About book Utsubora - The Story Of A Novelist (2013)
A dark, dense and provocative story. It follows the trails of famous novelist Shun Mizunogi who plagiarises his latest work from Aki, a fan he met a a few times, and the slow vortex of chaos that ensues after she commits suicide. Being one of the two apparent connections the girl had, the other being her twin sister Sakura, he becomes part of the tangled web for lies, sex and death caused both by this incident and his actions.The book is for mature readers. There is explicit sexual content (though sordid, never raunchy or "fan-servicey") and strong themes. All the characters get developed, and while few would be described as likeable (maybe only Koyomi, Shun's niece), they are all interested and layered. I could not process all the subtleties, and a few details of the story because, while perfectly paced, it is quite dense. My only complaint, like another reader here, is that some time skips and flashbacks are not even labeled, which can be get you lost at time. Also, there are a lot of issues left open for interpretation, so if you like things spelled out for you, you may dislike this book. The art is amazing, simple and elegant, specially in the case of Aki / Sakura, who are always rendered beautifully. If you appreciate a dark, thought provoking and complex realistic story, make sure to check this out! A beautiful story, a manga for adults that delivers on all levels, beautiful art, a wonder and interesting story, sex, death, mystery how can you go wrong. It was the eyes on the cover that first got me wanting to know more. I had never heard of Asumiko Nakamura before and I looked up everything I could find on this book. When I looked into her the only thing I was not interested in was the Boy love stories she tells, not because of the content but it is just not interesting to me but now if it would come over translated I might just have to take a look because of how well her story and art go together. The book is considered to be Josei which is for women but I say it is for any adult willing to read it I in no way felt that as a man I should not be reading it or be question about reading it. This review is written after a second reading and I know I caught many things I missed in the first reading. I have been recommending it on every sight I can and have bought a second copy to loan out to friends I have found it that interesting. So over all if you are reading this give the book a chance, the sensual line work by Asumiko complements the story very much a noir story as well as everything else, beautifully told and demanding a rereading. I don't know if any of you who might read this are also anime fans but it made me sad knowing Satashi Kon was dead after reading this because I think he would have both loved it and been able to make a lovely movie from it.
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Y es que si lo hubieses escrito tú, no estarías con vida...
—Dipper
The art is breathtaking. The story not so much.
—Larsyn
