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bean-doge · 2 months

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"The red of setting sun", Akira x Shoutarou SS

“I feel like time has stopped. Like I’ll always be here with you, never ageing.”

“......”

“So I don’t mind if this sunset continues forever.”

“I wouldn’t mind it either. It’d be nice if the time has really stopped.”

Railway crossings with the lowered gates, the backs of tired people, the persimmon trees in someone’s garden were all passing by the train window, basking in the orange light.

I was looking at it standing by the door. Autumn was slowly taking its toll; it made me feel strangely relieved, and I let out a quiet sigh.

Akira-kun was standing right next to the Soshigaya station ticket gate.

His hair was even more ruffled than usual, and he was wearing round glasses, which didn’t suit him at all.

According to his words, all influential mangakas had glasses, so he felt more motivated when wearing them.

This all meant that he had a deadline coming.

Of course, these glasses were fake and didn’t have lenses in them.

He pulled his hands out of the haramaki and opened them towards me.

“Welcome back, Shou-chan~!”

…But why did he sound like he was on the verge of tears?

When I slowly approached him, he hugged me tightly and started patting my head and shoulders.

“What’s gotten into you?”

“I came to pick you up!”

“Aren’t you busy drawing your manga?”

“I was so worried about you, I couldn’t do anything else…”

“You’re too anxious. Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Nothing to be scared about.”

“That’s good to hear.”

But even when Akira-kun finished checking if I was okay, he still looked upset.

If I smile at him, he'll smile back.

With a forced and bitter smile, as radiant as the setting sun.

“Let’s go home together.”

We walked at a distance too small for friends, too big for lovers, but just enough for a family.

Actually, the world has been coloured by the sunset for two days already.

For some reason, the night hadn’t come after the evening yesterday, and, of course, without the night, the morning didn’t come either.

The hands of the clocks struck 12 or 7, but the landscape remained just as it was at sunset.

When I say ‘world’, I mean just the small place where I live. But for everyone else, it only happened in the Setagaya district.

“Can we stop by the greengrocer shop?”

“Sure. What d’you wanna buy?”

“I thought that yesterday’s curry would taste better with eggplants.”

“Shou-chan, you’re a genius.”

I didn’t understand why the sun wasn’t setting or why we were led to think so.

Strange events like this happened quite often and usually resolved by themselves without any explanation.

And that’s why people on the streets seemed to continue living by the clock with the usual expressions on their faces.

It was half past seven.

Hearing the trumpet of the ramen shop made me feel strange.

As if I were dozing off, and everything surrounding me has been a dream.

“I heard that nights when the sun doesn’t set are called white nights. Seems like they happen often near the South Pole.”

We bought a big autumn eggplant and were heading home when I started telling Akira-kun what I learnt today.

“They said so on the radio in the cafeteria where I went for lunch.”

“Nah, no way we’re gettin’ those in Tokyo.”

He hunched over more than usual, his chin dropped, and walked a bit uncomfortably.

He was the only one in the town who seemed to be nervous.

“It’s too creepy that the sun’s not goin’ down…”

“If you leave Setagaya and go to Shinjuku or Machida, the sky will go back to normal. And when you return to Setagaya, it’ll be sunset again.”

“It makes no sense, really~...”

“What if we’re seeing a rare natural occurrence now?”

“No way it’s natural…”

Not holding any worries like Akira-kun, I blinked slowly, looking at the strange sunset.

He became even more anxious, seeing how low my sense of danger was.

“Well, at least it’s not that troublesome that the night doesn’t come. You can just wrap yourself in the futon when sleeping, and the sun won’t bother you. And it feels good to wake up when it’s bright outside.”

“You’re too quick to adapt…”

“Do you really hate it that much?”

“‘Course I do… Night’s good because it’s night; mornin’s good because it’s mornin’.”

“And what’s good about the night?”

“At this season, the bell crickets are creaking. And the moon looks pretty. Yesterday, we couldn’t see it at all because of this sunset.”

“...”

“Sunset’s also good, but I don’t wanna miss other beautiful things ‘cause of it.”

“You sound just like a writer today.”

“Mangakas are writers too, y’know?! Our sensitivity is what sells our works!”

After that, Akira-kun scowled at the sunset.

But I still couldn’t see it as anything but dazzling and beautiful.

“Akira-kun, do you ever feel suffocated when looking at the setting sun? Sometimes I get scared by it. …But not today.”

“?”

“I finally understood why my chest hurts so much at sunset. The sinking sun and the day ending turn into loneliness, sorrow, and sentimentality, and it makes me feel miserable.”

But now I’m calm.

The never-ending sunset made me feel safe.

“I feel like time has stopped. Like I’ll always be here with you, never ageing.”

“......”

“So I don’t mind if this sunset continues forever.”

“I wouldn’t mind it either. It’d be nice if the time has really stopped.”

“......”

“But it’s not like that, right? I still have my deadline tomorrow, and the trains still run on time.”

…He’s right.

I flipped the calendar, and the curry I ate in the morning tasted better than yesterday, having sat overnight.

“It’s boring to see the same scenery every day. I hope everything comes back to normal soon, so I can see different landscapes with you~”

“Akira-kun……”

“Even when the night comes and the morning comes after that, we’ll always be together. And, ‘course, even when we become old geezers.”

Akira-kun held my right hand.

His hand was hot after being warmed in the haramaki.

And his smile was soft—not bitter at all.

I thought that his vermilion-coloured cheeks were way more beautiful than the sunset.

Suddenly, the feeling of anxiety overcame me, and I dropped my head.

“...Usually things like this end quickly. Why does this one go on for two days already?”

“Well, maybe the guy who usually deals with all this got into some trouble?”

“That would be bad…”

“Or maybe they’re daydreaming like you just now.

“......”

“But they better come to their senses soon and do something about it!”

He raised his eyebrows and showed me a thin and comical smile, fitting for someone playing a supporting role.

I couldn’t help but smile in return.

“How’s your audition today?”

“Horrible.”

“Thought so. So I bought you a ‘get-better-pudding’.”

“I’m glad. Genuinely.”

“And if it went well, it would be a ‘celebration pudding’.”

“How convenient.”

“I also got a 'request pudding’... Can you help me put on solid colours when we get home…?”

“I’d do that even without the pudding.”

When we got closer to our house, the sun suddenly went down.

First Venus twinkled in the sky, then the bell crickets started creaking.

Curry was even better than in the morning; just as I thought, the sweetness of the roasted eggplant made the taste stand out.

Nothing happened—nothing at all. Just another day went down as usual.

Please, tell me if there are any mistakes or places that sound weird

#uuultra c #adelta #akishou #kagome shoutarou #kozuka akira #bean doge translates

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bean-doge · 2 months

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"Interspersion of light", Yomi and Juurou's after story

Now living peacefully, one day Yomi seems to have found a new ‘hobby’… It’s a story about an idle alien in late summer.

I was walking up the slope next to the hedge.

The gravel was heated by the sun, and the surroundings looked hazy, as if in a dream.

Bamboo leaves cast a shadow on one side of the road, attracting walkers.

A long and narrow path covered in shadow.

And after the end of the slope, the scorching heat continues.

I noticed an old man walking down and stepped out of the shadow.

When we passed each other, we bowed and tipped our hats.

Our sleeves brushed against each other.

It was late summer, when cicadas started to change their voices.

Having finished my 'work' before noon, I was coming back home, where he was waiting for me.

There’s a poetic word for late summer.

It’s supposed to make a melancholic impression, but today’s heat made you forget about it.

My 'work' was to go from home to the post office.

But only now have I thought that I shouldn't have underestimated this trip and should have brought a hand fan with me.

The front door was opened to let the wind in.

It passed through the gates along with me, and the wind chime rang in a clear sound.

This sound let him know that I had come back.

I took off the geta, hung up the hat, and wiped my neck, drenched in sweat, with the sleeve.

I crossed the corridor, trying to look as calm as possible.

“I’m home.”

“Welcome back.”

He was the one who told me that I should have brought a hand fan.

Yomi smiled with just his eyes and dropped his gaze back to his hands. Slowly and steadily, scissors were eating into the paper.

There was a pile of small cut-out squares scattered around the tea table.

I sat on the opposite side, and he passed me a cup of tea he was drinking.

It tasted like water with melted ice.

We lived quietly.

I earned some money by writing poems and publishing them in magazines.

Earlier I went to the post office to send the manuscript.

“How was the response?”

“They keep urging me, so they must have liked it.”

“I see. This is good to hear.”

“...I don’t know about this.”

“Is it not impressive?”

“It’s just a miserable man’s feelings put on display.”

“I am quite happy to think that your words might save someone.”

“......”

“So, when will I get to read it?”

Yomi didn’t look away from his hands.

I looked at the radiant summer garden, listening to the faraway sound of cicadas and the nearby sound of scissors.

“I’ve told you many times. These are just my words to you put together as poems.”

“Then it should be fine for me to read it, right?”

“......”

On the second glance, I noticed that Yomi’s hands had stopped. He smiled at me, his eyes narrowed.

He was enjoying the way my voice had gotten stuck in my throat after his teasing.

“Words are fish, and poems are fossils.”

“I like fossils.”

“Words are fossils, and poems are soil.”

“I like soil as well.”

“Please, don’t make fun of me… I don’t want you to ask me of this only when you feel like it.”

He put down the scissors and walked out into the corridor with a smile on his face.

“It must have been hot,” he said, and I heard his footsteps heading to the kitchen.

I took the scissors in his stead and started cutting the paper in the same way he did.

These pieces of paper with one or two dots painted on them are called piece marks.

They're printed on food and housewares packaging.

I’m not sure why Yomi started collecting them. Probably out of boredom.

“Tarou-san sent us a gift.”

I heard Yomi’s voice from the kitchen.

At the same time I heard the sound of cork being pulled out.

“It’s your favourite orange juice.”

“First time I hear about that.”

Only my uncle and aunt know about our quietude.

They live in Aoyama and don’t visit this house.

They know it would be a burden for me if they tried to get closer.

Yomi came back and put two glasses on the tea table.

How nostalgic.

Memories of my uncle doing the same when we were kids came to mind.

“I finished cutting it out.”

“Thank you.”

“What will you do when you collect them all?”

“I will send them to Seijo elementary school. They have a box near the gates to collect offerings from the neighbourhood.”

He slid one mark across the table with his index finger.

Then he started to arrange the scattered cut-outs by the score.

When he collected ten one-point marks, he smiled in delight.

"Apparently, they can be exchanged for different goods according to the score. The school could buy an electric fan or a heater.”

“I see.”

“So I am acting like a hero!”

“...Huh?”

I said involuntarily.

In a split second that I was looking down, Yomi had hidden his face behind a magazine.

It was Josei Nine for which I was writing.

“......”

“They have a special feature on fireworks.”

“...I see.”

“It seems like there will be a fireworks display in Tamagawa tonight.”

“......”

“Why don’t we go see it?”

“It’s far.”

“We can view it from the shrine nearby.”

Ice was crumbling inside the glass.

I nodded with a sigh, and Yomi lowered the magazine. Eyes, shaped like crescent moons, peeked at me.

Interspersion of light

"This brings back memories.”

We have gone to temple festivals before.

It was back when you still couldn’t walk.

You were drawn in by the sound of the fireworks, so I slipped out of our house, carrying you on my back.

Clutching on my clothes to not fall, you were watching the festival hustle and fireworks blooming in the sky with your eyes wide open.

And now you are standing next to me without my help.

“Am I wearing my yukata properly?”

“Yes. It suits you.”

“Thank you.”

A speaker that was supposed to be a siren was playing festival songs today.

Back then, I couldn’t do what I promised you.

I turned my back to the place you were pointing at, saying “I want to go”, and ran home as fast as I could.

Yomi was going up the stairs with a light sound.

I followed him, not running anymore.

Night market stalls were lined up on the temple grounds.

The crowd was brimming with excitement.

“It looked like a spaceship.”

“?”

Paper lanterns as portholes.

Old songs as an alien language.

From the very beginning, I always knew that you were not from this world.

“Like a ship that came to take you home.”

This temple was standing on a hill in the residential area.

Scared by the festival lights emerging from the evening darkness, I didn’t dare to come close.

And now, when I had finally revealed the truth, Yomi covered his mouth with both hands and laughed silently.

“My people are not that kind.”

“......”

I couldn’t know that.

“If no news came, I would be assumed dead. And this planet would be declared as an unsuitable environment.”

“So… no replacement or help would come?”

“The invasion efficiency rate is 100%. There is no chance that attack would be unsuccessful.”

“Then it’s 99%.”

“?”

“I’m talking about you.”

“Ah, this is what you mean… 1% that had stayed because of his own indecisiveness.”

I didn’t notice the moment I started holding his hand.

“Back then, I wanted to go only to learn about the folk beliefs of this world.”

“And did you learn anything?”

“Yes.”

Yomi’s cheeks turned red.

This smile was definitely meant for me, not for the mask.

“Ah!!!”

Yomi’s pupils suddenly widened.

He pointed behind me, shaking our joined hands.

“Look at this, Juurou!!”

I was dragged to the shooting range.

He was excitedly looking at the rice cooker put on display in the middle of the stall.

Did you really want something like this?

Would you even be able to use it considering how bad you are with machines?

Yomi ignored my confusion and got even more excited.

“Please!”

Nudged by their parents, children tried to get the rice cooker.

Every time the ball hit the box and bounced back, Yomi trembled slightly.

Even if you don’t rush…

“It’s usually impossible to get a prize like that.”

“You can’t know if you don’t try!”

Child who had missed the target left the shooting range.

Yomi took the gun in their stead and aimed, placing his elbows on the table.

I paid 30 yen to the shopkeeper.

Sounds of children firing blanks echoed next to us.

Even some parents who decided to try themselves have given up and started leaving.

The price of this is 30 yen.

Yet Yomi still aimed at the rice-cooker with his eyes wide-open.

It’s absurd.

Trying to get the target in the centre from the very side of the table.

“Aim at the underside.”

“......”

“You have three shots, and if you manage to push it down…”

It suddenly became very quiet, I thought.

Yomi looked up at me as I spoke with such seriousness and chuckled.

He brought one eye down to the gun and pulled the trigger.

A heavy sound that definitely wasn’t that of a blank hit the box.

“I told you, didn’t I?”

The box leaned back and was now supported by the stall’s curtain.

It was as if the rice cooker itself was surprised, having no plans to fall.

While me and the shopkeeper were staring at it in amazement, Yomi smiled shyly to the applause of the children.

When we left the stall, it was completely dark outside.

Yomi had a hundred-point piece mark in his hand.

And the rice cooker was put in the centre of the display again, with its box cut a little bit.

“Household appliances sure do give a lot of points!”

“It's good that we didn’t take the actual thing home.”

“It would have broken if I tried to use it.”

“It would.”

“Why do you seem so relieved?”

“Nothing can compare to the kamameshi you make.”

Darkness deepened. You could feel the autumn approaching.

But the crowd of people on the long road wanting to preserve the summer made the temperature rise.

Children wearing masks were shouting their secret techniques.

A dazzling earthling and an alien collecting piece marks.

I gripped Yomi’s hand even stronger than before.

“I am not going anywhere.”

Yomi answered me.

“I am here.”

“I still can’t trust you.”

It had been a while since the last time we walked together like this.

Even if I know that other people can see you, I still can’t help but think that this convenient happiness is just a dream.

“You are a man who can disappear as soon as I let go of your hand.”

It’s not as if I wanted to hear any excuses from him, but...

When I looked at his face, waiting for an answer, Yomi smiled, as always.

“Can you show me a face like this again?”

“?”

“It was very cute.”

“I’m not joking.”

I quickened my pace.

Yomi, whom I pulled with me, suddenly lost his footing.

He almost fell forward, but I caught him in my chest.

The strap of his geta was snapped.

The crowd went around us, who were standing still, and flowed forward like a river.

“Ah, it finally snapped.”

“These geta are quite old.”

I picked up the geta, lending him my shoulder instead.

The tree shadow on the side of the road was dim and concealed us from the noise.

He leaned back on the tree, and I kneeled before him, checking the geta.

They belonged to my young father or uncle.

The other one seemed fine at first glance, but when I looked closer, I saw that its strap was also damaged.

“Maybe it happened because I started running.”

“Because you tripped, probably.”

I ripped a strip from my handkerchief and twisted it into a small rope.

I tied it in place of the strap and put the geta on Yomi’s foot.

It was too loose and shook around.

It definitely needed to be readjusted.

“Thank you.”

“Let’s buy new ones at the stalls.”

I took Yomi’s ankle to try putting the geta on again.

Suddenly, as if coming out of smoke, his foot touched my chin.

“!”

He urged me to look up.

I didn’t notice when a gentle and affectionate smile appeared on his face.

“What do I need to do for you to believe me?”

“......”

His toes traced my Adam’s apple, pulled aside my collar, and touched my collarbone.

“I am always telling you that this is not a dream, am I not?”

In Yomi’s eyes, I saw myself furrowing my brows like a child.

Seeing me like this, he pulled his foot back.

His gaze went to the road, where the lights were shining.

I laid down the broken geta and put my hand on the side of his face.

I want to ask you so many things.

You don’t have to talk about them if you don’t want to.

But…

I’m scared.

“I can’t love you when you’re so fickle.”

My vanity was melted away by the heat of the festival.

I’m sure Yomi felt the same.

“When I split this Earth into two… I think I was split as well.”

“......”

“We were both saved by Shin’ichi and walked the same path.

…But one thing that was different, was ‘her’, who was supposed to become your mother but fell in love with another being.”

Another… being.

“Just like a certain someone, she loved the blues of the Earth.”

“......”

“Because of this, you were never born; because of this, the world exists as it is now.”

“......”

“She really was a handful. To think that she would forget about her role in waking myself and put herself to ‘sleep’ as well…”

“......”

“However, I am not your dream…”

“What relationship did you have with my mother?”

“?”

Every time you mentioned ‘her’ while speaking in your familiar tone, my heart darkened.

“...Was she your partner?”

“Huh?”

Yomi’s eyes opened wide, and he burst into laughter.

But when he saw that I didn’t laugh with him, he closed his mouth, swallowing the rest.

“What did you find so weird?”

“I am sorry; I did not think that you would care about this.”

“You thought that I wouldn’t care?”

“Are you jealous?”

“......”

“Please, do not worry.”

One hand touching the other, our fingers intertwined.

“I only ever had one partner in my life. It is you, Juurou.”

Vibrations shook the festival grounds.

Immediately, everyone looked at the sky.

Seeing Yomi’s cheek turn red, I realised that the fireworks has begun.

“Let’s go.”

Yomi took my hand and started running.

A black thread was tied in place of a geta strap that was about to snap again.

It seems like once more I missed the time when he started walking by himself.

Listening to the sounds of fireworks behind my back, I ran up the long stone stairs.

When I looked back at the wide open sky, I saw dots of light spreading throughout it.

Colourful fireworks bloomed in it and then faded away.

Probably, residents of all the wardens gazed at these lights and sounds, yearning for the stars.

“Thousands of meteors have fallen in the last hundred years.”

One more firework went up.

“Even before I arrived, ‘all kinds of things’ came here flying.

And humans must have come in contact with them.”

“They probably did.”

“And when needed, their sleeping protective instinct must have been awakened.”

Just as hawks have claws and bees have venom, we, who live on the same planet, must have the power to fight.

So maybe heroes called Icaruses were an immune response meant to protect the Earth.

“This planet is not suited for an alien like me after all.”

“It looks quite peaceful to me.”

“Do you really think so?”

“?”

“Do not mind me.”

What did you imply by that…

“Did you know that there was heavy rain yesterday?”

“Ah, I heard about it. It’s good that Sayashi residence wasn’t flooded even for a millimetre.”

“And there was a case with people growing animal ears. Maybe it really was a dream, just as you say.”

“It was. And you looked extremely good.”

“......”

Yomi snuggled closer to me, as if asking to stay this way.

“When you die, I will destroy the Earth.”

One more firework went up.

“But until then, I will protect your peace.”

“I won’t die.

I’ll be reborn as a blue flower next. The colour that you love so much.

When you find me, take me and put me in your hair.

And by the time I wilt, I’ll be reborn as a new flower once again.”

You didn’t laugh at my words.

Looking at you shedding tears, I was the one who laughed.

Please, tell me if there are any mistakes or places that sound weird.

#uuultra c #adelta #yomijuurou #hibarino yomi #sayashi juurou #bean doge translates

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bean-doge · 3 months

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Thoughts on The Black Lizard and Beast in the Shadows

These two novels aren’t connected with each other at all but since they were put together in one book I am going to write about them in the same post.

But, well, even if they aren’t connected they definitely have one thing in common: the fact that they both were supposed to have a cunning and strong woman as one of the main characters but fail to show them as actually interesting and multi-dimensional characters because Ranpo doesn’t know how to write women at all.

The Black Lizard

This was supposed to be a classic detective novel with a genius detective and a genius criminal facing each other in a dangerous and potentially deadly fight. And I love these types of stories. It is interesting to see what steps both detective and criminal can take to achieve their goal and how they do it. But this novel did not give me the feeling of excitement and did not spark the desire to find out how these (supposedly) brilliant minds work which would keep me eager to continue reading.

First of all, the author’s speech was insufferable. Constant “But who could this be?!” or “My dear reader, you thought the author made a mistake but lo and behold!” annoyed me to no end. I understand that initially it was a story printed in serial magazines but reminders of the events that happened just a page ago made me feel like this novel thinks of me as an idiot. And author starting to speak directly to the reader feels out of place because you can tell that this was not supposed to be a story with the author as a present being.

Second, Black Lizard herself was written horribly. We are supposed to think that she’s a genius thief — yet most of the time the story focuses not on how smart and cunning she is but on her sexiness and eccentricity. Oh, she loves to dance naked and has a museum with stuffed people in it. But when it comes to showing her smarts we only get a couple of glimpses of it. Good genius detective vs genius criminal stories make you doubt who is going to win until the very end. Here it was clear that Black Lizard is going to lose from about the middle (and it was the moment when I completely lost interest in this novel and just forced myself to read it to the end). And her falling in love with Kogoro was done so badly. It could have been made interesting — her enjoying their chase so much she starts to think of him as someone more than an enemy — but since the story isn’t that long it just felt rushed and random.

Third, Kogoro Akechi wasn’t that brilliant of a detective in this novel either. Most of the time he just was monologuing about something he had already done instead of being shown in the action. And explanations like these are just plainly boring. They may work as one big reveal for a specific detail that becomes the final piece of a puzzle that makes everything clear. But when the whole story consists of “big reveals” instead of lacking one small small piece you are constantly lacking a whole lot of details which are randomly dropped on you at once and you are left to deal with them confused and disappointed. And extremely abrupt and sudden ending was the final nail in the coffin.

Overall, a dull story with quite weak writing and boring characters. I’ll give it 4/10 because, well… it could be worse I guess? But I definitely can’t recommend it to anyone, it doesn’t worth your time.

Beast in the shadows

I had very high hopes for this novel. I love ero guro nansensu and this is considered one of the first and most iconic works of this genre; I love Edogawa Ranpo’s ero guro nansensu works (especially “The Demon of the Lonely Isle”, one of my favourite books ever); and even if The Black Lizard was disappointing I was still hoping that it was just one bad work (you can’t make masterpieces every time, right?) and this one was going to be great. I was wrong.

This book definitely was ero because the shocking reveal about Shizuko, our lead heroine, is that she seemed to be a quiet and normal woman but turns out that she loves sex and loves getting hit with a whip! How scandalous! And, of course, I am speaking from the position of a modern reader, and at the time when this novel was written it was actually shocking to see something like this in a novel. But what else is there to Shizuko other than her love for BDSM? Nothing. We spend the whole novel following her only for her to kill herself behind the scenes. She was supposed to be this great twisted mind but she turns out to be absolutely plain as a character. And in the end we aren’t even sure that she really was behind everything that happened.

The main character is also not interesting at all. Story is told from his POV, so we are supposed to know his thoughts and have the benefit of a doubt about how we see the situation. But somehow he manages to hide his thoughts from the reader and it is not done in a smart way. He should have been slowly piecing the story together while finding new evidences and we were supposed to be following him through it instead of getting his sudden conclusion dumped at us at the end and then get hit with “Or maybe it wasn’t like this at all, who knows”.

As I said, there was ero. But what about grotesque? What about nansensu? There was none. I did not get that feeling of bizarreness, of seeing something that I shouldn’t like I did when I read “Strange tale of Panorama island” (which was finished just a year before “Beast…” and is a much more suitable for ero guro nansensu genre in my opinion); I didn’t get the feeling of disgust and pure horror like I did when reading “The Demon of the Lonely Isle”. So as an ero guro nansensu work it was also pretty weak.

It was better than “The Black Lizard” because I at least didn’t have to force myself to finish it but I wasn’t that interested in what was going on either. 5/10 and can’t recommend either.

#edogawa ranpo #the black lizard #beast in the shadows #book review #bean doge reads

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bean-doge · 3 months

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the sillies

#idolish7 #i7 #nagimitsu #nagi rokuya #mitsuki izumi #ナギみつ #bean doge draws

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bean-doge · 3 months

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shou-chan day 🎉

#uuultra c #kagome shoutarou #adelta #bean doge draws

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bean-doge · 3 months

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#kogarei #koga oogami #rei sakuma #晃零 #ensemble stars #enstars #bean doge draws

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bean-doge · 3 months

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michuki sketch

#idolish7 #mitsuki izumi #bean doge draws

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bean-doge · 4 months

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Thoughts on Dogra Magra

“Dogra magra” was a book I wanted to read for a very long time. Even before I read “Hashihime of the old book town” I was interested in it and, of course, after reading “Hashihime…” my interest only became stronger. I got the book in October of last year but I was putting off reading it because I didn't have enough time. But now, finally, after all this time, I read it. And it was definitely one of a kind experience.

The book itself actually was quite different than I expected. I was anticipating a continuous text focusing on the struggles of the main character and following his descent into madness. And sure, part of a book is like that. But another, much bigger part, is composed of several different texts, some pseudo-buddhist, some pseudoscientific. Combination of all these different genres and continuous switching between makes you feel extremely bizarre when reading. Some of the pseudoscientific parts felt a bit dragged on and made me lose the sense of what exactly was going on but otherwise all the parts and all the styles were mixed together quite well.

Structure of the story was the most interesting thing about it and, I'd say, the main point of this book. The plot, the actions of the characters, everything had already been decided for them, they don’t have any agency in this story. The loop, the neverending recursion that drags both characters and you deeper, and deeper, and deeper to the point where it’s impossible tell where and when exactly did you start and if you will ever reach the end at all — this is what drives the story, and this is what leaves the strongest impression, this is what makes you think and feel the most.

When you reach the end of the book you immediately want to go back to the beginning to start again — not only because of the realisation that now all the little scattered details will make more sense but also because… what if this time the loop can be broken? What if this time the fetus will end its nightmare and will be born to this world? Despite knowing that everything will still be the same, the book draws you to read it again and again.

This story doesn't have a linear, completely comprehensible plot. It doesn't give you definite answers to all the questions; in the end I wasn't even sure which questions I should be asking at all. And exactly for that I loved it so much. At first you are presented with some seemingly certain questions to which you expect to get proper answers. But with each page you read you start to doubt — the characters, the author, yourself as a reader. And in the end you are left with nothing but the sense of inevitable repetition, of everything going back to where it started and never changing, never going forward.

Amazing read. For me personally it was 10/10. I definitely can’t recommend this book to everyone because I can see why many people wouldn’t enjoy it. But if you’re looking for something unusual and bizzare this one may be just for you. I look forward to the English translation by Demon Crane Press because I feel like experiencing this book in another language will be worth it. And I hope that one day my Japanese will be good enough to read the original.

#bean doge reads #dogra magra #book review

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