
WHHY. CURSE YE FATES. WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME. DX
I have also finished reading Ballad of a Shinigami (in English) volume 1.
Impression:....hmm....okay, nothing great. But not so bad that I stopped reading it. Btw, I'm a horrible reviewer so don't take everything I say too seriously.
I don't think there are spoilers in this review, but just in case:
The writing itself is nothing magnificent. It flows, but it feels...flat. There's no depth to the descriptions, and sometimes they don't really tell you what things look like. Like, for example, Momo, they like to concentrate on how white she is. Maybe it's just me, but I have no idea what a "snowy complexion" is supposed to mean. I know they emphasize how different and how white she is, but I can't think of a complexion that is snowy, metaphorically or literally so. There are other examples of here is a person, this is what she looks like, I will tack this adjective on to emphasize this trait. But it's definitely readable.
The descriptions do work to give off a certain atmosphere. Again, they create that unusual atmosphere that seems to exude from Momo very well. And the descriptions (that are always at the beginning of something it seems like) show people's emotions very well. Hasegawa's use of colors helps a lot. I'm not sure if all light novels read like an anime, but this one does from actions to facial expressions to inner monologues. Thus, the images the novel created in my head looked like I was watching an episode of anime. Of course, Nanakusa's provided character designs helped aid that.
As for the stories themselves, they felt like cliche anime episodes of angsty adolescents or tragic love for the most part. Sometimes, I feel like Hasegawa is trying too hard to pull people's heartstrings that he misses completely. He tries to make the characters relatable (if that's even a word, gah), but they all just seem to be TRAGIC I AM SAD people to me. I had lots of difficulty relating to anyone. If one of those more depressed friends of mine read this on the other hand, I'm pretty sure she would relate pretty easily, and if I had read this a few years ago, I would have enjoyed it, angsty and lonely as I was back then. So this book definitely has a limited audience. I'm sure plenty of other people would cry reading this (I've heard plenty of people have), but I could not get in touch with the characters. He develops them very well, but I really felt like Hasegawa tries too hard to make them sob stories.
I really liked the last story of the book. It didn't have any angsty teenagers or broken hearted prepubescent children. It was an extremely unusual story, I thought. Also, the one in focus was Momo and Daniel this time. The other characters weren't as developed--the story kept you guessing. Even though I had most of it figured out before the big revelation (but that happens so often to me, I don't think it's worth saying anymore D:), I was able to enjoy it. He begins the sotry with a cute and friendly atmosphere, but the big revelation was great. : )
I also really like the overall story. Momo is a great character, I have to say (even though this "snowy complexion" is still bothering me--maybe I just don't get it. Icy? Fluffy?....is that it? @_@; It's such a small part so I should just leave it, but...). The shinigami concept and how they're organized is pretty intriguing. I shouldn't say anymore to keep this spoiler-free, but the overall story is enough to make me want to read more, and that story centers around Momo herself. And the writing isn't TERRIBLE, it's just nothing great (but it's still better than mine DX).
So this book to me is interesting in concept, but poorly presented through several sob-attempt stories. I kind of wish it was focused more on Momo. If it had less tragic or in love characters and felt more realistic, I would've liked this book a lot more. The anime didn't have all tragic stories, and I like the anime adaptation of the second story more than I did reading it because it didn't start out sad. I didn't like Romeo and Juliet because you know they'll die, and all of this SAD just felt really forced. But since the other stories in the anime are also in the novels, I will continue reading. I'm sure Hasegawa will improve. And I still love Momo.
