juushika

I didn't read beyond the halfway point in my childhood; I assume you finished the series, however haphazardly you read? That's was the real tipping point for me re: being curious enough to reread or being satisfied by someone else's reread—I didn't know enough to have an external view confirm or deny my memories.

The second half of the series was fascinating insofar as it didn't ping my nostalgia in the same way, but the way characters devolved/Flanderized/in particular how what stopped, what characters or dynamics came to a crashing halt ... that built on my nostalgia and in a way even subverted/inverted it, like my nostalgia were a trope & the series were showing me a new way to view it. I'm not sure that makes any sense! But it felt like surprisingly robust storytelling, especially given the caveats of "ghostwritten episodic MG series."