“Eyes are the gateway to one’s soul” is a perfect way to describe Kagerou Daze written by Jin (Shizen No Teki-P). Kagerou Daze was originally a japanese series of songs, that uniquely used music to tell a deep narrative story. After is astounding popularity the creator, Jin (Shizen No Teki-p,) wrote a fiction novel that was eventually translated into english. Jin (Shizen No Teki-P) masterfully blends mystery, action, slice of life, and drama, in this must read young adult book. Kagerou Daze starts off as a light hearted story and slowly pulls the reader into a dark and thought provoking narrative.
The novel begins with Shintaro Kisaragi and his faithful cybernetic companion Ene, who are unwillingly forced to leave the comfort of their home, after 2 years of being shut in his room. The world has changed in those 2 years and Shintaro and Ene have to face reality forced upon them.
Being an avid fan of the Kagerou Daze series before the novels came out, it came to be pleasant surprise that novels expanded the series story by adding much needed details, such as the thought process of each character, for example the explanation of Shintaro’s love for cola. Each chapter changes the perspective of the story to a different character, making Jin (Shizen No Teki-P) writing style varies between each one, by doing this each character feels different and unique from one another and helps establish each one’s personality. Also with the change of perspectives the reader can see how each action of one character will affect the others personally. Though I enjoy reading this novel so much, the only thing that kept me from enjoying fully was the some of the rough patches in the english translation. This can be a problem to a reader that has not followed the series outside the novel, causing the reader to be lost and confused at times.
By blending mystery, drama, slice of life, and action, Kagerou Daze is a amazing read to readers that want a great story that reveals itself through the use of different character perspectives. Though it can be hard to follow, because of the translation from japanese to english it is worth the read for it’s one of kind story.