The following passage is a commentary on The Azure Sword, Slayer of Distortions, the winner of the Gold Prize at the 30th Dengeki Novel Prize. It touches on story content, so please read it after finishing the novel to avoid spoilers.
What I felt during my first read of The Azure Sword, Slayer of Distortions was something akin to nostalgia.
Vessels carrying sinister powers that surpass human understanding. Young agents who work to find and confiscate those vessels with the backing of a wealthy corporation. Hearing mention of those elements alone is sure to excite any fan of entertainment from the 2000s or 1990s. This novel is an orthodox occult action story that draws on timeless masterpieces like Spriggan and parts of the Cthulhu Mythos. I couldn’t help but have high expectations for it, which naturally raised my standards for critiquing it.
I am happy to say that The Azure Sword did not disappoint.
A main character who entered into a contract with a wicked sword; a mysterious young girl who serves as his partner; a second girl burdened by a heavy fate; antagonists driven by wicked desires—this novel hits you with one classic plot point after another, as if to say, “I know you like these,” and displays the strength of sticking to a formula.
That said, it is certainly not an old-fashioned light novel that does nothing to improve upon its predecessors and has many elements that feel quite modern. One such example is how its characters are presented. Shin Karamori, the protagonist, is highly skilled in combat, but he isn’t cocky and treats his superiors with respect. The main female characters, Archive and Hitsugi Fujinaka, aren’t unreasonably violent, nor do they get overly emotional and pointlessly hold the protagonist back. The dialogue shows restraint and lacks any embarrassing lines that would turn the characters into caricatures, making it feel firmly rooted in what we’ve come to expect in the current era.
My opinion of this novel is that it feels both nostalgic and new, while also hitting the reader with tried-and-true elements of its genre.
I’ll end my critical analysis of the genre there and talk more subjectively about my favorite elements of the novel.
This will get a little technical, but what immediately impressed me about the story was the cinematic nature with which it was expressed. The prose is simple yet paints a clear picture of each scene in the reader’s mind. I could feel the author’s skill and effort coming through the page.
Truthfully, during the final selection for the Dengeki Novel Prize, the opinion was raised that the abilities of vanits are difficult to understand. It is true that the ability of an important book in the story is conceptual, and even plain, at first glance. A book that consumes writing and makes people and objects it refers to disappear cannot exist in reality, so it is inevitable that the reader might have a hard time wrapping their head around it. It is the clear imagery of the writing that makes these conceptual abilities convincing and conveys the frightening nature of vanits.
The expressiveness of a novel relies on the imagination of the reader, which must be guided by the clarity of the imagery being placed in the reader’s mind. I believe that to be the greatest difficulty of writing occult action—the degree to which the reader’s imagination is relied upon.
In that regard, this novel’s writing is outstanding. Whether a book is eating text or using those words to materialize various creatures and objects, these scenes manifest in the reader’s mind with vibrant clarity. The writing is more detailed, more beautiful than a novel with cheaper imagery.
As for the story itself, if I were asked to name the greatest charm of The Azure Sword, it would be the straightforward and even naive nature of the characters. The main characters and those around them are all surprisingly good people, and even the villains Asahi Fujinaka and Pyrovault have a certain purity to them.
The nature of vanits, which are the main gimmick of this novel, could have enabled all kinds of depressing developments in the story. In fact, Karamori and Hitsugi Fujinaka are both placed in horribly cruel circumstances. It would not have been difficult to write them as pessimists trapped by the hatred of their pasts, but instead, they are simply depicted as good people. The twisted nature of the vanits makes for a powerful contrast with this. I believe that is both the fundamental nature and charm of this novel.
Having such wholesome characters leaves the reader with a refreshing feeling that runs contrary to the gloomy setting. I believe it would be wrong to deride that as cheap.
After all, it is the characters’ willingness to defy their fates that allows them to obtain the feel-good happy ending.
Anyway, that was my humble attempt at commentary on The Azure Sword, Slayer of Distortions. It has a well-developed setting, the likes of which one might not expect from a recipient of an award given to new authors, and I eagerly await the sequel. I’m curious to learn more about Noary and Grave Nest and find myself excited by the idea of getting to see new vanits and their abilities. The day I can read more of Karamori and Archive’s story cannot come soon enough.
February 2024
Gakuto Mikumo