bumping a real old topic here but it is the Asano thread!
Finished reading Girl on the Shore recently.
Man it looks at a pretty complicated and gratuitous side of "growing up" that I was completely sheltered from. It really shows a case of how much can go wrong when youth think they're more "adult" than they really are.
The physical engagement between the characters was.... senseless... mindless... and that's mainly because these young people aren't emotionally developed enough to really understand the emotional meaning and connotations behind their actions.
That epiphany Isobe experienced was a highlight, but again, there was no meaning behind it. These character's were hell bent on finding a "magic wand" overnight fix to cure their existential angst but there isn't any.
As confronting and shallow as the characters depicted were, Inio Asano does a great job at showing how youth in the modern world are basically lost in wilderness, trying to figure out the point of their existence.
Not the Asano book I'd recommend first hand, only read it if you'e already read What a Wonderful World and Solanin.
It's funny because even Luke hesitated in recommending it, and I can see why.