Just ignore that the symbols [] exists and remember that if you read something like that > "is because someone is talking, like me right now". If a text lacks a "" it is because someone is thinking or the narrator is talking to you.
Yup. That is how you go with it. I was originally planning to ignore the brackets and just translate it as plain as possible but I've decided against it since the work would lose the touch of the author. I actually never had trouble understanding the novel from the start.
If you think this is bad, Densha Otoko (Train Man) would be crazy! Kudos to the translators!
I am currently reading "Cantarella -Forbidden Love is Poison-" (I ain't translating this) and I've noticed that Japanese novels have this knack for letting the reader decide who speaks. It is not the same of English novels when the author tends to guide you. Japanese authors just assume their reading audience can follow.
I might get the courage to read my copies of Senbonzakura 1-4, ACUTE, and REACT, to see if my observation is applicable to those too, but the thickness of the books.... >_<