Gengen Kusano

This collection of three novellas is a balls-to-the-wall gonzo sci-fi extravaganza featuring non-stop body horror and some truly unhinged girls, topped with a heaping helping of mostly-affectionate satire of the various industries that feed modern otaku culture. (If you're not deeply into Japanese pop culture, this book is probably incomprehensible.) This isn't a lukewarm three stars; this is me constantly teetering on the line between being delighted by it and finding it all A Bit Too Much.

The author calls it "hard sci-fi", but I think this is stretching the definition a little bit; there's certainly some real research into scientific phenomena backing up many of the elements, but there's also plenty of silly stuff tossed in without explanation, such as space whales and a universe that operates on gacha mechanics.

My favorite story was the middle one, Evo Girls, which goes from a stock isekai setup (complete with our good friend Truck-kun) to a long middle section reminiscent of the game Spore to a denouement in which the heroine realizes her destiny is to save humanity by destroying gacha gaming forever. I found it to be simultaneously the sharpest satire and the story whose characters seemed the most like real people, and these aspects made the story's disparate and frequently ridiculous elements into a thematically coherent whole. The other stories didn't come together as successfully for me, although they had their moments.

And yes, the first story is very transparently a NicoMaki fanfic. But I don't think most Love Live fans are clamoring to see their faves as mutant cannibals going on murder-dates in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, so if you were interested in reading just for them, be warned. (If you don't want to expand the spoiler, just see above re: body horror and unhinged girls.)

Either you will love this, or you will hate it, or you will alternately love and hate it. But one way or another, it's a memorable experience.… (más)