Loups-Garous

by Natsuhiko Kyogoku, Anne Ishii (Translator)

In the near future, humans communicate almost exclusively through monitors connected to online networks—face-to-face meetings are rare and the surveillance state nearly all-powerful. Even school children are only allowed to meet in the flesh in designated communication centers. So when a serial killer starts slaughtering junior high students, the crackdown is harsh. And despite all the safeguards, the killer's latest victim turns out to have been in contact with three young Mio Tsuzuki, a certified prodigy; Hazuki Makino, a quiet but opinionated classmate; and Ayumi Kono, her best friend. As the girls get caught up in trying to find the killer—who just might be a werewolf—Hazuki learns that there is much more to virtual reality than meets the eye. None

Genres: Science Fiction, Horror, Japanese Literature, Dystopia, Mystery, Japan, Fiction

450 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Natsuhiko Kyogoku ( 京極 夏彦 Kyōgoku Natsuhiko, born March 26, 1963) is a Japanese mystery writer, who is a member of Ōsawa Office. He is a member of the Mystery Writers of Japan and the Honkaku Mystery Writers Club of Japan.

Three of his novels have been turned into feature films; Mōryō no Hako, which won the 1996 Mystery Writers of Japan Award, was also made into an anime TV series, as was Kosetsu Hyaku Monogatari, and his book Loups=Garous was adapted into an anime feature film. Vertical have published his debut novel as The Summer of the Ubume.

(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Scott · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was a real drag to get through and if it had been any other book I would have put it down. In fact, I did put this down several times but it kept calling to me. Partly because the scenario and mystery were intriguing, and partly because I really liked the film version I watched years ago.

What made it a difficult read has to do with the nature of the society in the book. Everyone lives in isolation, only interacting with others through monitor screens. The children, in particular, lead extremely sheltered lives, don't learn about history, and are ignorant of many things we take for granted. Things like looking up at the open sky or even the act of crying are alien to them. So the book is filled with long (pages and pages) conversations about these mundane aspects of life. I understand why they are there, and it makes sense, but it's still tedious.

In the end I didn't really find it rewarding but I'm glad I finished because otherwise I would always be wondering about it.

[Parallax · Rating 4 out of 5]

Has what I think of as traditional anime pacing: slow first half and breakneck second half that overturns what you thought you knew, throws fantastical element in, and switches genres from cyberpunk philosophical musings to adventure/thriller. In this case, it worked, even though the first part seems to drag and get mired in the expository conversations between the characters about their near-futuristic cyberpunk society on the affect technology has on shaping humans--particularly teens (I get the impression that it's thinly disguised commentary on current Japanese sociological issues, but unfortunately I'm not familiar with Japanese society so some of the stuff went over my head), and seemingly random stuff happening that works as setup for the second half. The first half would be dull if I didn't find the topics interesting--influence of technology on society (surveillance and privacy, personal development especially on the development of teens, law enforcement, education and family units, the generational gap, civil infrastructure, what's real and what's not, etc), nature of humanity, pop culture take on epistemology and existential philosophy.

The second half picks up speed where the seemingly random elements come together, the expository conversations are replaced by the Whodunnit and What Are We Going to Do, gruesomely fun plot twists, more adventure/thriller stuff, and character development. I ended up liking all the characters, especially the teen girls: Hazuki for how the Digitalworld is more real for her than actual Real World concerns (she compares the cityview to a screensaver! she has difficulties with eating!), Mio the badass girl genius, Ayumi for her pragmatism, Mao for her kickassness. I liked the book's take on the classic cyberpunk trope on how the digital can be more real than Real Life, and how no matter how much technology we have we still can't get away from basically being animals.

As for the translation/writing style, I think the translator did what she could to make the expository conversations readable but they still ended up sounding stiff and unwieldy, and the action scenes read more like stage directions.

[Redsteve · Rating 4 out of 5]

First, a word of warning for those (like myself) who were expecting a Japanese take on the werewolf story: THERE ARE NO WEREWOLVES IN THIS BOOK! The Loups-garous are a metaphor - something that I wished I'd been aware of before adding this to my Halloween reading list. That being said, this novel is an excellent example of a very subtle dystopia (or a dystopia that looks like a utopia). The setting (a near future Japan) is a "friendly police state". While emphasizing the privacy of all citizens (even children), everyone is essentially monitored constantly, although officially there are numerous restrictions about who can access data and under what circumstances. Information (both the collection of and distribution of) equals control. While theoretically everyone is equal, some are obviously more (or less) equal than others. All life is valued and most people have never even seen a gun, but serial murderers are not uncommon and often avoid capture for some time. Many people in this future interact only on line, to a point where the only time children actually meet their peers face to face at "communication centers"; the author does an excellent job of showing the effects on various generations - many adults seem to be germaphobes and are uncomfortable with eye contact, and most of the 14 year olds seem to show at least some symptoms of Aspergers or autism. The story takes a while to get moving, but it's worth it, as the first half of the book is as much about world building and getting a feel for how the various characters feel and interact. The second half of the novel has much more action and reveals some additional horrible secrets about this perfect society.

[Julian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Long philosophical dialogues that were a little hard to follow and no werewolves. Still, some murder and badass ladies made for an ultimately satisfying book.

[Ken · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another book from Haikasoru that is loaded with extremely long-winded dialogue that not only goes nowhere but is also out-of-place in regards to the plot. Characters in chase sequences have dialogues that go on for 20 pages, and all within the space of a single block.
The story is also not so exciting either, or at least not up until the 50 pages about. Again, it's another Haikasoru book where the characters talk, talk, talk, talk, and talk, and 90% of it says nothing, is irrelvent, and is just a very poor method for describing a science-fiction world. In this case characters spend hundreds of pages detailing the futility of the world prior their dystopian own, where human-beings would spend 'real contact' with one another--- and yet it contradicts itself the whole time, the reader knows it's contradicting itself and that the conclusion will be the acknowledgement of this, and it's really just dry as can be.

Not recommended. Haikasoru has an eclectic assortment of Japanese novels, but likewise they're sitting at about the 50/50 line in terms of novels worthwhile, and those that aren't. Loups-Garous is certainly in the latter.

[Mike · Rating 1 out of 5]

Reading this book was a slow root canal until the novocaine and no2 kicked in. I first thought I was experiencing some unexpected cultural gap as the author struggled to transition the reader into his future society, but somewhere after page 200 the story began to gain foundation. And definitely from midway through the book to the last page 458, the story flowed swiftly with events and characters that finally had some soul. This is a future-world story that is actually quite good if you tear out the first 13 chapters. If you do happen to pick this up, the last chapter is unnecessary but has a beautiful prosaic piece which doesn't take away from the story. Not quite what is advertised. I like the author's photo - I had the same look while reading this novel.

[brianna · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title of this novel and the way it is marketed to (Western) audiences is misleading. The novel is not about werewolves in any literal sense, but the divide between human/beast and nature/civilization. I enjoyed it despite waiting for a werewolf to come along, which of course never materialized.

I've read Summer of the Ubume by Kyogoku as well, and his ability to craft realistic dialogue and build his worlds and discuss philosophy through conversations is really well-done, and makes up a large bulk of his novels.

The moral of Loups-Garrous is don't fuck with teenage girls, because if you do they will literally hunt you down and destroy your regime. Especially if they're computer geniuses or highly trained in martial arts.

[D.M. Dutcher · Rating 2 out of 5]

Slow, boring, and at times unrealistic, but picks up a little at the end. It's a lot weaker than you think though.

This version of future Japan is a very weird place. Children live such lives of seclusion that they need classes on how to communicate with others, and basic concepts like rain are often things they don't get outside of their Monitor screens. There are three children we follow: Hazuki, a girl so locked in unreality that whenever she goes outside, she needs to convince her self it's real, Mio, a hacker with no social graces, and Ayumi, a quiet girl who seems unable to get basic human principles like friendship.

One day these three girls get caught up in a murder. It doesn't end how you'd think. Also along for the ride are an old beat cop, and a Counselor who comes across as mentally ill. Weirdness ensues.

Honestly, the book kind of sucks. The translation is horrible, with a lot of single or two line paragraphs, and you soon find you have difficulty identifying Haruki when she speaks. There's also the classic Japanese science fiction staple, long fillibuster speeches about things that make little sense coming from the mouth of teenagers. You know what it's like to play Metal Gear Solid, and suddenly the action stops for a long rant? You'll see it here.

The characters are boring for the first half of the book. The problem with them is that they are so disassociated from normal life due to their environment that it's hard to connect with them, and their dialogue is weirdly stilted. The Counselor in general makes Mister Spock look emotional. They get better at the last half, but in somewhat unrealistic ways.

The plot ends badly. It makes little sense, and wastes some powerful ideas. The scenes work very well, because they reveal a lot about the kids, but the plot itself is ridiculous.

It really only rises to good when you finally get inside the kids heads, and you are thinking what the end of the book is. I think it would have been far more effective if it had been a realistic tale with the three girls and none of the weird digressions. Apparently the author likes Gamera, and isn't too keen on 2-D anime fans. I'm not really getting the whole "blasphemy" thing either, and for an everpresent dystopia, the authorities are surprisingly incompetent. Borrow it, maybe, but you have to be in a certain mood to get the book. Otherwise it will seem boring as hell.

[Juushika · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the near future, humans, even children, communicate almost exclusively through computers; real world meetings are rare and state surveillance is common. This should make murder nearly impossible, but the serial killings of Japanese youth catch the interest of a group of female students, their counselor, and a wayward policeman. This is a murder mystery with supernatural themes and an intelligently constructed futuristic setting; the intent is strong but the execution is poor. What Loups-Garous lacks is immersion, a willingness to throw the reader into the story despite the strange setting. The world is thoughtfully developed but over-explained; like Glukhovsky's Metro 2033, almost all dialog is appropriated for detailed worldbuilding, and the awkward translation makes this even more clumsy and unbelievable. The plot has a satisfying complexity, but it's padded by so much exposition that the book is frequently a slog; the climax has better pacing but a comically large scale. What Loups-Garous does well is intriguing and even haunting: its supernatural elements are largely metaphors but they're effective ones, finding the animal that lingers within mankind's hyper-industrialized, artificial world. But the book needs to trust the reader, cut out a hundred pages, and let the world--and its demons--speak for themselves. As it is, I appreciate the effort but don't recommend Loups-Garous.

[Mely]

For most of its length, this is a tense dystopian novel set in a near-future Japan where the state has access to and control of all private information and people are subject to intense computer and video scrutiny. This has resulted in an increase in the number of children who have difficulty empathizing with or communicating with others. The best part of the worldbuilding is how thoroughly Kyogoku inhabits the minds of his characters; they read very much as the products of their society.

Then at the end there is SUDDEN SURPRISE CANNIBALISM. That is just not where I expect a book about information security and the sterility of the modern surveillence state to go.

The translation is very choppy feeling and tends to be very repetitive, which I think may be more acceptable in Japanese than in English; a lot of the free indirect discourse would have read better considerably more condensed.

[Opal · Rating 4 out of 5]

To be honest, I've just started this but I'm already hooked. The reviews I've read say it starts slowly and it does ... but there is so much to think about as the story unfolds. I like how the author makes the reader work to understand the world, the people, and the situation.

ETA: I just finished it. The last 3rd of the book was a pretty wild ride. There were some things I predicted, but also some surprises. I found the teenage characters much more compelling than the adults, even though their motivations were a little hard to understand at times. I did find the lack of consequence for all of the destruction a little unbelievable, and I wanted to know more about Ayumi's fate.

The ending made me wonder what would happen to them and to their society, wonder if any of these events would change the world that they live in.

[Kiku · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really disappointing. It took about half the book to get anywhere remotely interesting, and then the big build up was the same hackneyed shit in every 'post-apocalyptic' "1984"-meets-technology novel since the original was written. Save yourself 400+ pages and just remember Soylent Green is People, and spend your time on another novel that really does do something new and different.

Extra disappointing because the author is apparently a preeminent source in Japan of all things supernatural folktale.

[Falbs · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up at the library randomly, and when I saw on the cover when I got home it was a 'werewolf' novel I thought I picked a serious clunker only on the shelves due to the 'Twilight' bullshit going on now. Not the case. Now I'm going to go out and track down some more recent Japanese sci-fi, because the ideas that grabbed me in this book come from cultural assumptions more than anything. It's like catching a movie that you assume will suck, and finding that at the time it works for me. Glad I read it.

[Peter Marendeak · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was really difficult for me to tune in for the book. It was tried to be deep (sometimes with success), but the super-intelligent super-capable teenage girls ruined the image. This is actually a light novel, with several anime/manga cliché's so don't be surpised. Actually there are even an anime adaptation (the book is still much better).
There are better books to read...

[Janice · Rating 1 out of 5]

I took me FOREVER to finish this book. I picked it up because I like the anime movie that's based on it. Unfortunately, I found the book pretentious, preachy and loaded with sophistry. I always wonder when I read a book that wasn't originally written in English whether it's the actual book or whether the translation is lacking. In this case, I truly suspect it's the book.

[Nbenadum]

sucked

[Pantopicon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Clunky translation apropos the meta-theme of deferred / displaced personal communication. I love the ideas in this book; however, and the noir near future it maintains.