Blood on the Tracks, Volume 1
2 journalers for this copy...
I got this softcover at Barnes and Noble. It's by the author of Happiness, an unconventional vampire series.
This one looks benign on the face of it, but as the title suggests, it's pretty dark. The story centers on Seiichi, a boy whose life seems normal and happy; his mother wakes him up for school, his classmates tease but seem to like him, he has a crush on a girl in his class... Details of daily life unfold, and seem pleasant if ordinary - and then the first hints of something off-key creep in. We learn that when Seiichi was in kindergarten his mother came to class EVERY DAY, just standing in the rear, supposedly because Seiichi was unhappy without her - but when Seiichi's cousin tells him his mom is overprotective, Seiichi gets angry with him.
Other little events - and some of the angles and closeups in the artwork - suggest that the cousin is correct and that Seiichi's mother is a bit TOO invested in watching over him. And when the entire family goes on a hike near the end of this volume, and the mother finds Seiichi with his cousin Shige, and Shige calls her overprotective to her face... something happens that changes the entire tone of the story. {shudder...}
Given that this is a series, I have to wonder where it will go from here; even if Seiichi chooses to remember the event the way his mother describes it instead of the way he saw it, things can't continue in this vein for very long without something becoming public. But Seiichi's still young and he loves his mother, so...
[There's a TV Tropes page on the series.]
This one looks benign on the face of it, but as the title suggests, it's pretty dark. The story centers on Seiichi, a boy whose life seems normal and happy; his mother wakes him up for school, his classmates tease but seem to like him, he has a crush on a girl in his class... Details of daily life unfold, and seem pleasant if ordinary - and then the first hints of something off-key creep in. We learn that when Seiichi was in kindergarten his mother came to class EVERY DAY, just standing in the rear, supposedly because Seiichi was unhappy without her - but when Seiichi's cousin tells him his mom is overprotective, Seiichi gets angry with him.
Other little events - and some of the angles and closeups in the artwork - suggest that the cousin is correct and that Seiichi's mother is a bit TOO invested in watching over him. And when the entire family goes on a hike near the end of this volume, and the mother finds Seiichi with his cousin Shige, and Shige calls her overprotective to her face... something happens that changes the entire tone of the story. {shudder...}
Given that this is a series, I have to wonder where it will go from here; even if Seiichi chooses to remember the event the way his mother describes it instead of the way he saw it, things can't continue in this vein for very long without something becoming public. But Seiichi's still young and he loves his mother, so...
[There's a TV Tropes page on the series.]
I'm sending this to BCer HI77 as part of a trade. Enjoy!
*** Released for the 2020 Spooktacular October challenge. ***
*** Released for the 2020 Spooktacular October challenge. ***
A grasp of sunshine
seems a divine thing,
till the worms pop out.
seems a divine thing,
till the worms pop out.
