Tears on Page and The Screen: Novels and their Anime That Will Make You Reach for The Tissue Box

We all know that a good coming-of-age story can lead to severe waterworks if told right. Think of A Silent Voice or Goodnight Punpun. We know you shed a tear or two.

But today, we are not here to recommend some amazing manga that fall within this genre. (And Yen Press does have a lot! Take Silver Spoon, for example. I bet farming has never looked more interesting than when told from a city boy’s perspective.) 

No—today we want to bring your attention to some novels you should check out if you love a good crying session and, equally important, if you like your characters enduring the all-too-hard thing that is “growing up.”

As a bonus, these stories have been adapted to, or originally come from, a different medium—animation. So if we have caught you in that mood when reading just sounds so hard and you would rather watch your favorite anime all over again, maybe this could be your chance to revisit some beloved works and see them in a different light.

The Summer Hikaru Died

by Mio Nukaga, Mokumokuren

The bond between Yoshiki and Hikaru is a welcome escape from their isolated village. But one day when the two boys meet up, Yoshiki can immediately tell something is off. Though the person standing before him looks and acts exactly like Hikaru, Yoshiki knows that his friend is…gone. Someone—no, something has taken Hikaru’s place. And with so many eerie incidents happening in town lately, Yoshiki is becoming increasingly conflicted. Although things will never be as they once were, he would prefer this Hikaru to no Hikaru at all.

We are cheating a little bit here, because our first recommendation is technically a novel adaptation of a very beloved manga—The Summer Hikaru Died. But, hey! The anime adaptation for this terrifically good story is coming out this summer, and judging solely by its trailer, it looks to be one of the best of its season. For the unfamiliar, The Summer Hikaru Died follows Yoshiki, a high schooler who not only has to battle the angst of youth but also the horrific discovery that his best friend got replaced by a third, unknown thing. We love how the novel allows us to get a closer look at Yoshiki’s feelings, the codependency of the two boys, and how relationships can serve as both an anchor and an obstacle when growing up. A great horror read that will make you ask yourself how far you would go to protect your friends. 

maboroshi

By Mari Okada

In the town of Mifuse, time halted following an explosion at the local steelworks. Ever since the blast, bizarre phenomena have filled the sky, and the townspeople discover they can’t leave the area or contact the outside world. The same old radio and TV shows play, as if they are stuck repeating the day of the explosion. Hopeful that things will go back to normal, the town leaders forbid change to avoid any inconsistencies when time begins to flow again. One day, a teenager named Masamune breaks from the monotony of the usual routine and restrictions when his mysterious classmate Mutsumi brings him into the steel factory’s fifth blast furnace. There, he meets a wild, wolflike girl who cannot speak…and looks startlingly like Mutsumi. The interaction between Masamune and the two girls disrupts the tenuous balance of a world frozen in time. What future awaits these young people when faced with the unstoppable impulse of love? This is the story from the hit anime movie maboroshi written and directed by Mari Okada!

Adolescence is always associated with the age of change, discovery, and revelations. However, the premise of Mari Okada’s maboroshi does not allow for that. In a town where time has come to a standstill and adults force children through the same old routine, growing up sounds more like a mirage than a regular life occurrence. And so, we are to appreciate all the more the tribulations Masamune goes through to free himself of his reality, speaking for the rebelliousness that accompanies youth and of first loves. And while the ending might have been sad, it still left us satisfied and grateful for the teaching lesson. 

your name.

By Makoto Shinkai

Mitsuha, a high school girl living in a small town in the mountains, has a dream that she's a boy living in Tokyo. Taki, a high school boy in Tokyo, dreams he's a girl living in a quaint little mountain town. Sharing bodies, relationships, and lives, the two become inextricably interwoven--but are any connections truly inseverable in the grand tapestry of fate? Written by director MAKOTO SHINKAI during the production of the film by the same title, your name. is in turns funny, heartwarming, and heart-wrenching as it follows the struggles of two young people determined to hold on to one another.

After your name. debuted on the silver screen, “Zenzenzense,” its iconic RADWIMPS’ song, was all over the internet. Makoto Shinkai’s masterpiece was the anime to see in 2016, and its novel, which we released a year later, is the book to read to rekindle the sense of wonder and magic this director gifted us with. your name. accomplishes something that very few writers can say to have mastered: stringing along feelings and plot. The sense of longing is so aptly captured that when the big revelation came, we were left too stunned to speak and had to take five business days to recover. One of the best reads for when you’re feeling down, when you want to heal the romantic in you, or when you’re thinking of the times when you didn’t have to pay taxes and the only thing that mattered was summer vacation.

Wolf Children: Ame & Yuki (light novel)

By Mamoru Hosoda, (Art) Yuu

When Hana falls in love with a young interloper she encounters in her college class, the last thing she expects to learn is that he is part wolf. Instead of rejecting her lover upon learning his secret, she accepts him with open arms. Soon, the couple is expecting their first child, and a cozy picture of family life unfolds. But after what seems like a mere moment of bliss to Hana, the father of her children is tragically taken from her. Life as a single mother is hard in any situation, but when your children walk a fine line between man and beast, the rules of parenting all but go out the window. With no one to turn to, how will Hana survive?

Before Makoto Shinkai, there was another director that took the world by storm: Mamoru Hosoda. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Mirai, Belle, The Boy and the Beast—all masterpieces, but arguably not as impactful as Wolf Children was on the early 2010s anime viewer. Wolf Children takes the challenges of single parenting and blends them with a fairy-tale-like premise. What we enjoyed the most from this novel adaptation was, unsurprisingly, Yuki and Ame’s portrayal. The novel allows one to really pick up the subtle differences between the two wolf “cubs” and their views on life, proving how no two children ever grow up the same, even if siblings are raised with the same standards. An exemplary novel that tackles the question of nature vs. nurture.

There are times in a day when sitting down with a good book and reminiscing about the past sound like the perfect salve for the soul. And so, we came up with plenty of recommendations for the melancholic in you! And while we all wait for summer to finally be here, why not enjoy what this season has to offer? Let’s cherish the present while also looking forward to the future.