Name: The Empty Box and Zeroth Maria, Vol. 7 (light novel)
ISBN: 9780316561228

Eiji Mikage

In the final volume of The Empty Box and Zeroth Maria, Kazuki makes his last stand against O to fulfill his vow to bring back the "zeroth" Maria-the real Maria. But what does fate have in store for them...?

The Empty Box and Zeroth Maria, Vol. 7 (light novel)

[Yes I did read the previous volumes as well]

Before I read this book, I was in a massive reading slump. I don't think I'd touched any books in more than a year, and it had been at least a couple years since I'd truly enjoyed a book. I read ~30 books in January 2023, but I don't think I would consider any of them to be good books. Don't get me wrong, maybe I was satisfied while reading them. But they didn't make me feel anything (sorry for using such hand-wavy analogies, I know it makes me sound like a 14 year old smart ass).

I didn't have very high expectations going into the book. I'd started reading manga in December of last year, but I didn't like most of what I read. Though I suppose that's true for all media I consume. 

It's worth mentioning that this is the first light novel I've read. I might read Oregairu once I have some time on my hands. Though realistically speaking, I'm going to be very busy for the next 2-8 years (hopefully) so I might not get time to read any books. I might read Classic Literature Club too, but I think I'll reserve that for after I've learnt Japanese (~10-15 years away?).

Anyways, I think a good reason why I enjoyed this so much is because of how much I related to some of the characters. That's about as generic as it gets though, so let me elaborate more on that before you scroll past this review.

In the first couple of volumes, Hoshino is seen to be someone who greatly values his everyday life a lot, going to extreme lengths to protect it. Nothing relatable about that, right?

Well, while I was reading through the first few volumes I was trying to avoid all attention. I desperately tried anything and everything to appear as average as possible, so that I could enjoy a "normal" life.

Again, that makes me sound like an edgy 13 year old so let me clarify. It's not that I thought myself to be particularly special, just that I felt that I'd missed out on some of the joys of a normal childhood (as a result of my own misguided actions, of course).

Anyways, I related a lot to Hoshino. I saw in him my own desire to live a perfectly normal and unremarkable life. I'm not going to spoil the series, but the last few volumes made me lose this impression of Hoshino.

In these volumes, I started to see myself in Maria. Again, I won't be as cruel as to spoil anything but I saw some of my own idealistic desires reflected in her.

I read a translation but I don't think that inhibited my ability to enjoy the series at all. Maybe it depends on the translator but I think the guy who translated my edition did a very good job of it. Of course, some Japanese pop culture references and such can't be translated to English (and Eiji Mikage is supposed to be the king of pop culture references) but that didn't have an especially great impact.

I know I haven't written a lot about the books itself. I also know that this review probably doesn't make a lot of sense. That's fine though. It's mostly meant to be something for future-me to look at later in life.

Anyways, this will probably be my last review in the foreseeable future. If you need to contact me for whatever reason here's my webpage: 

. Feel free to ask me any questions in the comments. 

Devansh Patil

[Yes I did read the previous volumes as well]

Before I read this book, I was in a massive reading slump. I don't think I'd touched any books in more than a year, and it had been at least a couple years since I'd truly enjoyed a book. I read ~30 books in January 2023, but I don't think I would consider any of them to be good books. Don't get me wrong, maybe I was satisfied while reading them. But they didn't make me feel anything (sorry for using such hand-wavy analogies, I know it makes me sound like a 14 year old smart ass).

I didn't have very high expectations going into the book. I'd started reading manga in December of last year, but I didn't like most of what I read. Though I suppose that's true for all media I consume. 

It's worth mentioning that this is the first light novel I've read. I might read Oregairu once I have some time on my hands. Though realistically speaking, I'm going to be very busy for the next 2-8 years (hopefully) so I might not get time to read any books. I might read Classic Literature Club too, but I think I'll reserve that for after I've learnt Japanese (~10-15 years away?).

Anyways, I think a good reason why I enjoyed this so much is because of how much I related to some of the characters. That's about as generic as it gets though, so let me elaborate more on that before you scroll past this review.

In the first couple of volumes, Hoshino is seen to be someone who greatly values his everyday life a lot, going to extreme lengths to protect it. Nothing relatable about that, right?

Well, while I was reading through the first few volumes I was trying to avoid all attention. I desperately tried anything and everything to appear as average as possible, so that I could enjoy a "normal" life.

Again, that makes me sound like an edgy 13 year old so let me clarify. It's not that I thought myself to be particularly special, just that I felt that I'd missed out on some of the joys of a normal childhood (as a result of my own misguided actions, of course).

Anyways, I related a lot to Hoshino. I saw in him my own desire to live a perfectly normal and unremarkable life. I'm not going to spoil the series, but the last few volumes made me lose this impression of Hoshino.

In these volumes, I started to see myself in Maria. Again, I won't be as cruel as to spoil anything but I saw some of my own idealistic desires reflected in her.

I read a translation but I don't think that inhibited my ability to enjoy the series at all. Maybe it depends on the translator but I think the guy who translated my edition did a very good job of it. Of course, some Japanese pop culture references and such can't be translated to English (and Eiji Mikage is supposed to be the king of pop culture references) but that didn't have an especially great impact.

I know I haven't written a lot about the books itself. I also know that this review probably doesn't make a lot of sense. That's fine though. It's mostly meant to be something for future-me to look at later in life.

Anyways, this will probably be my last review in the foreseeable future. If you need to contact me for whatever reason here's my webpage: https://tilde.club/~subtra3t. Feel free to ask me any questions in the comments. 

The Empty Box and Zeroth Maria, Vol. 7 (light novel)

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