Strangulation: Kubishime Romanticist

Description

The debut work from NISIOISIN, Zaregoto is NISIOISIN's twist on the I-novel where his narrator reveals a mystery and tries desperately to not take part in what transpires over the work. Full of intriguing young characters and action filled drama, Strangulation and Decapitation are the basis for the modern light novel movement creating a new genre of literature for Japan's X generation and beyond. College is a whole new adventure, rife with challenges, opportunities, and cold-blooded killers. Fresh from unmasking an assassin on a posh island paradise, Ii-chan is finally an ultra-cool college student--jaded, sarcastic, and not exactly consumed by academic ambition. Now more interested in angst and anomie than in catching killers, Ii-chan figures that danger is a thing of the past. Wrong! There's a homicidal maniac loose in Kyoto, a perp with the soul of an artist whose talent is apparent in the inspired way he festoons his crime scenes with body parts.

There are few authors in Japan who have reached the heights of success as NisiOisin. Born in 1981, Nisio dropped out of Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto, to pursue a career in story-telling. Initially he had ambitions to be a comic artist, but when he realized his art was not up to snuff, he began to focus on his writing, eventually winning the 23rd Mephisto Prize, for Decapitation(Vertical) recognizing his talents as a mystery writer, at the age of 20. Since his debut in 2002 Nisio has penned more than 50 novels and a number of comics. And he has quickly become one of Japan's top selling author's in recent memory with more than 5 million units sold since 2009. In 2014, as in 2012, he was the top selling author in Japan (outselling Haruki Murakami by more than half a million units). Nishio's works often cover themes of youth, but are framed in genres that are familiar to the masses. His works tend to mix mystery with comedy and touches or romance and/or the supernatural. He is a modern author in every sense, sometimes even experiementing with the Japanese language itself. Many of his works have been adapted into animated television series and films. His best known works are the Monogatari series and Katanagatari.