I guess you guys didn't see this one coming! Or maybe you guys did... let me tell you though, I didn't. I had no idea about the light novel until recently, I just don't keep up to date anymore with anime and manga news all that often. So imagine my surprise when I went on the Kindle store to finally buy The Garden of Words the manga and found this instead! There were some discrepancies with me trying to buy it, mostly due to the fact that the light novel isn't it's own listing and is linked to the physical manga listing. I couldn't find the Kindle manga listing until I chatted with customer service who kind of fixed it. You can find the manga now, but the light novel is still linked to it, not yet a separate listing.
Now, rant over. This is the first light novel I have ever read. My local library doesn't make it a priority to order them and I haven't been able to really buy them despite so many gaining my attention like Restaurant to Another World by Inuzuka Junpei. This is the second light novel I own, the first being volume one of How Not to Summon a Demon Lord by Murasaki Yukiya. I bought it on sale on Kindle thinking it was the manga... it wasn't. This was also before they labeled the listing as the light novel. I was unaware that there was a light novel for this series and just assumed it was the manga because it had no label. Sorry, rant number two over.
This light novel had me reeling! As far as I know, this light novel was published after the manga and anime, meaning Shinkai Makoto had a lot more time to develop the characters and flesh them out, adding details and experiences that we've never seen before. And let me tell you, despite having watched and read this story a handful of times, there are so many new things introduced in this novel that it completely changes your outlook of the original manga.
The premise has stayed the same, it is a coming-of-age, slice-of-life novel that delves into these peoples' lives, bearing to us their souls and thoughts, their memories and experiences. This LN, light novel, revolves around Akizuki Takao, a first year in high school who aspires to become a shoemaker, and Yukino Yukari, a mysterious woman who he so happens to meet at a park one rainy morning.
(SPOILER WARNING! START)
The novel changes perspectives every chapter, first starting with Akizuki Takao to Yukino Yukari and even some characters that weren't expanded upon in the film and manga. Takao skips school, only first period, on rainy days. He goes to a park where one day he meets a mysterious woman under an arbor. He thinks of her as strange, drinking beer and eating chocolate in a park that prohibits alcohol, and also seems to be skipping work as well. During the Kanto region's rainy season, they meet under this arbor frequently and Takao has become accustomed to referring to the mystery woman as a "rain woman," a play on "Yuki-Onna," or "snow woman," a beautiful spirit who only appears in the snow.
Soon enough, as the weeks go by, Takao still is no closer to learning about this rain woman, but bears himself to her, and soon the rainy season is over, no longer giving him excuse to go to the arbor. Summer vacation is soon upon them as Takao works his part-time job and focuses on raising money to go to a school to learn how to professionally make shoes. September comes quickly and Takao is back at school, only with a little surprise! The rain woman is there...
(SPOILER WARNING! END)
I really only touched on the parts that were shown in the film and manga because this novel really gives you so much more, expanding on the characters and the world they live in. We get insight into characters we would've never thought twice about from the original materials. Takao's older brother, Shouta, gets a whole chapter in his perspective all to himself, along with Yukino's ex-boyfriend, who we find out is the physical education teacher, and the girl who started it all, Aizawa.
My outlook on the story really changed after reading this novel. With the insight into the other characters, it really gave more depth into the main protagonists', Takao's and Yukino's, lives. There is a bit of wonky perspective change when the chapters change, mostly between the main and side character's chapters. Takao's and Yukino's chapters are written in third point of view while the side characters' chapters are written in first point of view. I don't know if Shinkai Makoto did that on purpose, but it really is an effective way to see things through their eyes.
We get to read the back stories of these characters and how they all fit into this event that caused Yukino and Takao to meet. Really, after reading this my thoughts have changed about the original story. I thought that the story was in equal parts about both Takao and Yukino, but after reading this, I admit that I am wrong. The really revolves around Yukino.
Yukino Yukari is a hurricane that has swept through this high school and all these characters were caught in her winds, enamoured by her unearthly beauty and passions for literature. Takao himself got swept up in her, meeting her for the first time outside of school. Yukino is a hurricane that doesn't want to be a hurricane but doesn't know how to stop. That is the best way I can describe her.
Now, this novel is kind of very depressing, I am not going to lie. The first chapter featuring Takao has him hating the world and having really negative thoughts about a lot of things, not something you would pick up really from the anime or manga. You really get to see how deep Yukino's depression really sinks and side characters with their own troubles and worries. A lot of things that were never shown before.
With LNs becoming more popular in the recent years, this novel has finally hit shelves in America, which is very exciting to me. The manga, anime and light novel all originally released in 2013 in Japan and North America, excluding the light novel, that released just this past August. Seven years it took to get this book out in North America and honestly, it was worth the wait. This novel is truly phenomenal and I can't recommend it enough! I really enjoyed reading it and I cannot wait to have the chance to pick up another LN.
Thank you all for reading my blog! The end of the year is coming upon us! Soon it will be goodbye to 2020! I'm pretty sure you'd all be excited for that. Really, thank you all for staying with me the past year and continuing your guys' support by reading my content, I love writing and this blog really has gotten me going in 2020. Hope you all will return next week!
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