AnimeSuki Forums

karice67 · 2010-10-12, 13:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by apr

Kodansha has a banner saying Oct 29.

I know...but I'm raring to order that 320 artbook (along with the novel, I suppose)...

apr · 2010-10-19, 22:51

Made it all the way to the end of Golden Time tonight. After Toradora I was a huge fan of this author, and had no clue what to expect. The summary sounded way too similar to her previous series, and I was worried it'd be a boring retread, but I think GT manages to feel different enough that it wasn't a problem at all.

In fact, I find it hard to think of it quite as a light novel. It's just a bit too mature, compared to all the other series I've read under that label, and the illustrations are so tiny that I can't help but wonder if they just stuffed them in there to abide by some kind of publisher regulation. That's not to say it's, you know, proper adult literature. Still, it's a lot more like seinen manga, and with a character called NANA-senpai (seriously), it's easy to make the connection to the manga with that name.

To put it bluntly, Golden Time is a love soap in college setting.

If you ever watched the j-drama Orange Days, that's not too far off in feel. Mind you, I liked Orange Days. And I really enjoyed reading GT. It's not as funny (comical, that is) as Toradora was, but then Toradora floated away from the comedy gradually as it went along, while GT pretty much starts at the end of Toradora's spectrum. It's fascinating to read about the life of a Japanese university student, and compare it to how I felt moving away from home to study in a new town, getting used to living without my parents, and encountering all the strange people at campus. Fresh, is a simple way to describe the book.

It's not a masterpiece, though. To begin with, the protagonist lacks any real character, so he feels pretty bland when you're used to light novels where everyone is easily identified by certain strong features. At the outset, the plot is also very loose, with no discernible goal to work towards, which makes it, well, not boring, exactly, but somewhat difficult to follow. Events occur a bit too haphazardly and disjointedly, much like real life, and at times I had to wonder what the point of a certain (absurd) chapter was, and why it was given so many pages. It doesn't help that the writing is ruthless to foreigners like me, who still struggle with slang and modern youth talk not found in a dictionary, which made some of the conversations tricky. Narrative sentences are also longer and more complex than I'm used to, so I'm definitely putting this title down as one of the harder light novels I've encountered.

Anyway. What really makes Golden Time interesting is the delicate time period it uses as setting: late teens, early twenties. The characters are right at the age where love and relationships are starting to grow complicated. It's no longer about running around drunk on emotions, instead it's an age where you approach emotions carefully -- or stumble over them -- and have to reflect on what they really mean, and how pursuing them will affect you and your future. And perhaps you'll reach the wrong conclusion the first time, and end up with a massive failure on your hands. Then grow as a person, trying to overcome that pain.

The author expresses all this perfectly, with vivid scenes that often made me think back on what it was like to be their age. The pages are teeming with the passion of youth. And that, strangely, is pretty rare these days.

Defade · 2010-11-03, 08:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doraneko

IMO the dialogue is not exactly abstract, just that the topics of discussion are more than often college level stuff, leaving the middle/high school students (which accounts for the majority of the light novel readership) scratching their heads. On the other hand, college students or above however will find it a fun ride. The slightly abstract part is only the SF-esque timeslip stuff, but for someone like you who have been constantly reading novels it should be a bliss.

Basically you can strip away the cover and the frontal colour pages and it will perfectly fit in the shelf of traditional literature (only one simple non-moe character illustration before each chapter). Somehow I have a soft spot for this kind of "border-line" light novels. The establishment of MW Bunko makes them even rarer than before: good for the public but bad for light novel buffs like me.

Regardless, it is by no means anything like Sora no Kyoukai, which makes stuff abstract for the sake of sounding abstract. Just going through a few pages of SnK can burn out a good number of your brain cells, while Minerva can arouse your interest in liberal arts subjects.

Wow, that sounds like an amazing novel. I'm rather picky about LNs in general and tend to stay away from moe or cliche series. So far I've thoroughly enjoyed Baccano!, the Bakemonogatari series and of course, Izuki's amazing books(though I only bought the first two). I've been meaning to check out a lollypop or a bullet, and densetsu no yuusha no densetsu is looking really promising with its detailed backstory. I attempted Haruhi and Shana a few years back, but...just couldn't get into them.

That aside, any other thought-provoking recommendations like that one?(or something along the lines of Izuki's novels)

apr · 2010-11-03, 16:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by Defade

That aside, any other thought-provoking recommendations like that one?

Light novels are the wrong place to be looking for "thought-provoking", but the closest I can think of is "Aru Hi, Bakudan ga Ochitekite", which is a collection of short stories based around time as a theme. Some of them aren't too exciting (I wasn't impressed by the first), but a few are extremely good, and made me think hard about what it would be to like to find myself in the character's situation.

Cosmic Eagle · 2010-11-04, 10:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by Defade

Wow, that sounds like an amazing novel. I'm rather picky about LNs in general and tend to stay away from moe or cliche series. So far I've thoroughly enjoyed Baccano!, the Bakemonogatari series and of course, Izuki's amazing books(though I only bought the first two). I've been meaning to check out a lollypop or a bullet, and densetsu no yuusha no densetsu is looking really promising with its detailed backstory. I attempted Haruhi and Shana a few years back, but...just couldn't get into them.

That aside, any other thought-provoking recommendations like that one?(or something along the lines of Izuki's novels)

Try Utsuro no Hako to Zero no Maria.....

It's seriously like reading Higurashi all over again.

apr · 2010-11-04, 21:43

I probably chewed through something like 150 pages today, which let me finish Ben-to vol 5. As usual, I picked it up with the worry that the gimmick would finally have run dry, that I would have grown tired of the vivid battle and food descriptions. This time, it was true, to some degree. Five books now, and it doesn't feel as fresh and new anymore.

It's still enjoyable, and it was fun to read more crazy adventures of our dear Sega nerd and his harem of violent foodies, but unlike previous books, something seemed to be missing in this volume. Maybe the author tried to push too much into one book. Maybe the exaggerated pride wasn't blatant and crisp enough. I can't really put my finger on it. Perhaps it's because so much narrative focus was put on characters other than the hero, which makes the experience a bit more muddled than usual. It did pick up quite a bit towards the end, luckily.

Anyway, I hope he'll manage to sharpen his pencil and make the next volume sparkle again.

apr · 2010-11-11, 11:27

I guess this is the apr-only thread now, so I'll continue the trend.

Last night I made it through Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai vol 1, which had a title interesting enough for me to buy it on impulse, without really having a clue as to what it was about. It had been lying on my shelf for a while, but when I heard it was getting manga-fied, I felt it was time to see if it was any good.

It's not, really, all that good. Feels like a mix between Seitokai no Ichizon and BakaTest, with a bunch of stereotypical characters milling about in their club room for most of the duration, split into a bunch of chapters focusing on different events, like "let's make a play" or "let's play a video game". Undoubtedly tons of people will find it entertaining, and while I don't think it's anywhere as painful to read as Seitokai was, it just isn't very funny. The "rape, rape, rape" chapter felt pretty awkward.

All in all, it's a very light "light novel", which is probably what the author was aiming for, but I want some intellectual reward for the effort spent on reading "books". The subject of friendlessness has a lot more to it than this author seems interested in diving into, so I won't be revisiting the series.

Shadow5YA · 2010-11-11, 12:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cosmic Eagle

Try Utsuro no Hako to Zero no Maria.....

It's seriously like reading Higurashi all over again.

Seconding this.

kuroishinigami · 2010-11-11, 23:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by apr

I guess this is the apr-only thread now, so I'll continue the trend.

Last night I made it through Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai vol 1, which had a title interesting enough for me to buy it on impulse, without really having a clue as to what it was about. It had been lying on my shelf for a while, but when I heard it was getting manga-fied, I felt it was time to see if it was any good.

It's not, really, all that good. Feels like a mix between Seitokai no Ichizon and BakaTest, with a bunch of stereotypical characters milling about in their club room for most of the duration, split into a bunch of chapters focusing on different events, like "let's make a play" or "let's play a video game". Undoubtedly tons of people will find it entertaining, and while I don't think it's anywhere as painful to read as Seitokai was, it just isn't very funny. The "rape, rape, rape" chapter felt pretty awkward.

All in all, it's a very light "light novel", which is probably what the author was aiming for, but I want some intellectual reward for the effort spent on reading "books". The subject of friendlessness has a lot more to it than this author seems interested in diving into, so I won't be revisiting the series.

Isn't baka to test also the same as this series? With very little intellectual plot going and just stupid rumor flying about? Though I agree completely that baka test is a lot more funny than Boku wa Tomodachi, probably because the latter chapter feels rather disconnected and make it feels more like a short story compilation.

apr · 2010-11-12, 04:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by kuroishinigami

Isn't baka to test also the same as this series? With very little intellectual plot going and just stupid rumor flying about? Though I agree completely that baka test is a lot more funny than Boku wa Tomodachi, probably because the latter chapter feels rather disconnected and make it feels more like a short story compilation.

Yeah, that's why I mentioned BakaTest in my post.

They're similar in that light comedy way, which I complained about when I reviewed it a long time ago. The difference is, as you say, that BakaTest is a lot funnier, and doesn't need to abuse 2ch language to attract an audience. Or naked little sisters.

Darknemo2000 · 2010-11-12, 04:38

Apr, can you tell more about Golden Time story and plot? Your comment was very vague and general - basically tells nothing about the actual story, yes you are avoiding spoilers but it really doesn't give any touchable information apart from some generic phrases that can be used on many novels.

If you can't spoil it in here then send me a PM please. I am interested to know what the actual story is, because so from description it sounds like a bland Toradora twin with more serious setting.

apr · 2010-11-12, 05:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darknemo2000

Apr, can you tell more about Golden Time story and plot? Your comment was very vague and general - basically tells nothing about the actual story, yes you are avoiding spoilers but it really doesn't give any touchable information apart from some generic phrases that can be used on many novels.

If you can't spoil it in here then send me a PM please. I am interested to know what the actual story is, because so from description it sounds like a bland Toradora twin with more serious setting.

Golden Time is hard to describe without either spoiling it completely, or making it sound retarded.

Safe version: Young man (19y) moves to Tokyo to study at the law faculty of a university (one year late, spent time as "rounin"). On his first day he gets lost on the way to a campus building, bumps into a handsome/rich young man in the same situation, and they become friends while finding their way. As they're talking and joking, a taxi stops in front of them, and out steps a gorgeous ("perfect") young woman with a massive bouquet of roses, which she starts slapping the rich guy with. This is the setup - a rich guy who wanted to be free and secretly applied to a "lesser" university, the crazy woman he was fleeing from and who is obsessed with the idea that they must get married, and the bland (?) hero who gets stuck between them as the friend of both. Everything in a university student setting, with romance and comedy and a strange cult.

Spoiler for Unsafe version (SPOILERS!):

I think it's worth reading if you enjoyed Toradora at all. It's exactly like it, but completely different. Take tired old stereotypes, give them a solid backstory, then turn them upside down. That's pretty much what this author does, and I love it.

Darknemo2000 · 2010-11-12, 06:01

Ah thanks, this was more helpful. What about the girls feelings? Do they change at least a little bit and does she treat the main guy like Taiga does at first (being a total bitch)?

apr · 2010-11-12, 11:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darknemo2000

Ah thanks, this was more helpful. What about the girls feelings? Do they change at least a little bit and does she treat the main guy like Taiga does at first (being a total bitch)?

People change in it, and I wouldn't say she's like Taiga; I don't consider Kouko tsundere.

Darknemo2000 · 2010-11-12, 12:26

So did she in particular (and not just people in general) had her feelings change or no real change from her so far?

apr · 2010-11-12, 12:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darknemo2000

So did she in particular (and not just people in general) had her feelings change or no real change from her so far?

Spoiler for Novel ending:

You ask weird questions. Why not just read the book to find these things out? I don't think it will be a very long series, so I doubt it's a huge commitment.

Darknemo2000 · 2010-11-12, 13:36

Don't have that much time even if its very short. Not to mention that I did not like Toradora so am bit cautious about this one.

apr · 2010-11-12, 13:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darknemo2000

Don't have that much time even if its very short. Not to mention that I did not like Toradora so am bit cautious about this one.

Alright. It depends a lot on what in Toradora irritated you, but this isn't just a clone using the same characters in a slightly altered setting, or anything. It feels very different, mostly because these characters are (and act) older.

Darknemo2000 · 2010-11-12, 15:00

Torradora irritated me by two things - Taiga (yes she started acting better once in the second half of the series, but she was really just a bitch early on). There is a difference between a tsundere and a plain bitch - tsundere acts tsun but deeps inside likes the guy, plain bitch just acts tsun and taiga was a plain bitch until she started liking the hero which happened only later in the series as her head was full of his best friend at first.

The second thing I didnt like about the toradora is somewhat bit disjointed style of writing - some events looked weird and totally random making it bit hard to understand what the author wnated to say and what was the point at all.

Flower · 2010-11-12, 16:08

In some ways Taiga was nicer % wise in the anime than in the light novels. It was a hard thing for me at times too - wondering "Why is this guy letting this girl abuse him so much?" Yes, yes, yes - attraction, love, pity, etc., etc. Still ... there are limits, and for me personally Taiga repeatedly crossed over my own personal limits early on.

But to be fair she was nowhere near as bad as Louise from the early Zero no Tsukaima novels. Man - talk about abusive! She puts Taiga to shame in places. My limits were crossed much earlier on in those novels....

Maybe I am just not much of a hardcore "tsundere" fan, though?

Anyway apr - thanks for the "heads up" on Golden Time....

2010-10-19, 22:51	Link #442
apr Pedestrian Join Date: May 2003 Location: Sweden	Made it all the way to the end of Golden Time tonight. After Toradora I was a huge fan of this author, and had no clue what to expect. The summary sounded way too similar to her previous series, and I was worried it'd be a boring retread, but I think GT manages to feel different enough that it wasn't a problem at all. In fact, I find it hard to think of it quite as a light novel. It's just a bit too mature, compared to all the other series I've read under that label, and the illustrations are so tiny that I can't help but wonder if they just stuffed them in there to abide by some kind of publisher regulation. That's not to say it's, you know, proper adult literature. Still, it's a lot more like seinen manga, and with a character called NANA-senpai (seriously), it's easy to make the connection to the manga with that name. To put it bluntly, Golden Time is a love soap in college setting. If you ever watched the j-drama Orange Days, that's not too far off in feel. Mind you, I liked Orange Days. And I really enjoyed reading GT. It's not as funny (comical, that is) as Toradora was, but then Toradora floated away from the comedy gradually as it went along, while GT pretty much starts at the end of Toradora's spectrum. It's fascinating to read about the life of a Japanese university student, and compare it to how I felt moving away from home to study in a new town, getting used to living without my parents, and encountering all the strange people at campus. Fresh, is a simple way to describe the book. It's not a masterpiece, though. To begin with, the protagonist lacks any real character, so he feels pretty bland when you're used to light novels where everyone is easily identified by certain strong features. At the outset, the plot is also very loose, with no discernible goal to work towards, which makes it, well, not boring, exactly, but somewhat difficult to follow. Events occur a bit too haphazardly and disjointedly, much like real life, and at times I had to wonder what the point of a certain (absurd) chapter was, and why it was given so many pages. It doesn't help that the writing is ruthless to foreigners like me, who still struggle with slang and modern youth talk not found in a dictionary, which made some of the conversations tricky. Narrative sentences are also longer and more complex than I'm used to, so I'm definitely putting this title down as one of the harder light novels I've encountered. Anyway. What really makes Golden Time interesting is the delicate time period it uses as setting: late teens, early twenties. The characters are right at the age where love and relationships are starting to grow complicated. It's no longer about running around drunk on emotions, instead it's an age where you approach emotions carefully -- or stumble over them -- and have to reflect on what they really mean, and how pursuing them will affect you and your future. And perhaps you'll reach the wrong conclusion the first time, and end up with a massive failure on your hands. Then grow as a person, trying to overcome that pain. The author expresses all this perfectly, with vivid scenes that often made me think back on what it was like to be their age. The pages are teeming with the passion of youth. And that, strangely, is pretty rare these days. __________________ ...in my humble opinion.

2010-11-04, 21:43	Link #446
apr Pedestrian Join Date: May 2003 Location: Sweden	I probably chewed through something like 150 pages today, which let me finish Ben-to vol 5. As usual, I picked it up with the worry that the gimmick would finally have run dry, that I would have grown tired of the vivid battle and food descriptions. This time, it was true, to some degree. Five books now, and it doesn't feel as fresh and new anymore. It's still enjoyable, and it was fun to read more crazy adventures of our dear Sega nerd and his harem of violent foodies, but unlike previous books, something seemed to be missing in this volume. Maybe the author tried to push too much into one book. Maybe the exaggerated pride wasn't blatant and crisp enough. I can't really put my finger on it. Perhaps it's because so much narrative focus was put on characters other than the hero, which makes the experience a bit more muddled than usual. It did pick up quite a bit towards the end, luckily. Anyway, I hope he'll manage to sharpen his pencil and make the next volume sparkle again. __________________ ...in my humble opinion.

2010-11-11, 11:27	Link #447
apr Pedestrian Join Date: May 2003 Location: Sweden	I guess this is the apr-only thread now, so I'll continue the trend. Last night I made it through Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai vol 1, which had a title interesting enough for me to buy it on impulse, without really having a clue as to what it was about. It had been lying on my shelf for a while, but when I heard it was getting manga-fied, I felt it was time to see if it was any good. It's not, really, all that good. Feels like a mix between Seitokai no Ichizon and BakaTest, with a bunch of stereotypical characters milling about in their club room for most of the duration, split into a bunch of chapters focusing on different events, like "let's make a play" or "let's play a video game". Undoubtedly tons of people will find it entertaining, and while I don't think it's anywhere as painful to read as Seitokai was, it just isn't very funny. The "rape, rape, rape" chapter felt pretty awkward. All in all, it's a very light "light novel", which is probably what the author was aiming for, but I want some intellectual reward for the effort spent on reading "books". The subject of friendlessness has a lot more to it than this author seems interested in diving into, so I won't be revisiting the series. __________________ ...in my humble opinion.

2010-11-12, 16:08	Link #460
Flower Blooming on the mountain Join Date: May 2010 Location: Deep in their roots, all flowers keep the light....	In some ways Taiga was nicer % wise in the anime than in the light novels. It was a hard thing for me at times too - wondering "Why is this guy letting this girl abuse him so much?" Yes, yes, yes - attraction, love, pity, etc., etc. Still ... there are limits, and for me personally Taiga repeatedly crossed over my own personal limits early on. But to be fair she was nowhere near as bad as Louise from the early Zero no Tsukaima novels. Man - talk about abusive! She puts Taiga to shame in places. My limits were crossed much earlier on in those novels.... Maybe I am just not much of a hardcore "tsundere" fan, though? Anyway apr - thanks for the "heads up" on Golden Time.... __________________

2010-11-12, 04:38	Link #451
Darknemo2000 Senior Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Lithuania Age: 39	Apr, can you tell more about Golden Time story and plot? Your comment was very vague and general - basically tells nothing about the actual story, yes you are avoiding spoilers but it really doesn't give any touchable information apart from some generic phrases that can be used on many novels. If you can't spoil it in here then send me a PM please. I am interested to know what the actual story is, because so from description it sounds like a bland Toradora twin with more serious setting.

2010-11-12, 06:01	Link #453
Darknemo2000 Senior Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Lithuania Age: 39	Ah thanks, this was more helpful. What about the girls feelings? Do they change at least a little bit and does she treat the main guy like Taiga does at first (being a total bitch)?

2010-11-12, 12:26	Link #455
Darknemo2000 Senior Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Lithuania Age: 39	So did she in particular (and not just people in general) had her feelings change or no real change from her so far?

2010-11-12, 13:36	Link #457
Darknemo2000 Senior Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Lithuania Age: 39	Don't have that much time even if its very short. Not to mention that I did not like Toradora so am bit cautious about this one.

2010-11-12, 15:00	Link #459
Darknemo2000 Senior Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Lithuania Age: 39	Torradora irritated me by two things - Taiga (yes she started acting better once in the second half of the series, but she was really just a bitch early on). There is a difference between a tsundere and a plain bitch - tsundere acts tsun but deeps inside likes the guy, plain bitch just acts tsun and taiga was a plain bitch until she started liking the hero which happened only later in the series as her head was full of his best friend at first. The second thing I didnt like about the toradora is somewhat bit disjointed style of writing - some events looked weird and totally random making it bit hard to understand what the author wnated to say and what was the point at all.