Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Japanese Cellphone Novels

Wow. The Wall Street Journal this morning has a story about Japanese cellphone novelists, here, along with some excerpts from novels. (If you don't have a WSJ subscription and want to read it, I can email you the article, which will give you access. Let me know.)

The WSJ summarizes three plots and gives excerpts from each:

"What the Angel Gave Me" by Chaco

Summary: Mai Hinata, a 10th-grade high school girl, meets Kagu -- a boy "with a face as beautiful as a girl's" -- through a friend, and gradually falls in love with him. He loves her, too, but misunderstandings get in the way, and they end up dating other people for a while. Mai, unable to bear it any longer, eventually gathers the courage to confess her love to him. She asks Kagu to come see her, but he dies in a motorcycle accident on his way there. Mai finds out five and a half years later that Kagu had broken up with his girlfriend the morning he died and had planned to confess his love for her, too.

"Clearness -- An Eternally Pure Love Story" by Towa

Summary: Sakura is a 20-year-old college student who has sex for money to fund her shopping addiction. After her customers leave her apartment, she spends her time spying on Reo, a young, beautiful and (dyed) blond-haired boy, who works at a male escort service across the street. One day, Reo pays her a visit, and so starts an unlikely friendship. But Reo has a troubled past. He is the son of a prostitute who worked for his current pimp and died before she could repay money that she owed. He himself entered the business when he graduated from junior high school. Though Reo refuses to make love to Sakura (he has a policy of not having sex outside of work), the two fall in love and become inseparable until Reo gets into a fight with Sakura's boyfriend and gets him into a car accident. Reo turns himself in, and Sakura moves to Okinawa to wait for him at their dream destination.

"Love Sky -- A Heartbreaking Love Story" by Mika

Summary: Sixteen-year-old Mika meets Hiro, a tall, intimidating boy with dyed brown hair and countless ear piercings, through a friend. The two start dating, but suffer greatly. First, Mika is gang-raped by some boys sent by Hiro's ex-girlfriend. Then, Mika gets pregnant with Hiro's baby and loses it, to their great sadness. Though Hiro stands by Mika through it all, he starts acting strangely and abruptly breaks up with her. Two and a half years later, she finds out that he is dying from cancer and had broken up with her to protect her from the pain of his death. She rushes to the hospital and spends his last days at his side. After his death, she discovers she's pregnant again, but loses the baby.

(I must be getting old -- I can't imagine reading these, much less on a cellphone. But it's true that my typical fare would make for bad cellphone reading. I do remember seeing a Kurosawa movie in which a young doctor leaves his fiancee because he's contracted syphilis during a medical operation in WWII. She never finds out why he left. I watched it in a movie theater.)

31 comments:

yukki said...

I've heard about this genre (keitai shoosetsu or "cellphone novels"), but never known about the content. It's very interesting... I wonder if these kinds of stories are typical. Do you think they reflect the reality of Japanese young people or more like their dreams?

j.taylor said...

To me, the content sounds like melodrama, offering readers an emotional roller-coaster ride but not necessarily reflecting their actual lives or dreams.

At least, I hope that prostitution, gang-rapes, and terminal illnesses don't reflect the reality of too many Japanese youth.

yukki said...

I hope so, too! I'm too old to understand this stuff :-( The content reminds me of Harlequin (sp?) romance novels, but do young people read them? I don't think so...

Anonymous said...

can you e.mail me a copy of the whole story of love sky...irakimb@yahoo.com

chowder said...

can you also send me a copy of lovesky? ive been looking all over for it =P

stariilusion25@gmail.com

Anonymous said...

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Dhyanarm said...

do you think you could also send me a copy of the whole story of lovesky i cant find it anywhere either

sorry
thanks

dhyanarm@gmail.com

j.taylor said...

Sorry, I don't have a copy of any of the novels -- I only quoted from the Wall Street Journal story. Good luck finding them.

Anonymous said...

can you send me a copy of 'love sky' to peachy769@yahoo.com.au

Bea Baysa said...

hello.Could you send me the whole story of LOVE SKY??.I want to read it really!.thanks.

email me at:

xoxo_twilight_bea@yahoo.com

THAnK YOU!

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Jade Hollander said...

can you send me a copy of lovesky. Ive been searching for it everywhere.
Please as soon as possible. I've watch the movie and the drama and i really want to read it in english. Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please

eternal_snow_heart@yahoo.com

Anonymous said...

Hi there,

Oohw mai gawd....
I'm looking all over the internet to find the novel in english... T.T
Where is it!?
If anyone has it...
Please send it to me:
R.ea.L@live.nl

Anonymous said...

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Belenette said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Belenette said...

Can I have a copy of Koizora/ Love Sky? Please..pretty please. :3 Thanks!
email: belenette@yahoo.com
thank you :D

xShane said...

I'd be grateful if you send me a copy of Lovesky/ Koizora by Mika.

My Email is Itzharuharu@yahoo.com
Thank you very much.

Anonymous said...

Hello.
Can you also send me a copy of Love Sky/Koizora by Mika? Please and thank you :D

peacheatsfood@hotmail.co.uk

Time Clock Software said...

This is an interesting concept!

Anonymous said...

hi! can u please email to me..koizora to bombon_irli@hotmail.com

thank u sooooo much

Anonymous said...

Can you also send me a copy of koizora? I would be very grateful. Please send it to Intesar96@yahoo.com. Thank you so much!

DragonSlayer_Natsu said...

Can you also send me a copy to dezviv@netzero.net

DragonSlayer_Natsu said...

A copy of koizora

DragonSlayer_Natsu said...

Actually can you send me a copy of "clearness" and "what the angle gave me" too please

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farhana said...

can you sent me a copy of koizora-sky of love?i have been seaching for english one..really appreciate it.. my e-mail=> farhana_yasin@yahoo.com.my

Unknown said...

Hello!
Can you please send me english copy of the whole story of love sky. Thank you very much.
my email: mikataski@gmail.com

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