Tokyo Love by Diana Jean

Tokyo Love
by Diana Jean
Pages: 266
Date: July 25 2016
Publisher: Crimson Romance
Series: None

Review
Rating: 5.0 out of 5.0
Read: July 27 to 28 2016

This was a somewhat strange one from beginning to end. Still, don’t take that line wrongly; I should probably have used the word ‘different’ instead of strange, since strange implies things I might not mean to imply.

I noticed the book shortly before it was set to be published and immediately put it on my ‘to-read’ shelf. Which I mention because I usually do not put books on that shelf, I normally put it on some other self-made exclusive shelf (in this case, it probably would have ended up on the ‘LGBT-maybes-new-to-me-author’ shelf). I mention this rather boring point just to note that I developed a desire to read this book immediately and didn’t want to lose it on any other shelf (then promptly lost it since I rarely actually look at the to-read shelf. Mmphs).

This book is set in 20146 Japan. That’s right, 20,130 years in my own future. Bah. I can’t write numbers. 2046 I meant. So, 30 years in the future from the date of book publication.

The book stars Kathleen Schmitt – an American who had been working for the Mashida corporation in the USA before accepting a promotion to a project manager position, which just happened to also include a move to Tokyo Japan. Before and after the move, Kathleen worked on various ‘love’ programs – either simulated dating programs, or her current project of working on a love doll. A ‘Personal Love Companion (PLC)’.

Also starring in this book is Yuriko, a neighbor of Kathleen’s in Tokyo, and coworker at Mashida (though in a different division). It is important to the story to note that she looks, largely, Japanese, but has a few ‘hints’ here or there of her mixed background (what with the blue eyes, and eyes which may or may not be slightly wider than norm (I’ve a vague recollection of that being the case). Otherwise, she basically looks Japanese.

The third star of the book is Ai, and the reason why Yuriko looking Japanese but with hints of ‘other’ is important. Because Ai also looks Japanese. With differences. Like eye color. And the like. She’s basically a PLC clone of Yuriko built when Kathleen was tasked with being the ‘pre-beta’ tester and her brain was scanned to find her her ‘perfect’ love doll. Shock to everyone when that love doll turned out to be female. Look Japanese. And specifically look like a woman Kathleen had just met.

Kathleen, naturally, strongly advances the notion that there is something wrong with the scanning thingie, because in no way is she interested in women. No way. None. Uh-uh. Nope. I’m going on long on this point because it is, in a way, a very long drawn out issue in the book. An issue that pops up nearish the beginning of the book and isn’t resolved until long after my brain already imploded by the frustration. Worded that way so I do not actually have to give an end point. The vast majority of the book involves how much Kathleen is neither a lesbian, nor bisexual. Being attracted to women is just wrong. Wrong! I’m kind of confused by this issue, at least when it starts going into the ‘it’s wrong!’ or ‘I shouldn’t be doing this’ direction; what with it being 2046 and no one on earth giving a fuck about sexual orientation (except, apparently, Kathleen; and, okay, Japanese culture, in this book, kind of turns a blind eye to the concept of same sex coupling – and not necessarily a good way).

So, that’s basically what the book is about. A large fat American who doesn’t know Japanese is in Tokyo as a project manager on a love doll project and, ‘for reasons’ is tasked with testing a pre-beta version of the doll. While testing the doll, the fat American (who actually is shorter than Yuriko), has something of a budding friendship develop with Yuriko – her first friend in Japan after being there for many months (3? It is unclear now in my mind).

Both Yuriko and Ai pull Kathleen somewhat out of her shell – both personality wise, and the shell of routine (actually going to a grocery store, cooking, going to shrines, leaving Tokyo, etc.).

In the old days of decimal point rating, I’d have rated this a good solid 4.75 (mostly losing 0.25 because of how frustrating and long that ‘but . . . but . . . I’m not interested in women!’ section took to resolve the entire book).

July 28 2016