Anime and manga have always been the biggest influences on my own writing, from the drastic tonal shifts and bizarre scenarios to the frenetic pacing and strange characters. Underdogs fighting tooth and nail against increasingly overwhelming foes in a perpetual struggle to take the slightest step forward—those are the characters I relate to, the stories I want to tell.
This is a book that wears its anime influence on its sleeve quite literally, as the back cover states “for fans of Tetsuo: The Iron Man, Akira, and Cyberpunk 2077.”
For storytellers, this could be used as a bible for grand worldbuilding and epic fight scenes condensed into minimalist, cinematic prose. An insanely fun read that keeps the pedal smashed to the floor beginning to end.
Kentaro was the best assassin in Cyclone City, a sweaty cyberpunk metropolis in the heart of a future bombed-out America. That is, until he got a full memory wipe. Emerging from the isolation of a monastery, he resumes his life as a killer, attempting to unravel the mystery of who he is, and why he'd have chosen to erase his past.
Sasuke is a bodyguard for a prominent preacher. His boss has run afoul of the all-powerful corporations, who have sent a small army of punks and off-duty cops out for his head. In…
The story takes place within a 12-hour time frame, in which our protagonist—fresh out of prison—must navigate cosmic horrors and old habits on his way to the halfway house.
The whole time, we as the reader are given in-depth historical and cultural insight into the city of Baltimore. The classic “first day out” narrative is given an anime-flavored spin with the inclusion of mech battles, mysterious gimp-suited beings, and eldritch gods.
In Baltimore, Worm has just returned from a two year stretch in prison. When he finds out that his hometown is being brutally destroyed by a dangerous new chemical, Worm is reluctantly catapulted into a phantasmagoric journey filled with chaos and destruction. Can one man save the city before his 9:00 p.m. curfew at the halfway house?
…
“Ghosts of East Baltimore is like The Wire meets Bloodborne directed by Takashi Miike. The wildest time I had reading a book in recent memory.” - J. David Osborne, author of Black Gum and Our Blood…
Killion is born several generations after the establishment of the Cities of Light which now sprinkle each continent of the world, places where God’s spirit produces a tangible presence felt by all who enter. Yet he is raised outside these cities, under the direction of Adar, who teaches his followers…
The world in this book feels of a time both ancient and unfathomably far into the future.
This, along with the marriage of supernatural elements and science fiction—not to mention oddball characters, hypersexuality, and intense swordfights—make Howl a definitive title of “anime literature.”
Lady Agova, the glass-jawed mystic giantess who guides our protagonists through the dangerous cybergoth landscape, is as iconic as Goku or Naruto and belongs on just as many bedroom wall posters.
There’s a point in countless anime fight scenes where characters engaged in combat are moving so fast, the background becomes nothing but harsh pencil strokes drawn from one corner of the frame to the other. Black Gypsies contains many scenes with this level of frenetic energy. A fast, pulpy thrill ride that is equal parts colorful, gritty, and sexy.
Marcus is a certified Jackboy on the streets of Chicago, stealing car parts with his best friend Gordo to sell at the local junkyard. It's all another day in the life, with his mom on his ass and a bad bitch on his mind being the most of his troubles. That is, until the Jackboys hit a lick on the wrong gangster, trapping themselves in a debt that can only be bought out in blood.
Love, poetry, lean…and a whole lotta gang shit...
“BLACK GYPSIES is a fresh slice of classic underground crime fiction, gritty and grimy,…
Willem and Jurriaan have a miserable childhood thanks to their cruel, controlling mother—Louisa Veldkamp, a world-renowned pianist. Dad turns a blind eye. One day, Louisa vanishes without a trace during a family vacation.
Adoptee Anneliese Bakker survives a toxic childhood and leaves home, vowing never to return. While searching for…
Through a masterfully balanced blend of straightforward and poetic prose, the late counter-cultural figure Izumi Suzuki depicts raw humanity against proto-cyberpunk landscapes.
People are transplanted into others’ dreams, interstellar border politics are navigated by junkies, and aliens roleplay as human in a world left to ruin. The mix of high emotion and high weirdness that makes the best anime is present in every story of this book.
On a planet where men are contained in ghettoised isolation, women enjoy the fruits of a queer matriarchal utopia -- until a boy escapes and a young woman's perception of the world is violently interupted. Two old friends enjoy cocktails on a holiday resort planet where all is not as it seems. A bickering couple emigrate to a world that has worked out an innovative way to side-step the need for war, only to bring their quarrels (and something far more destructive) with them. And in the title story, Suzuki offers readers a tragic and warped mirroring of her own…
A man trades his heart for a gun rumored to kill gods. A boy with an arm made of iron hopes to bond with his distant father on a hunting trip. And deep in the lunar radiation hills beyond a city dripping neon and blood, a deity demanding sacrifice from both old and young is about to wake.
Maximilian Tundra is about to have an existential crisis of cosmic proportions.
When a physical duplicate of him appears in his living room, wearing a tight-fitting silver lamé unitard and speaking with an English accent, Max knows something bad is about to happen. Bad doesn’t cover it. Max discovers he’s…
