Kohaku no Aki, 0-byou no Tabi
An Autumn in Amber, a Zero-Second Journey

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An Autumn in Amber, a Zero-Second Journey short review
Language read: Thai (official translation, licensed by Zenshu Publishing; original Japanese publisher: Shogakukan)
Will re-read when the official English translation by Seven Seas Entertainment drops September 2024.

After almost two months of having purchased a physical copy, I finally got around to reading the third installment of Mei Hachimoku’s sci-fi/supernatural Four Seasons anthology: ‘An Autumn in Amber, a Zero-Second Journey’. As with the anthology’s previous books, the male protagonist and the heroine encounter a supernatural phenomenon related to time: ‘Tunnel to Summer’ has time dilation, ‘Yesterday in Spring’ has time rollback, and this novel has time freeze.

The two ... main characters are quite enjoyable to follow along. Kayato, the socially-awkward boy with haphephobia (fear of being touched), and Akira, the foul-mouthed delinquent girl, make for a solid polar-opposite duo. Their interactions and how their relationship slowly develops over time is a joy to read, especially in the later chapters. However, compared to Hachimoku’s previous works, Kayato and Akira do somewhat suffer from a lack of character depth, especially in terms of their backstory department. There are sprinkles of backstory throughout the novel but it feels like there could easily have been more to further flesh them out (like how ‘Yesterday in Spring’ uses its Interlude parts).

While the plot progression is nice and logical, I cannot help but think that the pacing can sometimes be too slow, especially in some middle parts of the novel. Perhaps it is done intentionally to replicate the feeling of time freeze but it does not translate that well to the reading experience, at least for me. Furthermore, while the themes relating to time that the novel tackles, such as living in fear of the future, are well-presented, they do not leave as much of an impact as the themes in previous installments did.

In closing, ‘An Autumn in Amber, a Zero-Second Journey’ is probably my least favorite of the Four Seasons anthology so far. However, this does mean that it is a bad read in the slightest. While some aspects of the novel may not perfectly land, such as in terms of character depth, pacing and thematic impact, the whole is fortunately greater than the sum of its parts.

Final score: 7.0/10.

(Note: this review is based off a fan-translation. As of 2024/03/13, Seven Seas has announced an official English publication, releasing in Sept 2024.)

Out of the three currently released Four Seasons books by Mei Hachimoku, I'd say this was the weakest. But I wouldn't go as far to say this was a disappointment.

The story was well-rounded, I just wish there was more to the story before time stopped to help introduce the main character, Mugino, more. The entire story is based on the two main characters trying to travel across Japan whilst time is frozen to try and find why time is stopped. Mugino, the main ... character, is well written and his character development is really good. The same goes for Akira, if you were to compare her at the beginning vs her at the end you'd think they're two different people.

Character dynamics felt good, even if it was just the two of them, and the reveal of how everything worked at the end was really well thought-out too. My only real negatives are about the beginning and ending; it takes about two paragraphs before time stops so we never really get much of an introduction. The ending did make sense but it wasn't really that impressive, it felt more Makoto Shinkai than Mei Hachimoku which isn't a good thing in this case lol. I don't want to get into spoilers but it could have been thought out a lot more. Maybe my opinion will change once the official translation rolls around.

The illustrations were good too. I love KUUKA's style for coloured illustrations! They look so good! My only gripe are the black and white ones. They weren't as good as the ones in Tunnel to Summer or Wait for Me but were still good. I still prefer the black-and-white-only style we got in the Tunnel to Summer rather than the shaded versions we got in Wait for Me and Amber Autumn.

I think the main issue this had compared to previous entries is the lack of tension. In Tunnel to Summer, there's a constant build up to the final time when Tono and Anzu are set to enter the tunnel and a preparing to throw everything away to do so. In Wait For Me Yesterday, there's the constant build-up and tension leading towards April 1st which we know is when Akito dies. But in An Autumn in Amber, there just... isn't.

There also weren't any major events I like to associate with the Four Seasons series, like the summer festival in Tunnel to Summer and sneaking into the school in Wait For Me Yesterday. But again, in this there just weren't any.

This is the weakest entry into the Four Seasons series, but if you like the other two, go and read it. It (hopefully) won't disappoint you, just don't go in thinking it'll be as good as Wait For Me or Tunnel to Summer. I do believe that the reason this wasn't as good as it could have been is because the author was writing another series, which looked more to be the priority, at the time. That series finished recently, so hopefully the Winter novel will be just as good as Tunnel to Summer and Wait for Me!!!