Archive for the Light Novels Category


Light Novel: Oshaka-sama mo Miteru ~ School Festivals (お釈迦様もみてる スクール フェスティバルズ)

April 18th, 2011

Calling Oshaka-sama mo Miteru: School Festivals (お釈迦様もみてる スクール フェスティバルズ) a “Light Novel” is really starting to stretch the point. There are two illustrations and of them, neither really had any need to be there.

Nonetheless.

School Festivals covers the Hanadera and Lillian school festivals from Yuuki’s (and therefore Yumi’s) first-year of high school. We learn during Yumi’s second year that, during her first year, the Rosas had attended Hanadera to judge the “Miss Hanadera” contest.  Konno-sensei did not inflict the actual Miss Hanadera contest on us, for which I am extremely grateful. However, it served to set up the single hilarious (if obvious,) gag of the book. And, one of the two pictures was of Sei, Youko and Eriko. ^_^

Yuuki does not interact with the Rosas much, beyond greeting them and saying goodbye, as he is working security of sorts and, as all of you who have ever worked at a event know, you’re too busy to enjoy the event when you’re working it. There are some scenes here and there which cement in our head that Kashiwagi definitely does have strong feelings of affection for Yuuki. Whether he is in fact gay for Yuuki remains ambiguous, no doubt on purpose. Nonetheless, Yuuki is seen having a mental conversation with himself about whether Kashiwagi is gay, or whether or not he needs to keep Kashiwagi away from Yumi. (On the presumption that he likes Yuuki lots but if Yuuki were a girl, he’d like like her.) Yuuki isn’t sure.

After the festival is over it is Kashiwagi’s turn to head over to Lillian to assist with their school festival. This section of the book was very interesting as it revisits the very first novel. 45 novels later and, Konno-sensei comments, the snake has caught its own tail.

From Yumi’s first-year perspective, Kashiwagi was cool, competent and arrogant. How she perceived him colored our perceptions of him for more than a decade. Now we see the whole scene from Kashiwagi’s perspective.

Leaving Hanadera after the Miss Hanadera contest, Kashiwagi is amusing himself by imagining Yuuki in girl’s clothes. A maid costume, miko costume and…suddenly, as he finds himself in front of Lillian, he imagines Yuuki in the Lillian uniform. He laughs to himself and we laugh, because we can see this gag coming a mile away. Of course…he finds himself greeted at the Lillian gates by a girl who looks exactly like Yuuki in the Lillian uniform! He’s *so* discombobulated by this that he refers to her as “Yukichi-ko” in his head for much of the rest of the book.

From his side, Kashiwagi feels very out of sorts in the girl’s school. The rules are just different enough, the religion is different, the whole feel is different from his boy’s-only world that every time he steps into Lillian, he is made to feel uncomfortable. And, he is very on edge about Sachiko. When she won’t come to the Rose Mansion the first day he arrives, he feels awkward. He doesn’t want to see her, but he does want to get it over with. And when she does see him the first time, she introduces herself as a stranger, which completely throws him for a loop. He’s been visiting for days for practice and she hasn’t said a word to him not regarding the play. He finds Lillian…exhausting. He’s taken to coming back to Hanadera after practice, rather than going home, just to relax in his own space for a bit.

Then, the big scene. He finally catches up to Sachiko who says that she plans on telling her parents – and especially their grandfather – that she’s breaking the engagement. He points out that grandfather will demand to know why. She says she will tell him what Kashiwagi told her – that he’s gay and cannot love her. Kashiwagi freaks out at this. He asks her to let him, at least, figure out how to break it to everyone and she says, no, she’s decided. She starts to walk away and he grabs her, asking her to consider his feelings in this…and Sei and Yumi come running up. The scene plays out as we remember, with Kashiwagi slipping on gingkos (which he, like Sachiko, dislikes) and becoming the “Gingko Prince.”

Leaving that evening from the gates of Lillian, Kashiwagi is miserable. He goes back to Hanadera, to the Student Council room, just to regain himself. As he enters the building, he can see a light at the end of the tunnel – literally. Yuuki is in the Council Room waiting for him, to make him tea and help him clean the Prince’s costume. Kashiwagi is undone. He is so grateful, he just practically falls apart. He asks Yuuki for a favor, and the two of them end up dancing the waltz together in the Council Room, alone at Hanadera.

The day of Lillian’s Festival comes and the Hanadera first-years have been given tickets to it in thanks for all their efforts to help the Rosas. So they all go and, by popular demand, walk a round a bit before the play. Yuuki is trying to not run into Yumi, but he has no idea where she’ll be. She’s not in her class’s room, but he is surprised to see her on the winning panel at the photography exhibition. They all go to the play and he is absolutely mortified to suddenly learn that Yumi is in the play with Kashiwagi. He’s annoyed that neither of them told him, but of course, why should they? And what is he worried about anyway? Full of unidentifiable feelings of….something, he watches the Lillian play.

This book was, like the other Hanadera books, not *quite* as fun as the Lillian stories, but again, the weakness was that there was too little Yuuki interacting with Koboayashi, Takada and Arisu (who, I know some of you will want to know, wore a lovely pink dress with a flower-patterned collar to Lillian.) I had some trepidation about being alone in Kashiwagi’s head, but it was interesting, even if we still really don’t know who or what he really is.

Ratings:

Overall – 8

The beginning was a little slow, but the payoffs were worth it.





Light Novel: Maria-sama ga Miteru ~ Step

March 2nd, 2011

This week’s theme appears to be “some series never die.” We started off the week with a look back at Cardcaptor Sakura, Sailor Moon was just re-licensed in Germany, and I have another re-tread planned for later this week. And, today, we’re taking a look at one of the most recent volumes of a series that has lodged itself firmly in our hearts, Maria-sama ga Miteru. There is one massive spoiler ahead, be warned.

Maria-sama ga Miteru ~ Step (マリア様がみてる ステップ) tells the story of two girls, Katsuki and Ritsu. They are second-years in high school at Lillian and they are the very best of friends. They’ve been together so long that they are practically like sisters.

So, when Ritsu tells Katsuki that she’s seeing a boy, it comes as a shock – not because she’s seeing a boy so much, but because she’s *been* seeing him for a few weeks, and she never mentioned it. Katsuki is hurt, but honest about it, so they separate for a little while, then take it slow to repair the tears in their bonds carefully and neatly. But, as Katsuki points out in her interior monologue, once a person has taken that step up the stair of life, they can never really go back to being the person they were, even if they want to.

In the meantime, Katsuki has herself, through an accidental, somewhat silly, circumstance met a guy she thinks she might be interested in and, when she learns through another completely accidental circumstance that he is Ritsu’s brother, *she* keeps it secret from her best friend. Katsuki had somewhat complicated things a little by lying to “Ken-san,” the nickname she created for the guy she met, about her own name.

Then comes the day Katsuki encounters Ritsu’s boyfriend and her hurried confession the next day to Ritsu that it was another incredible coincidence and nothing else. But, Ritsu says, it doesn’t matter – she’s already broken up with Kouta. In fact, Ritsu knew that Katsuki had met her boyfriend…and the problem was not that she was jealous of Katsuki for being with Kouta, but that she was jealous of Kouta for being with Katsuki.

During the school trip, Ritsu “confesses” that her break-up with Kouta was because she likes Katsuki more. Katsuki thinks about it and asks if Ritsu would like to kiss her. Ritsu replies, “Sure, I guess,” to which Katsuki says, “Right – you guess.” She calmly points out that she really doesn’t think Ritsu’s gay and she’s fairly sure she might have noticed by now if she was and Ritsu pretty much agrees that she’s the same.But they agree that they love each other very much.

Katsuki is now sure that Ritsu does want to go out with Kouta (who she knows is a nice guy) and she kind of wants an excuse to see Isao, Ritsu’s brother, so she calls him to ask him to bring Kouta to the school festival. There is a little tension, but Kouta does come, and he and Ritsu head off to the Sakuratei cafe together. In the meantime, Katsuki meets and is instantly recognized by Isao as the girl he met in the park….despite her makeup and costume as a monster for the haunted house. Woops.

In the end, the two girls have frank talks with their prospective partners about their feelings for them and for each other. Kouta tells Ritsu that he also has a bosom buddy he feels that close too, Isao. And Katsuki comes to realize that Hasekura Isao is a genuinely nice guy.

The author’s note begins with the most obvious question ever – can you guess Kouta’s family name? I could and did. Can you?

One of the questions I’m asked most on #marimite_spoilers @rizon.net is “when” the book I’m discussing is. Yumi’s first-year or second or third? This one was impossible to peg until we were given that single hint. Once we got that, it was obvious “when” we were.

As with many of of Konno-sensei’s books, the plot here took a long time to develop. It was  a bit tiring at first, with all the “boyfriend this” and “boyfriend that” but, as the story developed it picked up some speed. And there were a number of small, but interesting features. Ritsu’s and Katsuki’s frank discussion about their affection for one another was one, Kouta’s admission of affection for Isao was another. But of all the interactions in the book, the most interesting to me was a conversation Katsuki had with another classmate, Watako.

Katsuki asks Watako if she had a lover, to which Watako replies, “not at the moment.” Katsuki and I both naturally interpreted that to mean that she had had one previously and expects to do so again. In this way, on top of the shocking idea Konno-sensei introduces in this novel that Lillian girls may have (*gasp!*) boyfriends, Konno-sensei introduces the even more shocking idea that some of them may have had lovers. Two steps out of the garden of maidens in one shot. You go Konno-sensei. ^_^

Ratings:

Overall – starts at a 5, but ends up an 8

The key thing to making this book work as well as it did was that both Kouta and Isao really are nice guys.





Maria-sama ga Miteru Light Novel: Watashi no Su

May 21st, 2010

Have you ever considered how difficult writing a story without conflict must be? I mean, think about it – no screaming matches, no tears, no throwing things, no hand of god tragic events…what is there to care about?

Would it even be possible to write a story in which everyone was just…nice?

Watashi no Su is that story.

Because the Yumi/Sachiko/Touko era of the novels is over, we now turn our eyes to other characters around Lillian. We are introduced to Momo, a first-year whom we ultimately learn is in Touko, Noriko and Kanako’s first-year Tsubaki class. One day, just as she’s leaving class, she passes out. Eiko-sensei, the school doctor has her escorted home by a second-year, Tamaki. Tamaki is instantly likable and a little goofy-whimsical, reminiscent of Sei. When asked what to call her, Tamaki suggests Tama-chan or Tama-Tama. Momo declines politely and sticks with Tamaki-sama. Tamaki suggests that Momo call her “onee-sama” but when Momo asks don’t they have to be soeur for that, Tamaki’s reply is, “well…why not do that then?”

That night Momo learns that her mother is marrying the younger man she’s been dating for a while. It’s a second marriage for Kaya, Momo’s father died while she was still young. Momoko likes Shuu-chan and is fine with that, and fine that they’ll be moving into his family house.

When they get to meet the family, it turns out that Shuu-chan’s grandfather also has a second marriage – a much younger woman named Tsubaki. And they have a daughter, Momo’s age. You see this coming, right? Yes, it’s Tamaki.

So, when Momo works out the relationships, Tamaki would be her step-great-aunt. Tamaki declines to be called this, so they stick with Tamaki-sama. :)

The rest of the story is just…stuff. Stories from both sides of the family, parties, who’s going to do the laundry when, the stuff I call “playing house.” There is no conflict, except in very small ways, when people share lives.

It’s really nice. Nice to have Momo and her family welcomed by Shuuto’s parents and grandparents, nice to have Shuuto and Momo get along. It’s just…nice. Every chapter is a pleasure to read and the final ‘crisis’ is obvious, small and…my god, it’s nice.

I went into this book wondering if Konno-sensei could make me fall in love again. I mean, let’s face it, Yumi and the gang were charming and lovable and it’s really hard to just set them aside. You keep wondering how they are. :-) Cleverly, Konno places this story in a time and place that the story has already covered, so you *know* where and how they are, which frees you to just enjoy Momo’s story. And by god, what a nice story it is.

Ratings:

Overall – Nice

The Oshaka-sama mo Miteru series is continuing as well. I find I also like Yuuki and his friends and am looking forward to bits that we don’t already know about from the previous novels. Basically, Konno-sensei can write characters that are really likable – which is, in itself, incredibly difficult to do.





Light Novel: Maria-sama ga Miteru ~ Little Horrors

January 6th, 2010

High school, among other things, is a series of mortifying moments. Between hormones, life roles and adults being adults, there’s just about no day that goes by when a high school student doesn’t wish that the earth would open up and swallow them at least for a little while.

For Arima Nana, the day described in Maria-sama ga Miteru – Little Horrors (マリア様がみてる―リトルホラーズ) is one of those days.

Nana has entered Lillian Girls’ School in a slightly unusual position. Before she even enters high school, she is Rosa Foetida en Bouton. Not only does she start her high school career as a member of the Student Council but, because of her family and her famed kendo skills, she’s slated to be one of the highlights of the kendo team in time.

So, when the team calls a meeting and her onee-sama, Rose Foetida herself, younger sister of the former captain and third-year member of the team doesn’t show – the earth could not open up fast enough.

Little Horrors appears to be the story of Nana, as she runs around the school, looking for Yoshino. She starts in Yoshino’s classroom, and then tries the Rose Mansion. Noriko joins her as they broaden the search and finally Touko adds her help. When they finally find Yoshino, Nana and she get into a bit of an argument, as Nana explains that she was subject to mortification as a result of Yoshino’s absence. Yoshino, by way of explanation, tries to explain that she didn’t want to stand in Nana’s way in the club.

But all this takes a quick back seat to the real issue – because they find Yumi and Yoshino in the bottom floor of the Rose Mansion, barely containing a leaking pipe. The three en bouton jump in to relieve their onee-sama.

Time passes. Noriko goes off to find a teacher, Yoshino leaves to make her appearance at the club meeting, Touko leaves to go to the toilet. One little, two little, three little Lillian, four little, five little Lillian girls, Nana sings to herself.

Nana and Yumi, alone in the first-floor room, have a conversation in which Yumi was…my god, she was Rosa Chinensis! Youko could not have been more sensible, encouraging and supportive.

And then…the noise starts. Stomp stomp, clap. Stomp stomp clap. the noise comes from the second-floor council room. Yumi and Nana stare at the ceiling and finally Yumi tells Nana to go check, she’s really okay by herself.

Ambivalent about what she might find there, Nana ascends the stairs.

Before I tell you what she found, I ought to point out that this was all in the “ribbon” story – the bits that ties the actual stories together. The actual short stories were all about non-Yamayurikai characters including, as I predicted, the vile twins who seduced then threatened a teacher, and a marginally interesting story about a girl who wasn’t sure if she really was a girl or was an old guy dreaming he was a girl. There was also a completely forgettable story about a girl who becomes friends with the girl who sits beside her in class – while the girl isn’t actually there. -_-; And even more forgettable, a story about a girl who makes up a ridiculous sets of lies that all turn out, through painful contortion of the plot, to end up being true.

But, back to Nana. Slowy, slowly, she reaches out to open the door and slowly, slowly, she enters and suddenly…Pop! The sound of party crackers sound and lo and behold! the whole thing was a setup for a surprise party to welcome Nana. The plan was created by Yoshino – fake a leak to keep Nana out of the second floor room and give everyone a chance to gather there before her. :-)

As a bonus, Yoshino comments that she did indeed make the kendo club meeting where her rival, Tanuma Chisato was voted in as the new club president and she, busy with Yamayurikai duties as she is, was asked by Chisato to be the club vice president. Yoshino was mortified, of course, but that’s high school for you.

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 4-7
Yuri – .5
Fan Service – 12? (Noriko-sama! Touko-sama! Squee!)

Overall – 7

In the Afterword, Konno-sensei mentions that her editor referred to this book as Variety Gift IV. Heh.





Maria-sama ga Miteru Light Novel: Hello Goodbye (マリア様がみてる―ハローグッバイ)

March 3rd, 2009

Well.

So here we are. Referring to the series that has supplied (indeed, is still suppyling) many hours of entertainment, in the past tense.

Like all good fans, I bought Maria-sama ga Miteru: Hello Goodbye as soon as it came out. But unlike most Fans (those of us with personal engagement in the series) I did not stay up all night reading it. For one thing, I have been synopsizing the novels as I read them, so it takes me longer to “read” the novels than just reading them for myself. And, I openly admit to a bit of hesitation at facing the end of the series.

Bu, like all good things, Maria-sama too, must end. End it has, with the lovliest, most appropriate ending possible. It ended not with tears, but with smiles.

I will share with you these few things: The graduation ceremony was not without excitement; that a bumblebee gets a feature part in this book; that Yoshino, Yumi and Shimako are going to be a brilliant Yamayurikai and; that the next Yamayurikai after them might well be three of the sharpest-witted girls to ever attend Lillian.

I’m sad it’s over, I’m thrilled it exisited at all. Because it’s a series of novels, I can visit the lovely ladies of Lillian over and over.

Konno Oyuki-sensei – thank you. It was great.

Ratings:

Overall – 10