ok yeah sure. it is very consciously tell instead of show because readers of serial fiction are dumb and impatient, and madiha's talked about her feelings re: the first two chapters to that effect before. i dont think im gonna convince you or anything, a thing can simply be not for you! its a strange case though, where it ultimately ends up, cuz i don't think it loses this instinct to tell about characters rather than stylise text to hide substance in the vibe. if there is anything that threads the line between 'you are absolutely looking at anime women' and a text with the confidence to know what it is not saying and why, ujd is the best i have to offer. style matters tho, dont let anyone tell you style is not crucially important. madiha tells quite a lot because there are, in the world of unjust depths, stakes to the style of mystification. i kinda read it as a speculative rebuke to the bourgeois novel: superficially styled in anime glamour, armour plated heart of communist consciousness. sometimes telling isn't to be second guessed. war communism as genre is not the epoch of formal experimentation