Review by Booklist Review
Reminiscent of Groundhog Day-like repetition, each chapter duplicates the same opening paragraphs, ending with the same "gross love language" (but watch for that perspective shift). The intriguing premise is that an unnamed university junior in Kyoto reveals how he "accomplished absolutely nothing" in his first two years. Every time, he's a "fresh-as-a-daisy-man"--a "new student walking through campus [who] gets club flyers thrust upon them." Four flyers loom, "the Ablutions film club, a bizarre 'Disciples Wanted' notice, the Mellow softball club, and the underground organization Lucky Cat Chinese Food." Each chapter is a do-over that begins and ends with the protagonist as the same disgruntled junior who's been abetted, misled, and ruined in varying situations by a recurring cast, including frenemy Ozu, upstairs "Master" Higuchi, older student Jogasaki (and his stolen love doll, Kaori), dental hygienist Hanuki, and sorta-love interest Akashi. His galaxy is his four-and-a-half-mat tatami room, which is both his escape and his prison. A self-labeled "Morimi geek," translator Balistrieri (he/him, publishing under his birthname) meticulously deciphers the protagonist's "'rotten' university student voice" for English readers.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Morimi's delightful campus novel follows the quixotic adventures of an unnamed student dreaming of the perfect college experience. As a freshman, the narrator is presented with four potential extracurricular activities: the Ablutions film club, a vague organization posting "Disciples Wanted" ads, the softball club, and a shady group called Lucky Cat Chinese Food. Each deceptively promises the student--and the reader--a different narrative. However, over four sections in which the student chooses a different activity, he stumbles, à la Groundhog Day, through the same circumstances over and over. He develops a love-hate relationship with the devilish Ozu, has his fortune told by an old woman in the nightlife district, and one way or another falls in love with the intellectual yet beautiful Akashi. Other objects of repetition include castella cakes, fish burgers, a luxury scrub brush, and the novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. In their recurrence, Morimi instills comfort in the familiarity of his hero's routine. Light and sweet in its confection, this satisfies like a spongy piece of castella. (Dec.)
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Review by Library Journal Review
Having challenged the bossy, glossy president of the film club, an unnamed junior at Kyoto University and his icky, misanthropic sort-of friend find themselves shunned by pretty much everyone on campus and vengefully plan a wrong-headed disruption of a forthcoming club event. Then a self-proclaimed god pops up with a way to turn his life around, and time rewinds. From multi-award-winning Japanese Morimi; with a 75,000-copy first printing.
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