Jason: Wicked City?

Wilma: Wicked City: Black Guard. Try look it up.

Jason: Oh, i see. Latest novel by the D writer to be translated. How is it?

Wilma: Pretty horrifying. I can read the text but probably wouldn’t be able to read a manga. Not as bad as some other horror books, tho. At least not to me.

Jason: Any something-something-ed carbuncles? ^_~ (A reference to a phrase Kikuchi used often in the VHD novels –jsy)

Wilma: Probably because I’m not TRULY trying to picture what the text is describing. ^_~

Jason: Ahhhhh hehehe ^_~

Wilma: Trenchant? Far from it ^_~ (For the record, Wilma later told me that the actual phrase was “countenanced carbuncle, not “trenchant.” She just happened to be thinking of that word at the time of the chat. –jsy) (And it’s because “trenchant” is the other high-vocabulary word that appears far too often in D novels! — wj) It’s a lot more coarse than the D stuff. I don’t know if he meant that tone or if it’s the translator. Probably more the former than the latter. The main guy is supposed to be a hard-boiled demon fighter with a crappy-paying day job.

So yeah. lots of sex and violence in here. REALLY different tone from D.

What was that other book of his I read, something about old Japan? I have to say, all these books are really different from each other. Probably ’cause they’re all told from different points of view. but I swear, you wouldn’t be able to to tell this is the same author.

I really want to talk to someone who’s read the original  Japanese and see what they think of his writing styles between each of those books.

Jason: Hmmmmm … sounds pretty interesting. Kinda makes me want to read it now.

I think that other book you’re thinking of is Dark Wars:  The Tale of Meiji Dracula. Kinda find it interesting, tho — here the D novels are being brought out by Dark Horse/DMP, then Meiji Dracula by Del Rey, and now Wicked City by Tor/Seven Seas. It’s like Kikuchi’s become the CLAMP of the U.S. light novel sector! ^_~

Wilma: Hehehehehehe … and I’m not so sure about “light” novels. ^_~

Jason: Hehehe … yeah, maybe that isn’t the description for it. Esp. given the content. ^_~

And y’know, i just had a crazy idea … any objections to my throwing this part of the chat up on OtaOha? Cleaned up, of course. ^_~

Wilma: Into the “Manga Horror” category? (A reference to our last Otaku Ohana post … jsy)

Jason: Oh no, just as a separate entry. Seems like you enjoy this book, after all. ^_~

Wilma: Well, it’s kinda gruesome. I’d have to wait until I reach the end to give a true assessment.

I read this book recently by another author I liked — another one of those books that was very different from what I originally knew her for. It was engrossing while I read it, but at the same time, at the end of the book, I felt like it was lacking something. I gave it away after I finished it.

Wicked City has some potential, but we’ll see how it ultimately turns out. Good books have been ruined by bad endings. And good anime. ^_~

Jason: Hehehehe … ahhhhhh yesh ^_~