Created by William Gibson (1948--) "The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel." And with that straight-outta-Chandler opening, William Gibson's genre-bending science fiction classic Neuromancer (1984) began. Not that Raymond Chandler is the only inspiration for what many consider the one of the very first and finest examples … Continue reading Henry Dorsett Case (Neuromancer)
Tag: Japan
BJ (Yokohama BJ Blues)
Created by Shōichi Maruyama & Yûsaku Matsuda In Yokohama BJ Blues, a 1981 Neo-noir set in, well, Yokohama, Japan, shaggy-haired struggling blues singer and part-time private eye BJ is working a missing persons case, hunting for a lost boy, to make ends meet when his best friend, a cop, is murdered. And if that isn't … Continue reading BJ (Yokohama BJ Blues)
Mitsuko Hoshino (My Dear Detective)
Created by Natsumi Ito My Dear Detective (subtitle: "Mitsuko's Case Files"), the manga series featuring Japan's first female private eye, MITSUKO "MIMI" HOSHINO, is a far cry from the more hard-boiled, violent manga and anime antics of, say, City Hunter or Cowboy Bebop. In fact, the concept here is more often described as "light-hearted," "sweet" … Continue reading Mitsuko Hoshino (My Dear Detective)
Big in Japan
Japanese Eyes Kōsuke Kindaichi by Seishi Yokomizo Haida by Jūrō Kara (Umihoozuki) Maiku Hama by Kaizo Hayashi and Daisuke Tengan (Yokohama) Takayasu Higashino by Takushi Fukada & Hiroshi Ishii (Bondage House) Mosaku Anchu by Matsunaga Anshindo Kazuo Mori by Peter Tasker (Tokyo) BJ by Shōichi Maruyama & Yûsaku Matsuda (Yokohama) Milo Murano by Natsuo Kirino … Continue reading Big in Japan
Haida (Umihoozuki)
Written by Jūrō Kara (1940-2024) The 1995 Japanese film Umihoozuki was supposedly inspired by a true incident involving a Japanese girl who went missing in Taiwan (and was later found murdered by a taxi driver) several years ago. The story was adapted for the screen by — and also starred — Jūrō Kara, as HAIDA, … Continue reading Haida (Umihoozuki)
Takayasu Higashino (Bondage House)
Written by Takushi Fukada & Hiroshi Ishii Get out the nipple clamps! In Kindan no Ai (English: Bondage House), a thirty-minute videoblast of hentai anime, Japanese private eye TAKAYASU HIGASHINOA enters "a dangerous game of intrigue, seduction and S&M when he investigates a mysterious mansion with sex-crazed residents," with plenty of "Kinky animated fare in … Continue reading Takayasu Higashino (Bondage House)
Sachinosuke Terada
Created by Jiro Kimura SACHINOSUKE TERADA's an op for the Kashu Detective Agency who lives and works the mean streets of modern-day Kanazawa, Ishikawa, in Japan. Sachinosuke has appeared in several novellas so far for local magazines, and creator Jiro Kimura is currently re-writing them for book publication. We're still waiting for an English translation, … Continue reading Sachinosuke Terada
Burns Bannion
Created by Earl Norman Pseudonym of Norman Thomson) (1915-2000) Is he turning Japanese? I really think so... BURNS BANNION is an American GI who went native, remaining in occupied Tokyo to study Karate and chase after large-breasted Asian women after World War II. He became a private op entirely by accident in the series debut, … Continue reading Burns Bannion
Ryo Saeba (City Hunter)
Created by Tsukasa Hojo "Mokkori!" I stumbled across City Hunter, a 1993 Jackie Chan action flick out of Hong King late one night on some streaming channel, turned my brain off, and settled in to watch Chan — as a private eye, no less! — kick the bejesus out of a bunch of bad guys. … Continue reading Ryo Saeba (City Hunter)
Shinoda Ryota (Umi yori mo mada fukaku)
Created by Hirokazu Kore-eda "I expected a better ending" -- Ryoto] In the 2017 Japanese film Umi yori mo mada fukaku (After the Storm), acclaimed novelist SHINODA RYOTO's life is going nowhere. His long-suffering wife Kyoko has left him, he and his eleven year-old son Shingo are drifting apart, his mother is aging, and the words just … Continue reading Shinoda Ryota (Umi yori mo mada fukaku)