"Imouto sae Ireba Ii" volume 10 by Hirasaka Yomi

2018-08-04 : previous : next : index : [books] [imouto]


"Imouto sae Ireba Ii" (all good as long as we have younger sister) volume 10 by Hirasaka Yomi. This is the aftermath of revealing Chihiro's secret identity.

The first chapter provides the backstory to Chihiro's past, where she became Itsuki's brother around the time Itsuki published his first novel. Given the maniac sister related content in this first novel, Itsuki's father had every reason to believe that Itsuki gaining a younger sister would be disastrous. It was Chihiro who pushed forward with the bold proposal to live as Itsuki's brother, due to her strong desire to have a family. Now that the secret is out, there is a sense of relief from all the tension that has been built around this premise. Chihiro got to enjoy her true role, and we readers got to see extra girlie illustrations of Chihiro, among other things.

Besides the Chihiro's identity, the other source of tension in this series came from random anecdotes from the light novel industry. This volume features Itsuki's trip report to Taiwan, including how the packaging is slightly more upscale and how certain topics have greater international appeal, and there was even a paragraph mentioning fansubs. There were also the usual tourist attractions, like the super fast elevator of Taipei 101, the famous jadeite cabbage at National Palace Museum, and the bizarre foods of the night markets. These experience presumably came from Hirasaka-sensei's own trip to Taiwan in 2011, the text here is brief but authentic.

Finally, we have the convergence of these two tensions. Itsuki's father believed that revealing Chihiro's identity would be a disaster, and it really was a disaster, but not in the way that he predicted. Recall that Itsuki is a writer who specializes in younger sisters, but how can he continue to write about imaginary younger sisters when he now has a real sister? It's the greatest obstacle that the writer has yet to overcome, and the resolution doesn't happen in this volume.

This series is probably near the end, but there are still some loose ends to fill. Looking forward to the next volume.


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