Tatsumaki wo Uru Otoko

The Distant Dawn

A collection of sixteen short stories by Yukinobu Hoshino, spanning genres from science fiction and fantasy to psychological drama and romance. The tales explore a wide range of themes, including adventure, mystery, and the supernatural, often set in imaginative and thought-provoking scenarios. From a distant dawn and a steel queen to escape from wastelands and a funeral convoy, each story presents a unique conflict. Characters face challenges such as a call from afar, a whiteout, amazons of the river, and the Carneades plan, navigating through algae, lightning strikes, and the emperor of winter.

NAKANO Boogie-Woogie

A young girl lives her daily life in Nakano Broadway, a bustling mall in Tokyo's Nakano ward often called "Little Akihabara." She spends her time exploring the shops and interacting with the unique people and characters that inhabit this vibrant space. As she navigates the ordinary and extraordinary moments of her routine, she encounters a particular character whose presence brings a touch of the surreal. Together, they experience a series of shenanigans that blend everyday life with elements of adventure, mystery, and psychological twists.

Land of the Lustrous

In a distant future, Earth is home to the Lustrous, crystalline lifeforms who defend themselves against the Lunarians, invaders from the moon who seek to harvest their bodies for weapons and decorations. Among the twenty-eight gems, Phosphophyllite is the most fragile and brittle, with no visible talent for battle. Longing to fight but deemed too weak, Phos is instead assigned by their master Adamantine to compile a natural history of their world. The task seems dull and pointless, but it brings Phos into contact with Cinnabar, a gem forced to live in isolation due to their dangerous nature. As Phos pursues this seemingly mundane assignment, they begin to uncover deeper truths about their

Kino's Journey: The Beautiful World

Kino travels the world on the back of Hermes, an unusual, anthropomorphic motorcycle. Together they roam from country to country, never staying in any one place for more than three days. Each land they visit has its own customs, laws, and ways of life, and every stop brings new encounters. Through their journeys, Kino and Hermes witness happiness and sorrow, kindness and cruelty, beauty and decay. As they move along the road, they come to understand that the world is full of imperfections. And yet, it is precisely those imperfections that make it a beautiful place.

Qualia the Purple

Yukari Marii sees every living being as a robot through her purple eyes. This strange perception lets her assess people's physical abilities and quirks as if she were cataloging machine parts, a talent that even attracts the attention of the police. Her unique sight, however, has left her isolated, costing her friendships and making her the target of cruelty from former companions. Her only real friend is Hatou "Gaku" Manabu, a classmate who feels a deep need to protect her. When Yukari is recruited into a secret institution for children with special abilities known as Qualia, Gaku is drawn into a dangerous conspiracy. Thrust into a world of mystery, quantum experimentation, and alternate

The Works of Ichikawa Haruko

This collection brings together the early short stories of Haruko Ichikawa. Across two volumes, characters navigate surreal and intimate realities: a boy discovers his uncle has a mysterious 'daughter,' a youth awakens in a strange land guided by an ethereal companion, and an injured athlete finds solace with a robotic sibling. Other tales delve into quiet mysteries, from a marine biologist's reunion with her brother that masks a deeper scientific pursuit, to a delinquent's encounter with a peculiar transfer student at a college on a moon of Saturn. Each story explores themes of isolation, connection, and the subtle, often supernatural, boundaries of the human experience.