The Empty Box and Zeroth Maria (light novel)
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| Thank you so much Eusth for your hardwork on translating this masterpiece,.. Now I've finished this novel and really miss all of the characters, especially Kazuki, who ends up being defective after those iterations,.. |
| “You should enjoy the little detours to the fullest. Because that's where you'll find the things more important than what you want.” |
| Damn chapter 3 was depressing to read, the way his mind went insane was pretty dark. I could not think of a worse torture than what he went through. The epilogue was amazing, I loved the closure of every character especially between kokone and Daiya, Yuuri cracked me up and the ending was perfect. This has become my all time favourite fiction story. Can someone clear something up? When Daiya send Kazuki the address to maria house when did that happen? |
paperplane11Jul 29, 2015 8:41 AM
paperplane11 said: Can someone clear something up? When Daiya send Kazuki the address to maria house when did that happen? Well, the text mentions: And if you take a look at "After the Curtain Falls" in volume 6, you'll notice that the text also mentions that "last visit" at school from Daiya. So it happened between the cinema incident and the start of v7. Nanamoto-sensei said: Wat? Where is it generally from?? xD From the short story. (not Diamond Days) |
| Amazing, absolutely loved the conclusion to this. Chapters 3 and 4 were 2 of, if not the 2 best in the entire series. Brilliant. Fitting end to the series, perfect. 10/10 |
| Finally got around to finishing it and I have to say I loved the ride. If I had any complaints, I would say I wish we got more about the supernatural elements, but the characters themselves I think had a great ending. I have mixed feelings about the MC and how he ended up, but overall, I don't regret for a second reading this series. If we ever did get an anime, I really would like to see how a studio handled chapter 3 of the volume because my god that went dark fast. |
| Well, that was one hell of a ride. After forcing myself to skim quite a bit of the first 6 volumes to refresh my memory before touching the 7th one, I felt that the first half was rather boring after going in with high expectations; chapter one was like a mediocre version of volume 1, and chapter two was a somewhat interesting backstory; nothing comparable to previous volumes though. The next half was surprisingly interesting though; in no way did I imagine Kazuki going that far. The author connected the first half with the rest of the story really well, and the way they summed up the lives of all the characters who had important roles throughout the series felt fulfilling too. Maria regaining her memories of Kazuki also felt a little forced, though. Also, like the translator said, the marriage definitely deserved a picture, even better if it was colored. it would have been so much more fulfilling. I also feel a need to mention that Kazuki spent 1095 years in the box; 755 years he spent repeating nonstop until the end while retaining all his memories. No wonder he went insane. |
| Just finished reading this after finished rereading from the very beginning. Boy, what a journey. That journey of Kazuki is exhaustingly insane, in a good way. When written as a synopsis, it may sounds cheesy and gritty, but Eiji Mikage actually managed to write an actual road into insanity which seems to has no end. Everyone is broken and stay that way, however live goes on and as long as you're still kicking and alive, live will find its way. Great volume which display the furhtest someone broke and how to recover everything back. Deepest gratitude for Eusth who translate this. Need goddamnit wedding picture/10. P.S would love to see Daiyan epilogue as well. |
zeroyuki92 said: Just finished reading this after finished rereading from the very beginning. Boy, what a journey. That journey of Kazuki is exhaustingly insane, in a good way. When written as a synopsis, it may sounds cheesy and gritty, but Eiji Mikage actually managed to write an actual road into insanity which seems to has no end. Everyone is broken and stay that way, however live goes on and as long as you're still kicking and alive, live will find its way. Great volume which display the furhtest someone broke and how to recover everything back. Deepest gratitude for Eusth who translate this. Need goddamnit wedding picture/10. P.S would love to see Daiyan epilogue as well. ikr, i want after epilogue's illustrations. everyone of them. |
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| Dayian epilogue was connected with Kokone's. |
| Well, in the end, you don't write a friggin ~350,000 word story and end on a depressing or despairing note lol; you're just not supposed to do that... so I kinda expected this result, which is great of course. |
| "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?" |
Molek123 said: Dayian epilogue was connected with Kokone's. I know, but man, considering how vital his role is on vol 5-6 (and he's basically the pseudo protagonist of this story) I would like to read a lil bit of prologue from his own perspective. Preferably to see his interaction with Kokone and especially Usui, I think that guy is the one who is most lonely in Epilogue. |
| Read this while sleep deprived, kinda gave up on making sense of all the different timelines, parallel realities, loops, etc (the author sure likes to jump around a lot). When Kazuki was first being tortured I was like hell yeah dude you totally deserve that for being an idiot in volume 2, but then I started to feel really sorry for him and couldn't wait for it to end. But of course, it doesn't really end because Maria has to suffer too watching him. And then most everyone (well mainly Daiya, Kazuki and Maria) have rather shitty lives for a bit. Dem FSN vibes tho. 1. Where did Maria get her box from? Last volumes created a sort of paradox so I was hoping this one would clear things up. Maybe I missed it idk. 2. Yanagi and her boyfriend were disappointingly pointless; they were used as a cliff hanger in one of the previous volumes so I thought they'd have an important role in the finale or something. Meh. Besides that, I'm mostly satisfied with everyone's epilogues. Iroha and Yuuri's conversation made me laugh like an idiot. Usui's epilogue is probably my favorite. Daiya/Kokone's was touching, and Kazuki's was sad. Maria's was obviously full of OTP win. A lot better than volume 2, but not as good as 1 and 3-6, imo anyway. |
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| How Maria acquired her box leaves room for interpretation. My own interpretation is that she, in her despair, somehow ended up channeling a greater power (that could be an allegory for something) to grant "her wish", which also created a personification of that greater power called "O". This was touched upon in the prologue of volume 5 and at the end of chapter 2 in volume 7. At the end of the day, though, it's just a plot device to drive the leading theme of how to grant your wishes. |
Homura_ said: Will the author continue with the rest of his works or put them on hiatus? If anyone knows. IIRC he said he won't continue F-Rank. |
Homura_ said: EusthEnoptEron said: IIRC he said he won't continue F-Rank. Is he dropping it for good? I know he has another one too. OK, couldn't find a tweet where he explicitly stated that he would drop it. Well, since he has changed to writing "real" novels, I doubt we'll see a continuation to any of his previous series any time soon. |
Drunkeagle said: Eusth, sorry to ask this after you've already done so much work on the hakomari series but do you think that there's a possibility that you will translate Mikage Eiji's future works even though they might be standard novels? (which I don't think mal tracks) I won't rule out the possibility, but I don't plan on picking up any new projects from now on. |
| I think he would be better writing in novel rather than LN. That suits him more. About O, I think it was explained in 6? Wish granting body is always there, but Maria's wish is the one who make personification of a part of the power called O. Someone mentioned it in vol 6 discussion, look it up. |
| In the end, O's origin doesn't matter. As Eusth said, it's a plot device to drive the plot. The whole point of the novel is not about fantasy anyway |
Homura_ said: I know that and I am not talking about the personification but the very origin/source of the power before Maria's wish. Well, you asked about the origin of O so I answered that. O is just a small "direction" of that unknown power, and once O is no more the being itself is already out of the story since iirc it doesn't necessarily has any will by itself. |
zeroyuki92Aug 1, 2015 3:53 PM
| This volume concluded the series perfectly imho. What more can I say 10/10. |
| Amazing last volume, amazing series. The best LN I’ve read. |
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| OH my god just finally finished and that may have been one of my top 5 reading experiences of all time. This series truly was worth the wait and has without a doubt on of the best endings I've come across since FMAB. The atmosphere in this last novel is absolutely fantastic and throughout the whole read I was feeling our MC's pain all the way. And what an epilogue, this had a true epilogue where there was no stone left unturned and it gave just enough to hint at the future. I'm going to miss this series, definitely going to have to reread this in a couple of years. |
| Big Order (TV):great anime or greatest anime? |
| WHy did it end ;__; And the author said he will stay away from LN, why you do this to me |
 » Escapism. |
| Man, what a ride, what a ride.... The part where Kazuki gradually lost his humanity, his senses, everything, was quite hard to read. Really glad and satisfied for the epilogue. The best epilogue was indeed Yuuri's XD I'm so going to miss all of the characters, especially Maria, Kazuki and Daiya. One of the best series I've ever read. Bravo, bravo! Thank you so much for translating this Eusth! |
alcrowryAug 6, 2015 8:46 AM
| Oh, finished reading it yesterday and I have a few points I want to mention. I really liked it very much, but there were some points that honestly bothered me. At the end of vol6, Maria lost her memory of Kazuki, and it was presented as a really big obstacle. It was like "holy shit, she actually did it, she voluntairly erased her memories" and I gained the impression, that it would be a big part of vol7 about how she regains her memories. I was actually disappointed how it was handled in vol7, like it was not a problem at all. That deus ex machina O can solve it all in a few pages. It was not a problem at all. "Oh, there is Kazuki's bubble. And now I remember him now. Cool" Thoe second point is actually simmilar to the previous one. A major plot point of Wish Crushing Cinema was Maria witnessing Kazuki's will to murder. It was actually a huge issue, one that would make her turn away from him. One that would make her voluntairly erase her memories of her. Kazuki basically fucked up for good. None of it is referenced in vol7. It's like it never happened. Yeah, Maria eventually dismissed her inner Aya and returned to yeroth Maria, but she seemed to have forgiven him (or even forgotten about it) even before that. All in all, I'm satisfied with the ending. I'm happy it resolved things and did not let it stay in some limbo. I'm happy we got a nice final conclusion of a masterpiece series through a volume, which was pretty good, even though not the best in the series. I may have seem to be overly negative, that was not my intention. I really loved the volume, and I especially liked how Mikage managed to depict Kazuki's psyche in his descent to madness. There is also one more thing I wanted to say. While waiting for the final volume of Hakomari, I've gotten around to finish Suzumiya Haruhi series. And while I liked the first volumes, they were merely 'pretty good'. But when I gotten around to (so far) final volumes 10-11, I absolutely loved them, and it was becaused they actually reminded me Hakomari. The final volume trilogy 9-11 of Haruhi actually got a lot darker, and instesad of easy writing style of earlier volumes, it went for deep psychological descriptions, long philosophical and ethical molologues/dialogues and basically discarded any feeling of hapiness. If you loved Hakomari, I suggest gining Haruhi series a go. |
jonnyrobbie said: I really liked it very much, but there were some points that honestly bothered me. At the end of vol6, Maria lost her memory of Kazuki, and it was presented as a really big obstacle. It was like "holy shit, she actually did it, she voluntairly erased her memories" and I gained the impression, that it would be a big part of vol7 about how she regains her memories. I was actually disappointed how it was handled in vol7, like it was not a problem at all. That deus ex machina O can solve it all in a few pages. It was not a problem at all. "Oh, there is Kazuki's bubble. And now I remember him now. Cool" I do agree with this point. volume 7''s solution seems different from volume 6's cliffhanger problems. I also expected memory lost and Daiya's final wish to play a big part, but well, whatever. jonnyrobbie said: Thoe second point is actually simmilar to the previous one. A major plot point of Wish Crushing Cinema was Maria witnessing Kazuki's will to murder. It was actually a huge issue, one that would make her turn away from him. One that would make her voluntairly erase her memories of her. Kazuki basically fucked up for good. None of it is referenced in vol7. It's like it never happened. If i'm right, Maria never hated Kazuki in the first place. Maybe, she left him because she believed her existence made Kazuki lost his every life, her existence turned Kazuki into a beast, so maybe she thought that if she leaves, Kazuki may return to his normal-self. She's not giving up her memories because he hated Kazuki but because of her false belief that she must make everyone happy. her false belief bind her from refusing other people wishes.(no matter who is it.) Maybe when she grant Daiya wish, part of her also wished for Kazuki's happiness ( maybe that's why "O" went to find Kazuki and made a false everyday life for him ). jonnyrobbie said: There's nothing for her to forgive him in the first place, she never hated nor blamed him. She blamed herself for what happened to him that's why she left. when she visited Kazuki's world in her box. She felt hurt when she saw Kazuki have happy life with Mogi, she love him, but she blamed herself, she thought that she doesnt have any right to be by his side. But Kazuki made her realized that her false belief was the root of all this, that he's waiting for her, that she's the one he need. Even after everything has ended, she still blamed herself for what happened to him.Yeah, Maria eventually dismissed her inner Aya and returned to yeroth Maria, but she seemed to have forgiven him (or even forgotten about it) even before that. |
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| I finished reading this ln yesterday and only now, when I thought about it a lot, I have something to say. I didn't cry at all, I wasn't in a deep sorrow, but I got sad like after any good anime, book or tv series when you don't want to part with characters whom life you ve been tracking for so long. Anyway, I can't get this story out of my head and I believe that it will influence on my mind somehow and will force me to rethink several things. Regarding to story, I was terrified how strong bonds between Kazuki ana Maria, especially from Kazuki's side: he spent more than 1000 years to bring Maria back, he consciously went crazy just for her. This is one of the strongest link Ive ever seen. I believe that with such affection they will be all right no matter what but there is one thing that i cant stop think about: I consider that it is not good idea for Kazuki to remember that he has lived eternity inside the box, because after restoring the consciousness he may go crazy again, It will be better to seal the part of this memory off with help of Maria. So, if i were him i would lose mind certainly. |
| It's true that it's been quite a while since I've read 5+6, so I may not remember Maria's motivation quite clearly. Also any chance for adaptation has lowered even more after vol7, because I'm not sure anybody would be willing to animate Kazukis brutal and gory mad murdering spree. |
| I feel so empty right now... Just everything about this volume affected me in so many ways. I feel both sadness and happiness. There were so many scenes that hit me hard. Learning the truth about Maria's sister was a pretty big twist. Despite Maria being my definite girl in this series (Yes for once my girl isn't on the losing side) I still couldn't help but feel bad for Kasumi. She would easily win Kazuki's heart if Maria wasn't in the picture. Glad Yuuri seems well off and I don't think she'll have that tough of a time from moving on. Haruaki's epilogue was probably my favorite. If there is one character I can associate myself with the most it would definitely be him. I really wished he and Kasumi would get some kind of romance going with each other but for some reason the author left those two alone. One thing I'm surprised is that Daiya didn't get an epilogue from his perspective. He is the author's favorite character so it comes off as a huge shock to me. Well, there are just way too many highlights in the volume but I couldn't be any happier with the finale... Maria Hoshino! Why couldn't the author give us an illustration, my life would be complete with that. I also wished to see a picture of shorter hair Maria, but I guess I'll have to stick with my imagination. 10/10 for this Novel and pretty much the best thing I've ever read. |
Ragna92Aug 7, 2015 8:16 PM
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| Oh my god I completely forgot about volume 7 coming out, how could I?! The truth about Aya was pretty surprising. And I loved reading about everyone going insane (I'm sorry). Maria Hoshino <3 I'm glad the author went for a happy ending, even if it was a little bit cheesy. I mean if he decided to make it tragic and mentally f*** up everyone even more, I think I would have completely broken down. I was smiling the entire time while reading this, especially everyone's epilogues (no Daiya epilogue though...). Yuuri's epilogue was pretty funny, about how she liked manipulating people xD 10/10 for this series, easily my favorite book (not including manga, but it'd probably be 6th or something if going by enjoyment and counting manga). |
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| best thing I've ever read. 10/10 maybe I'll get to translate it to Portuguese |
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