https://files.catbox.moe/4voi0c.mp4 The literary girl An episodic structure facilitated inside a highschool and its lonesome 2member literary club though moreso within the enigmatic oblique mind of defacto literary girl Maria Kodama. While the school club romcom of Girl A and Boy B subgenre is something Ive grown a stale taste for Kodama Maria is a refreshing baptism with its captivatingly dry dialogue and humor. If thinking inside the box is the norm and thinking outside is the goal then Kodama Maria does both simultaneously. As straightforward itd be to reference literary works inside a literarythemed story for easy metahumor Yoshiharu Mishimahttps://anilist.co/staff/126559/YoshiharuMishima interestingly writes not with reference of rather inspiration from literary works. What makes this furthermore interesting is that these literary works are literary cultural linguistic even scientific essays and papers from Roland Barthes The Eiffel Towerhttp://lantb.net/uebersicht/wppdf/eiffelTower.pdf to Albert Einsteins Relativity: The Special and the General Theoryhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relativity:TheSpecialandtheGeneralTheory therefore takes inspiration from the diverse obtuse subject matters for its chapters. 620https://i.ur.com/H1VAjzq.png Do you understand? What derives from this is conversational bingo and metafiction extremely reminiscent of the Monogatari franchise. The most puzzling aspect of Kodama Maria is also how wonderfully introspective meditative it is. That is the softcore layman linguistic linguini Maria shoves down your throat at every given chance. Although the episodic plots initially find themselves situated in humdrum Maria contrives semantic philosophical even existential meaning from them. In the process of verbally communicating oneself through Lego blocks and the likes come the demarcated yet understanding conversations between Maria and Fueda. Perhaps best described as an AraragiSenjougahara conversation majoring in literature the main staple interaction builds off of Marias vast knowledge and Fuedas ignoramus. Easy itd be to turn their dynamic into a slapstick they both play off rather apathetic and pokerfaced giving ambiguity and vibrant quirk to their relationship. The typical exchanges include dry banter but mostly comprises of Marias pensively semantic lectures and Fuedas weak clueless reactions. The metahumor while touching on character archetypes regularly like others tickles the cerebrum more than the funny bone. With cultural and linguistic papers at its inspirational disposal the metafictional aspect of Kodama Maria takes apart literary tropes semantics sentence and grammatical structure cultural phenomena in lieu of language and literature etc in a way that one questions the plot. Though it does water down the concreteness with quirky metaphors and examples. For such a literarycentered story as Kodama Maria it surprisingly references literary works on such few occasions that the literaryinept need not worry about being gatekept out of the humor. Though you most certainly will be rereading and questioning. And for how literary it is Kodama Maria possesses a stylistic dependence on strong organic strokes and lines smelling of calligraphy. Nearly all of my favorite mangaka in the weird market draw with blobbish simplicity and Mishima is no different. Character designs and backgrounds are leveled with such dullness that contrasts the lively eccentric nature of dialogue and interaction and complements Maria and Fuedas usual apathy and deadpan mannerisms. I often subtly preach it in past reviews but simplicity is a fine virtue. A very Monogatariesque monologue and a very particular headtilt...tap in SHAFThttps://anilist.co/studio/44/Shaft 620https://i.ur.com/v1hpTl6.png Conclusion Comprehensive of linguistic and cultural phenomena yet more of a phenomenon itself Kodama Maria is a silent and enigmatic force to be reckoned with. Perhaps written with no audience in mind rather written in of itself for the sake of clever metafiction the episodic chapters are unsuspectingly idiosyncratic with no real plot in mind. Kodama Maria Bungaku Shuusei reads off very much like a collaborative orgy between NISIOISINhttps://anilist.co/staff/100254/NISIOISIN tugenekohttps://anilist.co/staff/119509/tugeneko and panpanyahttps://anilist.co/staff/119531/panpanya with its frivolous chattering nature. Yoshiharu Mishima writes with original and refreshing meditation of language verbose culture interpersonal borrowing inspiration from reallife published papers that give consistent color to the incomprehensive dialogue and interactions in his story. Though his intent isnt at all so intently deep as I worded it. Theres no push for the audience into meditating or learning from the eccentric verbal jamborees but perhaps to immerse them into the world of the enigmatic existence known as Kodama Maria.