October 4 Reflection Jaxon

 I would say the most impressive piece this week for me is Sea Horse. My English is so poor that I thought of the title as "Seahorse" but not a horse in the sea and kept thinking about why the title is "Sea Horse," even after I realized that the protagonist is a horse but not a seahorse. In Chinese culture, at least, the horse is a symbol of freedom since we have a large area of grasslands, and horses can run freely. It's interesting to see the protagonist narrate in very good language, while in the story, she doesn't seem to be able to read very well. She seems to be able to communicate, but she can't even ride the train to the sea. Maybe she learned how to write and read later. 

I feel it's not very hard for her to get back to the sea from her description when she jumps into the river and almost reaches the sea, but what kept her? She doesn't have any child at the time, and yet she still feels the time hasn't come. The first part of her story sounds like a mermaid story but an adult version, and she keeps calling those humans husbands, but they look more like masters to her. They put shackles on her, but she still calls them husbands.  I think it's probably because either she was told that she has to call them husband or it's sarcasm for those people who think they are playing as a good husband.

Picnic is the only work we read that's in the first-person male perspective so far, and I was scared by the scene where the narrator just starts to abuse Kyoko. Or did I misunderstand what happened? They are outside having a picnic in a park, which is a public place, and the man just tries to release his sexual impulse.

For Realizing Fun Things through Water, maybe it's intentional or not, but I found the characters' introductions are a little crossed up, and I couldn't match the names and characters at first. For example, Kimiko's letter mentioned Hatsuoka's sister, and then "I sent a letter and sent it to Hakozaki. She is getting scammed..." Because who Hakozaki is is not explained, I was confused about who the subject was referring to. I thought "She" was Hatsuoka's sister.

The Convenience Store Woman reminded me a lot of No Longer Human, in which the protagonists both tried to disguise themselves as normal people who could fit into society. Most female protagonists in the stories are a little different and they are trying hard to find a place they can comfortably live in this world.