I give very few five-star ratings on Goodreads. I keep them for books that have made a tangible impact on my thinking or feelings. One that is likely to last. That's what I would call "amazing."
On Cross Channel, despite some stylistic flaws, amazed me throughout its 500+ pages. Much more than my first reading of the original visual novel. Perhaps enough to inspire me for a second complete re-reading. (However, not any time soon. There're dark places in
Cross†Channel, and I'm not going back until enough of my light has returned.) The two words that best describe my states while reading the monograph were "stupidity" and "lucidity."
On Cross Channel made me realize what a stupid reader I can be. Yes, I approached the visual novel as a
visual novel: something lighter than "ordinary" novels, more emotional perhaps, but not demanding the same concentration; a fun ride (with dark places, alright). Yes, I read it mostly at night, when my brain tends to short-circuit and skip any part that doesn't make sense after a single glance. (Japanese VN are full of these anyway, no?
This was self-irony.
) Yes, I was too impatient to ponder over any of the discrepancies;
don't stop me now, my hunger screamed,
I wanna see what madness lurks behind the next corner!
(Or maybe ... run away from this one?)
Yes and yes and yes ... but it's still disrespectful. It reduces most of the creativity and care put into this work of art to a "fun ride." Yuck. It serves me right if I ever grumble again that readers of my
heroes' tales aren't paying enough attention. :/
The discrepancies. Here's a slapdash list:
- Why does Taichi refer to his hair as white while it's always blue in the illustrations?
- What is this occasional static interrupting the flow of the story?
- Is Nanaka really listening to Taichi in the later "loops," when she just repeats her words?
- What's with her jumps across space, appearing now here, now twenty meters away, now nowhere?
- Was it really Baudelaire who said, "God is dead"? What does this tell us about Taichi's reliability? Why Baudelaire in particular?
Hihihi, I just crossed another channel ... Baudelaire wrote The Flowers of Evil; there are two rather important flowers in Cross†Channel.
- Why is there no blood on Youko's knife in the mansion scene?
I just noticed that the dead bodies in the two massacre scenes are exactly the same. Ugh, I'm not going there. *shudder*
- In the end, is everyone still in touch with Taichi somehow?
- Why am I giving
seven examples here?
(And if we also include this one ... uh-oh.)
The lucidity: By asking questions, providing examples, making connections, and offering interpretations (so many...
so many of them: only the major layers are "Bland Interpretation," "Troll Interpretation," "Complicated Interpretation", "Meta-VN Interpretation," "Psychological Interpretation," Christian interpretation, historical interpretation), George Henry Shaft brought home a crucial aspect of works of art--that they work as dialogues. And they become more valuable, more meaningful if we audiences invest more value and meaning in them. (Discover? Invent? I've seen people accuse G.H. Shaft of "making up stuff" or even "trolling." Does it, ultimately,
matter?)
On Cross Channel also reminded me that trying to make sense of things is one of the greatest fun rides ever. Even if sometimes we tend to dismiss it as a
narrative fallacy. ;)
I could go on and on ... but firstly, I'm at a stupid stage of my life; and secondly,
On Cross Channel is much more lucid than what I can offer you here anyway. So I leave you with it--and a final small revelation, perhaps my favorite one:
Cross Channel reads in Japanese as Kurosu channeru. Kurosu-chan is Kurosu Taichi and neru means sleep. Sleep, Kurosu-chan, sleep ... you've earned it. :)
I dedicate this review to everyone who believes that
visual novels deserve a place on Goodreads.
) към историята на следващия герой, седмицата протича като предишната. Това прави мнооооооого четене.
Сигурно е част от счупеността на героите... и все пак, и все пак.