“Three O’Clock” is the story of Yuri Kitazawa, a young woman who finds her way into another world after she is hit by a truck while riding her bike.  The story has some of the features of anime, having people with oddly coloured hair, everyone understanding and speaking English, and a heroine who goes back and forth between worlds.  After eight chapters there doesn’t seem to be a main plot but the characters are fun and the backstory is interesting.

Yuri lives with her parents but doesn’t seem to be in school or working.  She recently found out that she was adopted, her Dad is actually her uncle, and her biological mother has recently committed suicide.  No one seems to know who her father was.  Also, Yuri hasn’t really talked to her best friend since telling Reese about her mother.  As a result, she seems a little lost and depressed when we first meet her.  When the truck hits her bike she wakes up in a black, featureless place with a strange man named Corwyn.  He sends her on her way and she wakes up again in another world.  She lands in Ro and Kiih’s garden and almost immediately starts a fight with Kiih.  This becomes the pattern throughout the story.  Ro is the easy going guy who offers to help her get back home.  Kiih is the uptight guy who she’s constantly bickering with all the way on the journey. 

Most fantasy novels allow the “visitor from another world” to understand the local language but I found it a bit of a stretch here.  Everyone understands all of Yuri’s slang and colloquialisms, and no one bats an eye when she realizes she’s from another world.  We’ll just take her to see Mer at the Sunset Cafe, and if that doesn’t work we’ll go to the Library in the city.  They’ll know how to send her back.  Apparently they even know about mud-wrestling in this world.  On the other hand the bantering is fun and the stories Len tells Yuri are interesting, as well as setting up the backstory of the world for the reader. 

There is an interesting backstory, and the world is an interesting mix of the familiar and the exotic.  The food is the same as on Earth, and the Sunset Cafe reminds her of a place on near home.  On the other hand, some of the people have orange hair or red eyes or can light a cigarette with their fingertips.  There are no cars or televisions but she sees a cash register, a coffee maker and bicycles.  So far everyone is very nice and helpful, except for Kiih.  There’s not much tension or conflict after the first chapter or so.

The writing in general is solid although so far “Three O’Clock” feels more like a series of episodes rather than one plot.  It’s not clear after 8 chapters where the overall story is going but it’s a fun, light-hearted journey.  If you like anime-based stories, or stories about people visiting other “planes” you might find this worth a look.

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