In Class Reading | Silver Spoon

Silver Spoon

1. What is your reaction to the text you just read?

Hiromu Arakawa really loves dairy farming. And Silver Spoon is definitely dedicated to that love exclusively. It reads as Arakawa's ode to her days growing up as a dairy farmer on her family's farm, and you can feel the love she has for those times. Having read Fullmetal Alchemist, this manga is a far change of pace from the action, fantasy story of Ed and Alphonse. And probably because of that, I'm reading with the anticipation that something is going to happen. There's gotta be some twist in here. But nope. It really is just farming. And honestly, that's kind of refreshing in it's own right.

2. What connections did you make with the story? Discuss the elements of the work with which you were able to connect

Getting yourself into a foreign situation and being the only one not able to understand what's going on, most of us have been there. The main character, Yuugo Hachiken, gets himself sucked into the wild world of farming with not one lick of prior knowledge. And he's going to have to work hard, really damn hard, if he's going to claim the number one spot like he says he will. That's what's pretty interesting about his character, even if he doesn't know what he's doing, he wants to be the best at it. Now that's the kind of stupid, yet admirable, quality I love. I'm not the type of person to half-ass things, if I'm going to do it, I'm going to full-ass it. And nine times out of ten, I fall on my ass afterwards since I don't know a darn thing I'm doing. But heck, making the best out of it is about all you can do.

3. What changes would you make to adapt this story into another medium? What medium would you use? What changes would you make?

I would actually be pretty interested in seeing how this could be translated into live-action. Live-action adaptations of manga and anime usually have a... weird track record, but I think there could be something interesting with Silver Spoon. It's a very slice of life story set in the real world, and I think there could be some appeal in seeing real animals. Since farming's on the decline, it would be an interesting glimpse at the efforts farmers make to put food on our table. Am I lame for trying to make it more educational? What am I becoming...