I'm Kita Duran

Original Music Makes

by Veronica Purcell

Original Music Makes is a web fiction series centered on Duran Kita who is a Japanese private high school student. He struggles against a stringent school system to run a music club. This is a story about friendship, family and foes connected together by the music he makes.

151 pages, Paperback

First published June 3, 2015

About the author

An indie novelist who writes experiences from interesting perspectives. Life is more than one slice.

Reviews

[Alex Akira · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was utterly charmed by this sparkling slice–of-Japanese-high-school-life story. It read like a Boys Love schoolboy manga crossed with a high school-oriented K-drama, like Dream High. Originally written as a web series, each chapter of this spirited novel captures an episodic adventure in the life of its lead character Kita Duran who has enrolled in a new school. A musically gifted teen of Japanese/French descent, Kita and his new friends encounter a number of challenges when they decide to form a music club in a high school that frowns upon nonacademic clubs. Vibrant, humorous, and well-balanced with slices of morality, light angst, and romance, I found this to be a playful and entertaining read.

Kita Duran is a wonderful creation and the premise of his just starting out in a new school really worked. Kita’s introduction has him be a seemingly average teenager, but as he begins to make friends and assert himself, he is revealed to be a resilient and generous boy. Throw in that he is gorgeous, prone to lose himself in his piano playing, and is shy in matters of the heart, and Kita Duran is quite adorable. The supporting cast of his friends is equally lovable. I especially enjoyed Kita’s never-met-a–pancake-I didn’t-like close friend, Fumio, and the hot, older teen, Saski, Kita’s “crush.” Kudos to the author for her detailed styling of these boys, I easily assembled my mental cast from today’s hottest J and K-pop idols. But the strength of the story comes from the lush assortment of personalities and the intensity of the boys’ group dynamic. This successfully created an aura of vitality and color that ratcheted up the experiential factor considerably. I also appreciated that strong female characters were included among Kita’s group of friends.

Anyone who is familiar with Japanese anime, manga, and J and K dramas will recognize the trials and situations both comical and dire that Kita and his friends face. From amusing science-experiment-gone-wrong scenes, to confronting a possible ghost, and run-ins with the local bullies, beautifully animated passages sent me from school rooms, to ramen houses, to concert halls and kept me turning the pages for more. Kita’s poignant but mysterious flashback scenes hint that more adventures are pending in the next of the series, and I must admit to being greedy for more steamy, smexy scenes of Kita and his new lover “playing” among the kittens.

The writing, especially the dialogue, is spot on, and a nonintrusive moral thread (anti-bullying and stand-up-for what you believe) is cleverly woven throughout the tale, adding a mature undertone to what is a highly addictive and rocking-good-fun story. Those who are into boy’s love, shōnen’ai, Japanese animé or manga, or anyone simply looking for an entertaining spice-of-the-teen life read is sure to love this book. Me, I’m already sneaking a peek at what happens next in Kita’s life… new chapters of the series are posted on the author’s website. Woot!

Thank you, Veronica Purcell… for making me see animated pictures with your words… great gift that.

“Jazzy, one of the Boys...Love!”

[Valicity Elaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is more on the contemporary fiction side. It’s basically about a boy whose mother remarries which extends his family to a sister and stepdad. Duran also tries to fit into his school, facing obstacles many teens face with fitting in and finding their place in society. Music is the center of this novel as it’s what inspires Duran and carries a good deal of the plot as he tries to open his club.

I’m Kita Duran earned points for having minority leads, though the whole book centered on Japanese people in general so it technically wasn’t a “minority lead” since they were really in the majority. But I’m familiar with the Japanese culture so it wasn’t a big deal. I knew the terms used, I could pick up on where the humor was supposed to be and it was written clearly enough for me to understand even if I weren’t familiar with that culture.

Duran was a very typical male lead, that’s not a complaint, I think he fit well into the story and the author did a good job at molding his personality. The book wasn’t forever long but readers definitely had the time to learn to love Duran and his new sister. Their friendliness was enjoyable and made for great humor at times. I always love a new family that gets along, so kudos to the author for giving us a smooth ride in that area.

I’m not one who’ll pick up a book about music—despite spending eight years in school as a vocal music major—but the story was pleasant. It wasn’t entirely about music as we had the new marriage in the background, a new school to deal with, and then the club on top of it. Each of these could have made for their own story but Purcell folded it all together with great structure and flow.

I just have two complaints with this story. Dealing with contemporary fiction, this complaint always pops up with me. There were three major things going on in this story but it still felt like nothing really happened. A kid went to a new school and tried to start a music club. Bam, I just summed up the whole story in one measly, uninteresting sentence. I wasn’t looking for action packed fight scenes or emotional fits of tears but I found myself just wanting more out of this. The writing was good, the characterization was well done, the grammar was there, but the story kind of came and went for me.

My second complaint, this story centers on Japanese characters so there’s obviously aspects of their culture included in the book. There’s just one thing I can’t stand when authors—whether fanfiction or traditional fiction—write about the Japanese culture. It’s that they use the terms ‘chan’ ‘kun’ ‘san’ and ‘sensei’ when they speak to each other. No other part of the dialogue or description really includes much about the Japanese language or culture except that and it just bugs the crap out of me. It feels like those terms are in the way, hanging onto the end of everyone’s name. I understand that’s how they communicate in Japanese but in the English language those terms seem unnecessary and distracting.

Overall, I’d recommend this book to young adults and teens. It makes for a great coming-of-age story for those kids in that transitional stage in life.

*I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

[Alyssa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was drawn to this book because of the book description. I, myself, am into anime, manga, music and all those Japanese culture goodness and I decided to give it a try.

The story sets in Japan which I find amazing! Also, I find it so weird because I'm so used to this kind of stuff in Japanese and written by Japanese that it's so different. The book really reminds me of a light novel. And I think that's what the author is going for. I find this very commendable because I feel like she's the first one to do it with a publication on her belt.

What's amazing about this book is it has an amazing story line. This is kind of like an anime where there are these main characters and main plot but goes ahead and does a sub plot. Like, for example, this is about a music club and how it's made but there are parts about a haunted classroom, an experiment gone wrong and the likes. But it also shares about serious issues too and how to cope with them, which is what I really love about this book.

The thing with this is that this book is not for everybody. If a reader is not into anime, manga and the like or if a reader is not even knowledgeable about these stuff, I'm pretty sure they would put it down. As for me, it took me awhile to get comfortable with this book. And since I got this book for free in exchange for an honest review, I had to finish it. Like I said, the book and its story is not bad, it's quite lengthy and the progress is very slow. The main character seems perfect and the other characters don't have their distinct personalities or qualities, thus making me read the book with confusion and without the knowledge of who exactly is who. I'm pretty sure it's not because the book use the characters' first name or their last.

Another thing I find a bit uncomfortable with is the shounen-ai (boy's love), I, personally, don't have anything against this. I mean I don't read shounen-ai in any form may be it manga, anime, novels and so on. Just reading the few details just made me uncomfortable. But I have to admit I was rooting for Duran and his love interest too! And at the end of the day, love wins!

All in all it's an okay book. This is the first volume and the continuation can actually be read in the book's website, but truthfully I wouldn't read the next one. This book in itself felt complete even though there are still more to look forward to. I still like the book and I love the fact that the author attempted and succeeded in writing a light novel.

This book was given to me for free in exchange for an honest review.

[Katrina Hart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Original Music Makes: I'm Kita Duran. Author Veronica Purcell

I got this book really out of interest as it was very different from what I would normal read. However, I would recommend this book for teens/ young adults as it was a very interesting and in some places a funny read. The novel also had a lot of heart to it with the many character Duran meets and what they go through together when he starts a new school.

The story itself was about Duran as he starts a new school after his mum and settles with a new man and his daughter. While at the new school on his first day Duran takes part in a science experiment which goes wrong and makes everyone see each other in a very new light.I did laugh when the science experiment went wrong that part was both funny and a bit chilling in a way. A little while after Duran finds out that the school doesn't have a music club and sets about creating one, with little approval from the school. Does he manage it? You'll have to read this novel to find out.

I will say the bond between Duran and his sister was really sweet and I think both those characters really complemented each other. Also the book itself was written really well.

This novel also has some great description of each character, as a reader I could see each one very clearly in my mind. I also think this novel spoke a lot of friendship when you're young and how much friends need to support each other through the hard times and sometimes scary times.

I would recommend this book for teen readers who like great characters and seeing friendships made and character who are willing to stand up for those friendships.

[Barry West · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m no fan of YA, but I picked this up on a lark because the reviews were so kind, and as much as I hate to say it Kita Duran was utterly charming. After his transfer to a dismal school he wants to add a little whimsy and create a more festive atmosphere by starting a music club. Soon, however, he finds himself at odds with a powerful group of students who want to stop his quest. Will he succeed? Probably, after all, he’s the hero, but the manner in which he does, and the people he meets along the way, make this story both enjoyable and original.

And I guess that’s why I liked it so much. The stakes aren’t super high, but they’re personal and clear and you can root for them easy. The characters are likable and extremely vivid, and the tone is perfect. There’s seriousness, and some fear, but mostly it’s a vibrant and engrossing. Like I said, I’m no fan of YA, but after reading Kita Duran I’m going to have to amend that statement. Curse you Veronica Purcell!

[Tracey Taylor · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thanks to Goodreads I had the opportunity to read this book.Whilst I regard myself as a consumer of all genre this book did not take me in the way I expected.The characters were well portrayed and the scenes set well.It was more a case of "what or where is this story going" that kept me reading.It is a little far fetched in parts and you need to read past some of the obviously fractional moments but if you want to try something new then it's worth the challenge.

[Robert Grey · Rating 5 out of 5]

In a perfect world we'd have the lovely daughter of Ebina Hina X Shiguma Rika to write fiction for us to enjoy. Until then we have I'm Kita Duran. Thank you Ms. Purcell!