BookDragon Blog

Growing up is hard to do, especially in this detached, disconnected 21st century-world. Presented as nine “tracks,” the vaguely linked stories are reminiscent of the loud, incoherent music intermittently spilling out a young person’s ear buds … you catch a few notes here and there, but never get the whole tune …

The characters here are bored but stuck, willing but lost, searching but definitely not finding. A young woman who lives with a wise and talented turtle (is he real or not?) drops out of college and dreams of being a rock star. She remembers going from being a social pariah to achieving that almost-rock-star status as a young student surviving dangerous stunts.

A loner decides she’s going to help her bear-head-wearing kidnapper. A young man quits his corporate job and serenades his neighbors in the nude vowing he’ll never wear another necktie again. A young couple living together come to appreciate their casual conversations as something better than total isolation. Suicide becomes play among a group of aimless young men not sure of their futures.

Life is anything but wonderful for these lost, searching young souls trying to navigate modern urban existence. Parents will certainly shudder wondering if this is what reality even remotely resembles for their teenagers. But, if nothing else, the shell-less turtle and the tenacious blackbird offer moments of memorable entertainment.

Readers: Young Adult

Published: 2009 (United States)
SUBARASHII SEKAI © Inio Asano
Original Japanese edition published by Shogakukan Inc.