Boku no Imouto wa Kanji ga Yomeru
My Little Sister Can Read Kanji

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I never expected "My little sister can read kanji" to be so great.

While this might seem like a really bad joke which somehow was used for 5 books, "LILSIS READ KANJI" in its original title revealed itself to be a story about friendship, family, open-mindedness, culture, civilization, evolution, and most importantly, love, with a little bit of time travel mixed in it.

The premise is that the light novel is a translation in 21st century language from a 23rd century Japanese book, a time where moe culture has become prominent, where the prime minister is a 2D little sister, and where kanji is no longer used ... in Japanese literature. Here, orthodox literature is made of panty flashes, wars between *gimai* (non blood-related little sister) and *jitsumai* (blood-related little sister). This opposition is also represented in politics where those are the two major political parties (with other minor parties such as big sister, mother or childhood friend).

Our protagonist, Gin, can't read kanji, something normal in the 23rd century Japan, but hopes one day to become an author. But both his little sisters (gimai) can, and his elder little sister, Kuroha, loves "modern" litterature (which is the name given to literature from our time period), which makes her a loner at school, in the same way as someone reading only 17th century books nowadays (probably even worth).

Outside of the usual slice of life/romcom aspect of the story, it is in fact first and foremost a book about translation, its importance, and how it is important to not disrespect something, either because it is not the norm, or because it is. Everyone has their own tastes, and the most important point is to give access to art and literature to everyone, through translation, in order to give everyone access to what they like.

Both the fictional translator notes (from 23rd century Japanese to 21st century Japanese) as well as the real translator notes (from Japanese to English) complements the story nicely, and it somehow made me think about themes I would never have expected these books to make me think about in the first place.

I feel both freshened and opened from reading these books for the last few weeks, and while it is not an absolute masterpiece, it is a book I would recommend if you can survive through the waves of panty flashes.