I am currently obsessed with this manga, and the light novels are just everything. Reading an actual novel about characters you only know through manga is amazing, it’s like seeing the story from a whole new perspective. And the fact that these novels are exploring the most beloved characters… I wish every series was like this. Mentoring Skills: After Verlaine loses most of his gravity-manipulating ability, Verlaine retains his espionage skills and knowledge in combat, which he used to train Kyōka Izumi, Gin Akutagawa, and countless others who became first-class assassins without exception. [1] Master Craftsman: Piano Man was considered as the only person in Yokohama who could create supernotes that were indistinguishable from genuine money. I took it as a 'light' read at first since it's a light novel, but hell, that wasn't light at all. It was the heaviest book I'd ever read.

To Chūya Nakahara) " That first year after joining the Mafia is the harshest period. It's a dead man's curve, so to speak. Within the first year, most people either run away, get killed on the job, or get snuffed out by the organization for causing problems. That's why today is a day to celebrate your survival." [1] Nakahara Chuuya does not dream. His awakening was like that of a bubble rising from muddy depths. Chuuya woke up in his own room. It was a boring, dull room. If you were to describe what was in it, it would be walls and a bed and a ceiling. A bluish darkness that covered them all. There were extremely few decorations. A bed covered with a bedsheet, and a few bookcases. A small safe buried into the wall. In the table at the centre, a book lay carelessly open, surrounded with jewels. This was all. The sunlight that broke through the slit of the curtain cut the dull room into two equal parts. Chuuya got up. The centre of his chest was slightly damp with sweat. The dregs of some fierce emotion swirled within him, though what emotion it was, he could not remember. Recently, it was always like this. Giving up, he left the bed and went to take a shower. As the hot water ran down his head, Chuuya began to think about himself. Nakahara Chuuya. Sixteen years old. Since he joined the Port Mafia one year ago, he brought about results at an unprecedented speed, and was affirmed by the organisation and given this apartment. But neither money nor rank gave him pleasure. Because he was missing the most important thing. His past. Chuuya did not know who he was. His memories began eight years ago, when he was kidnapped from the military research facility. His life before that was only darkness. Lippmann was also the one who gave the Flags their official name which he thought for three months when Piano Man founded the group. He would then tell the others about it on their first days of joining, but the rest of them did not remember this name until he reminded them during Chūya Nakahara's first-year Mafia anniversary celebration. To Arthur Rimbaud) " You can twist things however you want in your mind, but that doesn't change the fact that I'm not human! You, a mere outsider, dare say I should calm down, that everything's okay because I look and act just like a human? I'd feel better if you told me I'm just like a frog!" [1]I read that book a few days ago, and I couldn't stop myself from reading the next volume eventhough I have my end of year exam in 2 weeks. Physical Prowess: Verlaine is an expert combatant in physical fights and battles, which he utilizes together with his powerful ability. Dazai also noted that there is no one in the world who can win against Verlaine in hand-to-hand combat alone. As a Transcendent, Verlaine was able to fight on equal footing with Rimbaud, who was a fellow Transcendent and the very spy who trained Verlaine himself. Even skilled fighters like Chūya and Adam Frankenstein, an android with a wide skill set himself, had considerable difficulty fighting him to an extent. [1] Verlaine was also able to fend against Mafia guards on his own in complete silence in their own turf [3] and brutally murder the Flags, who were all quite adept with their skills and capabilities. [1]

This is my favorite novel by Asagiri. I remember reading this in little bits while fans were translating it and crying at every part. And I ended up crying just as much this time. It had been over something stupid, some small thing Annabeth had said, he didn’t even remember what anymore, but he’d stopped the car, had gotten out and just— let go. He is known to possess a sense of humor, attempting to bribe Chuuya with an android joke and later trying to coerce him into drawing on Paul Verlaine's face. Adam also enjoys watching a movie in which robots take over the world to cheer himself up, but more seriously believing that robots would make a more efficient police force and wishing to have all human law enforcers replaced by robots. English is not my first language, so it's possible that I made some mistakes in this book! If so, please let me know.If he wants to survive he’ll have to learn what it truly means to live, to die, and to protect. And ultimately find a way to brave the darkness, and bear the light. Famous for the lyrical qualities of his poems, Nakahara played with the rhythms of classic Japanese forms of poetry, such as waka, haiku, and tanka, while also taking influence from French styles. His poem "Upon the Tainted Sorrow" emphasizes hoplessness and the fleeting nature of life. [9] As a vision to Chūya Nakahara) " But you can't keep lying to yourself forever. Didn't I tell you that when I welcomed you into our group?" [1] At one point, N and his team discovered that having an ability user exponentially collide their ability on themself could trigger a self-contradicting singularity. During the Great War, a French researcher turned a singularity into a weapon using a cloned body combined with a persona model, and a few years later, N and his team acquired a stolen unabridged copy of this research paper containing The Secret of the Gentle Forest, which was also written in and torn off from the journal of French operative Arthur Rimbaud. Aiming to create an ability singularity using this method for Project Arahabaki, N eventually found and took a child named Chūya Nakahara who possessed a gravity-manipulation ability, and they studied him in a military research facility. After Rimbaud elaborated his own beliefs on humanity, Chūya had a bit of a change of heart, taking his own life a bit more seriously. The Sheep's betrayal affected him greatly, alongside Port Mafia's direct involvement in uncovering the truth of his origins, but ultimately led to his loyalty in them. The drive for learning more about himself contributed largely to his rise in rank, much faster than anticipated.