On the obi, it says that "it's so warm and amusing, tears won't stop." Well, I only agree with the the middle statement about it being strange and amusing. There are many cute little moments, but there aren't any moments that I would consider funny. There are sad moments, but somehow, they come out more as upsetting. Overall, I feel that this particular volume was a bit rushed.
As far as the message is concerned, it's vague, which is the way it was intended. There's something appealing about the way each of the main characters live. They're all pursuing dreams, but with different levels of focus. The argument is that each of these geniuses' pursuit of their dreams is disturbing the rest of the society as well as each other. Apparently, the more focused the dream is, the more nuisance it is to the society. As far as I can tell, the discussion stops there.
I believe that if Kasuka was a bit more mature, he would have made a great argument against the monk. Maybe that is the point. I'm supposed to come up with one. Well, I say that the disturbance is what brings about the progress. We either stand still forever, or we make progress by accepting some, or possibly large number of sacrifices.
So, did Kasuka make it to earth? Who knows? It's not actually explained in the book. Even so, we know that, even if Kasuka were to have failed, the 38th, 39th, or maybe 100th Skywalker will succeed, because no matter the argument, societal powers can at best slow down the progress, not stop it.
