Hello, Kumo Kagyu here!
Did you enjoy Moscow 2160?
I poured my all into writing it, so I would be thrilled if you had fun!
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I really like Jude Law’s portrayal of Vasily Zaitsev in Enemy at the Gates (Stalingrad in Japan). But it’s not because he’s cool, or because he’s a kick-ass sniper.
I like him because he’s the son of a sheepherder from deep in the Ural Mountains.
He becomes a soldier without really thinking about it, is shaken by being thrown onto the battlefield, then is acclaimed a hero with jubilation all around.
And I like that he’s a youngster who then has a quiet conversation about his dreams for the future with the girl he likes.
“I thought the foreman I saw at the cannery was so cool. I thought to myself, I want to become the foreman of a factory.”
He’s just a simple young guy—that’s why I like Vasily.
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This book is a version of something I first posted on the web years and years ago.
I got the setting, the world details, the characters and story, all by rolling dice. So Danila Kragin and his family really were “born” by sheer chance.
I didn’t think much of him—he’s nothing and nobody, so he’ll die one of these days, I figured. But Danila, as it turns out, is stubborn. He has the devil’s own luck, he always fights for his life, and he manages to run through the city.
So I started to fall in love with Danila, his family, and the people of Moscow. To be able to offer them and their story to the world like this makes me very happy.
To all my readers from the web days and to the honorable “May I Compile the Thread About This Ass-Kicker?”—this book couldn’t exist without your encouragement. Thank you so much.
To Noboru Kannatuki, for his superb illustrations, and to Koutarou Sekine, who’s handling the manga version: Thank you both from the bottom of my heart.
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Things are getting tough these days. I watch the news and think, That’s not good or I hope somebody does something about this soon.
But this book isn’t really about politics, or about good and evil. If you got any sense that it was, then with sincere apologies, I must tell you that you misunderstood.
For Moscow 2160 is simply the story of people running as fast and as hard as they can.
I would be very pleased if you would take it as such.
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Volume 2 is still up in the air, but it might be a story about Baba Yaga.
Those who know, know—but it’s that famous “he” and “she.” I hope I get to tell you the tale sometime.
See you next time!