Sakurazawa Erica - Angel Nest (Eng. trans.)

[oyceter]

This is a collection of short stories. The main one is about Natsu, a working woman who walks in on her husband having an affair. That day, an angel moves in (which Natsu is not cognizant of), and soon after, Emi, the Other Woman, does too (which Natsu is most definitely cognizant of). Natsu's a career woman, and Emi doesn't quite know who she is or who she wants to be. To both of their surprises, they end up comforting each other and getting along. I like the focus on the everyday, and I very much like that it has two women talking to each other and getting to know each other outside of their romantic rivalry, something that is sadly missing from much of the josei I've read. I do like josei for having career women heroines and having heroines who deal with things like choices between romance and work, sexism in the workplace, and people thinking you're a spinster for not being married by 30. But instead of going off into feminists rants on why the system should change, a lot of what I've read simply shows how the heroines cope or fail to cope without ever quite going so far to critique the entire system. Alas, neither does Angel Nest, but I'll take what I can get!

The other three short stories are less memorable—one is about a gay man and a straight man as friends, one on yet another woman whose salaryman husband is cheating on her, and the last on a car theft turned fantasy.

I'm not sure if I was in ithe right mood to read these pieces. I appreciated them, but didn't fall in love, and though I wouldn't buy Sakurazawa's books, if I see them in the library, I'll definitely try her again.

Comments

[larryhammer]

The title story was indeed more memorable than the others -- I couldn't recall them until I got to your potted descriptions, but that first one still haunts me. I'm glad, though, that this wasn't the first Sakurazawa I met, or I might not have started buying up everything I can. Which has resulted in a mixed bag, but the good ones are very good.

---L.

[oyceter]

Ooooh, which ones do you recommend?

[larryhammer]

Force me to discover that my manga shelving is even more chaotic than I thoguht, why don't you.

The ones that stand out in memory are Rules of Love and Nothing But Loving You, but there's a niggle at the back of my brain saying there was another I'm not finding. Will let you know if the nig turns into a nudge.

---L.

[oyceter]

Hee!

Also, thanks for the pointers! And yes, do let me know if you think of more.