For a book about the importance of human connection the characters are actually insufferable.
The book insists on hammering the fact that Sakura is truly a social butterfly and a natural at human connection but she just steamrolls the mc and actively causes misunderstandings that result in him being more isolated from his peers. She (and the other side characters) are flat and boring with the only characteristics they actually show being obnoxiousness and selfishness. The story is essentially j
Collection of light short stories - Shinto
In terms of language learning, I think this book is a good light read. The short stories and conversational tone of the characters makes it a good choice for N2 learners. The themes of Shintoism and information about the gods, although I wish was more prominent was also interesting.
In terms of entertainment, I personally did not enjoy the book. Although there were a number of female characters they were written very poorly (though I suppose that is par for the course in modern Japanese literat