[DeepL Translation - needs review] Volume 1 Introduction: I, Mio Miyanaga, dream of becoming a novelist! I'm writing a story to make my debut as a junior high school author, but my twin brother and sister, who have excellent grades, are giving me a hard time ....... But her twin brother and sister, both of whom have excellent grades, are giving her a hard time. Furthermore, a mean classmate sees the notebook in which she has written a delusional poem about love, and a terrible commotion ensu...
This is the first full-length Japanese novel I’ve finished outside of graded readers and manga, and it felt like an excellent introduction to prose fiction.
Plot
Mio is an ordinary fourteen-year-old girl who dreams of becoming a writer. She has younger twin siblings who are geniuses and often get on her nerves—particularly when they sneak into her room to read her diary or manuscripts—but they also help her by explaining various aspects of novel writing.
At school, Mio is ridiculed by her beautiful and popular classmate Yuria and her clique. In an attempt to defend herself from their bullying, she blurts out a lie that she has a boyfriend. Yuria then invites Mio to a party and tells her to bring him along, hoping to further humiliate her, as she doesn’t believe the lie.
Desperate to avoid becoming a laughingstock, Mio scrambles to come up with a plan. As the party draws closer, she is no nearer to finding a solution and grows increasingly anxious…
Entertainment
I was pleasantly surprised by how engaging the story turned out to be. The plot moves at a steady pace, with a good balance of dialogue, description, and introspection. Mio is a sympathetic protagonist that is easy to root for, and it’s satisfying to watch her family dynamics develop and shift over the course of the story.
One minor issue I had was that Mio’s own novel doesn’t develop very much over the course of the story. It is the main focus of the first chapter, with her siblings offering advice on her manuscript, but her writing gradually fades into the background as the personal conflict takes centre stage. Although her dream of becoming a published author is referenced throughout, it ends up feeling slightly underdeveloped. That said, this is likely because the book is the first in a long series, so significant progress can’t realistically happen within a single volume.
Language
The language is simple and straightforward, which is unsurprising given the target demographic, and makes it accessible to readers who are just beginning to tackle full-length novels. The vocabulary is largely everyday language, aside from some terminology related to books and writing — much of which is borrowed from English. The twins’ explanations of novel-writing concepts also help to clarify these terms for both Mio and the reader.
As a children’s book, it naturally uses fewer kanji than works aimed at teens or adults, which may be a drawback for learners who prioritise kanji acquisition. I tend to take a slightly different approach from what appears popular among online Japanese learners, so this was not a concern for me personally.
Notes
The book also includes a bonus chapter offering advice on writing novels. I skimmed this section, as the content is fairly basic given the intended audience. There is also an author’s note, which I chose to skip, as it focuses on a previous series by the author that I haven’t read and therefore didn’t hold much interest for me.
Conclusion
Overall, I found this to be an enjoyable novel that struck just the right level of challenge for my current stage of language learning. If you enjoy the kinds of storylines often found in shoujo manga, this will likely appeal to you.