Japanese Book Review: 陽気なギャングが地球を回す 伊坂 幸太郎


(youki na gyangu ga chikyuu wo mawasu   Isaka Kotaro)

A “gang” of four bank robbers  pride themselves on robbing banks in the correct way. They have rationalized to themselves that they aren’t harming anyone, which is ridiculous, but makes a good stage for an interesting plot. This was a lot of fun to read and moves very fast.

Dialogue makes up a large part of the book. At first it was hard for me to follow with the four main characters talking together. However you quickly get a feel for the characters’ personalities and can tell who is saying what based on that.

A character named Tanaka, who lives with his mom, can provide a key for any lock as well as license plates and night vision cameras. I’m interested in characters with these kinds of skills. He doesn’t have a huge role, but I read that Isaka reuses characters. Maybe he’ll show up somewhere else.

I like that the gang sticks together even through a betrayal, all while keeping a light mood. Also, it’s interesting seeing Kyono and Kuon stumble through how how adults can intervene in a middle school bullying situation and can’t just let it go.

It wasn’t too graphic or explicit and stays light and humorous through the entire novel. Great entertainment.

I review the second book in the series here.

2 thoughts on “Japanese Book Review: 陽気なギャングが地球を回す 伊坂 幸太郎”

    1. Thanks for checking out my blog! I’m still in the early stages, but I hope I can keep it going for a long time. I have enjoyed reading your blog for years, and I have found that it’s one of the few places that I can get reading recommendations targeted at Japanese learners. I’m hoping to add a bit to that pool.

      I really enjoyed this one, so I’ll definitely check out the sequels soon.

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