Review: Scarlett

I think that mostly everybody in the world, at one point in their lives, wishes for the extraordinary. In the midst of a monotonous daily routine, there’s that visceral wish for an end to the clockwork. Now, don’t get me wrong. A monotonous daily life isn’t necessarily a bad one — by definition, it provides a sense of stability. Rather, you could say that exactly because it’s monotonous, that it provides peace of mind. But, despite all that, I still do think that most individuals wish for a break from the monotony. Most individuals understandably, wish, and do nothing more. But certain individuals, or rather it’d be more accurate to say, few individuals on their own volition, go out to pursue it. The protagonist of this work, Oono Akito, is one such individual. With a model Beretta in hand, he, with abandon, travels to a military base in Okinawa for the sake of fulfilling his wish.

Scarlett is by no means, a very realistic story. One of the writers of this story is most reputed possibly, for writing Narcissu. Whereas the aforementioned tale is known for being relatively grounded in reality, Scarlett is very clearly not such. It’s not a tale of intrigue, it’s not a tale of complex philosophy, nor is it much of a tale of complex interpersonal relationships. Truth be told, I don’t quite know what it is a tale of. Occasionally it’s incongruous, and occasionally, it’s very much thought-provoking. If pressed to say, I could argue that in attribution, it’s most similar to an action movie. It has a mixture of absurdity from the premise itself (a clandestine, nearly-omnipotent super-spy existence), but at the same time, its compelling moments of climactic resolution facilitated by its execution. But on second thought, I don’t think that calling it similar to an action movie is entirely right either. If I was pressed to demarcate Scarlett into one archetype, I’d say that it’s a simple tale of maturity. A boy, stuck in a tedious clockwork, takes the initiative to break free from it. As with all tales of maturity, he struggles. But on the same note, no tale of maturity by name, ends with an immature main character.

In any case, the author of this work excels with getting the reader into the work relatively quickly. There’s basically no time wasted — the introduction is very succinct. The writing seems to be characteristic in that the events are developed in an ‘exclusive’ light. Only the main players of the story are really commentated on — there are not a lot of minor, obscure characters (i.e. the background characters in schools). Furthermore, as erroneous as the attribution may be, the work had a very ‘retro’ mood to it — both in writing, direction, and most notably, in soundtrack. This work, granted that it’s rather dated, lacks a variety of the common moe elements found in modern media. I had noted that this work takes its creativity liberties when it comes to crafting the grandiose — but, this actually aids in accentuating the work, more than it does, discredit it. Indeed, I would argue that in order for the work to convey its major themes, that its chosen setting is necessary. The novel itself is divided into arc formats — I don’t think that there was truly a ‘linchpin’ which actually held all the arcs together (so it’s somewhat episodic). This didn’t necessarily make the work ‘weak’ on topic of the storyline, but the storyline was there more to develop the characters than to be unique on itself. The storyline itself concerns various topics — politics is held to be a very central motif, and so is responsibility of power. Truth to be told, I don’t remember a good amount of the plot — it wasn’t very memorable.

Nonetheless, while I don’t remember the precise details of each arc, I do remember, the overall sense that I got from reading through it. I think like Narcissu, this is a work which works best in bringing out certain moods from the reader. If you were to look at this work in itself, on virtue of its writing and storyline, then it’d seem highly archetypal (which is true, as this work does not do a lot of novel things). It’s a work carried greatly by its strong pacing, its gung-ho execution, and its penchant for developing the moods. This is basically a way of saying that objectively (in examining its mechanical components), it’s hard to pin down exactly why I enjoyed the work this much. This is a work which doesn’t do a lot of things wrong — whether it’d be a result of its lack of ‘dead time,’ or its fun writing, this works lacks a lot of irritating elements. This novel is centered around two protagonists — both are developed solidly, and both, act as wonderful foils to the other. Neither of them commit anything egregiously inane, and both of them, seem very human at times. Perhaps the fact of neither of the characters being ‘avant-garde.’ Aside from these mechanical elements, I’d argue that the work, like Narcissu, excels at immersing the audience into the work, into connecting well with the characters. It’s a work which I think, is memorable due to its poignancy from setting & memory, than of plot or writing in itself.

For instance, the work develops its mood in a three-pronged way (yes, I can butcher expressions). On one prong, there’s the rapid, quick pacing — the audience never really experiences a moment of dullness. While nothing ‘extraordinary’ exists in an instance of what they experience, cumulatively, it’s a pleasant memory. It’s with this, that I was able to read this work in a day (I’d garner a little over 10 hours of total reading). On the second prong, the work excels in execution. It does well in creating a little world occupied entirely only by the main cast of characters and the reader. The work knows just how far to extend with the story it tries to tell — it doesn’t include anybody unnecessary, which allows the story to move without losing its momentum. Because of this, the reader relates with the characters on a more personal note.  Of course, the work has several inherently moments of ‘badassery’ and awe — these invariably make a work enjoyable. And, on the last prong, the work integrates an ambient, but still, easy-to-listen-to soundtrack. I had called this work ‘retro’ in feeling — this is due in part to its soundtrack, and it’s due in part, to the writing itself (as it seems so distinctly not that modern). Granted the congestion of more modern works, this culminates a sense of novelty. So, the work’s ‘strong’ as a result of its whole. In respect to its individual portions, the work feels ‘lacking’ — the storyline itself is consistent and paced-well, but not extraordinary, and the characters are developed-well and affable, but not incredible.  In respect to its entirety, it’s a fine work.

mdz
I enjoy reflecting on works which I've read and sharing my thoughts on them.

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