Hey guys today’s post is inspired by a book that is on all ebook platforms Diary of a Late Bloomer by L.M.L.Gil. Thank you to Xpressotours for sending me a copy to review.
Synopsis: Lo is a sheltered 20-year-old who loves baking, manga/anime, and octopi. When she spots her college swim team’s tryout flyer sporting her favorite sea creature, an octopus, she knows it’s a sign that she must join. The only things standing her way are her socially awkward nature and that she just learned to swim.
As I was reading this book, there were kernels of manga and anime references from the 2000s era and I was surprised with how many I knew and watched and loved. So today I’m going to present the anime references and how the main character was influenced by them. Additionally, I’m going to discuss how I feel about these particular anime and plots and how the cohesion works in my personal opinion. Also one disclaimer: I reread the book to make sure the anime and feelings were correct but if I am mistaken I apologize in advance. Onto the discussion!!
Fruits Basket 2001
Synopsis: Tohru a newly orphaned girl, discovers the Sohma family’s secret (her classmate Yuki’s family in particular); thirteen members of the Sohma family are possessed by the vengeful spirits of the animals of the Chinese zodiac, and they transform into said animals if embraced by the opposite gender.
Connection to Diary of A Late Bloomer
The first mention of an anime at all in this book was 8% through was Fruits Basket 2001. When I first read this, I was thinking oh no are we going to hit all the major animes ever in this book? This anime the character watches after being confused about friendship but it isn’t mentioned again. I can understand that in the sense there is a lot of darkness in Fruits Basket but in this particular rendition of it there was a lot more lightness up until the end (no spoilers here). But overall, this was a fantastic opportunity to present this anime in a book such as this.
Honey x Clover 2005
Synopsis: Yuuta Takemoto is a poor college student who lives in a dilapidated apartment building with his two friends, Shinobu Morita and Takumi Mayama. The series chronicles the students’ story as they struggle through life and love.
Connection to Diary of a Late Bloomer
When it comes to this anime, I’ve heard of it but I havent watched it yet. From what the main character of this book discusses from it 15% through the book, it discusses love and art even inspiring her to draw. In addition at about 18% through she discusses relating to the main character Hagu because of her social awkwardness (which frankly I am too so good to know) and says it’s her favorite anime ever so far which for not ever watching it before has made me even more intrigued. In addition, the main character uses the term Honey x clover a solution if all else fails which was hilarious 41% through the book and 81% she compares herself to the characters Yamada and Hagumi which I can understand her feelings because of the feeling of not being the best at something like fictional characters (but unfortunately we are three dimensional not two). These particular examples plus the synopsis are probably evidence to one of the most relatable animes to this story.
Kaliedo Star 2003
Synopsis: This follows Sora Naegino, a young Japanese girl, who travels to the United States to fulfill her dream of performing at the world-famous Kaleido Stage.
Connection to Diary of a Late Bloomer
The last anime although only briefly mentioned 81% through the book. was this anime. Although this was mentioned as a bootleg (please don’t do this in the current times folks we are talking about the 2000s so it happened), it became a turning point in the story and helped the main character go back to her newfound family and following her dreams. I think this particular case although it was brief it’s the one that was the most explained when it comes to the correlation between the main character’s real life and the Kaliedo Star anime. I think in this particular instance, it rounded out what type of anime the main character loved watching and her thoughts on subbed vs dubbed (which was very interesting lol š). I also liked that the author picked this to be given to her by her family about her swim team because in some ways she and the main character of the anime are alike. Plus to me it felt that it was the tipping point to help the main character to understand the pros of camaraderie and to realize the toxicity of some people versus others.
Conclusion
Overall, reading this novel was a fun ride and examining the anime that were mentioned was fascinating. Check out this book and anime if you haven’t already.
Sushirainbow 