Cynthesia's Profile - Reviews

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Jan 9, 2025

Kara no Kyoukai: The Garden of Sinners (Manga) add

Recommended

(This includes some thoughts on the 3rd volume which is not listed here but my rating stays the same)
Very enjoyable series of novels. Nasu’s earliest work but his writing style didn’t come off as too amateurish, definitely much more intricate and nuanced than the average Light Novel author. I actually thought his tendency to overwrite was more subdued than in his later works although it still slips in at times.

I think the amount of which a person is going to enjoy these novels comes down to how much ambiguity they’re willing to endure. Maybe this was just my Japanese being skill checked but I found ... the first volume to be very confusing, due to the achronological order, and come out the other end with more questions than answers. Thankfully things become much clearer with each subsequent novel even though the achronological order is maintained, although parts of volume 2 suddenly shift in perspective without much warning which made it a little jarring. However because of this volume 3 felt like one clean shot and was highly satisfying to read.

Another debatable point is Nasu’s tendency to overwrite things. For the most part this isn’t necessarily an issue but every now and then there are massive walls of text which explain every last detail of the subject at hand. Most of the time this is appreciated because the world which he’s created is extremely intricate and an understanding of the powers at play as well as the techniques at their arsenal goes a long way, not only for these novels but for every subsequent one of his works. This also makes the action sequences much more lively as you read about each and every body part being cut apart or the length incantations and their aftermaths, it really pulls you in. However he is not indiscriminate in this treatment and at times can go off on length tangents about the most miniscule things, such as in volume 3 where he explains the usage of THC and LSD. I personally found this endearing and respect that he’s willing to give everything the same level of respect and treatment. Although I can’t deny that this does unsurprisingly lead to pacing issues, volumes 2 and 3 are 1.5x the length of volume 1, and while this is not a surprise as these are volumes in which you learn about the magic systems and Shiki herself, it does feel like there is a good amount of fat to cut out.

For me the weakest element of the series was the characters. Which is a bit of a surprise given that I’ve seen them at the forefront of every review. However, understandably, they primarily serve as exposition machines and not much else and none of them necessarily stood out to me as notable. This is a bit of a surprise because I’m aware that Mahoyo is another one of Nasu’s earlier works and that has my favorite cast of characters of them all, although I imagine that was given much more time in the oven to be worked on given that it was the last of his major works to be released. I did find Shiki’s journey of self to be very compelling and she was definitely the strongest member of the cast although that has more to do with her internal conflict rather than her external character, which makes sense since that’s the entire basis of the story I suppose. Generally I think the characters are more enjoyable in the movie adaptations, they aren’t necessarily bad just unrefined and generally sidelined in favor of the atmosphere.

These are definitely worth a read if you’re into his work I know they were recently translated in full (although I can’t speak on the quality of the translation). A very good introduction to the world and systems which are carried over to every other one of his works and it makes me wish that he put out more standard novels just to see how he fairs because there’s a lot of potential here. I will be revisiting these once I’m better at Japanese.

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Jan 9, 2025

Koisuru Kiseichuu (Manga) add

Recommended

Spoiler

What a perfect winter novel, chock full of self destruction and melancholy. I’m a huge fan of the liberty that Light Novel authors have when it comes to expositing their knowledge on things. As the name suggests there’s a running parasite analogy which represents the internal struggles of the main protagonists. They theorize that deep down they’re being controlled by parasites which causes their flaws to manifest be it through social ineptitude or obsessive compulsive disorder. There’s an entire chapter dedicated towards explaining the intricacies of parasite behavior, a level of detail which is maintained when describing medical terminology and technology.

This feels like a ... more mature take on Welcome to the NHK which is fairly lighthearted in it’s presentation and a less outwardly facing ill heroine. I felt it worked much better than NHK, the novel anyway, because neither character is overwhelmingly flawed (in the sense that they don’t feel a compulsive need to be saved) and their relationship feels much more natural than the one presented through Misaki. The two protagonists are mostly licking each others wounds, easing each others suffering through their self destruction. It’s a much quieter and somber story and eases the reader into their environment rather than bombastically making them unable to take their eyes away like you would treat a brutal car accident. Different but similar stories intended for different audiences.

I only wish it were somewhat longer, chapter 6 in particular sticks out as the longest in the novel as a whole and a major halt in the pacing of the story. A bit more time with the characters and their process of rehabilitation would have been appreciated rather than subjecting it almost entirely to a singular chapter. Even a 10% increase would have been appreciated, just to build that little bit more connection and a less sudden push into the climax (although I do think it fits given the suddenness of it all).

I really appreciated that despite the themes this never felt like a pity party. Their issues aren’t thrown in your face and it’s left primarily to the atmosphere and writing, allowing the reader soak it in. As I said before they don’t hang up on the prospect of being saved (in fact Sanagi has sunk so far into self destruction that she rejects the notion) but rather it’s a natural process which slowly envelops them through their interactions. It’s a very mature take on their issues which is surprisingly rare nowadays, especially in the west where this same sort of thing would have made everything abundantly clear and removed any sort of nuance or care. Great novel, looking forward to reading the rest of his work.

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Jan 9, 2025

Akuyaku Reijou Level 99: Watashi wa Ura-Boss desu ga Maou dewa Arimasen (Anime) add

Mixed Feelings

Spoiler

Entertaining enough but pretty generic. I’ve already seen quite a few anime with essentially this exact same plotline. Probably it’s biggest sin is that absolutely horrendous CG which was used for every single monster type just a complete crime to the eyes. If I wanted to be charitable I could say this was an intentional choice because the story takes place in the world of a cheap otome game, but given how stiff the rest of the presentation is this probably isn’t the case. It wouldn’t be too bad but Yumiella eventually acquires a pet dragon halfway through the show which becomes a mainstay so ...

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