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Starting Over
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Rating(4.4 / 5.0, 155 votes)
5    67% (104 votes)
4    16% (25 votes)
3    8% (13 votes)
2    3% (4 votes)
1    6% (9 votes)
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2013
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1 Volume (Complete)
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No
Completely Translated
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Release Frequency
Every 67.2 Day(s)
Activity Stats
[Graph]
Weekly Rank: #2000
Monthly Rank: #2000
All Time Rank: #7405
Reading List
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On 1671 Reading Lists
Monthly Rank: #28965
All Time Rank: #5659

Description

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Starting Over originated as a story on 2ch by Fafoo, who later took the pen name Sugaru Miaki. He then rewrote it as a novel.

“It’s been too long since we took the time
No-one’s to blame, I know time flies so quickly
But when I see you darling
It’s like we both are falling in love again
It’ll be just like starting over, starting over”

– (Just Like) Starting Over
John Lennon

This is the story of how upon reaching my twentieth birthday, I was sent back to the age of ten, and lived to be twenty once more.

Associated Names
One entry per line
Starting over 重啟人生
スターティング・オーヴァー
Related Series
Three Days of Happiness (Same Franchise)
Pain, Pain, Go Away (Same Franchise)
The Place You Called From (Same Franchise)
Parasite in Love (Same Franchise)
Recommendations
Still, Wait For Me (1)
Boku no Bungeibu ni Bitch ga Irunante Arienai (1)
Jaku-chara Tomozaki-kun (1)
Ordinary I and Extraordinary Them (1)
Gekkou (1)
Recommendation Lists
  1. stuff i liked a lot
  2. Sugar & Salt
  3. decent
  4. Peak Hidden Gems Part 3
  5. Romcoms

Latest Release

Date Group Release
10/25/13 vgperson c52-70 + afterword
10/20/13 vgperson c37-51
10/16/13 vgperson c24-36
10/09/13 vgperson c1-23
11/23/12 vgperson 2ch thread
Review
20 Reviews


zaim9999
zaim9999
Dec 06, 2017
Status: c70
Such a depressing story......I stopped reading after the chunk of chapters 1-23 for a good while.

It was only later that I realized the reason, the story is way too real.

My life used to be pretty awesome, until recently. Well it's still much better than many other people. But I try to blame all my problems on fate. I keep reading all this reincarnation novels and think, if only I got a chance to Start Over, I could fix all my problems. Hah. The MC is so relatable that its scary.... more>> Some of his views on life really make me think. I almost feel the author must have had to personally experience these things to write such deep stuff.

Well for some reason I restarted reading it, and well I didn't regret it. I liked the ending too. It came as a pleasant surprise.

The one thing to take away from this novel (that I kinda knew already but somehow don't apply to my life) : YOUR LIFE CAN CHANGE FROM THE MOMENT YOU DECIDE TO CHANGE IT. lol. sorry for the caps

Spoiler

"When I changed, it changed my sister, and us changing changed our parents. " this made me think how most reincarnation novels totally ignore this butterfly effect within the family. Your decisions don't only affect your life but those really close to you. And I feel so guilty knowing how much I'm making my parent's suffer. f*ck. they're good parents but after seeing a failure of a son like me, I'm sure they're blaming themselves for not doing something right. I used to be a role model for my sister. Now I feel ashamed to even give her advice.................................i hate myself.. lol... this is supposed to be a review for a novel..

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ArgosYesu
ArgosYesu
Jun 25, 2016
Status: c70
WARNING: I SUGGEST YOU EITHER READ THE 2CH THREAD CHAPTER ONLY, OR READ THE 70+AFTERWARD CHAPTERS AND IGNORE THE 2CH THREAD.

... more>>
Spoiler

The 2ch thread is a condensed version and skips some new ideas, but the overall story is there. I'd suggest the 70 chapters though.

Well, this was a trip. If you were expecting a story about a laidback MC who seems a bit cool since he's already lived his life and his second time was pretty much a smooth trip, then you'd be wrong. Our MC dies at 20 years old and returns to when he was 10, but his memory is scrambled, imperfect.

From the start, this MC believed his first life was perfect and only wanted to relive that perfect life so he tried to imitate that first life perfectly.

He failed halfway through.

It's a roller coaster of feels, but don't expect details about his fails and failures. You'll get his overall feelings of his trip and actions, that's it.

Why did I add the Netorare tag?

Spoiler

When he still believes Tsugomi is his past life girlfriend, he has to watch as she hooks up with his doppleganger, Tokiwa, and since he understands most of what she and him did in the past life, he knew when and where they would lose their v*rginity.

The subsequent shock of thinking about them doing it, left him in a daze and solidified his hatred of Tokiwa.

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I give it a 4 because I felt very numb by the end.

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18 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
nj
nj
Jul 13, 2016
Status: --
Two words for this novel. DARK & DEPRESSING..

But LOVED it very much and you will LOVE it too.

At first got so depressed reading this novel. But by the end it managed to teach me to be optimistic towards the future, even when life seems like s**t. Do read this novel.
12 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
InefableAtaraxia
InefableAtar
Oct 19, 2018
Status: Completed
Sugaru Miaki, first novel. Like he say in the afterwords "Rather than dig through a sea of books where only one out of every hundred is a warped one that I like, it would be a lot faster to just write my own." and I certaninly like the effort he put in his book.

Anyways about the book. If you expected a happy story about how the MC re did things to repair or to improve his previous life. This is not the book for you. Certainly his previous life was... more>> godly. We will see how the MC turn everything upside down and downright worsen his previous life while even affecting those around him. We will see how he approach each of these things in a realistic way. I feel that his personality is such that is just a given that his life won't be anything like the first one. And if you sum to that a hazy memory. Well things can turn bad. What I didn't liked was the fact that there wasn't't an epilogue, but that shouldn't be a problem for everyone, just imagine what happens next right? Or just create another story of you own like Sugaru.

I give this story a 4.5 or 9 but given the impossibility to give any of those I choose a 5 to even out the low score for this book.

If you like to suffer with the protagonist, you want a good story or you are into MC re did his life but things had gotten bad and turned everything around him upside down, this is for you. <<less
7 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
BeeShelf
BeeShelf
Feb 03, 2016
Status: --
I would recommend this book to read, this novel was different from the rest of the novels I usually read.

It made me think about Happiness, and made me think that even small me can bring a change to my surroundings and those that I love

The story is simple and also great

So I gave it 5 stars

PS: this is the 1st time I wrote such a long review
5 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
burntshake
burntshake
Nov 23, 2020
Status: Completed
It pains me to admit how effortlessly how this author describes feelings that i've been acknowledging for a long time now. Feelings that I greatly struggle to put into words. I have no idea if the author went through these experiences but i'd like to think they did because of how accurate they are. And they tie these feelings into a narrative that made it difficult for me to stop reading. I couldn't relate to everything of course but there were ideas that really stuck with me. That said, if... more>> you're content with your life and looking for a well-thought out storyline where everything is perfect, then this won't the story for you. You're going to find it dull, and predictable. This is a story for the few that really want to reflect on life and find a small answer to your emotions. The plot-while still interesting-is a convenient way to portray these emotions. <<less
4 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Rusio2
Rusio2
Nov 09, 2020
Status: Completed
I read this novel whenever Three Days of Happiness came out. I can confidentally say that the two series has had a huge impact on my mind for quite a few months. If you want to reflect on stuff for a while try reading this once imo
4 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Nitpicking Reader
Nitpicking R
Feb 24, 2017
Status: Completed
An awesome novel, first time I comment, and it was for this one novel.

The author entered my top authors' list and I'm determined to read his other novels, I search through release dates and it happens this is his 1st novel, so I'm expecting not any less good reads from him. I don't like spoiling, so I won't say much about the story, well it's just one volume... compared to the other novels that are super long (xianxia and the like)

I think the tags are ok, and I really... more>> got scared of the Netorare tag but it isn't scary or dirty and I didn't even consider it NTR. Some people might not like this novel like any other work in the world, but I hope you'll find the enjoyment I found.

I think a Psychological tag should be added, and I learnt quite a few things in this novel.

Thank you vgperson for the translation of such an amazing work.

edit: I followed an advice from fellow reviewers and I've read the novel not the 2ch version <<less
4 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Arcfreak
Arcfreak
Mar 12, 2016
Status: --
Its written well is okay at the start but if you want an MC with no motivation to do anything better or a pretty laidback MC this is for you. Its one of those stories that one can relate to and makes you think about your life
4 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
kakistory
kakistory
Mar 25, 2018
Status: Completed
Compared to the tags, the story isn't what I expected. I was looking at the tags and my mind then framed the storyline.. BUT! It was different and yeah, not a good read for me.

Personally I think, how much you were content in your life, there must be something you want to improve. The MC thinking is so dull to me that it bothers me. So I skipped some paragraph, and guess what? It doesn't really matters.

The good aspect of this novel is.. I don't seem to find any.
3 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
SBAMOB
SBAMOB
Jan 13, 2023
Status: Completed
I struggled to suspend my disbelief when reading this story, but it's too bloody unrealistic.

First point: Imagine you suddenly die at 20 years old, and then you wake up at 10 years old with all your memories and experience and knowledge from 20 years old. Next, you live to 13 years old. Guess what? You are mentally 23 years old. Just because you're living like a little kid again doesn't actually regress your age, you're still adding new experiences ON TOP of your existing experiences.

Second point: If you lived as... more>> a popular kid in your first life, you would have many many interactions with people. These countless interactions would make you SKILLED and EXPERIENCED at interacting with all sorts of people. In your second life, you would be SKILLED at talking to people.

Honestly, the protagonist understands too little about his world in his second-life, it makes ZERO sense. I strongly suspect the author was a teenager when he wrote this story. I feel like it would be a totally different story if the author wrote it at the age of 30. <<less
2 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
racingmaniac
racingmaniac
Jan 19, 2021
Status: Completed
I think out of all of his works, this one maybe makes me (and maybe readers in general) most directly relate themselves to.

The premise is interesting, would you change anything given the knowledge of how things will go when you are able to relive the same years. Its certainly interesting how the MC chose to start when he was presented with this and then to watch the story and the life of the MC unravels in the most depressing manner. Maybe the details are not relatable directly but put yourself... more>> in that situation, how would you react to that development. Its a rough ride but still I think you can feel the optimism, but most of the way its pretty sad. <<less
2 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Meloonseed
Meloonseed
Aug 31, 2019
Status: Completed
Like InefableAtar, I have something I want to say about the afterword of this sort of novel. "Rather than dig through a sea of books where only one out of every hundred is a warped one that I like, it would be a lot faster to just write my own."

This warped one... Well. Sugaru Miaki's novels all have very real and interesting characters, although, the way he describes them, is a sort of weird and abstract way.

Hm.

It's hard to say, but I really like his novels. They are all, quite... more>> hard to read through with the abusive yet realistic treatment of it's characters, unlike most asian webnovels. Abusive only being a metaphor here, not truly being ab*sed. But mostly, it teaches many lessons, and.

The endings usually aren't too bad. This one... was a little bit rushed, I have to say.

If anyone sees this review, just try this out. Especially if you don't know where your life is currently going. <<less
2 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Ko
Koalala
Nov 10, 2017
Status: --
This is s*upidly long but it's not bad.

It gave me goosebumps at some point I guess? Lol
2 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
kalp456
kalp456
Oct 24, 2016
Status: Completed
One of the things that I always look for in a story is the main theme of the story, and this one clearly has it. In fact, it focused too much on its main theme that I dare say the author failed to make the characters, even the main character, have redeeming qualities. Furthermore, the ending is really not satisfying since I somewhat consider it as a fanservice/asspull or whatever that is. Overall, it is a satisfying read with some personal bias (positive side) so I rate it 6/10 (should/might... more>> have been 5/10). Definitely recommended. <<less
2 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
moranedward15
moranedward1
Jul 17, 2024
Status: Completed
I effin loved it, just as other reviews stated, I find it dark and realistic, will not elaborate because others already did but holyy that was one hell of a ride, I will never forget this novel, I'll try to avoid what MC faced in his college
1 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
johnyujj
johnyujj
May 01, 2021
Status: c52-70 + afterword
It's a nice story, but I feel that there was too little plot for the length of the novel. The story was quite slow and it was mostly about the main character's thoughts which, while realistic, were not very interesting to read. Maybe the 2ch thread is more concise and better.
1 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
YeeHukNovel
YeeHukNovel
Sep 29, 2020
Status: c5
What a great novel to reflect on life. This is the kind of novel that help comfort you when you are low on life and let's you hope that maybe some day you could also achieve the kind of happiness. Also that ending and that opening damnnn
1 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Hudie
Hudie
Mar 23, 2018
Status: Completed
The story kicked off with promises before it got depressing. While it's true that it has its charms, but halfway, the story started to get predictable. The last few chapters were good, but I felt the resolution of the story is rather weak compared to early chapters.
1 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
notjoining
notjoining
May 22, 2017
Status: Completed
Eh...

Decent. Forgettable, but decent.

Not Sugaru Miaki's best work, Starting Over might have become something more if not for that change of pace in the final sections of the novel.

... more>> The solution to the "mystery" was also forced, and the way it was exposed was contrived.

The romance was so sudden, and while they had a good atmosphere going, it was too rushed. Might've been better if he wrote a second book to ease things out, instead of rushing blindly.

In fact, all that is wrong with this book is in the last parts of the story. Which is really important, considering that is where the climax will happen.

If the author wrote those problematic section better, it might've been a good novel. <<less
1 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
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