[Creative Award Review] How to Walk Through the World of "stars" by U

Events occurring in the "Thirteenth Parallel Microcosm," a dimension different from our own universe.

Lives and souls with standards different from what humans currently consider life come and go.

Grasping a higher-dimensional world is difficult with our language. Conversely, those from the Thirteenth cannot describe their world in our language.

Perhaps we are looking at the same universe as them, but the worlds described by different thoughts and languages do not intersect.

Even if it is translated into Japanese and told, it is difficult to interpret it with our senses.
You need to use a different part of your brain.

Let the flowing words ride on your senses just as they are, catching what slides by like somen noodles in a flume.

If you convert what you catch into images, the flavor is lost. It is best to just swallow it as it is.

Swallow it down, and eventually, when you reconfirm what they let go of in their history, a point of connection with our senses should be formed.

★Please check out the newly created OUCHI project YouTube channel★

Some people might read this story and feel it is difficult.

If you think it is difficult, then "It's difficult!" is the correct impression to have!

By the way, understanding a story does not necessarily mean "understanding what the author is thinking"—I would like to say that first.

This is very important.

When people encounter a story, they inevitably want to read into it deeply or try to decipher the author's intentions.

However, I believe that is incredibly nonsensical.

No one knows what is in the author's heart!

I sometimes explain the stories I write myself, but I never tell the truth, haha.

(I am in the camp that wants readers to interpret things however they like. I don't want to dictate the interpretation.)

How you perceive it yourself—that is what is most important.

So, if you've found yourself thinking, "Wait, how am I supposed to take this in?" and feeling completely lost.

You might feel anxious, wondering if you're the only one who doesn't get it, but it's okay if you don't understand.

There are several books in this world that are called difficult reads.

I feel that U's "stars" belongs in that category.

Why does it feel like a difficult read?

I believe it is because of the uniqueness of its world.

How do you read stories?

Do you create images in your head while following the text? I do.

I follow the story while imagining the scenes in my mind.

What are called difficult reads aren't just about using complex words; it's a state where it's hard to visualize because the story talks about concepts different from our own world.

Often, when a story is praised as being "impossible to adapt to film," that is exactly what it means.

I think U's "stars" is exactly that kind of story.

Writing a story like this, especially with the word count of a full-length novel, is no easy feat.

In particular, if your natural writing style isn't at this level of intensity, you have to constantly be conscious of not drifting back to your natural style while writing.

This requires a thorough establishment of the worldview and the ability to constantly view what you have written objectively.

However... what I find a little frightening is that there are parts where it seems U might be doing this naturally.

This worldview is natural-born.

Based on my personal impression after reading several of U-san's stories, I feel that U-san might be a possessed-type writer.

When they start writing a story, they become possessed by that world. They mutate into the thought patterns of that world... That is the impression I get.

'stars' is written in such a way that the events of the 'Thirteenth Parallel Microcosm', a world with concepts different from our own, are based on the concepts of that world.

That is why it can feel difficult...

If I encounter a story that I find difficult, I try to temporarily discard my usual way of reading stories.

First, here is a method I recommend that anyone can do.

・Warp past the parts you don't understand
・Read the parts you do understand
・Try returning to the parts you didn't understand once more

By grasping the overall picture of the world from the parts you understand in this way, I think there will be a moment when the outline becomes clear.

Many unfamiliar words also appear in 'stars'.

You might get carried away by these words and lose sight of the path.

For times like that, a glossary (listed in the introduction) and visuals are also provided.

I hope you can enjoy these in parallel as well.

Oh, but you don't need to understand every single detail.

Vaguely, just feeling that words you can't immediately understand are pleasant... or thinking this scene is beautiful... or that this scene comes to mind... you can enjoy the story enough just by immersing yourself in these fragmented images.

Like this... everyone, please dive into the world of 'stars'!

Please also check out the mind-blowing theme song☆

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