Boogiepop and Others

I had always been a bit interested in getting into Boogiepop, but I never did get around to watching the anime. I found out some of the LNs had gotten an official translation, so I ended up reading them on a bit of a whim.

I ended up immediately falling in love with it. A mysterious boy who inhabits the body of a girl to fight the “enemies of the world”? It’s got some Kara no Kyoukai vibes. Come on, it’s practically made for me.

These novels have a very distinct atmosphere. When you're reading it, it feels like a dream…and when you're sleeping, it feels like Boogiepop.

The quotes in the color inserts, especially in the first novel, felt a bit like watching a movie. It sets the scene spectacularly—you’re now questioning, just who is going to kill who? Who or what is this Boogiepop? Aliens? Manticore? Just as Niitoki says in the first chapter, it's probably a very simple story, looking from the outside…or is it?

I feel like the strength of the story lies in what isn't really told outright. We just get these little snippets through a crack in the door—just as the characters can't see the whole picture, we can't see all that's happened, either.

From a few little sentences we know how much two people meant to each other—and from sentences just as short, we know they will never meet again.

That was Boogiepop. Ultimately.

I just wish the translation didn't stop at the sixth book…

Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation

Mo Xiang Tong Xiu, I am truly sorry for sleeping on you all these years.

So, Mo Dao Zu Shi. I have several tumblr mutuals who were obsessed with it at some point, but I exclusively read yuri, so it never really piqued my interest… Well, lately I’ve been trying to get more into BL, and the novel covers were very beautiful,so I decided I'd finally catch up with the times(or. The times of like 5 years ago) and give it a try.

I didn’t really connect the names at first, so it was a funny experience slowly realizing they were the white-forehead-ribbon-guy and red-and-black-flute-guy I saw on the dashboard now and then. It’s Wangxian from posts! In the flesh!

Right off the bat, it was an incredibly fun read.Everything was new to me in more ways than one. For starters, I only had a passing second-hand knowledge of cultivation and stuff, so the genre notes at the end ended up being very helpful…I also had a hard time keeping up with the all the clans initially, but I got it together around book 2 or so.

The action segments were really cool, and I loved the worldbuilding. Wei Wuxian was such a fun protagonist, and his dynamic with the other characters was really entertaining. The flashback segments were also nice; they never felt like they dragged on or anything.

All that said, what truly caught me was the romance. It was so, so sweet! The way the writing showed them growing closer to each other, plus all the little details, touches, expressions...it was all really perfect. I loved those two so much. I was literally blushing at just how romantic it was. That's kind of rare for me!

I have to admit I never expected it to get that explicit—don’t get me wrong, I play a ton of eroge—I’m just saying I was surprised!:p I thought it was going to be more subtext-based, which is kinda funny looking back, haha. The h-scenes were very fun, though.

Overall, it was a very positive surprise for me. I plan to watch the drama and the donghua in the near future…and also read the author’s other works!