Main Story (Key Highlights): In Japan after the Meiji Restoration, A Jie, a high school underachiever, lives in self-delusion like Ah Q. Faced with bullying by the school board chairman’s son, a young master in the mold of Zhao Tailord, he numbs himself with “spiritual victories.” Then he meets Ling, a taciturn transfer student burdened by rumors like Xianglinsao. Their similar circumstances bring them into a faint connection. After his dignity is trampled again and again, a trace of resentment quietly stirs within A Jie. He begins clumsily defending Ling and trying to stand up to his tormentor. Without a golden finger, he uses the means available to someone at the bottom of society to slowly break free from the shackles of “spiritual victories” in a school caught between old and new ideas, embarking on an ordinary yet painful comeback.
Tags: Meiji-era Japan, high school, underdog comeback, no golden finger, first-person perspective
Characters:
Male lead A Jie: A weak, introverted high school underachiever who uses “spiritual victories” to comfort himself. Like Ah Q, he is numb to his circumstances, yet still harbors a faint sense of self-respect. As the story progresses, he gradually awakens to the need to fight back.
Female lead Ling: A transfer student who is ostracized because of unclear rumors. Taciturn, she bears an invisible burden like Xianglinsao, with endurance and exhaustion hidden in her eyes.
Antagonist, the school board chairman’s son: Born into a prominent family, arrogant and domineering, he looks down on students from humble backgrounds like Zhao Tailord and takes pleasure in bullying A Jie. He represents the oppression of the old order.
Plot: The story follows A Jie as he is bullied at school and crosses paths with Ling, showing how he goes from seeking “spiritual victories” to clumsily fighting back. It also weaves in the conflict between old and new ideas at school against the backdrop of the Meiji Restoration.
Book Review: Flapping your wings in the mire and piercing the cocoon of spiritual victory "Cicada!" " Is a sober book with a dull ache. The author uses the Japanese campus after the Meiji Restoration as the scene to portray Ajie as a contemporary Ah Q, who uses the "spiritual victory method" to survive bullying. However, after meeting Suzu, who was also coerced by rumors, a glimmer of resistance emerged from similar suffering. There is no golden finger blessing, no cheating counterattack, Ajie's resistance is clumsy and embarrassing, but it carries the most vivid vitality of the people at the bottom. What he broke free from was not only campus bullying, but also the self-paralysis of "spiritual victory" and the clumsy protection of dignity by ordinary people under the collision of old and new ideas. The title of the book "Cicada" is an excellent metaphor: it has been dormant underground for many years, only to break out of the ground and flap its wings to sing. Ajie's counterattack is the struggle and awakening of ordinary people in the quagmire. Every stroke has a stinging feeling, but it also hides the most touching vitality. It is sad to read and even more thought-provoking.