After the lecture about cell-phone novel, I tried to find a translation of the Koizora in English or Vietnamese and well, there were several translations other there but I could not find a completely translated edition of the novel.
Here is one of the translations:
http://jiahuishousetsutranslation.blogspot.com/2009/02/koizora-chapter-1-page-1.html
okay, even though I am quite not updated since this novel was published way back to 2005 and the trend of cell-phone novel has already cooled down a lot, I still would like to note down some thoughts on some chapters of the novel.
Koizora was claimed to tell the true story of a high school girl named Mika (who is also the author). What she has gone through tore a lot of readers' hearts. It was a train of misadventures for her: from meeting Hiro, a rebellious boy, to having sex with him, getting bullied by Hiro's ex, getting raped, getting pregnant and then miscarriage. The story ends with the death of Hiro because of serious disease, leaving Mika behind(wikipedia).
What Mika had to go through is unimaginable and it made a lot of people doubtful of the story to be true. Nevertheless, the novel turned out to be a huge success since a movie and a TV drama series were produced right after.
About the novel:
Take a look at this short exert of the translation
For a moment, the one that came up on my mind was
Hiro's face.
I had never met him...
It's just my selfish imagination
Hiro's face.
"...I think there isn't"
Hearing my answer,
without waiting Aya said,
"I am now in love!"
(taken from http://jiahuishousetsutranslation.blogspot.com/2009/08/koizora-chapter-1-page-10.html)
It is not wrong to say cell-phone novels damage the purity and formality of literature!
The plot is typical, simple. The writing is abrupt and doesn't require strong literature talent (which you would expect from a novel).
The happenings in the story are also told with brief and not deeply developed depictions. Everything happened to Mika was just like the outlines of an essay. The story was written as first-person pronoun, there are a lot of Mika's emotions going on throughout the story, however, nothing goes too developed, nothing can be called deep, thought-provoking here.
This is due to the nature of the cell-phone novels that they are written and often read on cellphones, the wording cannot be too long or complicated. Nevertheless, a kind of literature that even an elementary kid can write (without the content of sex and rape,...) like this, cellphone novels can be a threat.
Also, to me cellphone novel plots are no different from the shojo mangas that i used to read. One is conveyed through words and the other is drawn into pictures. And if i have to say anything about Shojo mangas, It would be they are often misleading stories about high school girls, who never study, only care about appearance and boyfriends. So imagine, the popularity of cellphone novels can develop misleading images as well to the readers. Would parents want their daughters to read stories about prostitutes, about adolescence sex, about rape when they are not mature and mentally grown-up. (cellphone novels come of age - Patrick W Galbraith --- http://www.japantoday.com/category/arts-culture/view/cell-phone-novels-come-of-age)
In conclusion, even though i would not like to finish the whole story, but there are a lot of elements coming out from Koizora that we need to think about. This is a product of popular culture and it reflexes the inner mind of the culture it stands for. Cellphone novels, though their popularity has cooled down but the study of them is a good source to learn about the development of jpop in Japan.
Wednesday, 1 February 2012
Two little holes for the enthusiasts
(source: http://livedoor.blogimg.jp/radiofoundation/imgs/7/7/77657766-s.jpg
http://stat001.ameba.jp/user_images/20090810/07/idlg-g/c0/97/j/o0250035610229996379.jpg)
This is Becky!
If you are a fan of shows in Japan, U'll come across her at least one a day on TV. However, the topic here is not about her though, it's about what she is holding on her hand.
Cellphone, yes!
But don't you see the bunch of dolls and stuffed animals hanging onto the cellphone! The bunch that is 3,4 times bigger than the cellphone itself!
That's so cool, isn't it. I wonder how she could stuff her cellphone into her bag. Does she have a special bag only for her cellphone?
At least she has no trouble finding her cellphone when she needs it!
Even though Becky's cellphone is quite famous for its huge collection of attached straps, Becky is not the only one who adds everything onto her cellphone. A lot of high school girls are pursuing this trend too. Cellphone straps have always been popular in Japan and they are an trendy accessory to make your own cellphone stand out. Therefore on any kind of cellphones (except for Iphone) here, you will probably get 2 small holes to hang the strap. See how Japanese companies try to indulge you with your flashy hobby. Or if you are not interested in straps, seeing two blank holes on your cellphone makes you want to put something into them. For people who already put strap on their cell, you would feel like you want more attached to it. A lot of small, cute little things here in Japan have strap attached to it so that you can put them on your cellphone. It is boring without a strap! And you can totally tell a person's hobby or personality through the things attached to the cellphone.
I personally have 6 straps attached to mine. However after i switched to Iphone, I had trouble finding a place to put my straps on, because Iphone simply DOESNT have strap hole!!!!!
In the J-pop class, teacher and people were talking about strap culture in Japan and an iphone cover with strap hole is only available in Japan. That is true, however, my quest for hunting the cover with strap hole was not that easy.
The number of iphone users compared to the limited number of cover with strap holes made it hard for me to find a nice one. Also the cover came with uninteresting colours, a higher price than ordinary ones and they are made of bad quality plastic. After only 2 weeks of using, I ruined mine.
However, as Iphone is reigning as the most popular smartphone here in Japan (due to its lower payment, compared to other smartphones), I believe, producers will make more diversity of cover with straps in better quality.
Still, Bravo to Japan for always "indulging" us with what we want (but we don't necessarily need). We are always kept in convenience with these kinds of manipulative marketing methods. Keeping people to buy more is the method used everywhere when it comes to business, but here in Japan, things become available in "lightning speed".
http://stat001.ameba.jp/user_images/20090810/07/idlg-g/c0/97/j/o0250035610229996379.jpg)
This is Becky!
If you are a fan of shows in Japan, U'll come across her at least one a day on TV. However, the topic here is not about her though, it's about what she is holding on her hand.
Cellphone, yes!
But don't you see the bunch of dolls and stuffed animals hanging onto the cellphone! The bunch that is 3,4 times bigger than the cellphone itself!
That's so cool, isn't it. I wonder how she could stuff her cellphone into her bag. Does she have a special bag only for her cellphone?
At least she has no trouble finding her cellphone when she needs it!
Even though Becky's cellphone is quite famous for its huge collection of attached straps, Becky is not the only one who adds everything onto her cellphone. A lot of high school girls are pursuing this trend too. Cellphone straps have always been popular in Japan and they are an trendy accessory to make your own cellphone stand out. Therefore on any kind of cellphones (except for Iphone) here, you will probably get 2 small holes to hang the strap. See how Japanese companies try to indulge you with your flashy hobby. Or if you are not interested in straps, seeing two blank holes on your cellphone makes you want to put something into them. For people who already put strap on their cell, you would feel like you want more attached to it. A lot of small, cute little things here in Japan have strap attached to it so that you can put them on your cellphone. It is boring without a strap! And you can totally tell a person's hobby or personality through the things attached to the cellphone.
The gacha gacha for cellphone strap
I personally have 6 straps attached to mine. However after i switched to Iphone, I had trouble finding a place to put my straps on, because Iphone simply DOESNT have strap hole!!!!!
In the J-pop class, teacher and people were talking about strap culture in Japan and an iphone cover with strap hole is only available in Japan. That is true, however, my quest for hunting the cover with strap hole was not that easy.
The number of iphone users compared to the limited number of cover with strap holes made it hard for me to find a nice one. Also the cover came with uninteresting colours, a higher price than ordinary ones and they are made of bad quality plastic. After only 2 weeks of using, I ruined mine.
However, as Iphone is reigning as the most popular smartphone here in Japan (due to its lower payment, compared to other smartphones), I believe, producers will make more diversity of cover with straps in better quality.
Still, Bravo to Japan for always "indulging" us with what we want (but we don't necessarily need). We are always kept in convenience with these kinds of manipulative marketing methods. Keeping people to buy more is the method used everywhere when it comes to business, but here in Japan, things become available in "lightning speed".
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