When I first read Sailor Nothing, I had no idea what a deconstruction was, and so didn't pick up on any of that. At points I found it so grim and depressing I almost couldn't go on, but the writing kept me going - and it was worth it. Say what you like about the ending, but I found it the best part - all the torture and sadness Himei had to go through was, well...cancelled out, because she'd earned something close to redemption. The emotion really hooked me in as well, and I couldn't stop reading and thinking about it for a very long time afterwards, which says something.
Reading back over it a year later, I saw a lot more faults than I did when I was still a fangirl. The writing's not that great; I remember I didn't really like the use of "cheap" and "expensive" quite so much as the author did. Sometimes it seems like he was trying to be smart, rather than tell a story.
Conclusion? If you want to read this, turn your brain off and focus on the emotion. The writing's not bad, but it's not good either, whilst the emotions will capture you (at least, they captured me...).
Actually Quite Good
When I first read Sailor Nothing, I had no idea what a deconstruction was, and so didn't pick up on any of that. At points I found it so grim and depressing I almost couldn't go on, but the writing kept me going - and it was worth it. Say what you like about the ending, but I found it the best part - all the torture and sadness Himei had to go through was, well...cancelled out, because she'd earned something close to redemption. The emotion really hooked me in as well, and I couldn't stop reading and thinking about it for a very long time afterwards, which says something.
Reading back over it a year later, I saw a lot more faults than I did when I was still a fangirl. The writing's not that great; I remember I didn't really like the use of "cheap" and "expensive" quite so much as the author did. Sometimes it seems like he was trying to be smart, rather than tell a story.
Conclusion? If you want to read this, turn your brain off and focus on the emotion. The writing's not bad, but it's not good either, whilst the emotions will capture you (at least, they captured me...).