Bungaku Shoujo

[irem]

I read a review of the series here and then I saw it is one of the teaser projects. I really like the first chapter and I hope you continue to translate the whole series.. opening a poll was my intention but I'm not allowed apparently..

[Nerevarine]

can you tell us a little about the series?

who its by? how many volumes? ongoing?

too...lazy...to...click...on...link....

[ShadowZeroHeart]

http://www.baka-tsuki.net/forums/viewto ... =32&t=2208

It is not exactly a teaser project here.

The series is very good, the top of the rankings that was shown in a thread a month back or so?

Talks about a bunch of people with sad and painful stories that are similar to literature works.

Difficulty level, EXTREMELY HIGH. Reason being that the author brings about a lot of Japanese literature. Unless you read and know a lot about their literature, you will be unable to bring about a lot of the feelings, emotions and story. Not just are the famous Japanese literatures being retold, even some parts of the authors' lives and emotions are within.

Number of volumes, 8. Ended there I believe? Though I have only read up to 5.

There are even side stories, though i am not sure where they are from.

One set of the side stories reveals stories that the protagonist wrote.

As the Bungaku Shoujo only eats literature, or written works and can only taste such things, the protagonist is forced to write stories for her. The way they write is very interesting. The Bungaku Shoujo gives him 3 topics, in which he must put into a story. An example is given in that thread.

[thelastguardian]

Well, since I am not actively maintaining that series, I will just put it into the teaser category for now.

The difficulty level of understanding the plot is not that high (ﾟдﾟ ) The plot is simple to follow; The subtext is what is demanding

Each volume of the series centered around a major Western or Japanese literature. Usually the plot for both stories will be similar until the author decides to interpret the themes of the famous literature in her own creative ways.

There are many devices the author employed to draw parallel lines between the 2 stories. Obviously, the plot and the characters are, by themselves, very important in creating the illusion of similarities. But more importantly, the author inserts bold 'letters' throughout each volumes. These letters are very similar to the original works' characters' monologue, except you do not know who wrote them, nor do you know what events prompted the character to write these letters. Did he wrote it because of an event that happened 10 pages ago, or did it happened a long time ago? This "unknowing-ness" creates a level of suspension that cannot be achieve by interactive medias such as animations.

Maybe it's because of my western literature background in one of my past lives, but I love the idea of mixing traditional stories with light novels.

Vol 1. No Longer Human (人間失格)by Osamu Dazai
Vol 2. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
Vol 3. Friendship (友情) by Saneatsu Mushanokoiji
Vol 4. Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux
...and the rest I am too lazy to type out...

Often light novels sacrifices the themes and all those good stuff for plot twist and moe-ness. This series, on the other hand, combined all these elements into one single easy to read package while not making all the elements essential in understanding the book.
If you want to ignore all the subtext and focus on the dramatic plot, it is fine. If you want to ignore the plot and focus on interpretations of the related famous stories, you can do that as well. If you say 'screw it' and just focus on the awesome-ness of Senpai (I can't believe I just said this), you are, unforturnately, not alone \(￣□￣")/

Of course, having 竹岡美穂 as the illustrator also help. Her illustrations are usually water-paint styles that put a gentler touch on the characters.
I recommend reading another excellent light novel series that has 竹岡美穂 as the illustrator- 黄昏色的咏使 . It is a very readable book and one of the few series I have that I actually re-read.

Back to Bungaku Shoujo. As one of my sisters observed, there is no 'real' villain in the series. I know this sounds cliche in today's ACG world, but it is especially important to understand in this series. Everyone has their own reasons to act and, usually by the end of the book, you have no real reasons to detest them.

Most of you can stop reading now. The rest of the stuff is not important.




Now it is for useless ranting time (accumulated from countless anime/games/manga/light novels and finally, one of these light novels finally caused me to explode in fury a few days ago) that sort of relate to this series-
F*** all the useless male main characters!!!!!!!!!11111!!1!!!1 Fuc you all and I hope all of you burn in the 18th level of hell for the rest of your wretched lives!!!! If I ever meet one of you in real life I will strangle you to death and replace you with a crumpling piece of wet card box cutout and no one will notice the difference.

Why must Japanese stories must have a main character that is good for nothing except for maybe 1. quick thinker in times of danger 2. nice to girls? (by the way, these things cost nothing to the character. Which means anyone can have these traits if they desire so. Huh I wonder why.)
The answer is simple- to let the reader 'become' the main character. To let the reader thinks- "If I were him what would I do." To let the reader thinks, "I could be like the main character if only I get thrust into this situation/position blah blah blah." The reader then gains some sort of perverse delight from that. By having a character that is as forgettable as a child's magnetic drawing board, the author is guilty of encouraging the reader to forget his own identity and 'become the fake character'.

This way of thinking is completely opposite from traditional Western literature school of thoughts. You are not supposed to become the character, you are supposed to let the character be you. You as the reader, must take what the character thinks, what the character does, how the character responses to different stimuli, and all the other "good stuff" the author might throw in, and relate them to you both your life experience and your logical mind. Only then can you learn what viewpoints the author holds.

And, for me, this is what make Bungaku Shoujo stands out. The author is not trying to encourage you to do that "mental masturbation". She is trying to convince you to take a hard look at the dilemma the characters face with your critical, real world logic.
You might not have a solution to their problems, but at least you will learn something from these characters.

This is what I believe in. Many people may bag to differ, but I don't care.

Rant end

[Vaelis]

It's not officially released yet but Trabius and I have scanlated the first chapter of the manga: http://www.mediafire.com/?wldn4m4ddny

[ShadowZeroHeart]

It's not officially released yet but Trabius and I have scanlated the first chapter of the manga: http://www.mediafire.com/?wldn4m4ddny

If I am correct, this is a very SLOW manga? Its been months since I found the first chapter, but up to today, there is only about 3 chapters up in chinese. Or am I just looking up the wrong places?

And to big boss's comment, yes, the language for understanding the plot is not that hard, but to make everything fall into pieces may prove somewhat difficult, and most importantly, our dear Bungaku Shoujo simply talks about way too many titles and authors, which one would require some knowledge before they can translate it. So I would say the translator may need to be really passionate and to check up the titles and authors as in the text in order to give good translations.

Just as big boss mentioned first volume is about (人間失格)by Osamu Dazai, vol 2 wuthering heights by emily bronte etc, there are many other less famous titles mentioned in the text as well, so it is not easy to find out all the respective names and authors.

And I would agree that the story is as you sister observed, without a real villian. Though the protagonist's ex-girlfriend would make you think of her as a b!tch at first, when I eventually read her story, I was moved and pitied her. I would then later think that they are all just mere victims. It is touching, and their actions are explained and actually logical. Though the story takes reference from other stories, despite having no knowledge of the other stories, you can still understand these ones and develop interest in those classic stories.

P.S. vol 5 is with reference to the famous Galaxy Express 999 if i recall? It should probably be the most famous story compared to the rest.

Edit: Is Galaxy Express 999 a novel? Why does wiki mention only its manga and movies?

[Vaelis]

If I am correct, this is a very SLOW manga? Its been months since I found the first chapter, but up to today, there is only about 3 chapters up in chinese. Or am I just looking up the wrong places?

One chapter every two months.
Chapter 4 was released December 22

[onizuka-gto]

is this on the wiki?


any link for it?

yes i'm lazy. I'm entitled!

[Vaelis]

is this on the wiki?

The teaser? http://www.baka-tsuki.net/project/index ... aku_Shoujo
The manga? No

[thelastguardian]

Chapter 2 is up

[denverdrage]

I really hope the translation for this series won't be stalled like some of the other projects
I've read the two first chapters, and I definitely loved them Thanks for translating it!
Wakuwaku for the next chapter

[ShadowZeroHeart]

Go BB go!! Show us the magic!! Show us the extremes!! Bring it to life BB!!

P.S. BB= Big Boss

[elkin]

Fascinating story Thanks for translating! I'd always seen this series, but never ventured into it, thinking it was just shoujo fluff. You proved me so very wrong...

[onizuka-gto]

Just been reviewed at random curiousity, link:

http://randomc.animeblogger.net/2009/05 ... houjo-v01/

I'm glad we are getting some English reviews of novels and we should keep a close eye on that website, so we can raise te profile of all our teaser and full fledge novels.

[DissmalScientist]

Thanks for the new chapter! The plot thickens eh he he.
How would this little girl know about an Archery Club member from 10 years ago (who's hinted at being dead)? I don't want to join Tooka on the 'its ghosts!' bandwagon but signs do point to that.
And what's the significance of Konoha looking like this Shuuji?

Cliff hangers