The Empty Box and Zeroth Maria (light novel)
| No thread yet, so I decided to make one (at least for volume 1) What are your thoughts on the volume? I personally loved it. Good suspense, and it was presented very well, I also loved Aya's character. The premise seems to be quite unique, at least with the box that was used for this volume. The ending was perfect, with the same lines "Aya's introduction" being repeated, to signal that the battle is just beginning. |
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| What I love most in this series is how it manages to plant an idea of who the box owner is then completely convinces you that you're right and then pulls the rug from underneath you (and the characters). I had no idea that Mogi was the owner, I was personally thinking of it being Kokone after it turned out that Hoshino wasn't the box owner. |
| Great read. The story was very well thought out. |
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| My 2nd favorite out of the 3 arcs. It has the best storytelling method IMO. |
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| Oh wow, that was great. |
| Best Volume by far, and best thing I've ever read. That narrative was really really amazing |
| The author's writing style is beautiful and my favorite thing about this light novel so far. He words everything in a way that really makes the story so easily visible in your head and brings out the psychological aspects especially in Kazuki's inner monologues as well as the rest of the story. |
| This was brilliant. I managed to get the culprit currect early but it was more of a wild guess than anything. The author threw me off a few times but then something eventually confirmed it for me. I love his style of writing, one of the most well put together mystery stories I've read in a long time. RadiGen said: Best Volume by far, and best thing I've ever read. That narrative was really really amazing I'm disappointed to read this, it means I can't look forward to anything better in the series. I'd like to hope my tastes are different from yours and I like one of the future ones more! But that said, this volume will be hard to top. |
antonnnNov 3, 2013 11:16 PM
| Truly amazing. |
Ragna92Nov 12, 2013 11:25 AM
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Ragna92 said: Holy bleeden' Hell, use SPOILERs tag, fer Cris' sake!Truly amazing. I could never have guessed that the culprit was |
There is such thing as shit taste. Only idiots think that every "work of art" should have the same value. Persona anime are good. Deal with it. |
| At the same time, you probably shouldn't come here until you've read it all since there's always people who don't use spoiler tags on MAL, so just to be safe and finish each volume first! |
kitsune0 said: Ragna92 said: Holy bleeden' Hell, use SPOILERs tag, fer Cris' sake!Truly amazing. I could never have guessed that the culprit was My bad. I thought of this is an end of volume 1 discussion. I'll be sure to use spoiler tags for future volumes. |
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| No probs. It's just that some spoilers so - well, spoilerish, that must be hidden' even if there is years passed. In our case - it's not somethin' trivial like "SPIKE DIES", it's more of basic like "SAYA ACTUALLY IS |
| There is such thing as shit taste. Only idiots think that every "work of art" should have the same value. Persona anime are good. Deal with it. |
| I tried to add this to the DB before but it didn't get approved, and now it's suddenly here? Whateverz |
| That's a long story but this is not the place to discuss it, you better ask RadiGen about it. On-topic: you thoughts about 1st Vol.? I thought it's hard to get into but in the end it's more than worth the effort. Pretty awesome way to hook a reader into. |
| There is such thing as shit taste. Only idiots think that every "work of art" should have the same value. Persona anime are good. Deal with it. |
| I reread the first volume. Not as great as I remembered but still pretty damn good. |
| I feel like I should've taken notes on each time so I could go through the details without skipping around to whatever chapter it was. But yeah, I'm glad I stumbled onto this. I was just looking for more light novels to read, found that this one had a decent amount of volumes already translated and checked MAL. ...it's number one in the listing for novels here. And it deserved that. It was definitely an enjoyable mystery and I had fun going along with the twists pretty much every time. I even teared up near the end of the volume. |
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| Just started reading this series. The author hid the culprit very well. I was confused at times but in the end all the pieces of the puzzle fits well! |
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| What I love about this novel is the fact that just when it seems I have an idea who the culprit it, BAM! It does a total 180 and the focus entirely shifts to a different character. It's a sad thing that this will never be animated. This would've blown Steins gate anyday. |
Kagami_Hiiragi said: Idc if you think its weird, I have a life and friends and an income of money. |
| interesting concept, but I don't care for the rest. Convenient that miria doesn't like to kill despite her atitude |
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| Very insightful narratives so far and I really like how some of the words/phrases are prioritized to bring out a sense of meaning for its context. The story itself is also pretty damn attractive, not to mention its colorful cast of characters. |
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| Definitely made the right choice in making this the first LN I've read.This really put the pressure on me to keep reading too,which alot of manga fail to do.Kept me interested from start to finish as well. Honestly don't know how to describe my thoughts on this exactly?It was just absolutely captivating imo.So much so that I had no second thoughts to add this to my favorites. Off to read the remaining 5 novels,hopefully they will be as good if not better than this volume. Edit: Also Maria/Aya reappearing in the real world as the freshman representative was a perfect ending.The feels really hit me. |
VarendantApr 15, 2014 7:13 PM
| Wow. Normally i hate horror/thriller-tagged series, but for many reasons this one managed to make me deeply immersed and enjoyed it thoroughly. So scary. |
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| That was amazing. Just after a few pages I got hooked on almost everything. The characters, especially Maria, the storytelling, how it switched and the well-written story. I had high expectations, but it exeeded them with ease. |
 "Be wary - triumphant pride precipitates a dizzying fall..." Three circles make a triangle ▲, four a square ■ and five a star ★ Click the circles ...to the beat  http://sig.grumpybumpers.com/host/Hotchy.gif  [center] |
| Great Volume. I give it 2nd place in my favorite novels of all time (1st going to fate/zero) |
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| I loved this LN so much more than I thought i would. Its plot twists were great and I loved the way things I thought were true got proven so wrong. Defiantly something I would recommend to anyone |
Shining_Falcon said: I don't think the iterations count as separate chapters..It's a great series so far. And I'm just about to finish Volume 1. I think the story is similar to Higurashi or Umineko with a smaller cast and scale of environment, with a main girl who is a mix of Haruhi Suzumiya and Senjougahara Hitagi, and a main character who reminds me of another main character from another series that I've forgotten about. All in all, in complexity terms, the story plots this stellar come from Mikage, Eiji's work (this series), Ryukishi07's works, Nasu, Kinoko's works, Narita, Ryohgo's works, and Tanigawa, Nagaru's works. So all in all, can someone tell me how many chapters are in this book. Cause if it's every iteration change, then there are some short chapters. Counting everything including the prologue was about 33 chapters. Anyone get anything different? |
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| That was a good read. I still don't understand the whole part about Kokone though.. surely she was the culprit, but then suddenly it's as if Hoshino's memory was just corrupted and it was Mogi who confessed to him and gave him the teriyaki flavored thing and he just mixed them up or something? And Hoshino and Maria snooped around in Kokone's bag too and found that corn flavored food in there; it wasn't Mogi's.. Also I wish Daiya had more of a main role, he seemed like an awesome character but ended up being mostly on the sidelines. |
Pedo_Tendencies said: Both Mogi and Kokone had the candy thing.That was a good read. I still don't understand the whole part about Kokone though.. surely she was the culprit, but then suddenly it's as if Hoshino's memory was just corrupted and it was Mogi who confessed to him and gave him the teriyaki flavored thing and he just mixed them up or something? And Hoshino and Maria snooped around in Kokone's bag too and found that corn flavored food in there; it wasn't Mogi's.. Also I wish Daiya had more of a main role, he seemed like an awesome character but ended up being mostly on the sidelines. |
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BotatoPriest said: Both Mogi and Kokone had the candy thing. Hmm, that makes sense. But still, wasn't it Kokone who was describing how she always pretended to be happy but really hated everyone and was just lying to them? |
Pedo_Tendencies said: BotatoPriest said: Both Mogi and Kokone had the candy thing. Hmm, that makes sense. But still, wasn't it Kokone who was describing how she always pretended to be happy but really hated everyone and was just lying to them? Forget about Kokone -- she's just a side-character in this volume and was never even really suspected, although you were led to believe otherwise. When Kokone called Kazuki, she *did not* confess to him; she just asked him if he was in love with Mogi. (Note the jump in time when the confession thing happens) Likewise, they rummage through Mogi's belongings, not Kokone's, and find a Corn Potage Umaibo in there. The flashback also belongs to Mogi, showing her past when she was still using makeup and was still sociable (well, she only stopped being like that after a myriad of iterations inside the rejecting classroom). |
EusthEnoptEronNov 30, 2014 3:20 AM
EusthEnoptEron said: Pedo_Tendencies said: Hmm, that makes sense. But still, wasn't it Kokone who was describing how she always pretended to be happy but really hated everyone and was just lying to them? Forget about Kokone -- she's just a side-character in this volume and was never even really suspected, although you were led to believe otherwise. When Kokone called Kazuki, she *did not* confess to him; she just asked him if he was in love with Mogi. (Note the jump in time when the confession thing happens) Likewise, they rummage through Mogi's belongings, not Kokone's, and find a Corn Potage Umaibo in there. The flashback also belongs to Mogi, showing her past when she was still using makeup and was still sociable (well, she only stopped being like that after a myriad of iterations inside the rejecting classroom). Thanks for the explanation, I think I get it now. I remember Hoshino saying something like he remembered Mogi smiling before but now she never does and is always emotionless, so I guess that was a memory from before the rejection loop started. |
| Well, shit..Never expected it to be this engrossing.. With each passing page, this LN enchanted me. Those monologues that were in Italics.. they were absolutely amazing. It was as if we are convinced that the culprit is whom we think it is but then all of a sudden, the wildest of twists comes and makes it difficult to comprehend for what is happening right after that twist but then again, once we recollect every bits and pieces, the motives become clear and then the happenings become more vivid. Could not be more glad that Mogi has survived. :)) |
| This is the first time reading a Japanese Novel and I have to say it exceeded way above my expectations. I did have some trouble reading it as I had no idea what what was going on and had to re-read some parts and even then it was was confusing but Am pretty sure that's what the reader intended and it did make more sense later on. If its okay I want to ask a few questions on volume one (Because it has been a couple of months since I finished it and I want a few things cleared up before reading Volume 2) Maria is a box right (The flawed bliss) How does that exactly work? and why does she remember? (because she's a transfer student?) How did Maria make a deal with O for the box (rejecting classroom)? |
| How about |
| There is such thing as shit taste. Only idiots think that every "work of art" should have the same value. Persona anime are good. Deal with it. |
| Sorry I have no idea how to use the the spoiler button and I thought everyone here should have read the first volume |
bakid123 said: He means the answers to your questions are spoilers. In other words they will be revealed later so just keep reading.Sorry I have no idea how to use the the spoiler button and I thought everyone here should have read the first volume |
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| As I like a lot of this, I can`t help but feel uneasy in some scenes; mainly the home economics classroom scene (and the aplause one). Is not that they are necessarily bad, as I like the idea of the scenes, but the dialogues seems kind off. I don`t like, mainly if I compare with some other scenes with rather good dialogue, they look kind of silly. |
| One of the best LN I read so far, great suspance and great development. I just love Maria as character, and that ending, gosh it was heartwarming |
| Finished Volume 1, was quite the entertaining read, but some of the prose/dialogue felt awkward and unnatural, especially coming from high school students... this might just be due to the English translation, but it was distracting sometimes. Know that I'm not saying that high schoolers aren't capable of using better vocabulary, but some lines just feel off nonetheless, in my opinion. Like seriously (I'm mainly taking quotes from near the end of Volume 1, there are some more throughout the whole arc), "Don't address Kazu-kun with such familiarity!" - Mogi, pg 185. ("with such familiarity" sounds awkward, I would've written something like "Don't talk as if you know Kazu-kun so well!" EDIT: Going through the text again, I wouldn't have written that sorry, cuz my revision doesn't refer to Maria's familiar addressing of Kazuki as "Kazuki", by first name; basically the two sentences mean different things in context. The original still sounds pretty awkward though) "Do you know why I refrained, even though you were clearly a nuisance? - Mogi, pg 193. ("refrained" felt unnatural, just use "didn't" instead) "I can't forgive the Rejecting Classroom that's so removed from everyday life!" - Kazuki, pg 201. ("that's so removed from everyday life" sounds dumb, not to mention anti-climactic. But if there has to be "everyday life" in there, then I would've written it like "I can't forgive the Rejecting Classroom for screwing up [my] everyday life!"). "I absolutely refuse to abandon you to solitude!" - Kazuki, pg 203. (aw hell, this was just the dumbest... seriously, try saying this out loud -___- didn't help that this line was repeated a few times. Should've just been something like "I will not [or won't] leave you alone like this!") "If this is the Rejecting Classroom where everything is rendered void, then I can’t accept that. I have to engage in my genuine everyday life in order to protect the meaning of life. Therefore, I deny the box that denies true everyday life.” - Kazuki, pg 234. (not this again...this is less about the prose I guess, and more about just how awkward this sounds, even if it's a message I agree with) "Kazu-kun, do you think there are unchanging feelings?" - Mogi, pg 262. (eh, this one's okay I guess, but I feel that "do you think there are feelings that never change?" flows more smoothly, and just has a bit more impact. By the way though, the rest of this scene was great, no real complaints there) Those are just a few of the awkward lines I encountered throughout the arc. If they don't sound awkward to you, then that's good for you then, but it was just a little distracting for me. Besides that though, I did enjoy Volume 1 a lot, and am looking forward to reading the rest. |
LightBladeNovaApr 16, 2015 6:40 PM
| "Beyond the veil of cherry blossom petals blown by the wind - almost like their promised reunion - Feelings pile up with the passage of time: once the torrent of emotions comes rushing down, what is the spectacle that awaits?" |
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