★★★★★ "Pride and Prejudice" in Japan, where the society has a very strict "standard". And you realise you also measure people with those yardsticks. The reality of everyone who has ever been told "you should be married by now"
🔽 log 🔽
Gouman to Zenryou
(Arrogance and Virtue)
Mizuki Tsujimura, 2019
傲慢と善良
辻村深月
Read 2025.7
🔽 Book review and notes 🔽
I had never read books by her, but glad I did.
Japan has a very strict "standard".
Be a good boy, a good girl, listen to your parents, don't like, don't stand out.
This is how you get educated since you are little - "when I was young this is how it was, so you should do the same"
It seems to be a modern love story, at least at the beginning, then his fiancée disappears completely.
Slowly we learn about her way of thinking and her past, and I'd dare say any Japanese young people "at the marriageable age" will understand both sides, that THIS is the reality they are forced to live in.
Until our parents' age, it was not unusual to have arranged marriage in Japan, but today they have to go on their "konkatsu" a marriage hunting (rather than a job hunting), using websites, seminars, or apps without help from family or community - what exactly are we looking for in someone you wish to marry?
It might be difficult for people who grew up in the West to completely understand, because they did not receive the similar education when they were 14, or 8 or 5 years old.
Or it might be difficult for people from other Asian countries where arranged marriage might be still normal, because you have a backup from both families.
In Japan, it doesn't belong to either. You cannot stand up for your opinions, or you cannot reply on the safety your family provides.
Konkatsu is a lonely battle.
I can't say much without revealing the plot, but just one thing, no you don't need to give up.
🔽 Where to buy 🔽
●●● Amazon.com (US) ●●●
傲慢と善良 Tankobon Hardcover (Japanese)
●●● Amazon.co.uk (UK) ●●●
傲慢と善良 Tankobon Hardcover (Japanese)
●●● Amazon.it (Italy) ●●●
傲慢と善良 Tankobon Hardcover (Japanese)
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