Some chances and encounters should not be left to waste… this is how Ryan spent a Sunday afternoon in early Autumn.
The theatrical adaptation of Book Girl (文学少女) premiered this past May, and though two separate OVA have also been released, I was more keen to experience the film. Night on the Galactic Road and other stories by Kenji Miyazawa are featured literature in this film, which would imply that the contents of this adaptation deal primarily with the fifth volume of the novel series [1]. In brief detail, the story begins with a relation between Inoue Konoha and Amano Touko, the book girl. Konoha is a boy who knows of Touko’s ability to devour pages of literature and was thus nudged into the school’s literature club. Such premise yields an enjoyable base scenario, but the driving conflict is reserved for Inoue and a few secondary characters involved in a battle for his affection. The plot is relatively straightforward and potentially generic, but the main attraction in my opinion is the dynamics and internal pressures between characters, especially Touko and Konoha.
Within the first five minutes, both the audio and visual production values are noticeably good, and these are a quality standard for Production I.G. The visual style and palette are similar to Autumn 2009′s From Me To You with slight alterations in character design, and having enjoyed their work on Todoke, I felt the visuals were appealing. Audibly, I found the background score immediately attractive for it’s unobtrusive emphasis and classical touch, and throughout the film, it complements the story’s movement and situational tone very well. Book Girl doesn’t boast the impressive audible effects of Cencoroll or Summer Wars, but such sound would be useless with respect to the mild pace and drama; Book Girl isn’t an action film. Voice acting was nominal, which says very little coming from me, but I should note that it was all-around convincing throughout an interesting range of conflicting and dramatic scenes.
An initial concern was that I would find Hanazawa’s Touko irritating after about 20 minutes, but to my surprise Touko’s personality is more affirmative than I imagined, and instead of a moe character a la Kobato, Touko comes off bright, playful, and most importantly, soothing. To call her simply cute would cheapen her essence. Touko is unquestionably lovely, but she has a more mature and refined side that rises with sincere moments. Possibly to the disappointment of some viewers, Touko’s presence is almost too subtle throughout the film, but in light of Inoue’s triangular affairs, I do feel that Touko’s character priority was masterfully balanced. Touko is never over-extended into the primary conflict nor given the level of a bystander, but I also believe her influence in the story can not be relegated by her visibility [2]; she is mystical, almost ever-present.
Despite the lightness in her being, Touko is intimately connected to Konoha by the words he has shared with her through his writing, an important topic of the film. They are friends as senpai and kouhai, the only members of literature club, and their entire relation is based on an encounter; Inoue took a chance, he took a chance on Touko. As the main storyline progresses, the development between Touko and Konoha becomes more revealing through moments of exclusivity, and regardless of the chaos surrounding Konoha it is difficult to turn a blind heart to the haven which exists when they are alone. Though I will spare the details, the culmination of that which exists between this pair is reached in the final scenes at the train station. Elements of quiet tension, fear, and uncertainty dress the moments between Touko and Konoha, and in attempt to see themselves plainly, I feel they become honest. The final minutes are heartfelt and moving, and I cannot help but feel, genuinely, the path of their relationship gave the film a surprisingly punctual satisfaction.
Book Girl is far from perfect, but I am unafraid to consider it among the best experiences of the year. It’s sentiments sit confidently among series such as K-ON!! and From Me To You, and for those who have enjoyed these, I would suggest Book Girl is a necessary watch.
Notes
1 – This is an assumption, don’t hold me to it.
2 – The most prominent example comes in her attempt to resolve the plight between Inoue and Miu, in which she initiates the atmosphere among the characters but vanishes well before the scene ends. Though I found this one of the less convincing plot points, it directly exemplifies Touko’s catalytic influence as well as her “absence” in the film.
Nice post for a nice movie. I have a bunch to say, and I’ll say it in a post of my own on notdotq; for now, though, a few small quips and responses:
My impression had been that Konoha was impressed into the literature club, the Kyon to Touko’s Haruhi, so to speak; “you’ve learned my secret, and now I’m going to drag you around and make you my bitch”; I’m not sure if this changes anything in the dynamic, but I always had this feeling that Touko maybe felt guilty for her heavy-handed command of Konoha’s time and energy, and that perhaps this feeds into both her decision to remove herself from him and her surprise at his honest feelings for her.
I loved it, if only for how smoke and mirrors it was; Touko’s insight, supported only by her encyclopedic knowledge of books and the school planetarium, wins the day. “The literature girl is a demon who eats books.” The plot hook suggests the supernatural, and here after an hour of the mundane we might assume that our lovely youkai is finally exerting her powers—but no, not really.
She’s just a goat.
The main flaw of this film, in my book (durrhurrhurr), is that it left me wanting more. Satisfied? No! Who’s at the door? Let her in, let her in, and let her be Touko—
This is awesome! I didn’t feel that initiation was a strong pressure for her, more-so I think the pressure came from her consumption of Konoha’s writing, but both are “selfish” and viable.
Yes, this, I loved… Touko’s power to heal. My spot on this has to do with Inoue-Miu primarily; Touko did awesome, just Miu’s resolution felt somewhat weak (or maybe generic, idk), but it’s a trivial opinion really… didn’t take away from the film nor Touko’s character.
Did you watch “Today’s Snack” ? I guess there’s more of the “forced him into it” vibe there.
I did not, maybe I should ;;
IDK, wasn’t particularly good, but it does flesh out their relationship a bit.
Ah, maybe if I get some free time, or something… I’m so satisfied with what I have here, I think the novels would be the only thing to really cross the tees.
Interesting. Before this, I’ve only seen novel fans review it, and they were considerable less positive than you about it. I’m still really hesitant myself though, because I really loved the novels and I know that my favorite character was cut out.
I’m mostly only positive about the Touko and Konoha dynamic, but I’m not sure how I would feel had I read the novels; not typically going to hate an adaptation… although if your favorite character was cut out, might be tough.
I approached it rather blankly. The only information I have on the novels is from bloggers ;;
Thanks for you feedback choux
Looks like a subtle but intensely sentimental film… Something I would really enjoy.
Err, it is and isn’t. Don’t be fooled, this has some straight up whiskey-shot drama and madness to it, but that the same time, there is a subtle oasis to be found… I guess
KonohaxTouko relationship was definitely the best of the movie… but, the whole planetarium climax was more than a little bit shallow, deep rooted scars not so easily healed by just a few analogous sentences after all, especially not by the ‘third party’. I donno, it feels like they didn’t take it serious and just poured on melodrama without properly developing out of it.
I still need to finish the book which, as far as I can tell, isn’t like the movie at all =\
I still need to get the book ;; … yes, that resolution, the way it played out so simply/perfectly was very weak for the apparent plotline (Inou’s harem or w/e).
The thing is, I wonder if this is dealing with the first book released in English, or the fifth volume of the series :\ … because Miyazawa’s story centerfold was something out of book 5.