Accuracy of Death

I just had a moment of wall-throwing with "Accuracy of Death" by Isaka Koutarou, the basis for the movie. It's a collection of six short stories, apparently interconnected, though I haven't read past the first one.

The premise is that Chiba is a shinigami. When he gets assigned a target, he has seven days to decide whether the target is going to live or die. This time his target is Konishi Kazue, a depressed customer complaint agent at an electronics company. She explains to Chiba that she was named Kazue (one blessing) as if her parents were hoping for her to have one, just one good point, and even that meager hope was dashed. Lately her life is even worse because she has a crank caller who keeps calling to complain about various broken electronics and asks her to talk, even to sing.
( Spoilers, book-destroying spoilers )

I still plan to see the movie, I think - there are three stories in the movie, of which I've only read the first, and it's possible that the end will redeem the beginning. I'll probably finish the book. The reviews failed to spoil me as much as I'd have liked, but they don't give me any reason to suspect I'll hate it... and really, aside from that it's a good story.

(no subject)

The joy of the children's section is in watching children's imaginative play. These kids had me find a list of stops on the L train and proceeded to play L train, complete with every announcement I can think of - "We are being held momentarily by the train's dispatcher," "Stand clear of the closing doors," and so forth.

I speak as someone who kept that up way longer than most children - even if you don't count the Dungeons & Dragons in high school - and I can't say how much I like the creativity and attentiveness that you can see when children are really, truly absorbed in pretending something.