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11 September 2010 Leave a Comment

Slum Online

Author: Hiroshi Sakurazaka
Translator: Joseph Reeder
U.S. publisher: Viz Media
ISBN: 9781421534398
Released: April 2010
Original release: 2005

I picked up Hiroshi Sakurazaka’s Slum Online after reading and thoroughly enjoying his light novel All You Need Is Kill. Slum Online is the second of Sakurazaka’s works to be made available in English. Originally released in Japan in 2004, the book was published in 2010 by Viz Media’s Haikasoru imprint (which also published All You Need Is Kill). The Haikasoru edition, translated by Joseph Reeder, also contains the additional story Bonus Round that Sakurazaka wrote specifically for the English release. Bonus Round takes place immediately after the events of Slum Online and serves as a sort of epilogue. Considering how much I enjoyed All You Need Is Kill, I was looking forward to reading Slum Online a great deal. (Plus, toi8’s cover art is fantastic).

Etsuro Sakagami doesn’t have many close friends at his university and so spends most of his free time at home playing the online fighting game Versus Town. His character, the karateka Tetsuo, is quickly moving up in the ranks and has a good shot of winning the second season tournament. But a mysterious player known as Ganker Jack has been targeting the top characters and taking them down. Tetsuo joins a handful of others in trying to figure out just who this player is. In real life, Etsuro is faced with a challenge of a different kind. Fumiko, a girl he never expected to like, has roped him into searching all over Shinjuku for a blue cat rumored to grant wishes. They may just be chasing an urban legend, but Etsuro is surprised to discover how much he enjoys spending time with her and must figure out a way to balance Tokyo and Versus Town.

I am very glad that Bonus Round was included in the book. Although Slum Online has an established ending, Bonus Round rounds out the story in a very satisfying way and allows the reader to see things from another character’s perspective. Which isn’t to say being inside of Etsuro’s head isn’t interesting—I actually quite liked the guy. He tends to describe his real life experiences in terms of video games but he isn’t so far gone that he’s completely incompetent socially, though he does have his moments. One thing that I found rather clever were the in-game fight sequences, of which there are plenty. They are described in such a way that combines both the controls needed to execute the moves and the action occurring on the screen. The result is quite effective.

Although I wasn’t quite as taken with Slum Online as I was with All You Need Is Kill, I was still highly entertained by the book. The story is most likely going to appeal to readers who are already interested in video games to some extent, but Sakurazaka does have some interesting things to say about friendship and the differing and sometimes overlapping realities of online and offline personas. Slum Online is a very straightforward story with little actual plot beyond Etsuro working to become the best player in Versus Town while trying to maintain some semblance of a relationship with the people in his real life; it may not be particularly deep, but it is fun. I have no complaints with Reeder’s translations—it’s smooth and unobtrusive while bringing out Sakurazaka’s wonderful, not quite snarky, resigned sense of humor. Although not for everyone, I found Slum Online to be a fast and enjoyable light read. Personally, I wouldn’t hesitate to pick up another of Sakurazaka’s works, so here’s hoping more become available in English.

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24 August 2010 Leave a Comment

Spice & Wolf, Volume 1

Author: Isuna Hasekura
Illustrator: Jyuu Ayakura
Translator: Paul Starr
U.S. publisher: Yen Press
ISBN: 9780759531048
Released: December 2009
Original release: 2006
Awards: Dengeki Novel Prize

In 2005, Isuna Hasekura won the silver Dengeki Novel Prize, one of the most prominent awards given to light novels, for his debut novel Spice & Wolf. The book was subsequently published the following year with illustrations by Jyuu Ayakura. Spice & Wolf was generally well received—in Japan there are currently fifteen volumes and counting of the light novel series released and the story has been adapted into a manga series, an Internet radio show, an anime series, and at least one visual novel. Yen Press has licensed both the manga and the light novels for English publication. I don’t remember where I first heard about Spice & Wolf but the original light novel recently made its way into my hands.

Kraft Lawrence is twenty-five years old. He set out on his own as a traveling merchant seven years ago after working as an apprentice for six years. He’s fairly successful but still hasn’t been able to save enough to fulfill his dream of owning a permanently located shop of his own. The life of a traveling merchant is a lonely one; moving around from place to place is more conducive to developing good business acquaintances than any sort of true friends. But Lawrence’s life is bound to get a little less lonely and a lot more interesting when he discovers a girl with wolf ears and tail sleeping in the back of his wagon who turns out to be the incarnation of a local harvest god. Holo, suffering from loneliness herself, convinces Lawrence to allow her to travel with him and promises to increase his profits in return. It is a dangerous proposition, Holo could easily be mistaken for a demon by the Church and the two of them burned at the stake, but it’s a calculated risk that Lawrence is willing to take.

Spice & Wolf shows how interesting and cutthroat economics can be. Actually, I probably didn’t pay attention to the economics as much as I should have, especially considering how integral it is to Lawrence’s character as a traveling merchant and to the plot of Spice & Wolf as a whole. I really enjoyed the characters of Holo and Lawrence—he is charming and she is delightfully mischievous and their interactions and teasing are utterly adorable. I can’t say that I was surprised that the two of them ended up so attached to one another—I pretty much expected it to happen from the very beginning—but it does make me happy to see them together. I also really enjoyed Ayakura’s illustrations and character designs. The artwork isn’t particularly flashy, but it is sold and captures the feel of the characters nicely.

Paul Starr’s translation of Spice & Wolf is serviceable although occasionally awkward. Overall though, it is pretty good. Sometimes it seems as though important information and details have been left out, especially during sequences with heavy action, but I think this may have been the case in the original Japanese as well. As common with many light novels, Spice & Wolf is driven more by dialogue than it is by description. It’s a fairly straight-forward and uncomplicated story but the book is an enjoyable, light read. However, Lawrence and Holo do seem oddly omniscient of each other’s thoughts and feelings; I can understand a harvest god having this ability, but it seems strange to me that Lawrence, an ordinary human, should be so sensitive. Regardless, I’m looking forward to picking up the next volume of Spice & Wolf and continuing their adventures, economic and otherwise.

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9 August 2010 2 Comments

All You Need Is Kill

Author: Hiroshi Sakurazaka
Translator: Alexander O. Smith
U.S. publisher: Viz Media
ISBN: 9781421527611
Released: July 2009
Original release: 2004

I really don’t remember exactly when and where I first heard about Hiroshi Sakurazaka’s All You Need Is Kill but after I did it seemed to keep popping up everywhere I looked. It was even picked up by Warner Brothers to make into a live-action film. All You Need Is Kill was originally published in Japan as a light novel in 2004. The English edition, translated by Alexander O. Smith, was one of the very first books to be released by Viz Media’s Haikasoru imprint in 2009. I haven’ read much military science fiction but All You Need Is Kill certainly is that, complete with alien intelligence and battle suits. What particularly caught my interest in the novel was that the main character, Keiji Kiriya, dies during his first battle only to wake up in his bunk thirty hours before over and over again.

The battle on Kotoiushi Island would be pivotal in humanity’s war with the Mimics. If lost, the rest of Japan would follow, along with the technology that made it possible to fight against the constantly evolving invading force. Keiji is a Jacket jockey in the United Defense Force’s 301st Armored Infantry Division which was sent to reinforce the island. He doesn’t even make it through his first battle. Or his second. Or his third. Somehow stuck in a time-loop he is forced to live and die in the same battle again and again. The only thing he can do is learn to fight a little better and hope to survive a little longer each time. Rita Vrataski, member of the U.S. Army Special Forces, has killed more Mimics than any other person in the world. Known as the Full Metal Bitch, not that anyone would call her that to her face, she is formidable, efficient, and scary as hell on the battlefield. She is also one of the last hopes remaining to end the war and may be the only person who can help Keiji escape his fate.

Although All You Need Is Kill is primarily entertainment and not overly serious, Sakurazaka still works in some environmental, technological, and social commentary. At least for me, the story also had a convincing emotional impact. Repeatedly living through the horrors of war, your own death, and the death of your friends and those around you changes a person and Sakurazaka captures this quite well. I like Keiji a lot and was most interested in his story, told in the first person. The third quarter of the book, written in the third person, focuses on Rita and the background of the war with the Mimics. While interesting and certainly important, especially in understanding Rita and her history, I still looked forward to getting back to Keiji. Which is not to say that I didn’t like Rita, because I did. I liked most of the secondary characters as well; Keiji’s bunk-mate and veteran Yonabaru in particular amused me as much as he tended to annoy others in his platoon. I also appreciated the fact that not everyone was assumed to be straight (although pretty much all of them were.)

The translation Smith has done for All You Need Is Kill is great—it’s straightforward with a good flow that hits hard and fast. There is also a nice use of repeated phrases to emphasize the time-loop that Keiji’s stuck in. The original light novel was illustrated by Yoshitoshi ABe and it’s a pity that none of his art was included in the Haikasoru edition beyond the cover—I really would have liked to have seen more of his work. I enjoyed All You Need Is Kill even more than I was expecting to and was impressed by how much action and story Sakurazaka was able to fit into such a relatively short work (it comes in at just under 200 pages.) I’m really looking forward to picking up his only other work currently available in English, also released through Haikasoru, Slum Online.

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