October 21st Michelle Chae

 Abandoning a Cat

I think it was shocking to me that the main character and his dad didn't speak for over 20 years. It seemed like when he was young he wanted to learn stuff about his dad and his experiences during the war, but later on it was upsetting to hear that they didn't speak to each other until his dad was about to die. I wonder if his dad didn't want to tell the main character stories because he didn't want to talk to him or if he didn't want to tell him all the traumatic stuff that they had gone through.

Coco's Century

I really liked this story and I thought it was really cute. It made me sad when it kinda seemed like Misao didn't appreciate things that Ko did for her as much as she shoul've. I thought it was kinda rude how Misao didn't use the glass eye and said it was annoying instead of saying something like I'm too scared to scratch it or something. 

His Last Bow

While reading this I was shocked that the narrator had become a writer since I know that she had a lot of pressure from her family especially her dad to become a doctor. I was proud of her for being able to step up and pursue something that she really loved. 

Sunrise

When reading Sunrise I thought it was really cool that the mom had grown up and basically saw how nuclear explosions had developed. Seeing how the narrator is having a baby on her own it made me realize how different generations will experience different events as they grow up.

Tokyo Ueno Station

I felt really bad for the main character because he had sacrificed a lot for his family. He had to move around in different jobs and even had to move away from his family for his jobs as well. It was really heart breaking to think that he felt really upset that he couldn't afford the ride for his son as well.

Life isn't easy

I thought this story was really weird. I think the narrator is the Japanese anthem? And I didn't like the idea that the anthem had a crush on this guy because he refused to sing the anthem. I just thought it was weird how he wanted him to sing and felt unwanted whenever he didn't sing even though there were hundreds of other students that were singing.