At the Bookstore.

2007/04/15 11:56

At the bookstore.

We wandered around, pointing out books and making comments.

… But of course, the books we were speaking about weren’t novels.

We were talking about manga.

ME:	Hey, it’s Ookiku Furikabutte. Ooh, I didn’t know they were making an anime of this.
Y-KO:	Hmm? Oh, that moe manga?
ME:	No, it’s not a moe manga.
Y-KO:	… That easily fantasizable moe manga?
ME:	Thanks for the correction. So it still qualifies as a moe manga to you, huh?

All I see is a traditional, entertaining baseball manga.

At the very least, I’m pretty sure it’s not moe.

… And it certainly doesn’t cause me to have any fantasies.

I mean, I definitely don’t fantasize over Momo’s nice body or wish that I had a sexy coach like that in high school. No way, not me… I swear!

So stop pointing at the cover and smirking at me, Y-ko!

Y-KO:	I really like baseball manga, though. They’re always entertaining.
ME:	Huh? You do? Do you know all the rules of baseball?
Y-KO:	Well, enough to enjoy the stories.
	Especially the part about there being nine boys for main characters.
ME:	And that’s by far the most important rule to you, I’m assuming…

And that’s all that Y-ko needs to enjoy something…

Y-KO:	And as long as there’s an opponent to play, you’re guaranteed eighteen boys, right?
	It’s the best.
ME:	Guaranteed what…?
Y-KO:	Guaranteed moe elements.

That’s not what they’re supposed to be for!

They’re supposed to be there to win the game!

Y-KO:	And you know what they say about catchers? They “play the wife” to the pitchers.
	Now, if that doesn’t get your saliva flowing, I don’t know what does.
ME:	Saliva…? Uh, I think you’ve got the wrong idea about this…
Y-KO:	How so? There’s a reason they use pitchers and catchers as a euphemism.
	One of them throws, and the other “receives.”
ME:	That’s true that they say that! It’s true, but—
Y-KO:	But you really have to be jealous of the girl who helps the coach manage the team.
	She’s got the best vantage point for all the moe goodness.
ME:	Man, what a sick reason to want to be involved in a high school sport!
Y-KO:	Well, it’s better than if she just wanted to hook up with the guys!
ME:	They’re both equally distasteful!
Y-KO:	The girl gets to secretly watch the coolheaded captain and the former star pitcher recovering from injury as they practice late at night. It’s an all-you-can-moe feast.
ME:	Okay, thanks to that phrase, I now think that is worse than joining so you can hook up with the players!

A female manager who joins to fantasize about the players.

… Do they exist?

…… I can only pray they don’t.

But then again, ever since I learned that school libraries stock BL material,

I’ve lost a lot of faith in the things I held for granted…

… When I get home, I’m reading Touch and H2.

Mitsuru Adachi’s female managers are the best!

Y-KO:

Actually, I do like baseball and all, but soccer manga is pretty good, too.

And she pointed at Whistle!

Hey, I know that one.

That really brings me back… Looks like they’ve made a special reprint edition.

ME:	Next is soccer, huh?
Y-KO:	They have eleven players instead of nine.
ME:	It all comes down to the numbers, doesn’t it?
Y-KO:	Well, when you have a match, then it’s twenty-two men on the field!
	Don’t you see? All you can moe!
ME:	Would you stop using that phrase?!
	… Wait! Is that the reason you don’t like Prince of Tennis all that much?
	Because there are only four on the court, max?!
Y-KO:	Huh? No, that’s not why.
ME:	Oh. It isn’t?
Y-KO:	Kikumaru can create multiple copies of himself, so four isn’t actually the maximum.
ME:	You call that a rebuttal? And please… multiple copies?
Y-KO:	…? What’s so shocking about being able to multiply?
	That stuff showed up like right near the beginning of Dragon Ball.
ME:	You can’t hold a tennis manga and a fantasy action manga to the same standards!
Y-KO:	Well, in this week’s issue of Jump, Echizen finally mastered chi.
ME:	Chi?!
Y-KO:	Chi, or ki, is a special spiritual force that dwells within the body, which, depending on its use, can lead to an all-you-can-moe state.
ME:	Uh, I wasn’t asking for a definition…
	And you really like that term, don’t you? At least, based on the frequency of usage…
Y-KO:	Okay, I was kidding. Echizen didn’t master his chi.
ME:	So you were lying…
Y-KO:	April fool!
ME:	That wasn’t an April fool, and April Fools’ Day has already passed.
Y-KO:	April Fools’ was started in the fifteenth century, when Father April of France was sentenced to death on the first of April for telling a single lie. On the old calendar, it was April first, but in the modern age, it’s actually today.
ME:	… I was wondering why that story sounded so familiar.
	That’s the lie I told you last year on April first.
Y-KO:	It’s not true?!
ME:	You mean you actually believed that?!
Y-KO:	How awful! I trusted it! And I went and told all my friends… on April first!!
ME:	So you did know it was a lie…

We made a tour around the store, babbling and arguing.

… When I glanced down into the basket I was carrying,

I noticed a stack of comic volumes Y-ko had slipped inside.

… This is heavy.

In fact, this is the first time I’ve ever used a basket in a bookstore…

Y-KO:	Hmm… Well, that should do it.
ME:	… You know, this is really heavy.
	Why can’t you use Amazon if you’re going to buy this much?
Y-KO:	Well, some things I want to see in person before I buy.
	Sometimes you take a gamble based on the cover, and it turns out to be really good.
ME:	Oh… Is that how it works?
Y-KO:	A woman’s heart is complex.
ME:	That saying doesn’t really apply when buying a ton of manga.
	Plus, your reasons for buying these are anything but complex.

The answer: for moe purposes.

Three words. Not complex.

Y-KO:	Hmph. How should I describe it, then?
	Once again, I have bought a worthless object?
ME:	Sounds like a harsh appraisal of something you intended to enjoy.
Y-KO:	Once again, I have bought a moe object.
ME:	……

Well, that sounds about right.

We made our way to the register.

… Along the way, we passed the new releases section.

……

Y-KO:	……
ME:	……

… Y-ko and I made eye contact.

We walked faster.

Sped through the new releases section.

… Whew.

Once we had made it past, we breathed a sigh of relief.

Y-KO:	…… I’ll never get used to it.
ME:	…… Nope. Sure won’t.

For some reason, I can’t help but speed up my pace whenever I pass by My Girlfriend’s a Geek in the bookstore…

I wonder if other blog writers who have been published in book form feel the same way…