TALES|Bocchi the Review|9|Work Review 4

Hello, I am Ugo no Takenoko. Please call me Ugo.
This time, I participated in the reading exchange project hosted by U-sama, "Bocchi the Review 9" and "Lord of the Bocchi".

This is the final review.

This is the recommended review, rewrite, and finale for TALES.
It takes a lot of energy! So, I thought I couldn't write it without momentum, and I just went for it!

I've been writing with the personal rule of no spoilers, but honestly, is that even possible here??

So, once again, here is the synopsis and review with spoilers!

Sorry, U-san!

Nakamachi Mahoro Shopping District: Tsuki to Nami Coffee

Author: U|Shaputen Reon-sama

Synopsis: A self-proclaimed "all-around beauty" with catastrophically low romantic luck and EQ.

The protagonist, "I," was living a life of emotional devastation due to repeated heartbreaks and a lack of affection from her mother.

One rainy day, after being betrayed by her lover yet again, she felt alienated by the sight of a happy parent and child on the bus and got off midway as if to escape.

There, she accidentally stepped into a coffee shop called "Tsuki to Nami Coffee" in the deserted Nakamachi Mahoro Shopping District.

In the shop was a reticent owner who had a faint presence and only repeated short responses like "Hmm."

However, he noticed from the way she closed her umbrella that her "heart's umbrella" was also closed, and served her "Panama Kotowa" coffee, which gives off the scent of roses, in honor of the rose decorating the handle of her umbrella.

The owner clumsily conveyed that what is needed for the rain in one's heart that never stops is not an umbrella, but the sunlight of "warmth born from connections with people."

Touched by that cup of coffee and the owner's sincere feelings, her frozen heart began to thaw, and she regained the warmth to affirm herself.

Having settled her past and started visiting the shop, she learned that the regular customers, unique men known as the "Pirate" and the "Demon," were planning a "festival" to revitalize the shopping district and save the shop.

Although she initially looked on with cold eyes, she couldn't overlook their aimless plan and began to intervene with her trademark sharp tongue and analytical skills.

And so, driven by their enthusiasm to protect the shop and her gratitude for the coffee that saved her, she decided to take on the festival's main attraction, "coffee demonstration sales by a beauty," and work at the shop.

Review

Anyway, the protagonist, 'I', has such an intense personality.

First of all, the setting is a total trap—or maybe a dark abyss?—where she calls herself an 'all-around beauty' but has rock-bottom romantic intelligence and EQ, and gets dumped in a miserable way every single time.

Lines like 'The word love does not exist in my user dictionary' show off her sharp-witted internal monologue, and the way she tosses in JoJo references (maybe?) and Dragon Quest references (maybe?) is just great!

It's not just the wordplay; there's a scene at 'Tsuki to Nami Coffee' on a rainy day that hits you suddenly. A healing part!

The shopkeeper only ever says, 'Hmm.'

The mystery of it (seriously, why does he only say that?) and his insight into the fact that she has closed her 'umbrella of the heart'.

In the episode about the rose-scented 'Panama Kotowa,' when he says that what you need for the rain falling in your heart isn't an umbrella, but the sunlight of 'the warmth born from human connection,' it warms my heart too. It makes me want to try a cup.

So, that's the nice part. But then, you know?

The drop in tone during the shopping district festival (fes!?) meeting scene in the second half!

The banter with the mysterious anthropomorphic group of 'Pirates,' 'Demons,' and 'Pigeons' is just like a comedy routine!

And then, of all things, 'a beauty with a grilled rice cracker'!? What even is a grilled rice cracker?

From there, it lands properly on a coffee demonstration sale, and the flow where she decides, 'I guess I'll have to roll up my sleeves and do it,' is just... yeah.

It's a work where I'm looking forward to seeing how she, carrying her emotional scars, will recover in this warm, slightly strange place.

I definitely want you to read it while mentally heckling the characters.

Future Expectations

As for future developments, I don't think it will just be a heartwarming 'shopping district revitalization story.'

The plan for a 'coffee demonstration sale by a beauty' will likely spiral out of control due to her intense self-consciousness as an 'all-around beauty' and the 'sharp-tongued MC' personality in her brain, leading to an unexpected situation where the festival becomes more than just a shopping district event—perhaps a chaotic 'cult recruitment rally,' a 'beauty worship ritual,' or a 'rice cracker grilling marathon.' The customers who show up will probably be pretty intense characters, too.

I'm especially curious about the regulars: the 'Pirate' and the 'Demon' (and the pigeon).

It's even possible there could be a surreal sci-fi twist where, beyond just her perspective filter, they physically awaken as actual 'pigeons' and start flying through the sky with looks of utter shock on their faces.

Also, I can't rule out the ending where the mysterious shopkeeper's 'Hmm' is actually a high-level telepathy mediated by the scent of coffee, and he turns out to be something non-human, like a 'coffee spirit' or a 'yokai human'.

Whether her "misfortune skill" causes miracles (and trouble), I want it to push far beyond the reaches of imagination.

And so, with all that said,

By participating in Bocchi the Review, I was able to read works in genres I probably wouldn't have picked up myself, and it opened new doors for me.

These four works this time, the four works from last time, and the work I read aloud have all had a tremendous influence on my own work. My deepest gratitude to them all!