The Empty Box and Zeroth Maria, Vol. 3 (light novel)

!!!! This series is amazing, and I think vol. iii-iv is my favorite of the stories.

Solid

Another dark, wild ride of a novel

I'm extremely passionate about this series. The seven books put together form one of my favorite stories ever told. They are first-rate psychological deep dives. You will feel something, reading these.This third volume, through twists and turns that remain a mystery through its end, traps the main characters (along with some new ones) in a game where one mistake can mean your death in real life. This may sound like a plotline that's been done to death in Japanese anime and games over the last few years, but back in 2010 when the original was written, it was a lot more original--and, it's been done extremely well here. The heart of the matter lies in the fact that murder, manipulation, and deceit are the keys to success in this game...so what can you do when you're dead set against killing anyone? The third and fourth book form one story; you'll need to stay tuned to see its exciting conclusion!As good as the story is, one particular aspect of Yen Press' Hakomari series is really starting to frustrate me. Initially, I was super excited that an official translation was becoming available. Upon release, the first thing I noticed was that the English versions are significantly larger than the original Japanese books, allowing the full-color illustrations to really pop. Yen didn't cheap out on the covers or the binding, either. But they definitely did cheap out somewhere: editing.Here is a sample of what I found in this release of Volume 3:"I put on the blue wristwatch...and stand in front the door.""Well, I guess overall I probably having a winning record.""...we might even end up more paranoid that before.""...Sorry, that's lie. I can't do it."In all, I found 8 of these errors in just this one volume, including two of them on back-to-back pages. And I do understand that some people won't be bothered by grammatical mistakes. But I'm paying money for these--heck, I'm pre-ordering them!--with the intent of displaying them on my shelf, and reading them over and over again, and thus, I have standards. These aren't Internet posts, or fan translations; they're supposed to be professionally-handled editions that are worth paying good money for. And so far, there have been careless, glaring grammatical errors sprinkled throughout all three released volumes. Being repeatedly and frequently distracted by grammar issues while trying to read a story as cerebral and immersive as Hakomari is extremely frustrating.Looking towards the front of the books, they appear to be the work of just one translator. I don't fault this person. I understand that it's difficult to fully proofread your own work. Would it be that difficult to get a second and/or third person to eyeball it?I actually e-mailed Yen Press about two weeks ago and not only expressed these concerns, but even offered to proofread upcoming volumes myself, for free. To date, I have not received any sort of acknowledgement or response.If this continues, I may decide not to buy the last few volumes, which is a shame, because they're fantastic. Maybe I can somehow print bound copies of the fan translations instead. At least I know that they contain very few errors. After all, several people helped edit them...including me!

I won't lie the begining was kind of desapointing, the MC was even more clueless and passive than before, which was the allready the only real problem in Vol2. However I does have a good development and the second half of the book is really good. Plus The MC is finaly taking the main role over Maria at least for vol4.

I read the complete series from the free translations and I got sucked into it completely! Now I wait until I got all volumes as paperback and I can't wait reading it completely again.The writing style is unique. How Eiji deals with the time loops, story development, character building is amazing. All seven books are interlocked with each other and you have to read it carefully. In every chapter / book you learn more bit by bit about "O", the box, the main and the side charakters.Volume 3 and the first half of volume 4 are the weekest in the series. I could be boring (especially volume 3), but it is worth reading it. And it is important because you learn so much about all the involved characters, their intentions and the reasons for it.With second half of volume 4 the real journey starts, and it will speed up to hell! I never was as captivated by a story as I was when reading Zeroth Maria.I recommend this series to anyone who likes rading a unique captivating story with very deep and strong characters.

Le tome 3 est vraiment très bon et je ne me suis pas ennuyé du début à la fin. j'attends avec impatience la suite.