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insanenekoI've been rereading random BL novels and finding that I'm dissatisfied with quite a number of sequels. The first books usually would do a refreshing or unusually satisfying take on some cliched storyline, but then the sequel would fall prey to the cliches they'd managed to work around/with the first time around. I don't know if my happiness in reading more about the characters I grew to like in the first books outweighs my irritation at the cliche fail in the sequels. :P
I was a lot happier rereading Slow Rhythm by Sugihara Rio and illustrated by Kinoshita Keiko. It reminds me of Suki to ienakute just a little because it features a rather clueless guy and his handsome, talented, considerate, gay best friend, and how they become more than friends. It's different in that the characters in Slow Rhythm are salarymen and there is less angst and more confusion. The best friend has loved not-very-perceptive main character for, like, ever, and the main character sort of knows, but they remain just very, very good friends. The best friend is a victim of "I love him too much" cowardice, as well as "I love him so I just want him to be happy and I know he's straight so he'll probably eventually find some woman" selfless concern. He actually tells main character back in high school "Don't worry, I'll never fall in love with you," which is the most obvious yet backwards way of declaring your love I'd ever heard. And yet main character is just dense enough that he can't quite read the true meaning of those words (though there is an element of deliberate taking-at-face value thrown in there) and they keep their delicately-balanced friendship for 12 years...
It felt like nothing much happened in the book, and yet I was very satisfied in the end. I think what I liked were the misunderstandings that came from being different people that weren't blown up into the Greatest Tragedy Ever. They are a big deal to the characters, but they aren't the end of the world either. Erg, I can't quite express why I enjoyed the novel so much. Maybe in the end it's just nice reading something that isn't as dramatic, angst-ridden, or full of odd coincidences as most of the books out there. Also, the art goes perfectly with the narrative which always gives a book an extra boost. XD;
I was a lot happier rereading Slow Rhythm by Sugihara Rio and illustrated by Kinoshita Keiko. It reminds me of Suki to ienakute just a little because it features a rather clueless guy and his handsome, talented, considerate, gay best friend, and how they become more than friends. It's different in that the characters in Slow Rhythm are salarymen and there is less angst and more confusion. The best friend has loved not-very-perceptive main character for, like, ever, and the main character sort of knows, but they remain just very, very good friends. The best friend is a victim of "I love him too much" cowardice, as well as "I love him so I just want him to be happy and I know he's straight so he'll probably eventually find some woman" selfless concern. He actually tells main character back in high school "Don't worry, I'll never fall in love with you," which is the most obvious yet backwards way of declaring your love I'd ever heard. And yet main character is just dense enough that he can't quite read the true meaning of those words (though there is an element of deliberate taking-at-face value thrown in there) and they keep their delicately-balanced friendship for 12 years...
It felt like nothing much happened in the book, and yet I was very satisfied in the end. I think what I liked were the misunderstandings that came from being different people that weren't blown up into the Greatest Tragedy Ever. They are a big deal to the characters, but they aren't the end of the world either. Erg, I can't quite express why I enjoyed the novel so much. Maybe in the end it's just nice reading something that isn't as dramatic, angst-ridden, or full of odd coincidences as most of the books out there. Also, the art goes perfectly with the narrative which always gives a book an extra boost. XD;
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Date: 2010-04-05 10:49 pm (UTC)It's NojiKen ♥, btw. In case you haven't heard it yet~
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Date: 2010-04-06 05:59 am (UTC)