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krpalmerIt took me a while to sort out just where to order a copy of the tenth (regular) volume of Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki. When I received that copy, I just happened to have started reading a different translated “light novel,” and that one pretty much in courteous nibbles. Those nibbles chewed through it in the end, though, and I went on to the latest instalment of a series the pieces of which fit together in a different way than with the other light novels I follow, but well enough in their own way for me to look forward to it.
The very first thing I noticed, though, was that there weren’t any colour plates at the front of the volume. Awareness of assorted complaints about corner-cutting flitted through my mind, but I pushed on, and found that even without a colourful lead-in I was reading much more in my evening sessions than with the previous title.
After an enigmatic opening I could guess was from the enigmatic Aoi Hinami, the familiar first-person narration of the main and perhaps no longer bottom-tier character Tomozaki resumed. The distribution of Valentine’s Day chocolates (which includes a faux pas with his still-girlfriend Fuka Kikuchi he does at least offer a hasty apology for) leads to just about everyone noticing something’s a little off with Hinami, whose life lessons for Tomozaki seem to have just about run their course into general disagreement. Hinami’s birthday does happen to be coming up, though, and plans are laid for a surprise party.
The back-cover blurb had mentioned Tomozaki, Kikuchi, and Takahiro Mizusawa, a guy who seems to have it together but is somewhat enigmatic himself, trying to make a video game for Hinami’s birthday present. They don’t do what I’d half-imagined and create something simple themselves, but instead deploy Tomozaki’s game-player connections through Mizusawa’s greater interpersonal skills first to contact a professional and then to take care of the fees in a complicated way. Mizusawa, who’s now filled in on how Hinami worked at raising Tomozaki’s tiers for enigmatic reasons, mentions he intends to declare his feelings for Hinami again. Tomozaki thinks something like “I should be fine with that... right?”
Everyone heads off to a theme park I wound up recognizing as a Universal Studios analogue (there’d been a reference to “Destiny Land” before), which happens to include “Yontendo World.” I did happen to notice Kikuchi being one of the few people in the group able to well handle a serious roller coaster, which did have me remembering a few old thoughts that should she not be involved with Tomozaki she’d wind up disappearing back into the school library. The whole issue with “will there be a twist others might suppose inevitable, and will you deal with it?” did keep coming to mind.
In any case right now, though, Kikuchi and Mizusawa seemed all right with getting Hinami and Tomozaki together on a more sedate ride (through settings even my limited video game knowledge could recognise), where things are revealed about something established more briefly before how Hinami once had two sisters. The birthday party itself following not that long after still seemed to work, and the present of the game wasn’t quite a lone standout; things just happen to end in a “to be continued” way.
Even with its certain enduring enigmas this instalment of the series was interesting. I happened to notice Yuki Yaku’s afterword talking about a colour illustration by Fly, and then tracked down an online commentary that also mentioned it if also confronting the enigmas with a bit more force than I might have been willing to deploy myself. Anyway, whether I got a defective printing or whether I might have to start looking into the ebook version I don’t know.
The very first thing I noticed, though, was that there weren’t any colour plates at the front of the volume. Awareness of assorted complaints about corner-cutting flitted through my mind, but I pushed on, and found that even without a colourful lead-in I was reading much more in my evening sessions than with the previous title.
After an enigmatic opening I could guess was from the enigmatic Aoi Hinami, the familiar first-person narration of the main and perhaps no longer bottom-tier character Tomozaki resumed. The distribution of Valentine’s Day chocolates (which includes a faux pas with his still-girlfriend Fuka Kikuchi he does at least offer a hasty apology for) leads to just about everyone noticing something’s a little off with Hinami, whose life lessons for Tomozaki seem to have just about run their course into general disagreement. Hinami’s birthday does happen to be coming up, though, and plans are laid for a surprise party.
The back-cover blurb had mentioned Tomozaki, Kikuchi, and Takahiro Mizusawa, a guy who seems to have it together but is somewhat enigmatic himself, trying to make a video game for Hinami’s birthday present. They don’t do what I’d half-imagined and create something simple themselves, but instead deploy Tomozaki’s game-player connections through Mizusawa’s greater interpersonal skills first to contact a professional and then to take care of the fees in a complicated way. Mizusawa, who’s now filled in on how Hinami worked at raising Tomozaki’s tiers for enigmatic reasons, mentions he intends to declare his feelings for Hinami again. Tomozaki thinks something like “I should be fine with that... right?”
Everyone heads off to a theme park I wound up recognizing as a Universal Studios analogue (there’d been a reference to “Destiny Land” before), which happens to include “Yontendo World.” I did happen to notice Kikuchi being one of the few people in the group able to well handle a serious roller coaster, which did have me remembering a few old thoughts that should she not be involved with Tomozaki she’d wind up disappearing back into the school library. The whole issue with “will there be a twist others might suppose inevitable, and will you deal with it?” did keep coming to mind.
In any case right now, though, Kikuchi and Mizusawa seemed all right with getting Hinami and Tomozaki together on a more sedate ride (through settings even my limited video game knowledge could recognise), where things are revealed about something established more briefly before how Hinami once had two sisters. The birthday party itself following not that long after still seemed to work, and the present of the game wasn’t quite a lone standout; things just happen to end in a “to be continued” way.
Even with its certain enduring enigmas this instalment of the series was interesting. I happened to notice Yuki Yaku’s afterword talking about a colour illustration by Fly, and then tracked down an online commentary that also mentioned it if also confronting the enigmas with a bit more force than I might have been willing to deploy myself. Anyway, whether I got a defective printing or whether I might have to start looking into the ebook version I don’t know.