Nov 2, 2022
"This side of the line is where we live. In other words, this side of the Sanzu River. And the other side of the line is the other world, or the other side of the Sanzu River. To learn about the other world is to pass this line. When you take a peek, they will always be able to see you."
Phenomeno is brilliant. The amazing quote above is just one of the many, and not even the best. This light novel is amazingly written. The more you read the better it gets. Up until volume 3 it's episodic: every chapter is a separate story about
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supernatural with the same characters and a couple of months passing between them. And the thing about them is they are just unpredictable and incredibly interesting and well-written. They are kinda like deconstructions of ghost stories. They follow a structure: at first there is nothing wrong, but slowly things get to start weirder and weirder, having you at the edge of your seat. And the more you read the more you think that you know what's going on. And then the culmination happens. All of the paranormal weirdness from the chapter comes together and jumps at you with full force. Then either Yoishi or Krishna save the day and explain what was going on the whole chapter, and all of your expectations are just turned upside down. And the way they explain it is incredible. Half of the time, the seemingly supernatural elements aren't even supernatural. In fact, in the first story there is no supernatural at all. But when there is, it's even better: in the world of Phenomeno, the supernatual is something like a science: although not very accepted and researched, it has it's rules and patterns. It's kinda like a battle system in shonen.
The characters in this light novel are amazing too. Yoishi Mitsurugi is a really mysterious denpa that always has you thinking "What is going on inside her head?" As Krishna says, Yoishi is a girl that has one foot on this side of the river, and the second on the other. She is deeply intertwined with the paranormal. It is what her whole life revolves around. There's also the protagonist, Nagito Yamada. Nagi is basically just your average ordinary student, but more interesting. Nagi is really empathetic. Too empathetic. Empathetic even to ghosts, which often leads him to dangerous situations and of course Yoishi has to rescue him. The relationship between these two is really interesting and unique. Yoishi is a dark, dark character. She is so enshrouded in darkness that she isn't able to experience fear anymore. And of course, despite all that and the danger that comes with associating with Yoishi, Nagi still tries to help her get out of that darkness. Yoishi rarely ever expresses any emotions and you always wonder "what does she think of Nagi? Does she even care about him? Does she feel sympathy towards him? Or does she just not care?" Without spoiling much, all I can say that she calls Nagi her "friend candidate". We also have Krishna, the busty administrator of the occult forum "Ikaigabuchi". Krishna is a kind girl that always takes care of Nagi when he gets in any troubles with Yoishi. And in the third volume gets introduced one of the most interesting characters that I've ever seen in anime, manga or light novels: Ayana Takamura. Without spoiling much, I can say that Ayana Takamura is an antagonist that just breaks your idea of evil as a whole. When she appears, the tension turns up to all the way to the max. She is frightening. The way the characters are introduced is really interesting, too. You only get to know the character when Nagi gets to know them, and before that you can only guess what they're like from the pieces of the puzzle that you gather from throught the light novel, and it works really well for the mysterious characters of Phenomeno, especially Yoishi. Actually, Yoishi is even a legend on Ikaigabuchi.
And most importantly, Phenomeno is deep. In the light novel there is a lot of commentary on modern society and later it even gets philosophical. Phenomeno criticizes the problems of society and compares them to ghosts: people, especially in Japan, are so scared of them, they just put a lid on them and pretend they're not there. That's why the "science" of the paranormal is so unaccepted. This is especially relevant in the crazy Koumei school and the university attached to it, in which a lot of deaths and suicides occur every year, yet there is little to no acknowledgement of that. Yoishi is a character that doesn't give a damn about societal norms. She always speaks the truth, even if it's unpleasant to hear. Other people think that she's weird and only Nagi can understand her. Phenomeno often brings up the theme of evil. There are a lot of characters who fit the description of the antisocial personality disorder, and one of them is Takamura. She definetly feels like the embodiment of malice, but It's hard to say if Takamura is really evil or not. Yoishi has this thing when if she feels any malice nearby, she vomits, yet when Takamura is around, Yoishi doesn't have any reaction. Takamura claims that people are not fundamentally good nor fundamentally evil, and their actions are nothing but animal instincts or purely egoistic acts, and she is a really good demonstration of that. The thing is, Takamura has been through a lot. It's mostly her circumstances that made her the way she is. Only 8 chapters of 20 or so have been translated so far, but from what information there is it's actually difficult to tell if Takamura is evil by choice, or is it the external causes that made her the way she is. And I'm only scratching the surface, the light novel goes much much more deeper than that.
And I can't not mention Yoshitoshi ABe's incredible art. The illustrations in this light novel are some of the best that he's drawn.
I highly recommend Phenomeno. This light novel is the most interesting thing I've read or watched in a long time.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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