please note.
Preface
I recently changed jobs, and now I commute by train instead of by car.
One of the good things about commuting by train is that you can do whatever you like while you're on the train.
When commuting by car, you can't read a book or use your smartphone; at best, you can only listen to music or the radio.
When I commuted by car, it only took about 15 minutes, but when I take the train, it takes about an hour.
That might sound very negative at first glance, butIf you do the things you normally do at home during your commute, you won't feel like you have that much free time.
In my case, I've read less at home since getting married.
Therefore, I don't see it as a bad thing, as commuting by train gives me more opportunities to read.
However, if the train is packed, there's no space to read a book, and it just becomes a space where you end up exhausted.
Being crammed into a transport box like a train is exhausting, draining all your time, physical energy, and mental strength.
Fortunately, my workday starts a little earlier, so my current commute isn't too crowded.
In this respect, I feel very fortunate.
My encounter with Kotaro Isaka's works
In my case, I often read on the train in the morning.
I often check the evening news and other things on my smartphone on the train home, but in the mornings, I end up checking my smartphone while having breakfast.
Therefore, there isn't much to do on my smartphone while on the train ride there.
The first work by Kotaro Isaka that I read was "Audubon's Prayer."
I've only started reading them in the last few years, but I generally try to read them in the order they were published.
My first impression was,"A work written in easy-to-read prose, where the characters speak about things that are remarkably profound."That was my impression.
The writing style, neither as light as a light novel nor as heavy as literary fiction, was just right for reading in the morning.
While there are some convenient plot developments, from an entertainment perspective, that makes it more enjoyable and leaves a strong impression of being entertaining.
My thoughts on "The Accuracy of the Grim Reaper"
"The Grim Reaper's Accuracy" is a collection of short stories in which the protagonist, a grim reaper, investigates people who are scheduled to die in a few days, and reports his findings, deciding whether they should be "accepted" or "sent off."
Although each episode is self-contained, the story is connected because the main character remains the same throughout.
I won't go into too much detail about my impressions of individual episodes.
"The Grim Reaper in Love" made my heart ache, and "The Grim Reaper on a Journey" stirred my emotions with its indescribable relationship between two men, so I really love them.
Since they are Grim Reapers, human common sense does not apply to them.
However, having studied humans for many years, I have some fragmented knowledge of human characteristics.
However, that knowledge is based on what I've seen and heard through my own experiences, so much of it is inaccurate.
Because of this disconnect, he's treated like an eccentric by those around him, but the interactions between them are also part of what makes him interesting.
Despite being a grim reaper, he works under the orders of the organization he belongs to, so he looks like a very human-like office worker.
The story consists of six separate narratives, but the protagonist's objective remains the same in each one.
The question is whether to accept or reject the idea of death occurring to the subjects of the study.
It seems that in most cases the judgment is "acceptable," and the only grim reapers who actually investigate seriously are apparently the protagonist of this story.
In a heartwarming story, the protagonist would likely empathize with the person being investigated and save them, even though they are destined to die, by saying "goodbye" to them.
However, such developments are almost nonexistent in this work.
Even if the episode under investigation ends with a heartwarming conclusion, what awaits it afterward is its demise in the form of a "passable" report.
I think that fact is what gives the book a somewhat heavy feeling after reading it.
Humans are creatures destined to die sooner or later.
In this work, the death of the subject of the investigation is imminent, so you can't help but feel sorry for them, thinking, "They're going to die soon, how sad."
However, not just in this work, but in any story where the protagonist is a human, no matter how happy the ending may be, they will eventually die (though the timing may differ).
That's certainly true, but just because we're all going to die someday doesn't mean that a happy ending is a lie.
Since the protagonist of this work is a "grim reaper," I can't help but focus on the life and death of the people being investigated.
No matter what the ending is, I always have this feeling that "but in the end, they're going to die after this, right?"
However, I interpreted it as a paradoxical statement, suggesting that what matters more than whether or not you die afterward is how you lived your life.
If a strange person has recently approached you, that person might just be the Grim Reaper.
The works I introduced are here.
Rakuten Market: 死神の精度（楽天ブックス）