re:Happiness by @Lastwill
Reviewed and recommended by I.
"Before, to the eyes of a child,
The world had seemed much, much kinder."
Line by line, hinged together in a delicate shower of words, Wallen's "re:Happiness" tells the story of Fujiwara Ao and his stereoscopic journey for happiness. Taking place in our time, Fujiwara moves through life at a bearable pace, one eye on his past, and the other on the present. Despite the nauseating anhedonia eating him from the inside, he moves forward, taking everything in one detail at a time. From the clock slowly ticking away to the gnawing dreams that leave him feeling hollow, a voice speaks to him. A voice that frames his existence on a canvas of splashed monochrome. A voice he hates, yet needs. Then he meets her. A girl with a radiant smile and hair of midnight.
Past and present. Black and white. Happiness and sadness. Wallen makes powerful use of juxtaposition not only in their storytelling, but perspective. Dark, almost sordid lines of black imprint itself across the otherwise clean, organized space of Fujiwara's thoughts. His darkest moments are clearly reflected in his (Fujiwara) increasing interaction with this voice. As a result, some of Wallen's shortest chapters (some only spanning a couple of sentences) provide some of the strongest feelings. Overall, the chapters are nicely balanced, Wallen writing in a one-line format, indenting after each thought. Through this, it gives "re:Happiness" an impression of being longer than initially imagined. As a genre capitalizing on its emphasized usage of the entire space and not merely the words, this can be viewed as another strong point.
Stereoscopic can be defined as the process by which two photographs of the same object taken at slightly different angle or perspective are merged together to create an illusion of depth and solidity. Fujiwara Ao despite resenting the voice within, simultaneously embraces it. Without this voice, no matter how chaotic its intentions may be, it spells out the "whole perspective", subconsciously rationalizing the illusion of depth in his (Fujiwara's) choices. We all know the pain of seeing in this warped vision.
Will Fujiwara be able to overcome his internal strife, and see things clearly? Will he find the courage to reach out to her? Find out in Wallen's spectacular "re:Happiness."
YOU ARE READING
Featured Reads on the Cell Phone Novel Network
RandomA featured cellphone novel will be reviewed and recommended every two weeks. Tune in and add Featured Reads to your reading list for breathtaking CPNs that we guarantee will both inspire and entertain you.
