Finished アキハバラ・ライターズ・カルテット / Akihabara Writers Quartet

After his prize-winning debut work became a huge hit, Yoshitake Shin has been unable to write. His childhood friend, Matsunaka Yume, suggests that their friend group write a doujin novel (with his little sister providing the illustrations) to create a final memory before she moves away at the end of the school year. Through the process of creating the doujinshi, Shin comes face-to-face with his limits as an author.

From the summary alone it sounded like something that would be right up my alley... but unfortunately it didn't live up to expectations. All the doujin-creating took place off screen, and the romcom bits weren't even funny or interesting. I feel like Yume had potential, but her character went largely unexplored - as did Shin's slump. I had hoped the book would do a deeper dive into Shin's frustrations and the difference between creating works as a professional vs. as a hobbyist, or working as a solo writer vs. part of a group, but instead the book was mostly boring slice of life scenes that had no lasting impression on me (unless you count the massive disappointment).