1. 100% Perfect Girl ~ Haruki Murakami
Top 10 AO2 Devices

2. ‘One beautiful April morning,’
Symbolic Setting
‘One beautiful April morning,’
Symbolic of spring
Represents new beginnings, hope and optimism
Sets an instant tone of positivity
‘A narrow side street’
Misleading to a theme of optimism
Idealistic – signifying the small chance of the couple ever meeting

3. Irony
‘Tokyo’
Very busy – fast paced society – ironic because even though he is surrounded by people, he feels lonely
However, hopeful tone because even in a city where it is easy to become anonymous, they found each other.

4. ‘There’s a rumbling in my chest, and my mouth is as dry as a desert.’
Simile
‘There’s a rumbling in my chest, and my mouth is as dry as a desert.’
Romantic – living in a fantasy world - cliché
However, the simile reveals his anxiety, how he is filled with fear of rejection and low self-esteem
- he yearns for her but is paralysed with terror of talking to her
‘Crammed full of secrets, like an antique clock built when peace filled the world.’
Incorporates the idea of time is always ticking and needs to be seized before the opportunity escapes
Reveals his idiosyncratic character and shows a possibility that he is unable to live in the modern era as the reference belongs to a historic period

5. Direct speech
“‘Yesterday on the street I passed the 100% girl,” I tell someone.’
Creates an anti-climax showing he lacks someone to talk to – reinforcing the lonely theme
100% represents his mathematic brain as he attempts to measure and quantify his love
“‘So anyhow,” he says, already bored’
Shows how this exchange had happened before and the friend has a dismissive attitude, emphasising how lonely and isolated the narrator is
The narrator is surrounded by people who cannot aid him with his social defects

6. Senses
‘warm air mass touches my skin. The asphalt is damp, and I catch the scent of roses.’
He attempts a romantic description, but the scientific terms expose his romantic clumsiness
Writer appeals to our senses

7. Fairy Tale ‘Once upon a time,”
A story within a story – the narrator has the ability to delve into a fantasy world showing his power to escape reality after the failure of the first part of the story: ‘ she’s lost in the crowd.’
The story seems more distant than the first and has patterned conventions – they speak almost in unison
‘They were not lonely anymore’
‘To find and be found’
He devises his daydream so he no longer feels alienated and feels belonging and free – no longer lonely
‘She to the east, and he to the west’
Symbolic – they were destined to meet, but sadly only part way through a journey in opposite directions
Sense of distance, embeds a sense of sadness

8. ‘There lived a boy and a girl,’
View Point
‘The moment I see her,’
Starts with a first person view point, making it immediate and in the moment
Amplifies his loneliness and isolation, invites our empathy for of his dislocation from society
‘There lived a boy and a girl,’
The second story shifts to a third person viewpoint, making it seem more distant
The change adds character to the protagonist as it reinforces that he is a fantasist, introverted and withdrawn from the rest of the world

9. Modal Verbs ‘It would have been a long speech,’
‘I should have said to her’
‘They should have never undertaken it’
‘Wish I could talk to her’
‘I might be the 100% perfect girl for you,’
The use of modal verbs shows he is caught by possibilities but cannot take action
They also reinforce the idea of the narrators fantasy world as he dreams about what could’ve happened

10. Repetition ‘It’s a miracle, a cosmic miracle.’
‘100% perfect boy and the 100% perfect girl for them.’
The repetition of ‘perfect’ and ‘miracle’ throughout the story conveys the a childlike sense and reinforces how the account is a perfect, fairy tale fantasy of the narrator.
‘She is…’ ‘He is…’
Emphasises the fictional tragedy – perhaps he would’ve convinced her that they shouldn’t make such a mistake
‘She to the east, and he to the west.’
‘Each felt a rumbling in the chest.’
‘Disappearing into the crowd.’
Repeated – echoes lines from the exposition – his imaginary delusion had an identical ending to that of reality resulting in a sad, melancholic ending.

11. ‘Ridiculous. I’d sound like an insurance salesman.’
Short Sentences
‘Ridiculous. I’d sound like an insurance salesman.’
The minor sentence – emphatic tone – emphasises his frustration and feelings of self-loathing – self-deprecating.
‘Forever.’
Glum and downhearted ending – emphasises his missed opportunity due to insecurities and anxiety.