You can see the first quote here.
Thanks again to Lina at Tiny Ugly Animal for letting me do this tag. Now, today’s quote:
“If you open the cover of a book, you’ll encounter someone’s imagination there. And so, turning through the pages, you’ll stock up imagination in your heart. When you’re alone and you’re sad, try reading a book. Try touching someone’s heart. Try to imagine what they were thinking, what they wanted to convey. If you do that, you might get something amazing.” – Tohko Amano, Bungaku Shoujo (Book Girl)
This is an interesting one, because I tried a few times to make a Bungaku Shoujo post take off earlier this year (when I read most of the main series and figured I could write about it since it had a movie), but somehow this post never worked out.
Now, I didn’t note which book out of the 8 main series books I read to get this quote (I think it may have been the Dazai-centric one, i.e. the first one), but this one seems rather relevant for a blog which is partially about books and for a person who’s dealt with books and libraries almost their entire life, it’s definitely something resonant. Then again, I’ve mentioned I’ve mostly burnt out on standard novels in exchange for anime and manga, which makes me feel like a bit of a hypocrite…
Bungaku Shoujo is one of those special series. That is, it will make you feel things if you happen to have the experiences that allow you to resonate with it. Even if Tohko, the book-munching goblin, is portrayed as a bit of a pain to deal with, she knows how to cut to the heart of an issue when it counts, including here.
The series itself has that kind of nostalgic feeling that people who make anime and manga set in high schools want you to feel, because it’s full of hard times and sad times. It’s full of anguish, love and longing, but also happy times and successes. It’s full of mystery, with beginnings and endings that remind you your time here – whatever context you believe that “time” to be in – is finite.
You’ll notice I have Bungaku Shoujo on my favourites list (under the manga section). That’s why the series means a lot to me and that’s why that quote is my second of the 3 Days 3 Quotes tag.
Hmm…Who next? After throwing out a few ideas, the first one that came up empty in regards to this tag is Primes from Curiously Dead Cat.
Unlike Shoka’s deal, I’m not going to give any of my nominations pressure over this, so take your time!
The Animanga Spellbook 