Re: Sisterhood: True Edition (Hanako Epilogue) (Completed)
Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2014 6:51 am
Wow. Just wow. After finishing this epic of a fanfic, that's all I had to say.
Now that I've had some time to process and reflect back on the piece, I thought I'd share my thoughts on it.
First of all, thank you for this magnificent piece of hard work and dedication. You've put a lot of effort into creating this story, and it really shows throughout, from the research into the details of Japanese and Scottish culture to the startlingly natural progressions of each of the characters. After finishing KS, I got what one could call "KS ending withdrawal", and after especially enjoying the Hanako arc, I thought I would try and find some fan fiction of that specific arc, which eventually led me here. I know it might not mean much, but after reading through nearly all the HisaoXHanako fanfics in the Library, I hope the fact that I made an account specifically to post about this one shows just high I hold your story in esteem.
Many of the endings in KS are fairly open and don't really provide enough closure for the characters they portray. Sisterhood is not like that, in that I felt it provided a very fitting end to Hanako's arc. It shows Hanako's evolution from the extremely shy introvert to an independent young woman gradually enough that the ending seems like a fitting reward to her journey. I thought you ended the story exactly where you should've. Although I would be interested in a short follow up, perhaps highlighting Hanako's first few weeks at university or maybe a timeskip forward ~10 years later just to see how things eventually turn out (I do enjoy happy endings), but they're certainly not necessary as Sisterhood develops Hanako's character well enough that readers should be fairly certain Hanako's future will be fine.
I really like your portrayals of the Satou parents, they explain why Akira and Lily are the way they are as well as portraying the parents as real people who do actually care but also have their own flaws. The members of the newspaper club are also pretty memorable, but by far the most well done original character, at least in my opinion, is Miss Yumi. Her grandmother-esque demeanor seems like a perfect match for Hanako, still kind, but knowing most of the time when to be firm in order to give Hanako that push she needs.
However, I do have a few minor gripes with Sisterhood, although I feel most of these are mostly nitpicks. There are a few grammatical and spelling mistakes, although they don't distract that much from the story, and the sentences are perfectly readable. What did cause some significant stumbling in the flow of the story was the first person view for certain passages. While for the most part I could tell who was speaker, there were a few passages that I had to reread a few times just to figure out who said what, and one or two passages that had too many lines of dialogue right after another that it was impossible for me to determine who the speakers of said lines were, even with the color coded titles. While I didn't really notice the changing points of view, as I had read Hanako's Story right before this one, I can see how it would be disorienting for someone who just finished KS considering KS is exclusively from Hisao's POV. That being said, I did feel that for each chapter, you chose the right character's POV that would be the most effective at the moment. The fact that we don't learn what eventually happens between Akira and her boyfriend annoys me slightly, more so because you wrapped up Hanako's storyline so well rather than bad writing, but it's not really a big deal considering I wasn't really an Akira fan in the first place. The journal and IM sections of the piece were a bit jarring as well to the overall flow of the piece, and although for the most part I found them to be a nice break from your traditional writing style, there were certain sections that I felt dragged on for too long, like the forum posts during Hanako's rodin year as well as some of the IMs. Having read Hanako's Story first, I didn't notice Hisao's absence all that much in the later half of the story, but looking back on it, I think I would've preferred a little more Hisao in the second half, even if the story is about Hanako expanding her horizons so that her life doesn't revolve around just Hisao, as I felt they grew a little too distant from each other during that section than realistically possible to resume their relationship that easily afterwards. Then again, I'm far from being a relationship expert. The flashback in Chapter Alpha was also not immediately obvious to me, and I didn't realize it was the Mr. and Mrs. Satou of the past until a third of the way in. There were some sections that seemed to drag on but the story did get me invested enough that even with the sections that dragged, it was never enough that I thought about stopping.
But most importantly, Sisterhood caused a dangerously high amount of feels for me, especially during the heart attack scene, Hanako's breakdowns, and Hanako's regression after the first National Center Test (although that's probably one of the major reasons why this story is so well done).
Some other miscellaneous thoughts: I didn't really mind the H-scenes, I thought for the most part they were pretty well done and their abundance wasn't really an issue considering that Hanako and Hisao's relationship isn't really based on conversation. I'm not sure why some people had an issue with the first aid training part, I'm more surprised it didn't happen sooner considering that at most schools and workplaces in the US, first aid training is pretty much a requirement. I can't comment on whether or not that applies to Japan as well, but at least where I live, first aid training is so common that I didn't really see that particular scene stand out much.
Everything aside, this is one of the best, if not the best, fanfics of KS I've ever read. Characters are very well developed, details are abundant, and it definitely satisfied my crave for proper closure to Hanako's arc. Thank you Guest Poster for spending the time and effort necessary to share this with all of us.
Now that I've had some time to process and reflect back on the piece, I thought I'd share my thoughts on it.
First of all, thank you for this magnificent piece of hard work and dedication. You've put a lot of effort into creating this story, and it really shows throughout, from the research into the details of Japanese and Scottish culture to the startlingly natural progressions of each of the characters. After finishing KS, I got what one could call "KS ending withdrawal", and after especially enjoying the Hanako arc, I thought I would try and find some fan fiction of that specific arc, which eventually led me here. I know it might not mean much, but after reading through nearly all the HisaoXHanako fanfics in the Library, I hope the fact that I made an account specifically to post about this one shows just high I hold your story in esteem.
Many of the endings in KS are fairly open and don't really provide enough closure for the characters they portray. Sisterhood is not like that, in that I felt it provided a very fitting end to Hanako's arc. It shows Hanako's evolution from the extremely shy introvert to an independent young woman gradually enough that the ending seems like a fitting reward to her journey. I thought you ended the story exactly where you should've. Although I would be interested in a short follow up, perhaps highlighting Hanako's first few weeks at university or maybe a timeskip forward ~10 years later just to see how things eventually turn out (I do enjoy happy endings), but they're certainly not necessary as Sisterhood develops Hanako's character well enough that readers should be fairly certain Hanako's future will be fine.
I really like your portrayals of the Satou parents, they explain why Akira and Lily are the way they are as well as portraying the parents as real people who do actually care but also have their own flaws. The members of the newspaper club are also pretty memorable, but by far the most well done original character, at least in my opinion, is Miss Yumi. Her grandmother-esque demeanor seems like a perfect match for Hanako, still kind, but knowing most of the time when to be firm in order to give Hanako that push she needs.
However, I do have a few minor gripes with Sisterhood, although I feel most of these are mostly nitpicks. There are a few grammatical and spelling mistakes, although they don't distract that much from the story, and the sentences are perfectly readable. What did cause some significant stumbling in the flow of the story was the first person view for certain passages. While for the most part I could tell who was speaker, there were a few passages that I had to reread a few times just to figure out who said what, and one or two passages that had too many lines of dialogue right after another that it was impossible for me to determine who the speakers of said lines were, even with the color coded titles. While I didn't really notice the changing points of view, as I had read Hanako's Story right before this one, I can see how it would be disorienting for someone who just finished KS considering KS is exclusively from Hisao's POV. That being said, I did feel that for each chapter, you chose the right character's POV that would be the most effective at the moment. The fact that we don't learn what eventually happens between Akira and her boyfriend annoys me slightly, more so because you wrapped up Hanako's storyline so well rather than bad writing, but it's not really a big deal considering I wasn't really an Akira fan in the first place. The journal and IM sections of the piece were a bit jarring as well to the overall flow of the piece, and although for the most part I found them to be a nice break from your traditional writing style, there were certain sections that I felt dragged on for too long, like the forum posts during Hanako's rodin year as well as some of the IMs. Having read Hanako's Story first, I didn't notice Hisao's absence all that much in the later half of the story, but looking back on it, I think I would've preferred a little more Hisao in the second half, even if the story is about Hanako expanding her horizons so that her life doesn't revolve around just Hisao, as I felt they grew a little too distant from each other during that section than realistically possible to resume their relationship that easily afterwards. Then again, I'm far from being a relationship expert. The flashback in Chapter Alpha was also not immediately obvious to me, and I didn't realize it was the Mr. and Mrs. Satou of the past until a third of the way in. There were some sections that seemed to drag on but the story did get me invested enough that even with the sections that dragged, it was never enough that I thought about stopping.
But most importantly, Sisterhood caused a dangerously high amount of feels for me, especially during the heart attack scene, Hanako's breakdowns, and Hanako's regression after the first National Center Test (although that's probably one of the major reasons why this story is so well done).
Some other miscellaneous thoughts: I didn't really mind the H-scenes, I thought for the most part they were pretty well done and their abundance wasn't really an issue considering that Hanako and Hisao's relationship isn't really based on conversation. I'm not sure why some people had an issue with the first aid training part, I'm more surprised it didn't happen sooner considering that at most schools and workplaces in the US, first aid training is pretty much a requirement. I can't comment on whether or not that applies to Japan as well, but at least where I live, first aid training is so common that I didn't really see that particular scene stand out much.
Everything aside, this is one of the best, if not the best, fanfics of KS I've ever read. Characters are very well developed, details are abundant, and it definitely satisfied my crave for proper closure to Hanako's arc. Thank you Guest Poster for spending the time and effort necessary to share this with all of us.
