I rarely- make that "never"- read Shojo. Manga, yes, but never the kind targeted at pre-teen/ teenage girls. I'm glad I picked up the manga version of "Socrates in Love".

It's drawn in one of the styles that I find really pleasing to read (sorry, don't know what the style is called), and the text comes from this novel (by Kyoichi Katayama; the manga is drawn by Kazumi Kazui. I don't know who adapted the text). And it's a heart-wrenching, bittersweet story about a young love ended when the girl, Aki, dies of leukemia.

Written in the 1970s, the novel has beautiful lines in it like

"No matter what I looked at, my memories would suck me in. I closed the lid on my heart and turned my back to the ocean."

"...And that was why, whenever I woke up, I'd be crying. It wasn't because I was sad. When you return from a happy dream to sad reality, there's a chasm you have to step across, and you can't cross it without shedding tears. It doesn't matter how many times you do it."

"I was in a place where one death had wiped out every emotion. That was where I was. I didn't see anthing, hear anything, or feel anything. But was that where I really was? If not, then where was I?" (which leads into a flashback of Aki and Saku-chan meeting as children)


Part of the reason I believe this manga adaptation is so successful is that Kazui (art) renders some of the words of the novel unnecessary: she communicates the author's intent succinctly, purely through drawing alone. I understand why "Socrates in Love" is well-loved in Japan, and hope this manga adaptation is as well.

(And yes, I do plan to read the novel.) ( )

Sakutaro y Aki se conocen en la escuela de un ciudad provincial de Japón. Él es un adolescente ingenioso y algo sarcástico. Ella es inteligente, hermosa y popular. Pronto se convierten en amigos inseparables, hasta que un día, por primera vez, Sakutaro ve a Aki con otros ojos, y la amistad cómplice se transforma ineludiblemente en una pasión arrebatadora. Ambos viven una historia capaz de trastocar los sentidos y borrar las fronteras entre la vida y la muerte.

ça se lit bien et c'est agréable ( )

I can see why this was popular among Japanese teenagers, but it's nothing to write home about. Simple and sad. ( )

No lloré con Titanic, ni The Notebook. No lloré con Marley y Yo, ni con My sister's keeper. Generalmente no lloro con NADA —en mi casa suelen decir que no tengo corazón— pero como lloré con esto.

¿Por qué los japoneses insisten en destruir mi corazón? ( )