Animania

In another foray into the japanese light novels, I picked up Ballad of a Shinigami, released by Seven Seas Entertainment. Seven Seas is a relatively new company, having started in 2004, focusing on English manga-inspired comics and webcomics before it began licensing and releasing real manga in 2005. They moved into light novels in 2007, with Ballad of a Shinigami being one of the first six titles they picked up and began releasing. Ballad of a Shinigami, which premiered in Japan in June 2003, is written by K-Ske Hasegawa and illustrated by the one-named Nanakusa. I was first introduced to the series in the form of its six episode anime series, which aired in 2006 and I watched via fansubs. The anime is unlicensed, but I enjoyed the touching stories. When I learned about the novels, and that they had been licensed, I looked forward to giving them a go.

Similar to Kino no Tabi, Ballad of a Shinigami is a series of shorter stories in which the central characters interact with other people. Unlike Kino, however, Ballad of a Shinigami's Momo isn't so much as an observer and traveler, as she is the catalyst for major events in those people's lives because she is a shinigami - a god of death who usually meets someone because they, or someone they are close to, is about to die. Momo isn't like other shinigami, however, in that rather than wearing all black and handling her job with grim efficiency, Momo wears white with red shoes and regularly cries for those whom she's met. She is almost always in the company of Daniel, her demon servant cat.

This first volume contains four stories in which Momo finds herself breaking the rules while performing her duties so as to allow people to take care of "unfinished business." Each story is takes a look into some of the various ways people view death and think about death, against the backdrop of human relationships that are at times touching, and disturbing. During these seemingly disparate stories, we learn more about the unusual shinigami Momo, and get a bit of foreshadowing that her being different has not made her afterlife pleasant at times, but still she manages to smile "beautifully." The relationship between she and Daniel is also quite an interesting story in and of itself, with their easy camaraderie and obvious affection for one another.

Light novels have had mixed success here in North America, so Seven Seas has decided to buck the trend in hopes of turning the tide. Ballad of a Shinigami has been released in the original size that light novels are released in Japan, which is "pocket size" making it very easy to hold in the hand, slip in a back pocket, or tuck in a purse. They included all of the color pages from the original, which are beautiful, with quite a few translation notes. This first volume is absolutely beautiful, as well as adorable, and I find myself regularly looking at it just to enjoy the view.

The series is still on-going in Japan, with eleven volumes released thus far. I'm curious as to how well Hasegawa will handle the need to keep the stories fresh, while also progressing with some of the underlying themes that have been hinted at here. I sincerely hope Seven Seas's gamble pays off and they will be able to keep going with the series to the end. The next two volumes have been solicited for May and November releases, respectively. I'll be picking them up as soon as they hit the stores as I want to read more tales of Momo's assignments, as well as learn more about this childlike Shinigami in the bright red shoes.

Rating: A+

Calling You started life as a Japanese light novel anthology, written by Otsuichi (pen name of Hirotaka Adachi). Published in Japan on May 31, 2001, it contains three short stories centered around friendships with a supernatural twist: Calling You, Kiz/Kids, and Flower Song. In December 2003, Setsuri Tsuzuki created a manga adaptation that contained the first two stories. Both the novel and the manga were licensed for release by Tokyopop, who released the manga first then the novel. I ordered them together, but the manga ended up arriving first, so I ended up reading them in the same order Tokyopop released them. I'll discuss both versions here, novel first then manga.

In the titular story, Calling You, high school freshman Ryo receives a random call from a boy named Shinya, only the phone that rings is her imaginary cell phone and Shinya is calling from his own imaginary phone! They strike up an unusual friendship, through Ryo is able to find her voice and begin talking in the real world again. Tragedy strikes, however, when the two finally decide they want to meet. Calling You has an unusual premise and is beautifully done. Though I normally abhor first-person point of view, I couldn't help being drawn into this story. Ryo's painful shyness from being unable to tell when people are being dishonest with their words, is palpable. Though short, the five chapter story packs in a lot of story and emotional punch. The ending was both sad and hopeful, though I wish it had taken the Il Mare route with Shinya.

The second story is Kiz/Kids, in which an unnamed boy is put in the special class at school because he attacked a classmate for picking on the burn on his back. The boy, however, has a good heart and primarily lashes out in violence out of seeing injustice or someone talking bad about his parents, even though his father abused him and his mother abandoned him. In the class, he meets Asato, a quiet boy who rarely talks after his mother murdered his father and tried to kill him. While alone with Asato after school, the boy hurts himself carving. Asato comes over and touches him, and half the wound leaves the boy's arm and moves to Asato's. It is an amazing secret, of course, and as their friendship grows, the boy comes to realize that Asato is taking on the wounds because he feels unwanted and wants to die. Kiz/Kids is a heart wrenching story, and its tough reading about these two children who have been abused, neglected, and overlooked all of their life and who deserve so much better. Neither are bad children, and while the boy says Asato has a pure heart, he doesn't realize that he does as well, in his own way. It is interesting that the boy is given no name through out the five chapters, though it may be indicative of how little the two are noticed that no one says it in his few interactions with adults. Still, this one, like the first, has an ending that is both sad and hopeful, but this one is more hopeful than Calling You.

Flower Song is the final, and perhaps trippiest, of all the stories. A woman is put in a mental hospital after a train accident that kills her lover and their unborn child, and also leaves her unable to have children ever again. She is put in a room with two men, Nakagawa and Haruki. Miserable, and depressed, the woman contemplates suicide until she discovers a singing flower with a human face. She takes it to their room and at first hides it from her roommates, but they noticed the singing and she eventually shares the secret with them. As they care for the flower and are soothed by her humming, their own mental wounds begin to heal, especially the woman's. They eventually learn the tragic past of a former patient, Misaki, who killed herself at the hospital at the tree where the flower was found. When released, the woman is determined to take Misaki back to the home she loved. Flower Song is the oddest of the three stories for a few reasons. The first, of course, is a flower with a human face and hair singing. :P The patient being a woman is also an unexpected revelation, considering she has two male roommates. The patient's thoughts as she sorts through her feelings of being hated by her family, her anger and blame towards them for their not accepting her lover and forcing them to elope that she feels is the reason he died, and her growing feelings towards the flower. The finale wraps things up very beautifully, though, and while we don't know how the patient will handle life, there is a sense of hope that she has gained some new internal strength through her association with the flower girl.

The Calling You novel is a very well done piece, with all three stories having similar themes, but presented in interesting and unique ways, though the first one is very reminiscent of one of my favorite Japanese movies Il Mare (mentioned above). Otsuichi has a way with words and for making first person point of view not seem so hideously bad, and Tokyopop's translation of the novel is very well done. Having said that, though, I must say Tsuzuki's manga adaptation, containing only the first two stories, is a very pale imitation to the original. I can see why Otsuichi says he "screamed" several times while reading it. Tsuzuki's makes many changes to the stories, some small (like changing names or giving the Boy from Kiz/Kids a name), and many big (such as Shinya being changed to a handicapped boy who can't talk). A lot of scenes are also redone, and not for the better. While the manga isn't completely hideous, but it does come up short. Perhaps if I hadn't read the novel, I could have fully enjoyed it, but I think I still would have seem some of the issues with it regarding holes that the novel does a better job of filling.

Novel Grade: A+
Manga Grade: B-

Volume Summary: The world is not beautiful, therefore it is. And destination is a state of mind... Kino wanders around the world on the back of Hermes, an unusual, anthropomorphic motorcycle. During their adventures, they find happiness and sadness, pain and decadence, violence and beauty, and above all, truth. Through it all, they never lose their sense of freedom.

Review: I enjoyed the Kino's Journey anime immensely, so of course I was curious about the novel line now that TokyoPOP has licensed them and is releasing them in translated form. I was, however, nervous as well. So far, my experiences with Japanese "light novels" translated to English have been rather dismal, particularly with DMP's downright hideous treatment of Passion. Some of the harder core fans of Kino no Tabi slammed the novels because TokyoPOP moved around two chapters, with what I think was chapter 4 becoming chapter 1 and I think the Coliseum chapter was also moved. Still, I bit the bullet and picked it up.

Oh, wow! Talk about a totally different experience from DMP! The translation was excellent, IMHO, and I honestly agree with moving that one chapter to the beginning. It is the only chapter written in first person point of view and it would have been jarring to have it in the middle, plus it would have been impossible to write the first three chapters using gender neutral language because the English language just wasn't made to work that way.

Story wise, Kino no Tabi is great. Leaning more about Kino and Hermes takes a bit of work, as most of the novel is written in a third person limited point of view, meaning the author reveals little about the personal feelings of the characters except through descriptions of their facial expressions, reactions, and actions. As Kino and Hermes journey from place to place, we also experience a through-provoking and intriguing look at humanity and the flaws of a pursuit towards perfection. Many of the stories focus on a city or town that tried to make the perfect town, only to make surreal nightmares, heartbreaking sadness, or rather amusing quirks. Several offer a look at some of commonly proposed ways we could fix society, and show why such ideas aren't always ideal. Usually with a novel like this, you expect a lot of big, flowery language that leaves those who don't eat dictionaries for breakfast scratching their heads. Fortunately, not this one. Kino no Tabi is written using fairly simple, easy to follow language.

All in all I highly recommend it for any fans of Kino's Journey, or anyone just wanting a nice, though provoking light novel. I'm looking forward to picking up the next book!

Rating: A