Latest / Galaxies and Goddesses: A Sci-Fi & Fantasy Bookcast / Exploring 'The Full Moon Coffee Shop' by Mai Mochizuki
Transcript
- Andrea: I am Andrea. Elizabeth: And I'm Elizabeth. Andrea: Join us as we chat about sci-fi and fantasy books and beyond. Elizabeth: Looking for a little escape from reality. So are we. Andrea: All right. So, welcome to Galaxies and Goddesses. Elizabeth: In this episode, we're going to chat about The Full Moon Coffee Shop by Mai Mochizuki and a few related topics. Andrea: Let's get started. Elizabeth: So, Andrea, why did we choose this as our first book to talk about? Andrea: Well, The Full Moon Coffee Shop by Mai Mochizuki was originally published in 2020 and then translated to English and released here in the US in 2024. And I wanted to read a few more like cozy fantasy books and it had a good, Goodreads description. Elizabeth: Nice. Yeah, I mean, according to the Goodreads description, it's translated from the Japanese bestseller, charming and magical, inspired by the myth of cats returning the favors to those who care for them. And it reminds us that it's never too late to follow our stars. In Japan, cats are a symbol of good luck. Elizabeth: As the myth goes, if you're kind to them, they'll one day return the favor. If you're kind to the right cat, you might just find yourself invited to a mysterious coffee shop under a glittering Kyoto moon. This particular coffee shop is like no other. It has no fixed location, no fixed hours, and seemingly appears at random to adrift young people at crucial junctions in their lives. It's also run by talking cats. Andrea: Yeah, that was great. And I thought it sounded so promising. Coffee, cats, and a little fantastical luck under the full moon. A cozy fantasy with some celestial undertones that would be a perfect book to kick off our full moon podcast journey. Andrea: But maybe I shouldn't have set the bar so high feel like I got something a little different then what that description was, maybe something was lost in translation and the title specifically. Andrea: I tried putting the original Japanese title into Google Translate, and it came back as Full Moon Coffee Shop Horoscope. And I think that describes the book a lot better, because it actually had the word horoscope in it. And I was like, well maybe, you know, it's just something about translating from Japanese to English. So I tried translating from Japanese to Spanish and the title was Horoscopo de la Cafeteria de Luna Llena. I was like, okay, it still has the word horoscope in it. And the actual book title for the Spanish edition is El Café de la Luna Llena, which I really like that. Andrea: I think there's a nice play on café being both coffee and coffee shop, Elizabeth: ha Andrea: I think café in my mind fits the description for the type of shop it was, in the story. I think it was more of a bistro or pop up shop or food truck, but Full Moon Food Truck doesn't necessarily have the same ring to it. It might not sound as appealing as Full Moon Coffee Shop. Elizabeth: In Ireland, they refer to, like a coffee shop that's out of what we would call like a food truck or a food trailer or something. They call it a horse trailer. , so, , yeah, it does, that does sort of fit the description more of what it actually is. But, , it kind of makes it a little bit different there. Andrea: People refer to like, Oh, are you going to get a hot dog at the horse trailer? Or like, how is that phrase used? Elizabeth: Maybe they just say trailer. I forget now, but yeah, there's like something to do with like the horse trailer aspect of it as, as part of the, in the description. Elizabeth: Anyway, horoscope, that's exactly what it is. I mean, the horoscope. And sort of following in the short term around each of these four characters that's most of what it is, you know. Andrea: Right. Andrea: So I feel like maybe there were some subtle hints that I missed along the way. It was there if I were a big follower of astrology, like I guess the star chart was on the cover of the book, but really toned down. So like, it just looks like it's supposed to be the, the full moon. Andrea: Right. But if you zoom in, there's like little extra symbols everywhere. I didn't know what that meant because I am that big in astrology. Elizabeth: And then, you know, there's like multiple spots in the book that have, that have a diagram, have a drawing of a horoscope, and I, you know, I have to say I can recognize a few of the symbols, but I don't know a lot about astrology, I don't pay much attention to it, and so that was one aspect of the book that didn't really like resonate with me very well. And it was actually a large part of the book, Andrea: Right. I think similarly, I enjoy astrology. I'm a Gemini. And I never really thought anything special of it. You know, I guess Geminis are supposed to be sort of social butterflies, but also a little bit two-sided. So they also like to be alone. And I think that fits. But I also think that fits for a lot of people. And Geminis are twins. And I ended up having twins. So, if all twin moms happen to also be Gemini, then I'd say maybe astrology is on to something, but I haven't found that to be a dominant factor in whether or not you will have twins. Elizabeth: And are not a twin, but you gave birth Andrea: No, I am not a twin, but I gave birth to twins. So yeah, Elizabeth: What is their sign? Andrea: They are January babies. Elizabeth: Pisces? Andrea: I think that's Pisces. Elizabeth: Yeah, I don't, I forget what Andrea: Early January. Elizabeth: Yeah, once again. It's, it's, it's always so generic. It could fit everybody. I think Leos are supposed to be, kind of social butterflies too, but then also like center of attention. And can be kind of dramatic or a flair for the dramatic. And I suppose that does fit me to some extent. But also, once again, it could, it doesn't necessarily fit everybody, but it can fit many people. Andrea: I you know, occasionally look up, what's my, horoscope today, but it's not something I really believe in. It's more of just something I think of as a fun once in a while type activity. Andrea: When I picked the book, I imagined something closer to, The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd. There are places that appear, magically if it's on a map, right? Andrea: So, there might be a secret bookstore somewhere, but it has to actually be written down on a map, and it's a fully materialized space that you couldn't access before. So I thought there would be this indoor coffee shop. And it being outdoors, almost 100 percent of the time in the book, it was just different than what I was expecting. And sometimes when I feel a little bit maybe misled by a title, I can, , taint my image of the book. So I just wish I had known that ahead of time instead of having all these little hints at astrology. Just, just say it's about astrology. Just tell me. Elizabeth: Yeah, yeah. And I guess I sort of wonder, does astrology count as fantasy? Does it count as science? Like, it wouldn't be science fiction, I'd think, but, like, is it a form of fantasy? But then when people really believe in it, and I don't know that fantasy, the genre of fantasy is necessarily to be believed as real, then does it almost like put a value judgment on classifying this book as fantasy? Andrea: Right. Well, I think this book is talked about as being magical realism. And so the fantasy element is, the talking cats. Elizabeth: Well Andrea: That's clearly fantasy. Yes. So the cats running the shop are the, are the fantasy element and they, they do present it as like, you know, was this real? Was this a dream? And so they, they blur the lines between, fantasy and reality a little bit to make it seem like, oh, maybe, maybe this is all completely real, and some sort of shared dream state they go to. Elizabeth: And when the cats are normal cat size and then they're human size, and then back to cat size again, uh, yeah. Andrea: So, so let's talk about what the book was actually about too. Just a quick recap from our perspective, the narrative follows the lives of four seemingly independent characters whose stories have a common bond. The stars align, so to speak, to give each of them a second chance at something they are working towards or interested in and maybe another perspective to help them pursue their goals. Andrea: I think in the end, I was able to set aside my prejudice about feeling misled from the title, I did enjoy the book. I liked it because it was a short, quick read, and I think it had a good message in the end for people to, trust in themselves and not blame themselves too much if things don't go the way they expect them to. That sometimes, there are factors out of your control and I think there's a lot of themes in astrology to help people cope with everyday items and topics and just acknowledging that, we can't control everything in our lives and maybe explaining that by using the stars is helpful to some people. Elizabeth: Yeah, I mean, I, you know, if it is, helpful in some way, if it provides some sort of nugget of advice at a particular time in your life that it really resonates and it really, inspires healthy change or, healthy. actions, behaviors in life. Well, great. Who would say that that's a bad thing. But I, I don't know one thing with astrology is it always seems like, it's so generic that it could apply to anybody at any time. Cause you can always read a different horoscope from what yours is and it can also kind of resonate at the time. Elizabeth: Anyway, did it help the characters of the book? It seemed to. You know, it seemed to, but in a way, then, it was almost sort of trite. You know, like, oh, this perfect thing at the right time. What do you think? Andrea: Well, initially, the first character that they talk about, Mizuki Serikawa , she's a screenwriter, she used to be a teacher. She's writing the story for a video game character, and I thought, oh, maybe this is gonna be like, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, by Gabrielle Zevin. The video game becomes a major part of the story and, then that didn't happen. But the video game concept did come up again later, right? Elizabeth: Right, it's split into three parts. The first character, the screenwriter and teacher, she's in the first part of the book, it's sort of her storyline. Second part of the book is then, you know, hopefully there's no, these aren't like spoiler alerts or anything, but, the second character ends up being one of her students, who now works for the, TV production company , that the screenwriter, so her former teacher, submitted a screenplay to them to try to get it produced and, but anyway, , so that second part of the book is then her storyline, where then she sort of discovers this full moon coffee shop at a particular time in her life where then , she meets these talking cats that then give her a horoscope and it's just sort of the right time in her life that it, is helpful and meaningful and then that leads into then the third part of the book, Andrea: Which is split into two parts as well. The third part is two parts because it's also two more characters. Elizabeth: And same thing, it's just the right time in their life. The guy is a software developer, Takashi Mizumoto, and then the other character in that third part of the book she owns her own business as a hairstylist, and she needs a website. And so then they meet each other just the right time, and then, this full moon coffee shop magically appears at this very pivotal point in their lives, and the talking cats, and they give their horoscope, and, I mean, yeah, cozy. I mean, it's just cozy. But, it was an enjoyable reading. Elizabeth: It was one of those books that you read in about two sittings. I don't know how many sittings you ended up I probably did four or something. Andrea: I think it was maybe three or four. Yeah. And I was like, maybe, if you were flying from the United States to Japan, you might be able to finish this book on a very long plane ride, if that is all you were doing on the flight. But it might be nice to break it up into a couple different sittings. Elizabeth: It wasn't necessarily a book that grabbed me. I've definitely read books where, of course you you just can't stop reading and you don't want to get up and stop reading. And so then you could read it in one sitting. But it was nice in sort of smaller pieces Andrea:mm hmm. Andrea: And so we've talked about the cats being talking cats, but they weren't just talking cats. Mild spoiler, they were Saturn and Venus. Did you understand that? Elizabeth: And then also there were these different phases of life that they talked about a lot. And so then also I got a little lost when it was some of the characters that's supposed to be the planets, which I suppose is another complaint I maybe have with astrology is that , all the different, constellations and the zodiac signs and the planets, they all mean so many different things that it's kind of hard to keep track of them always. Elizabeth: It talked about Mercury in retrograde a Once or twice, right? Andrea: Yes. But I actually appreciated that because it explained what mercury and retrograde actually was. I double checked it and it was a very accurate description of, yeah. Elizabeth: Sure Andrea: In the book, , they said , "Because Mercury orbits closer to the Sun than any of the other planets in the solar system, and it travels at a different speed from Earth, it sometimes looks as though it's moving backward." And that's true. That is what Mercury in retrograde is. Elizabeth: And I feel like now I'm not gonna actually forget that so that's one thing that I suppose I can appreciate from this. Elizabeth: I, you know, one thing maybe, and I, I've thought about this as I was reading the book that, and, and kind of going back to like astrology being so generic that it can kind of apply to anyone at almost any time, is it the, the book sort of felt that way too, like it felt a little bit sort of superficial, you know, but not to say that I didn't enjoy the characters but I feel like we didn't really get an opportunity to get to know the characters very well because it was such a short book and then split up into these three parts of four characters. Each character didn't have very much space. Andrea: Right. Each character was a little snip of their lives. Andrea: But I think it was really meant for people in their like mid thirties to early forties. They said, you know, age 36 to 45 is when you take ownership of your life and your true abilities shine. I was like, Okay, I've never heard that before. Andrea: So I feel like it was sort of, if you're having a midlife crisis, it might be your opportunity to turn things around, and that there might be a reason that you're stuck at that kind of sad point because there were some, musical references in and I, I'm not a big, classical music aficionado. I've heard the songs, if you play them for me, I'd recognize them, but I don't know them by name. So when they had the Moonlight Sonata. I don't know what that sounds like off the top of my head. But I looked up some of the references and they all sounded kind of sad. They were all sad, melancholy songs. Elizabeth: Yeah, the Moonlight Sonata is very melancholy. Going back to the music in the book. The very first one was like on the first page. It was really the second sentence, Elgar's Salute d'Amour, in parentheses, Love's Greeting, I. looked that one up and I actually don't know that I definitely recognized it. I'm sure it's something that I've heard before. And for context, I play the piano. I've played the piano for almost 30 years and I play the Moonlight Sonata. So that's one that , because I've played it and I, and that's just a classic piece to play when you learn classical piano. So that's one that I played for probably 20 years, 25 years. Andrea: Wow. Elizabeth: But this Elgar song, I didn't actually recognize it. I, I'm sure if I have, you know, if I had a better understanding of classical music, I probably would, but, yeah, I listened to it and was like, well, I'm sure I've heard it before, but I just didn't immediately recognize it. But yeah. But yeah, I mean, the moon is sad sometimes. I mean, there's, I guess there's a lot of cultural references or cultural connotations that can be placed upon the moon, but one thing is sadness. The moon can be sad. Not to say that the moon in the book the way the role the moon played was sad. Um, but yeah, so a lot of the music was sort of sad. Elizabeth: I mean, I guess that, okay, go back to the title. Like, the Full Moon Coffee Shop, I mean, it's because the coffee shop only appears on the night of the full moon. And that's the sign on the, on the food truck coffee shop, horse trailer says. It's called the full moon coffee shop. Andrea: So, that's a good segue to just maybe talk about that real quick. Out of all of the food that they served at the Full Moon Coffee Shop, did any of them stand out to you? Elizabeth: Sweet things, weren't they, , yeah, I have a sweet tooth, and so I like pretty much anything sweet, and I'll try pretty much anything once. So I would try all of them. Was there one that really stood out to you? Andrea: There was a pancakes. It made pancakes sound good. It made me wish I had little glittery syrups, like their astral syrup. The drinks didn't really ring coffee shop to me. That's why I think there might be a translation issue or just a cultural difference that like coffee shops and other places maybe serve a wider variety of drinks. Elizabeth: Were any of them coffee now that I think about it. Andrea: No, they said they don't serve coffee unless you're very old in age or something like that. Andrea: Oh, you're way too young to have coffee. Elizabeth: Oh, yeah, because it's Moonlight and Venus Champagne Float, , as well as then this cream soda. I suppose a European cafe in, in the sense that you can order anything, including a beer. they have all the alcoholic drinks , as well as coffees. Like a pub, or a tavern, or a bar. So I guess that didn't actually stand out to me as much. The whole point was that, there was no menu. That the, talking cats knew what you should have at this time. And that was maybe part of your horoscope. Andrea: Right. Elizabeth: It like, you don't order anything, we're gonna bring you something and it's very your order for right now. What you need right now, I guess. There were aspects of it that sort of did play into the overall charm, , but it didn't necessarily add to the story . It was cozy and cute though. Elizabeth: Was there anything else that you felt like you learned about astrology from this book? We talked about Mercury being in retrograde and now, I know what that means. Andrea: So I think it'd be safe to say that both of us are sort of astrology novices slash , not even remotely trained, I'd put it, knowledgeable in astrology. So, picking this book, not realizing that was a major component, it was a mixed bag on whether or not. Elizabeth: I'd agree. Andrea: We would like it, maybe. I guess, I guess I have one more question for you that's related to the book. If you were to give this book a new title, what would it be? Or a more accurate title, what would you suggest? Elizabeth: It would have to have something with horoscope in it. Horoscope at the Full Moon Coffee Shop. Is it implying that like, you get your horoscope read at the full moon coffee shop? I guess. Yeah. Andrea: Horoscope at the Full Moon Coffee Shop? I like that. Like, or something It still has horoscope in the name because it was such an important part of the story. Elizabeth: And knowing that that is potentially, not speaking Japanese, , but potentially in the Japanese title, that does seem more accurate. Andrea: I don't have a great answer. I mean, I think, translation is hard. This book was translated into 17 different languages, and that's, that's a lot. Elizabeth: And, and each translation is going to depend upon the translator, how well, they translate it, because in translation, you would also want to try to capture the feel of it, the essence of it, the, the, the voice, and, and that may not always translate as well. I've once heard translations described as looking at the backside of a tapestry. You get a sense of it, but you don't get the full meaning, the full picture, having learned another language. I speak German. And so, there's a lot that you realize goes in the connotation of a word that is very cultural specific, location specific , and can often be within the context of like the history of the, the culture , and, so you may not always get a lot of that when you get a translation. Because there are, there are words in German that I know that cannot be translated into English, like there is no equivalent to it. A really good example is gemütlichkeit, which means like a sense of being, speaking of cozy fantasy, it's a sense of coziness. A being together with your people, and you're enjoying your time together, and you're drinking, and you're eating good food, and you're music, and dancing, and that all can describe this sense of gemütlichkeit. And there's no translation in English. But when it's described that way, you know what they're intending, like what the intention behind it is, but there's just no single word that can, that can mean that. Andrea: Right. Andrea: I really wish that I could read Japanese, because I bet the original version of this book has so much more depth in every word. And I think there's a lot, in Japanese culture and poetry about , having layers of meaning within words. And so the book to me felt really surface level, but maybe in the original language, it had more meaning that we just weren't able to… Elizabeth: Probably. Andrea: to get. Elizabeth: Yeah… and probably it would be… I don't know that much about Japanese culture, I do have to admit. I've never been to Japan. I'd like to go some day, but, so I just don't know as much about it. But I'm sure you do get a much, much cozier sense. Charming. In Japanese and then it translates as. Which is interesting because then I find that some of the, I think some of the best books sometimes are the books that are international bestsellers because that always says to me that there is something about it that transcends culture that, that gets more into, a story that strikes more of our connection and more of our humanity. As opposed to the very cultural specific stories that then don't translate as well. Not to say that this wouldn't classify international bestseller. I think it probably does. But, yeah, it just wasn't as like some of my favorite books are international bestsellers. But yeah, yeah, there may be something lost in the translation of this one. Elizabeth: It did bring up the topic of cat cafes. That, I suppose, in a way, it is different from the way cat cafes in real life, because they're not talking cats. It's not the cats that are serving you, but, , obviously cat cafes do still exist. Have you ever been to one? Andrea: I have not been to them, but they look super fun and cute. There's a couple in Seattle. Andrea: Have you been? Elizabeth: Uh, yeah, I've been actually, a few years ago,it's in a pretty cool location. It's in Capitol Hill, and it's, like, sort of at below street level, so you go down a couple of stairs to get into the, to the main door, and then the, the windows are sort of like right at, the, like, ground levels, so you can see people walking past on a sidewalk. Elizabeth: It's on maybe like Pike or Pine or something. I think, if I remember correctly, this is a few years ago now, and I'm not like the biggest cat person, so it wasn't something that I was really looking for, but a friend of mine really wanted to go, and I was like, yeah, okay, sure. , and I think if I remember correctly that a lot of the cats were rescues and many of them had feline HIV. So cats that like, Andrea: Aw, Elizabeth: It's sad actually, a lot of cats that maybe wouldn't necessarily have as good of a chance of being adopted. So I don't think they live as long in the ones that are rescued by the cat cafe. And some of them just kind of, you know. Andrea: That's sad. Elizabeth: Yeah, but it was cute, yeah, it was, you know, okay. I've done that. I've also heard in the, some point it maybe came up on the internet, I saw something about an owl cafe that, , was in Japan, where it's similar to the cat cafe. You'd go to this cafe and there would be owls . But yeah, this review that I read from somebody said that it was actually very depressing. Maybe the owls were, I don't know exactly why, but maybe they were sort of, uh, sad owls. Andrea: Aw. Elizabeth: I don't mean say that both of these things are sad, but yeah, they're maybe both a little bit sad. Andrea: Well, yeah, I know that part of the context of one of the cat cafes . It's where you can adopt cats. So they, they want to make it a fun, environment or engaging environment to have these cats out for adoption, I think. Elizabeth: Oh, so when you go you can potentially adopt the cat? Andrea: Yes. Yeah. But there's like a side that's a cafe and there's a side where you're like visiting to potentially adopt and you have to make an appointment if you're interested in interacting with the cats. But if you just want to go and have a cup of coffee, there's a separate side of the cafe for that. Elizabeth:Oh, and the cats aren't like, Andrea: I haven't been, this is just through, this is just through internet browsing that I think. They're like on the other side of a like plexiglass wall or something. Elizabeth: I've thought about adapt adopting a cat. I don't have a pet, but I want to get a pet. So, and once again, I'm not necessarily a cat person, but, for my lifestyle, I think a cat's probably a lot easier to, take care of at this point than a dog, so, but, yeah, I've been thinking about it, but I haven't done it yet. Might be nice to just have something that, you know, just cuddly and, you know, something to take Andrea: Yeah. Elizabeth: to, so. Andrea: Well, we, we do have a, a dog and she is overly friendly and very interested in cats. So we cannot get a cat because she would, she would, uh, try to play too much with the cat and probably not be appreciated on the cat's end. Elizabeth: If you're really into cats though, there are some other books about talking cats. Andrea: Yes, so this was actually one of my favorite books last year. It wasn't released last year, but I read it last year for the first time. It was called Starter Villain by John Scalzi. The male man character inherits his uncle's supervillain business. Technically it's a, sci fi book, because there are talking cats that have been genetically engineered, but it, it kind of reads more as, as a fantasy. I felt like I was reading like a spinoff from The Incredibles world or something. It was just really fun and unexpected. And so it has, (on the cover) a cat in a business suit and the top of the book says, meet the new boss. And so you just think like, okay, like it's a joke, right? Like cats aren't going to be in charge, but then there are talking cats. And it's just really fun. Andrea: So I think I had very high expectations based on my previous talking cat book, and this just did not quite meet it. Andrea: I think in general, I gave The Full Moon Coffee Shop, three and a half stars on, on my Goodreads account I wanted to check that real quick. Elizabeth: I think I'd probably give it, a, 3, or a 3. 2, it was a little superficial , it was endearing, it was charming, but also just kind of shmarmy, in a way. Andrea: So I, I gave it four stars because I did, I generally thought it was like kind of a cute, sweet book by the end of it, and so I think for the genre, I think it was like a four star book. Elizabeth: Fantasy genre or, like, cozy fantasy sub genre? Andrea: Cozy fantasy specifically. Elizabeth: In that sense, then I'd say probably a three and a half to four out of five, yeah. but sort of just as an overall book, because it was very It was very cozy, so I'll give it that. I feel like people who are really into books and who read a lot, maybe tend to not always give something a really bad review. Andrea: I think it's important that we each stick to our guns and have our own opinions on this, even though we're doing the podcast together. I appreciate your Elizabeth: Yeah. Andrea: Perspective. Elizabeth: So I'll go with three. Yeah, three out of five. Andrea: And a four out of five on my part, but if I were breaking it down, to smaller intervals, maybe 3. 75. Elizabeth: And if I were to say that if it was, my rating overall is a 3, but my rating for the subgenre of Cozy Fantasy would be a 3. 5. Because it was cozy, so I'll bump it up a little, if we just say for Cozy Fantasy. Andrea: Well, I think I'm going to put together a little book review, and post it on our Instagram page. So folks can see a quick recap of our thoughts, and it will have both of our separate ratings available on that review. Elizabeth: And, it seems like, unfortunately folks, we've now come to the end of another episode. We have reached the end of another cosmic journey here on Galaxies and Goddesses, but don't worry because the adventure never really ends. There are always more stories to explore and I mean, let's be honest, more bookish tangents for us to go on. Andrea: Hey, that's part of the fun. If you loved today's episode, make sure to subscribe, leave a review, and share the magic with your fellow goddesses. Elizabeth: And don't forget to follow us , @galaxiesandgoddesses on Instagram for updates, reading recommendations and other fun stuff. Andrea: And if there's a lunar event or stellar story you want us to dive into, send us a message. We might just feature it in a future episode. Elizabeth: And speaking of future episodes, stay tuned for our next one, where we'll be discussing The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill. In the meantime, keep your mind fueled by the magic of stories. Andrea: And never stop chasing the world's waiting for you between the pages. Thanks everyone!