Akihiko Higuchi

Not quite as boring as the last volume thanks to a little take-off on Three Men and a Baby as the Koganei sisters and the shrine deity take care of an infant. Some touching secrets of Koito's childhood are revealed.

But then the rest of the book settles into just riffing on some random topics: coin collecting, gossip and rumors, hairstyles, crassness, and making yogurt. This is the second volume in a row where the characters spend a lot of time talking about a kitchen appliance, and I have to wonder if the author is just looking for a way to expense personal home purchases off their taxes.… (altro)

The problem with gentle, slice-of-life series is that every so often it's too easy to see them as just plain boring. There's a whole chapter here dedicated to carbonation machines and carbonated beverages. Yuuuuuuup. Another chapter has a bored character trying to make a big deal out of a missing toy and admitting in the end the resulting shenanigans were "not super interesting."

A good rule of thumb when writing: don't let the characters point out how boring the story is in the actual story.

I have another volume on hand from the library. Here's hoping it will be super interesting.… (altro)

Last volumes cliffhanger was quickly resolved so the chapters could return to slice-of-life non-action and Edo Period history lessons. But now the author seems to like the cliffhanger thing, so another minor problem is left unresolved until next volume.

I'm not sure cliffhangers are necessary, since readers are just going to show up because they like the characters or will have already dropped the series because they find it too boring. I'll be sticking around.

I only noticed this volume that while one or two men have appeared in the background scenery here and there, no man has had a speaking part in this series. I have no objections to that, I'm only annoyed that I hadn't noticed earlier.… (altro)