×
  • remind me tomorrow
  • remind me next week
  • never remind me
Subscribe to the ANN Newsletter • Wake up every Sunday to a curated list of ANN's most interesting posts of the week. read more

Forum - View topic
Brave Story, any thoughts?




Anime News Network Forum Index -> General -> Novels
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
Emerje



Joined: 10 Aug 2002
Posts: 7337
Location: Maine
PostPosted: Wed Aug 29, 2007 4:44 am Reply with quote
So it's been out for about two weeks now, but I haven't read any thoughts on it. It's a full price, hardcover novel so it's a bit pricey, more of an investment than a pick-up book like Viz or Tokyopop's other novels. Anyone pick this up yet, it's supposed to be good, but is it nearly $30 good?

Emerje
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website My Anime My Manga
dormcat
Encyclopedia Editor


Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 9902
Location: New Taipei City, Taiwan, ROC
PostPosted: Wed Aug 29, 2007 5:09 am Reply with quote
From what I've read (about 1/4 of volume 1), it's darker and heavier than the movie, such as spoiler[Wataru's mother committed suicide (and tried to take Wataru with her) after her ex-husband's new lover came to their house to laugh at her.] Of course such plot cannot be used in the anime movie.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website AIM Address Yahoo Messenger MSN Messenger ICQ Number My Anime My Manga
Emerje



Joined: 10 Aug 2002
Posts: 7337
Location: Maine
PostPosted: Wed Aug 29, 2007 1:13 pm Reply with quote
Yeah, they mentioned something about that on the Viz site, makes it sound pretty interesting where the anime seems like it's probably a bit more upbeat. So there's actually more than one volume, how many are we talking here?

Emerje
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website My Anime My Manga
Brand



Joined: 30 Jan 2006
Posts: 1028
PostPosted: Wed Aug 29, 2007 8:40 pm Reply with quote
I think the price in the book is 23.99 which isn't bad considering it's a hard back that's as big if not bigger then the 5th Harry Potter book.

I haven't read it yet but it's on my to read list.

My friend read it, I'll leave some of his comments
** The Bad **
- Not all of my questions were answered, and some seemed to have been written into the book solely for the sake of convenience. Although the story is quite sound, it's plain to see that this was Miyabe's first attempt at writing a fantasy novel, and she has a lot of work to do before her writing style can match that of the genre's masters, such as Rowling, Cooper, or Lewis.
- There were several more inconsistancies as the story went on, which again, could be easily explained away... but I still feel that I shouldn't HAVE to explain them away. A good writer should be able to avoid these things.
- The editing continued to falter during part two, though it was spot-on when it really counted.
- The quality of Miyabe's writing was WILDLY inconsistent from one chapter to another. Some chapters were like well-articulated philosophical musings, and others were like hastily-written short fables submitted as final essays in a college course, and returned with a B- from the professor. (: I've never read another book that's had such inconsistent writing, and while I'm sure some of it can be attributed to the translation, a lot of it is obviously just patches of mediocre writing.

** The Good **
- The ending was extremely satisfying, and DID wrap up the story quite nicely.
- The message Miyabe attempted to convey in this book places it firmly within the realm of allegory, and is actually quite deep and well-conceived.
- Miyabe wasn't afraid to pull her punches, and there were numerous scenes toward the end of the book that were so emotionally intense, they actually had me in tears.
- A lot of the places Wataru visits within Vision were simply a joy to ENvision (no pun intended, but hey, I'll take it!). (: The world Miyabe created is remarkable, and I'd love to see a full-length anime series created out of this book, or a full-length RPG of a quality akin to the PSP title (rather than that poor excuse for an anime movie, which despite having seen twice already, and not liking all that much, I still want to watch again now that I've finished the book!). (:
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website My Anime My Manga
Emerje



Joined: 10 Aug 2002
Posts: 7337
Location: Maine
PostPosted: Thu Aug 30, 2007 5:51 am Reply with quote
Thanks brand, that really helped a lot. And I guess I was wrong about the price. For some reason I thought it was $27, but it's actually $24. In the end, despite having a B&N discount card, I think I'm just going to wait for (hopefully) the paperback version down the road. I'm sure I can find another anime novel for the meantime.

Emerje
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website My Anime My Manga
Display posts from previous:   
Reply to topic    Anime News Network Forum Index -> General -> Novels All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Page 1 of 1

 


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group