slow life

[insaneneko]

I'm really tired, still trying to make sense of a certain anime I saw earlier, and I finally scanned some pics in, so...



the front cover


the back cover

I really really like the design of the covers, as well as the art itself. Too bad the artist is actually into Hyotei.

But what makes it so great is the writing. *_* Love the feel of the writing, the characterizations, everything. Typed the prologue up to convey a taste of it:

その日のうちに一枚だけ、特別に良く切り取れた風景を僕は彼に送ることにしてる。
無地の封筒。一言の手紙。
それは、ことばを多く増やしても全く意味がないものなので、僕は一枚と一言の中に、風景の全てを込める。
彼は自分が切り取られることを嫌った。
いくらレンズを向けても彼は上手くそれをすりねけて、その姿を切り取ってしまおうとした僕に、否定的な意思表示を見せた。
彼は、彼の眼前に広がる高い世界を見据え、誰が読んでも振り向くこともなくひた走る。その早さ。一筋さ。身軽さ。
僕は一生にいちどだけ、彼に僕と同じ世界を見せたいと願う。
それをひとが、愚かな恋だと笑っても。
一瞬でも同じ世界を共有できたならば、それはとても幸福なことのような。
または、とりかえしのつかないことのような。
どちらともつかないまま、僕はシャッターを下ろす。

And because I'm stupid I attempted to translate it. ^_^; Constructive criticism is appreciated. Mocking is not.

I send him a single scene that was particularly well shot sometime during that day.
A plain envelope. A letter with a single sentence.
Because it is completely meaningless to add more words, I put into that one picture and that one sentence all that is that scene.
He didn't like being taken.
No matter how much I pointed my lens at him, he would smoothly slip away, and reject me, who tried to take his picture.
He gazed at the lofty world spread before his eyes and single-mindedly ran without turning around, no matter who called to him. That speed. That earnestness. That nimbleness.
I wish that I could show him my world just once in my life.
Even if people deride that it's a foolish love.
It might be a great blessing if I could share the same world with him, even for an instant.
Then again, it might be something irreparable.
While not having concluded which one it is, I press the shutter.

I think my favorite single line is 「彼は、彼の眼前に広がる高い世界を見据え、誰が読んでも振り向くこともなくひた走る。その早さ。一筋さ。身軽さ。」("He gazed at the lofty world spread before his eyes and single-mindedly ran without turning around, no matter who called to him. That speed. That earnestness. That nimbleness." It sounds cooler in Japanese ;_;), though the last three lines put together run a close second.

Comments

[mirichan.livejournal.com]

And you understand the language :P

Although I had some ideas by the end and Pax's comments about it solidified my impressions... but I can't wait to get the fansub AND the official DVD... it sure was a roller-coaster of a last episode. For once, Gonzo did not disappoint me.

[mayoihumbert.livejournal.com]

Um, hi. I hope this isn't horribly rude of me, and if so I beg your forgiveness, but uh, you read Japanese fanfic? Hikago Akihika fanfic? If you wouldn't mind terribly, could you point me to some that you liked? My Japanese is still too pathetic to navigate the Japanese web freely, and I'd like to *ahem* improve my reading skills on some fanfic. It's educational, I swear! *shifty eyes* If you don't have the time or it's too much of a hassle, I understand.

失礼しました！ *bows*

[mitethe.livejournal.com]

Nice cover design and she does have a lovely writing style. Very clean and elegant. *_* I'm not very fond of first person POV in English but it never bothers me in Japanese for some reason.

*mocks you* :P Nah, I think you did great considering how damn hard it is to translate writing style between languages. My wording varies for some bits, like, "what joy it would be if I could share that same world with him, if only for a moment" and "gazing at the vast world spread before his eyes he ran, heedless of any who called to him." But the interesting thing about translating is reading how other people interpret the text and seeing the translator's own personal style come out. (I realise I have a pathological need to "prettify" everything which I try to curb; it doesn't always work. ^_^;)

So...does this mean we might eventually see bits of that 250 page TezuRyo novel? It's not fair to tease and not deliver. :P