Yatagarasu Series
Volume 7:
The Raven's Paradise
Author: Abe Chisato
Commentary by Asayo Takii
What if there were another world?
What if you ended up straying into that world all alone?
Yasuhara Hajime, who inherited Mt. Ara from his missing adoptive father, is led by a mysterious ghost to another realm: Yamauchi. There, Yatagarasu take human form and live medieval lives without electricity or modern conveniences.
This novel, The Raven’s Paradise, is the first volume of the second part of the Yatagarasu series. In the first half, the protagonist is a modern Japanese person who knows nothing about Yamauchi. Those who haven’t read the first series learn basic information about Yamauchi together with Hajime, and readers who have can treat this section as a refresher.
After arriving in Yamauchi, Hajime brusquely rejects a proposal from the Yellow Raven to purchase the rights to Mt. Ara for a large sum of money. Hajime makes a counter-offer: “If you give me something that has genuine value to me, I’ll transfer the rights to Mt. Ara to you.” At this stage, Hajime seems to be a selfish idiot, careless and possibly cruel, but this counter-offer shows us that he is smarter than he appears.
Deciding to stay in Yamauchi, Hajime goes sightseeing with his guide, Kitanokōji Yorito. He asks everyone he meets if Yamauchi seems like paradise to them, but it is not clear why. He is attacked and saved at the last moment by a wandering bodyguard, Chihaya, and taken to the Underground.
This is when the story’s viewpoint shifts away from Hajime and toward Yorito, who reveres the Yellow Raven and believes that Yamauchi is truly paradise. As he travels with Hajime, he learns secrets about Yamauchi that shake his core beliefs.
This novel is set approximately twenty years after the war presented at the end of part one of the Yatagarasu series. In that time, much has occurred, though the how and the why of it are obscured. The mystery of the past twenty years draws the reader in.
Before diving into part two of the Yatagarasu series, let’s do a brief recap of part one.
Recap
Note: If you want to read part one of the Yatagarasu series for the first time without spoilers, skip this section.
The first book, Ravens Shouldn’t Wear Kimono, is told from the perspective of women in Yamauchi’s Imperial Court. They are present in Sakura Palace for the Rite of Ascension, an ancient ritual that Yamauchi’s crown prince conducts to choose a bride. Nazukihiko is this crown prince and a true Golden Raven with mysterious powers. Four duchesses compete as candidates to become his bride, but only one can be chosen. For most of the novel, the crown prince stubbornly refuses to show himself. Then the murders begin, and he cannot stay away from Sakura Palace in good conscience. This volume introduces Yamauchi and its main characters to us.
The second book, The Raven Does Not Choose Its Master, runs concurrently with the first in terms of timeline but tells a much different story. The protagonist is Yukiya, the second son of a provincial governor from Hokke Territory. We witness the events of the first novel and new plots through his eyes. He serves as the crown prince’s personal attendant, so we learn why the crown prince refused to go to Sakura Palace so often in the first novel. We also learn of turmoil within the imperial family and about Yukiya’s true nature. Both Yukiya and the crown prince are perceived to be good-for-nothing second sons, but they prove themselves capable of far more than others expect of them. The ending is unexpected; much of the book builds up the friendship between Yukiya and the crown prince, but it ends with them separated after Yukiya resigns his post.
The third book, The Golden Raven, is about broader power struggles within and outside Yamauchi. The Kuisaru make their first appearance here as man-eating monsters that attack and devour Yatagarasu. Yukiya reunites with the crown prince and they solve the mystery of the Kuisaru invasion. This novel also introduces the Underground and the original Tobi to readers, and King Saku of the Underground. The existence of the Third Gate is theorized and the Forbidden Gate and Gate of the Vermilion Bird are shown in more detail. At the end of this book, Yukiya declares that he will become one of the Yamauchishu and serve the crown prince.
The fourth book, The Raven of the Empty Coffin, depicts Yukiya’s years in the Keisōin, a military academy that trains Yamauchi’s Imperial Guards. It reads like a coming-of-age school novel. The students—Shigemaru, Akeru, Chihaya, Haruma, and others—are carefully drawn here. All of these characters will play a role in the novels that follow. Although Yukiya acts like a poor student at the Keisōin at first, this act is a clever strategy that he uses to make friends. Meanwhile, in the Imperial Court, the crown prince’s ascension ceremony is put on hold.
The fifth book, Princess Tamayori, changes the setting entirely to Japan in 1995. Shiho is a high school student chosen as a sacrifice in Sannai Village at the foot of Mt. Ara. She is taken by Ōzaru, the leader of the Kuisaru, into a mountain cave where she is appointed the mother of the mountain god. The ever-shifting relationship between the mountain god, the Kuisaru, and the Yatagarasu comprises the main plot. Secrets about Yamauchi’s creation are revealed. The crown prince and Masuho no Susuki, Hamayū’s attendant from the first novel, make significant appearances here.
The sixth and final book of part one of the Yatagarasu series is The Raven’s Flourishing. The events therein happen concurrently with Princess Tamayori. The great war with the Kuisaru is the main conflict of the story. Yukiya, appointed as the military strategist for Yamauchi’s armies, demonstrates his true abilities, for better and for worse. Nazukihiko and Hamayū have a daughter, Shion, at the end of the novel.
End of Recap
***
The first series creates a six-book-long mystery that is foreshadowed and hinted at throughout. The author has constructed Yamauchi’s history with meticulous care. For example, the treatment of horses crops up in every book from different perspectives.
When the setting is another world, we tend to accept things like a strict, class-based hierarchical society or dictatorial politics uncritically more easily. It is not humans who suffer under these policies, but Yatagarasu, so there is a level of detached remove. Still, these issues can and should make us as readers uncomfortable, particularly in this novel.
Nobles scramble to hold on to power and don’t care about the people they govern. The city is dominated by the Yellow Raven’s faction, with no room for argument or even simple disagreement. The self-reliant women who might stand against this system, like Hamayū and Masuho no Susuki, are conspicuously absent. Each conflict in the novel arises from class disparities, gender disparities, and the corruption of those in power. These are all problems that the modern world faces as well.
Chihaya is a friendly face in a largely hostile environment. He’s never talked so much before! He also reveals details about the last twenty years that are confusing and disheartening. Who is this new young emperor we keep hearing about? What happened to Nazukihiko and Hamayū? What happened to their daughter? We know about Chihaya and Haruma’s current situation, but what about Akeru, Sumio, Masuho no Susuki and Rokon? The questions never end.
In this installment, a new mystery—a ghost—also appears. The final line of the work is a chilling and cruel cliffhanger that demands explanation. Like the first part, part two of this series hinges on one large over-arching mystery. The next volume, The Raven’s Reminiscence, answers many of the questions that The Raven’s Paradise poses.
In interviews, the author has stated that the history of Yamauchi is fixed in her mind and written out in detail. This novel, The Raven’s Paradise, was conceived deliberately to tilt that history on an axis that obscures more than it reveals.
Series like this one are unique in that most of the novels in them can be read as stand-alone stories, but they also each support a larger narrative. The presentation of events here is skillful in how it uses non-linear storytelling to reveal shocking outcomes. If this story had been told in chronological order, it would have been a bit dull, like reading records out of a history book.
Like the first book of part one of this series, The Raven’s Paradise is deliberately paired with the second book of the second series, The Raven’s Reminiscence. Jumping twenty years ahead was a deliberate decision in this story, and jumping backward twenty years in the next volume is also deliberate. They are telling the same tale in different ways and from different perspectives.
The more this series progresses, the deeper the mystery becomes. Abe Chisato is a delightfully fun author to read. She always keeps you guessing.
Takii Asayo
Translator's Note
Asayo Takii is a writer and judge of the This Mystery is Amazing! Prize in Japan.
No comments:
Post a Comment