1. What is your reaction to the text you just read?
Silver spoon is a fascinating read- I originally wasn't too sold on the manga as I had no idea what it was about and sort of jumped into it blind, but I find myself understanding and sympathizing with the main character a lot which is what more or less hooked me in. Hachiken, the main character, arrives at this agricultural school in the middle of nowhere with no set goals in mind. He's surrounded by people with agricultural expertise ranging from farming experience to veterinarian experience and more, whereas he has a completely different skillset than the rest of them due to how and where he grew up. Overall, I really liked the direction that the manga was going in, as you can already tell from the first 6 or 7 chapters that there is major character development as Hachiken gets more involved in his activities and goes out of his way to try to know his fellow classmates. I'm stuck wondering what sorts of issues he will be running into, and also wonder how he is going to adapt to the farm life as time goes on, as these sorts of stories are never all fun and games. The story is already pitching ideas of survival of the fittest using the animals as examples, and slowly but surely there seems to be an evolving underlying theme of "kill or be killed", where your best might just not be good enough as results are what matters above all else.
2. What connections did you make with the story? (Discuss the elements of the work with which you were able to connect)
As briefly mentioned above, I was able to connect with Hachiken the most, as he came into the school with little to no experience. Similarly to my experiences freshman year at Ringling, I didn't really know what I was getting myself into, as I had essentially no traditional art knowledge compared to everyone else who had these major aspirations and dreams already. I sort of figured out what it was that I wanted to do along the way, but it was definitely a struggle similarly to how Hachiken feels as he compares himself to the weakest piglet on the ranch, and you watch him sort of run around aimlessly as he attempts to do the best work he can possibly do while being completely inexperienced. In a way, I was also able to sympathize with some of the other characters as they briefly mentioned their overall goals for coming to this agricultural school: some people more or less did not have a choice as they put on themselves this sort of responsibility to take care of the ranch as the next in line, whether because this felt like their only option, or they simply felt the need to take over responsibilities because their mother was dying. This really resonated with me as I know of some friends in Taiwan that were forced into similar situations, one notably being unable to go to college because she was required to take over her father's shop.
3. What changes would you make to adapt this story into another medium? What medium would you use? What changes would you make?
If I had the option to choose, I would probably adapt Silver Spoon into a visual novel. On one hand, while most visual novel experiences focus very heavily on romance, there's a certain aspect that is simply relationship-building, even if just on a friendship level. By turning the story into a visual novel, the player would be able to choose where they want to spend their time throughout the day, thus overall changing the outcome of who they get to meet, and also potentially changing the main character's career path by having him focus on being a vet, or being a farmer. Having the freedom to go wherever allows for different endings and getting to learn different characters (and you may not learn about other ones depending on who you choose to spend your time with), and ultimately allows for a lot more variety than what is set in stone through the manga.
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