Shopping Guide
Tomodachi Kara Onegaishimasu is a new light novel by Mariko Shimizu, who has been active since the inception of Media Factory's junior books publication department, MF Bunko J. The novel is her first submission to MF Bunko J in three years. Compared to her previous works, the cover for this novel bears a stronger resemblance to other works published by MF Bunko J.
The novel is a love comedy following adolescent teens. One day, the protagonist, a high school student named Yamashina Kaede, has a rendezvous with his classmate Tanaka Mokuren while enjoying a day off riding the monorail. Mokuren is a beautiful girl with long, black hair. However, because of her blunt personality, she is always arguing with the boys. Yamashina tries to avoid her by leaving the monorail but she sees him and chases after him asking, "Why are you running away from me?" Yamashina comes clean about the reason why he was riding on the monorail: he wanted to see the mysterious ghost-like "Yokogao-san" who can be seen from the windows of the monorail. Yamashina then learns that Mokuren was on the monorail for the same reason. The pair then join forces and go on a quest to discover the true identity of Yokogao-san.
This work is a rare "super mainstream love story" by Shimizu. In the light novel industry, more than 100 books are published each month, and so it is a common strategy to create extraordinary characters. However, the characters in this novel are as normal as normal can get. In fact, its normalness conveys Shimizu’s confidence in her writing. Shimizu is known for crafting “stories that can be enjoyed by readers even without peculiar characters.”
This is a story between the protagonist Kaede, who is excessively self-conscious like every other adolescent boy, and Mokuren, who is clumsy in the way she expresses her honest thoughts to others. There is certain intricacy to their thoughts. Even though they disagreed with each other, just like how two teeth fit together, they shared a comfortable, unique relationship. Furthermore, many little aspects of the story, such as the secret shared by both their names and the hobby Mokuren hid from everyone around her, built up to a charming account of the two main characters gradually closing the distance between them.
The work also hints at a sequel through foreshadowing. The first volume is priced at 609 yen. If you are a fan of slice of life romances, definitely give this charming work a read.
Source:
http://www.4gamer.net/games/115/G011590/20121130058/ (Japanese)
