BIBLIOMANIA

[Twenty]

I liked this story. It's not extremely pretentious, all the information is laid out in front of you, and nothing is hidden. This would make a great movie, an hour or two would probably be just right length for it. I didn't really get a clear idea of the motif of the story though, but maybe i just didn't see it.

 

[Vofuro]

This was an odd one. Glad I could read it all in one go!

 

[RaDaMed]

A short read with a greatly detailed style throughout. Kind of unique and unnerving in some places. Almost feels like something made by Yoko Taro (the creator of Nier/Drag-on Dragoon aka Drakengard).
I'm glad I've found this and now, it's in my faves. Hope others find it as cool as I did.

 

[xX_K1R1t0_Xx]

Decided to read it on a whim for those who watch doctor who it's very rings of akheten

 

[thirty7timeslucky]

what a twist eh?
short but good.

 

[assman162]

pointless,pretentious

 

[pearhi]

This was a really exciting read! I agree with the person a few comments below, it has an air of Yoko Taro about it. Magical books, apocalypse, human desire, dark humor... Yep, sure sounds like him all right.

Alice's design is great. I'm reminded of different things when I see her.

Spoiler

Like her grotesque rotting form, that reminded me of Claymore when the female warriors lose control of their human side... She looked badass sprinting on all fours, big fan of that. Then her huge true butterfly form, looked like some character straight out of the Souls series maybe. A graceful appearance that hides some deliciously fucked up evil under it, very pretty!

Yep... Having a sweet little girl as a protagonist was a great way to set up this story.

 

[Grim_Reader]

Delightful and fascinating from beginning to end.

 

[nonexistent696969]

that was good

 

[horsewithnoname]

Stunning drawing and art decisions. Story could be better though.

 

[EQ]

This story was a real breath of fresh air. It comes with an interesting premise, sticks with it and most importantly, it doesn’t drag on longer than it should. Also helped with the amazing artwork and that ending! 9/10

 

[sexism]

does anyone want to join my technological singularity cult?

 

[Karusama]

I like it, a masterpiece, the art is unique and the story is deep, could be hard to understand after reading it once.
Humans are too greedy and the most valuable treasure is knowledge.

 

[IndigoMist]

straight up wack ngl- nice art tho

 

[9Zig]

Bibliomania is actually a real word that has a meaning. Go look it up

 

[plumbob]

This is kind of like a mediocre ghost story your camp counselor takes 30 minutes to tell, but it just wasn't worth the time to hear it. Pass on and find something that's more intriguing. This one is all okay visuals but the characters, psych, and world are puddle deep.

 

[Shlomosuke]

I'm sorry but i just dont understand the story.
What's the point? What's the meaning behind all this?

From a visual standpoint, it's unique and i honestly enjoyed it.
But the story... I just did not understand.

Well, at least it was captivating.

 

[GMW33B]

damn, what a ride!
the art was berserk level, absolutely gorgeous and creepy; the story was surprising and really liked the great plot-twists, maybe could have been a little deeper but the story flows and the end satisfy me.
thank you translator for your work :3

 

[coke_monster]

I liked this story. It's not extremely pretentious, all the information is laid out in front of you, and nothing is hidden. This would make a great movie, an hour or two would probably be just right length for it. I didn't really get a clear idea of the motif of the story though, but maybe i just didn't see it.

I don't think there is a motif. I mean sure the very obvious one is shown and expected. Everyone knows that the pleasure matrix is a horrible nightmare. But in subverting that with the ending (which was very fun), it becomes a trajedy with no message you'd find in a more classical fable. A doomed girl couldn't experience the world, so she took in it's raw dead information as much as she could, and then doomed the world to become nothing but dead information. There's nothing really to take away there, because the villain won and it became a trajedy instead of a more straight ghibli film where the souls would become free once again to suffer reality as is the standard way the story goes.
This would make a great animated film but there is SOMETHING missing that I can't quite put. I mean the artist himself brings attention to the meaningless of it, and it's just natural for humans to want a meaning to things. So this sort of story will naturally always be less satisfying.

 

[Ratleeandthemagicbees]

So good! This is probably my favorite short manga of all time. This manga explores human greed in such a interesting manner; that greed is a way to escape reality. The Snake's book, which is a lesser version of Alice, is filled to the brim with people who are enjoying their desires to the fullest. These desires are often a response to the unhappy manner of their lives. We have a NEET who wanted to be a hero, a father who wants the perfect family, an termiannly ill woman who wants to be healthy and pretty, and my favorite, the bullied boy who exacts his revenge on all who hurt him. Even though these people are living their desires, their perfect rooms cannot let them live a perfect life. The longer Alice sticks around, the more we see cracks in the rooms; the lies that they live cannot last because they know that they are lies. This desire for something more, restriction of the truth, and isolation from the world (aka other rooms), ties into Alice. Alice, while alive, was trapped to her bed - the way that the others are trapped in their rooms. Alice's life was also very unhappy; but unlike them, she sought the truth and decided to do something in her real world that she wanted, instead of relying on her desires in an artifical manner. Where it gets really cool is that her book, which contained the raw information of the world, granted her deep desire - for more. Alice is the bad guy, and her greed has won her the world. Even though she did the "right" thing, by deciding to embrace her life, and make changes to the real world instead of relying on fantasies, the manga throws a curve ball because her desire was greedy at it's core, like all of the other rooms. Alice ate the world in order to live her desire - the one thing that made her happy. She states over and over that she hates lies, loves the truth, etc, etc. Isn't Alice lying to herself? She loved how big the world was, and the truths that it had, but she ate everything that she could and destroyed the world she loved so much. We can see that at the end. Alice finds her younger brother, beats him, and once again, is left alone in the world. There will be no more books, no more truths for her to find.

Alice did the same thing as the people inside the book - she let her desires consume her in response to her unhappy life. Unlike them, she had the power to not be eaten by something else, and could enact her will in the real world. But to jump back before the snake opened, and after her defeat, we can see that the greed plays a role in society as well. Alice's power caused humans to desire it, and led to wars and the creation of lesser books of truth. The work is caused by Alice's greed, and ends with the remains of it.
How cool!