Long, detailed stories like Shiki are the best in my opinion! Plus, culture notes are almost my favorite part of it. I like the insight they give you on the story, and really it's not a long nor painstaking process to read them.
The Shiki brand of bishounens is rather...pointy though. Heh, I read this review about the anime a while ago that mentioned that Toshio could just use dat chin as a an impromptu stake. Like defending against Chizuru, he'd just ram his chin between her boobs (it's not like he'd mind!)
Yeah, Seishin identifying against his dad should provide more insight into Seishin himself; I always thought that they had the same situation, too. Maybe his reluctance to mold himself the way he wants is a part of his character too; it shows that he's passive. And if he's passive at the beginning and he's a main character, it's likely that we'll gradually see him becoming more assertive. I also hope that Monk Sr. will get more screentime here because he totally fades into the background in the anime (I need to reread the manga, I read it like once two years ago...) so he doesn't leave a huge impression. I like that the book explores more of the characters to help the reader get to know the village better; not as much as Toshio or Seishin maybe, but enough to lament what happens to most of them eventually.
I also don't think that frequent meetings between 'business partners' would have the same significance as they do between Toshio and Seishin the childhood friends. It's obvious there's some sort of feeling between them, but it's not clear exactly what it is. See how we're still guessing on it? That's what a good book does! It's clear that Seishin and Toshio have lots of bonds and memories that can't be destroyed, but their friendship is also flawed because of the way they go their separate ways, and also how quickly it becomes strained. The strain would be more obvious if they weren't adults but since they are, the strain is barely tangible, they're passive-aggressive about it. Well, this whole time we've been saying that Seishin might have negative feelings toward Toshio, but is the other way around also true? Does Toshio look down on Seishin for going along with everyone's expectations in the way that Toshio himself did not?
But that's the best part of it...
The Shiki brand of bishounens is rather...pointy though. Heh, I read this review about the anime a while ago that mentioned that Toshio could just use dat chin as a an impromptu stake. Like defending against Chizuru, he'd just ram his chin between her boobs (it's not like he'd mind!)
Yeah, Seishin identifying against his dad should provide more insight into Seishin himself; I always thought that they had the same situation, too. Maybe his reluctance to mold himself the way he wants is a part of his character too; it shows that he's passive. And if he's passive at the beginning and he's a main character, it's likely that we'll gradually see him becoming more assertive. I also hope that Monk Sr. will get more screentime here because he totally fades into the background in the anime (I need to reread the manga, I read it like once two years ago...) so he doesn't leave a huge impression. I like that the book explores more of the characters to help the reader get to know the village better; not as much as Toshio or Seishin maybe, but enough to lament what happens to most of them eventually.
I also don't think that frequent meetings between 'business partners' would have the same significance as they do between Toshio and Seishin the childhood friends. It's obvious there's some sort of feeling between them, but it's not clear exactly what it is. See how we're still guessing on it? That's what a good book does! It's clear that Seishin and Toshio have lots of bonds and memories that can't be destroyed, but their friendship is also flawed because of the way they go their separate ways, and also how quickly it becomes strained. The strain would be more obvious if they weren't adults but since they are, the strain is barely tangible, they're passive-aggressive about it.
Well, this whole time we've been saying that Seishin might have negative feelings toward Toshio, but is the other way around also true? Does Toshio look down on Seishin for going along with everyone's expectations in the way that Toshio himself did not?