19 April 2013 2 Comments

Self-Reference Engine

Author: Toh EnJoe
Translator: Terry Gallagher
U.S. publisher: Viz Media
ISBN: 9781421549361
Released: March 2013
Original release: 2007

Although several of Toh EnJoe’s short stories and essays have been translated into English, Self-Reference Engine is his first book-length work to be released. Originally published in Japan in 2007, Self-Reference Engine was released by Viz Media’s speculative fiction imprint Haikasoru in 2013 with an English translation by Terry Gallagher. Having previously read and thoroughly enjoyed EnJoe’s shorter works, I was very excited for the English release of Self-Reference Engine. Before leaving academics to focus on his writing, EnJoe cultivated a strong background in theoretical physics and mathematics. As a result, his fiction is often quite intellectually stimulating in addition to being entertaining. Self-Reference Engine is no exception. Haikasoru even brought in a consulting physicist (Phil Kaldon, who also happens to be a science fiction author) to ensure the accuracy of its translation.

Self-Reference has been described as being neither a novel nor a short story collection, but whatever it is, it’s great stuff. The work consists of twenty chapters (twenty-two if counting the prologue and epilogue) divided into two parts: “Nearside” and “Farside.” Most of the stories can be read independently from one another, but Self-Reference Engine does build upon itself as the book progresses. Even when it’s not particularly obvious, all of the stories are closely linked as a whole, often in surprising and unexpected ways. Self-Reference Engine explores the collapse of the space-time continuum and the collision of multiverses, how humans try to deal with the situation (or attempt to simply ignore it), the development of highly advanced artificial intelligence systems known as “giant corpora of knowledge” in order to cope with the chaos, and the consequences of their creation.

One thing that surprised me about Self-Reference Engine was how funny and amusing it was. EnJoe has a very quirky sense of humor that comes through even in translation. (Also, major kudos to Gallagher on his work on Self-Reference Engine; the translation is great.) Many of the stories in Self-Reference Engine are rather strange and absurd, which I found to be very appealing and certainly very fitting for a work in which logic either operates in bizarre ways or not at all. If it were possible, I would recommend that all of the chapters be read simultaneously as they overlap and merge in space and time; everything is both happening and not happening at once. Failing that, attentive readers will note and be aware of the odd layering that EnJoe employs. Self-Reference Engine is wonderfully weird.

As funny as Self-Reference Engine is, the book is also incredibly smart. As might be expected from a work called Self-Reference Engine, it is constantly making references to itself, but it is also filled with historical, philosophical, literary, mathematical, and scientific allusions. I’m fairly certain that I didn’t catch them all, but those that I did were highly entertaining. Frequently, Self-Reference Engine delves and incorporates into the narrative legitimate concepts of theoretical mathematics and physics. It can be very cerebral and delightfully convoluted, but at the same time EnJoe maintains a sense of lightness and strangeness throughout the work. So don’t worry, an advanced degree isn’t necessary to enjoy the stories. Self-Reference Engine is quirky, weird, funny, smart, and clever. It made me tremendously happy to read and I enjoyed every odd, mind-bending moment of it.

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17 April 2013 1 Comment

Tokyo Demons, Book 1: You’re Never Alone

Author: Lianne Sentar
Illustrator: Rem
Publisher: Lianne Sentar
ISBN: 9780988037304
Released: May 2012

I can no longer recall exactly how I first became aware of Tokyo Demons, but I now consider it to be an extremely fortunate accident. Recently I came across some very enthusiastic support for the series and was convinced to give it a try sooner rather than later. Tokyo Demons, Book 1: You’re Never Alone, written by Lianne Sentar with illustrations by Rem, began serialization online in 2011 before being revised, finalized, and collected as a novel in 2012. Written in the tradition of Japanese light novels, You’re Never Alone is part of much larger project which has expanded to include dramatized audio books (produced and directed by Rebecca Scoble, who also works closely with Sentar editing the novels), comics, short stories, games, and more. Tokyo Demons has since become one of the flagship titles for the newly established Chromatic Press. Plans have already been made for two sequel series, Tokyo Ghosts and Tokyo Angels.

For many students, and even some teachers, Fukuhashi is their high school of last chance. Roaming its hallways and dormitories are underachievers, juvenile delinquents, stoners, other outsiders, and teens from broken homes or with no families at all. Ayase, a first-year at Fukuhashi, has been trying to hide a part of herself for most of her life. If she’s not careful, her body will break apart into a swarm of insects. Understandably, it’s something she would like to keep a secret. But then Sachi, an over-eager and over-friendly classmate, drags her and two other students—the athletic Kiyoshi and his chain-smoking roommate Jo—to a club after the first day of school. Like Ayase, Jo isn’t particularly interested in getting close to most other people either, unless it’s to steal their wallet. But when Kiyoshi and Ayase accidentally interrupt a drug deal and Sachi and Jo are caught up in the fiasco, too, suddenly the four students are attracting much more attention and trouble than any of them wanted.

Despite all of the strangeness and unfortunate incidents surrounding the characters at the beginning of You’re Never Alone, it took a few chapters for the story to really hook me. But once it did, I was a goner. After reading only the first book of Tokyo Demons, I already get the sense that the scope of the story is huge. It’s a complex entanglement of powerful international organizations, people with phenomenal supernatural abilities, yakuza, street gangs, and police investigations. And that’s just what’s going on on the surface and doesn’t even touch on the story’s underlying themes. Now that I’ve finished the novel and know the characters better, I have a much better appreciation for those slower early chapters than I did while I was first reading them. They are needed and necessary to set the stage and introduce the characters and conflicts. It’s a slow build with a natural progression that suddenly explodes into a flurry of action.

The entirety of You’re Never Alone takes place over the course of a few weeks, but a lot happens within that short period of time. The story alternates between Ayase and Jo’s perspectives. Since the two are involved with different groups of people this allows readers a wider understanding of the unfolding events while at the same time maintaining a sense of grounding and focus. This is particularly helpful since there are so many characters important to Tokyo Demons, each with their own troubled past and role to play. I love the characters in Tokyo Demons. It is clear that a tremendous amount of thought and care has been put into them and their stories. I was particularly impressed by how their talents and abilities, whether they are supernatural or not, are an integral part of what makes them who they are as people, affecting their behaviors, personalities, and relationships. I am looking forward to the completion of the next volume of Tokyo Demons a great deal. I haven’t been this excited about a series in a very long time.

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15 April 2013 2 Comments

My Week in Manga: April 8-April 14, 2013

My News and Reviews

This past week I reviewed We, the Children of Cats, a volume collecting five short stories and three novellas by Tomoyuki Hoshino. It’s a difficult collection, troubling and even disturbing at times, but it’s also mesmerizing and very good. In the preface, Hoshino describes the desire for the stories to “lodge themselves within the bodies” of the readers; with me at least he was successful.

I also reviewed Demon Lair, the twentieth volume in the English-language release of Hiroaki Samura’s award-winning manga series Blade of the Immortal. There’s not much plot development in this volume, but there is plenty of action. Normally, my monthly Blade of the Immortal review would have been posted later this week, but I’ve been shifting my usual schedule around a bit in order to accommodate a guest post which should be ready to go soon.

If you haven’t come across it yet, Brigid Alverson’s article Manga 2013: A Smaller, More Sustainable Market for Publishers Weekly is a must read. Christopher Butcher also posted a followup to the article, The Manga Industry 2012-2013, which is also well worth reading. Curious as to what it’s like to work as a mangaka’s assistant? Jamie Lynn Lano has collected all of her assistant stories into one convenient list—Working as an Assistant on the Prince of Tennis.

Over the weekend, Lori Henderson of Manga Xanadu debuted the first episode of the Manga Dome Podcast. It’s a nice short episode focusing on recent manga news and a few brief reviews. There aren’t many podcasts out there that I know of that focus specifically on manga, so I’m very happy to see the start of a new one. I’ve added Manga Dome to podcast list on the Resources page. (I also removed Otaku USA’s Friday ACE podcast from the list, which is now defunct.)

I’ve written a couple of posts about podcasts in the past which still get quite a few page hits: Discovering Manga: Podcasts and Discovering Manga: Podcasts, Part 2. I’d love to do another podcast post in the future, so if you know of any manga related podcasts that I haven’t yet mentioned, please do let me know!

Quick Takes

Blue Exorcist, Volumes 1-4 by Kazue Kato. After a bit of a rough start (about which I had been warned), I’m starting to really enjoy Blue Exorcist. It’s not my favorite shounen series, but I can definitely understand its wide appeal. Blue Exorcist is a fun manga with likeable characters and solid artwork. Rin Okumura is the bastard son of Satan who decides to become an exorcist after his guardian dies protecting him. The series follows him and his fellow classmates as they begin their exorcist studies. The fact that he’s part demon is something that he tries, unsuccessfully, to keep hidden. Blue Exorcist has some nice, dynamic fights. There is also a good balance between the series’ humor and its darker elements.

Kiss Blue, Volumes 1-2 by Keiko Kinoshita. I absolutely loved this two volume series. It’s certainly more realistic than most of the boys’ love manga that’s out there. The character development in particular is exceptional. Tomosaka and Noda have been best friends for years, but recently Tomosaka has come to the realization that he’s actually in love with Noda. Tomosaka struggles with his feelings, wanting to preserve their friendship while at the same time being torn apart by it. Noda, too, is conflicted and unsure of how to deal with the situation. On top of all this, Tomosaka is being sexually harassed by his manager at work who, it turns out, is caught up in his own unhappy love story. The relationships are all handled very well. Kiss Blue really is excellent.

Saiyuki, Volumes 1-5 by Kazuya Minekura. Loosely based on The Journey to the West, Saiyuki gives the beloved folk heroes new personalities, motivations, and bad-boy attitudes. Quite a few of these earlier volumes are devoted to revealing Hakkai’s tragic backstory, which is substantially different from the original. Of the main characters Hakkai is probably my favorite, so I didn’t mind this too much. (Although if you want to be picky, Gojyo and Hakkai’s stories and personalities seem to be reversed from The Journey to the West.) Minekura incorporates strange anachronisms into the story and magic and mysticism are found alongside science and technology. Saiyuki is kind of ridiculous, but I’ll admit to enjoying it.

Unico by Osamu Tezuka. Unico is the second Tezuka manga to be licensed and produced by Digital Manga through a Kickstarter project. My initial interest in the manga was based on the fact that it was being released entirely in color and that its artwork extends beyond the edge of the page. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting to like Unico as much as I did, but it’s really quite wonderful. The stories follow the titular Unico, a unicorn with the power to bring happiness and good luck to those who love him. In addition to using various historical, contemporary, and futuristic settings, the manga is influenced by legends, mythology, and fairy tales. Unico is in turn delightful, heartbreaking, charming, and bittersweet.

No. 6 directed by Kenji Nagasaki. No. 6 is an eleven-episode anime based on a series of novels by Atsuko Asano. I’m rather fond of utopian/dystopian fiction, so I was looking forward to No. 6. Shion is an elite member of the city No. 6 who loses his privileges and status when he saves the life of Nezumi, a young fugitive. The relationship between Shion and Nezumi is marvelous; the two grow and change as the series progresses and as Shion learns the truth about No. 6. Although there are some fantastic moments in the last episode, the ending is unfortunately rushed and therefore somewhat disappointing. Still, up until that point I was really enjoying the series. So much so that I plan on giving the manga a try.

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12 April 2013 Leave a Comment

Blade of the Immortal, Volume 20: Demon Lair

Creator: Hiroaki Samura
U.S. publisher: Dark Horse
ISBN: 9781595821997
Released: December 2008
Original release: 2005-2006
Awards: Eisner Award, Japan Media Arts Award

Demon Lair is the twentieth volume in the English-language release of Hiroaki Samura’s manga series Blade of the Immortal. Published by Dark Horse Comics in 2008, Demon Lair is most closely equivalent to the nineteenth volume of the Japanese edition of the series published in 2006, although it includes a couple of chapters from the eighteenth volume released in 2005 as well. Demon Lair is also the first volume in which none of the chapters were previously released by Dark Horse in a monthly format. In general, Blade of the Immortal has been well received. In 1998 the series won a Japan Media Arts Award and in 2000 it received an Eisner Award for Best U.S. Edition of International Material. The series also happens to be a personal favorite of mine. Demon Lair marks the beginning of the end of the fourth major story arc in Blade of the Immortal.

Following rumors of an immortality experiment, Rin and Dōa have successfully penetrated the first level of Edo Castle’s defenses. It wasn’t easy—Rin in particular isn’t in the best physical condition after a brutal run in with the guards in the secret tunnels leading to the castle—but the two young women are determined to find Manji and Isaku. Not that they have any hard evidence that the men are being held within the castle complex; their insider information is sketchy at best. Rin and Dōa are so focused on finding and rescuing Manji and Isaku that many of the finer points of their plan have been neglected, which is bound to get them into more trouble along the way. But for two fighters in over their heads, they have done remarkably well to have made it as far as they have.

From beginning to end, Demon Lair is one long, non-stop sequence of battles, fights, and near escapes. The plot might not move forward much, but there is certainly plenty of action to be had. The last few volumes of Blade of the Immortal have really been building up to and setting the stage for Demon Lair. Some of the developments in Demon Lair may not be particularly unexpected, but there are still some nice twists and surprises in store as Manji’s storyline and Rin’s storyline finally collide again. Samura even mangaes to work in a few brief sweet and touching moments amid all the chaos of Demon Lair. Some of the series’ humor also returns; this is welcome even if it does feel a bit out of place—lately Blade of the Immortal has been pretty dark.

One of the things that stands out in Demon Lair is Rin’s reactions to what she and Dōa discover in the dungeons and tunnels of Edo Castle. Up until now, the rumours of the immortality experiments have just been rumors. Readers of Blade of the Immortal are well aware of the horrifying experiments, but Rin and Dōa are facing the results of the atrocities for the very first time. Slowly Rin is able to piece together what has been going on underneath the castle and she is outraged. It’s a very nice character moment. At the series’ start, Rin was concerned about her own personal revenge. More recently, she has been focused on Manji’s plight. But now in some small way she is also fighting for the people of Edo. Of course, if she plans on making any sort of difference, she’ll need to escape from the castle first.

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10 April 2013 2 Comments

We, the Children of Cats

Author: Tomoyuki Hoshino
Translator: Brian Bergstrom and Lucy Fraser
U.S. publisher: PM Press
ISBN: 9781604865912
Released: August 2012
Original release:1998-2006

We, the Children of Cats is a collection of Tomoyuki Hoshino’s early short works. Published in 2012 by PM Press under its Found in Translation imprint, the volume gathers together five short stories and three novellas which were originally released in Japan between 1998 and 2006. (PM Press is also the publisher of the only novel by Hoshino that is currently available in English, Lonely Hearts Killer.) Three of the stories in We, the Children of Cats were previously translated and released in English, but the others are appearing for the first time. Although one story, “Chino,” was translated by Lucy Fraser, Brian Bergstrom was primarily responsible for editing and translating the collection as a whole. Bergstrom also contributes a substantial afterword to the volume, “The Politics of Impossible Transformation.” We, the Children of Cats was my introduction to Hoshino’s work.

After a newly written preface by Hoshino for the collection, “To All of You Reading This in English,” We, the Children of Cats begins with the short story “Paper Woman.” This story ended up being my favorite piece included in the volume and made me want to read everything that Hoshino has ever written. This set my expectations pretty high for the rest of We, the Children of Cats; for the most part, I wasn’t disappointed. I did tend to prefer Hoshino’s short stories (“Paper Woman, “The No Fathers Club,” “Chino,” “We, the Children of Cats,” and “Air”) over his longer novellas (Sand Planet, Treason Diary, and A Milonga for the Melted Moon.) For me, reading Hoshino’s works was often a heady and even dizzying experience; his shorter pieces are still mystifying but more grounded, immediately accessible, and easily grasped as a whole.

The stories collected in We, the Children of Cats are not directly related to one another although many share common elements and themes. Faint echoes of Hoshino’s earlier stories can often be seen in his later works. Latin America is a frequent touchstone in We, the Children of Cats. Which, considering Hoshino’s personal interest and time spent in the area, shouldn’t be too surprising. The influence of magical realism, which has strong ties to Latin American literature, is also readily apparent in Hoshino’s stories. Perhaps my favorite recurring theme to be found in We, the Children of Cats is that of the power granted to words and language and their ability to change, process, create, restore, and transform truth and reality.

As Bergstrom’s illuminating afterword asserts, transformation is the key to We, the Children of Cats. Some of the stories are more realistic (some are even based on or inspired by actual events) while others are more fantastic, but they all deal with transitions, growth, and changing identity in some way. Hoshino’s writing style tends to be discursive and his stories aren’t always particularly straightforward, but his imagery is powerful and poetic. Every once in a while there would be a thought, idea, or phrase that would momentarily floor me. After reading We, the Children of Cats, even I felt changed or transformed in some nearly indescribable way. We, the Children of Cats isn’t an easy collection, at times it can be difficult and even troubling, but I am glad that I put in the effort needed to truly appreciate it.

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