Story About Buying My Classmate Once A Week Chapter 115 Discussion

This is really good.

Story: 6/10

This novel really takes "character-driven" storytelling seriously. There is absolutely none of the typical fluff and drama surrounding school clubs, siblings, and friendships you see in a typical yuri story. The setting is dreadfully mundane and circles entirely around grades and less dramatic aspects of school life. And you know what, that's perfectly fine with me. At this age I don't want to hear about someone's idealized school life where they constantly go around solving other people's life problems and resolving all their personal flaws (circa Bloom Into You, Oregairu, etc, etc). Spoiler

They also graduate from high school about 1/3 of the way into the novel, which is a win for any romance novel.

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I feel ambivalent about the author eventually leaning away from the BD*M scenes. That was the only thing distracting me from how much I disliked Shiori as a person (not as a character), and without it the story lacks some excitement. The author took away the action of the story and replaces it with... nothing. I can only hope there's something to fill the void in the next few arcs. The novel clearly works if you take it as a "real" romance with some spice added in, but I only wish the author didn't try to dull things down so much.

Characters: 9/10

I am very impressed with how character development has been tied with the storytelling itself. Spoiler

In the beginning we are lead to believe that Shiori is the main character. Certainly, with a title like "buying my classmate" you would expect a fetish novel with a major emphasis on the sadistic dominant main character. But after a few chapters, the story turns you on your heels and reveals that she's a deuteragonist and nowhere as threatening as she tries to make you believe. Hazuki is actually the one with agency in this story. Because of just how messed up Shiori is from parental neglect and her fear of intimacy, she gradually loses her ability to control the progress of her relationship, essentially surrendering the plot to her partner. By trying to drift away from Hazuki, she shies away from all her responsibilities, including her role in the story and connection with the reader, in a way that parallels Hazuki's feelings.

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Translation/Writing: 7/10

Occasional errors. Nothing immersion breaking if you've read many amateur Japanese TLs. The writing is rather stiff and almost hesitant to portray emotion. If you like [melo]drama, people expressing their genuine feelings in a concise and logical manner, and healthy ways to develop a relationship, this is not the novel for you.