niracler

A Manga Worth Continuing to Follow After Ten Years#

I got hooked and watched "Sang Nv" from beginning to end twice within a week. It all started with a video on Bilibili that introduced the subsequent plot of "Sang Nv". I saw a barrage comment at the beginning mentioning a twist in the manga, so I promptly closed the video (spoiler: I opened B manga to read it). And then, to my surprise, "Sang Nv" had turned into a series of cute and nonsensical manga about a group of girls (spoiler: it was so enjoyable).

It all began during the summer vacation when I was about to enter high school ten years ago. I remember that it was because I watched the anime adaptation of "Sang Nv" that I started discussing life with strangers through the drift bottle feature on QQ Space (spoiler: I didn't have any friends to chat with). I even have no recollection of how that summer went, as if only immersing myself in the virtual world of online games could fill the void (spoiler: I played games so much that I got sick of them, to the point where I couldn't play for a long time). So, while reading "Sang Nv," I found the story of Xiao Sang to be exceptionally relatable. Looking back now, it's actually quite normal for people who lack real-life experiences and become immersed in the cyber world to do many awkward things when interacting with others.

I remember during junior high and high school, I really didn't like going to gatherings because they took away my gaming time~~

(A cute and nonsensical manga)

Turning Point#

Just like Xiao Sang's school trip, high school was a turning point in my life. The anime didn't reach this point, so it wasn't until ten years later that I learned about this turning point in the story. One could say that her transition was smoother than mine. Suddenly, due to my grades, I became known by my classmates and even became a top student, achieving the accomplishment of "Impersonating Syndrome" for five years (spoiler: there was even a fantasy plot in "Sang Nv" that was similar to my own experience, like "First monthly exam in high school, ranked first in the class, surprising everyone").

During that time, I also reflected on this work, thinking, "I'm no longer socially anxious, so I must be different from Xiao Sang," and as a result, I never continued reading the manga. Unexpectedly, during this significant change in my high school life, Xiao Sang also underwent a change during her second-year school trip. I saw my own reflection in Sang Nv. From a character who was unknown and ignored, she transformed into someone who could have "continuously close friends."

(Later, Sang Nv becomes the queen of the sea)

Brief Review#

It's rare to remember the names of all the characters after finishing a manga, to be honest, it's quite difficult to remember the names of characters while reading a manga. First, because when reading text, we rarely silently pronounce the names of the characters, and second, there may be cultural differences that make the names harder to remember. Tenshi Yuu, Hentai Komiyama, Himeko Mashiro, Kaomoji Konai, Yoshida, Totsu Totsu Head, Hei Mu Di Di, Bai He, Gorgeous Sister Kato, and the protagonist Xiao Sang (spoiler: I may not necessarily remember if it's a first or last name, but I'm clear about the nicknames 😄)

The amount of text is actually quite high. It usually takes me about an hour to read 10 chapters, while for other manga, I can finish one in 20 minutes, like those by Fujimoto Shinta. Even for "Look Back," I finished it in 20 minutes.

A slice-of-life work that you never want to end: The characteristic of slice-of-life works is that "the timeline often doesn't progress" (mentioning how many Christmases have passed in "Minami-ke" for example). However, the timeline in this work steadily progresses from the first year of high school to the second year, school trip, and finally the third year... But I really don't want this story to end (spoiler: damn it, why can't the tears stop). This is actually the heartbreaking aspect of slice-of-life manga; you never want it to end.

(Xiao Sang's harem group, nearing the end)

Saying Goodbye to Youth#

Just like Xiao Sang, who is about to graduate from high school, I am also graduating from my youth. I miss the days when I had classmates around me on campus. Saying goodbye to youth, this phrase comes from "Slam Dunk," and I recently watched the movie adaptation. At first, we all thought we were like Sakuragi Hanamichi, but in the end, at most, we were like Rukawa Kaede, or maybe even Maki Shinichiro. A slow process of mediocrity.

"Rigid redemption" is my commitment to the world as an adult. I learned this term from Lao Liu at the Reading Library. The way I can confirm who I am is probably through my random list (spoiler: I might write about "What is my current rigid redemption" in the future).

Afterword#

Regarding my verbose writing style, it's nice to write in a way that makes me feel self-deceptive and vain. From the perspective of nonsense literature, I can indeed write articles of various lengths.

I remember when I took a humanities reading course in college, I wrote a book review of "Fortress Besieged" in a similar style, focusing more on writing about my own experiences rather than analyzing the work. As a result, my assignment went off-topic. In the end, the teacher gave me a score of 60 for my emotional expression. It could have been better if I followed some formulaic writing and analysis.

If you expect this to be a functional article telling you whether this work is worth reading, all I can say is "I really like it." Back then, when I saw a score of 60, I felt really ashamed, but now I don't think that way anymore. Let GPT write the formulaic essays. As for me, I'll just write articles that make me happy and that I can enjoy.