I finished the book last night, and the experience was odd, so I wanted the community's take on it.

1) The dialogue was almost always expository. "Expository" may not be the right word, because not all of it advanced the plot. That said, the characters nearly always spoke the themes of the book out loud in plain, clear language. Nobody ever does anything but speak their mind, except for Natsuki, but she's the narrator so she just tells the reader what she thinks directly. I don't think of this as good writing at all, but it did move things along. I wonder if this is typical of modern Japanese fiction? I remember watching the OG Death Note, and the dialogue was the same way. It seems like the opposite of devices used in what I would call "literary" horror, but then again other elements of the book were beautiful.

2) Did the brevity of the book make the characters' decisions seem completely unbelievable? Yuu seems beyond impressionable, and the other two "aliens" seem to ride the line between traumatized, braindead, and extremely suggestible. Other characters seem to act out their parts in a loop (the murdered teacher's parents seem to forever be handing out flyers, for example). Over-the-top characters are part of satire, which seems to be what this book is, but that brings me to my next point.

3) What does the book mean? We get so much repetitive analysis of the evils of "The Factory" in the middle portion, but then these ideas lead our protagonists into disaster. So are we meant not to side with either group, society or the Popinpogobians? Is the book ultimately misanthropic?

4) I did enjoy the rural mountain setting at the Grandparents' house, and I felt like the book gave me a window into a modern kind of specifically Japanese social despair.

Anyway, that's more of less what I thought. It read fast and I'm glad I finished it. I wonder what your take was.