AFTERWORD
To tell the truth, the opening story, “Wake Me from This Dream,” is something of a test piece I wrote while I was still a novice fiction writer. After starting my career in publishing (as a publishing producer), I became a columnist at age twenty-nine. As I recall, this story was written when I was around thirty.
When I reread the story now, what I find most deeply interesting is how the inextricable relationship between pop idol and stalker established itself as a central theme in my works from the very start. My second story, “Cry Your Tears,” and my third (and first full-length novel), Perfect Blue: Complete Metamorphosis, both shared the theme. My fourth story, “Even When I Embrace You,” did too. My fifth, Simple Red, didn’t have an idol for the protagonist. Instead, the novel followed a woman who was an anime voice actor. But, like idols, voice actors are also afflicted by stalkers among their fans.
Why am I so fascinated by the conflict between idol and stalker? One reason that comes to mind is my belief that the very concept of an idol includes an element of stalking in its makeup.
Let me explain what I mean. Everyone, man and woman alike, has some degree of a stalker somewhere in their nature. I suggest that idols act as a catalyst that radically heightens and intensifies that common trait. The existence or absence of this perhaps detrimental power is directly connected to whether or not that person is truly an idol. No matter how some advertisers might promote a new talent as “a twenty-first century idol,” if that idol doesn’t have the associated power, then they’re not an idol. Conversely, if someone not generally considered to be an idol—for example, an assistant on a cooking show, or a local TV newscaster—does possess that power, then they’re as much an idol as anyone.
I didn’t write “Wake Me from This Dream” with the intention of publishing it as a professional writer. At the time, I was with a couple friends when one said, “We should try to write something as a competition.” Being interested in writing as a profession, I immediately agreed. I finished the piece and handed it over before the deadline. That in itself gave me a sense of accomplishment, but even still, I only had two readers. I remember feeling vaguely unfulfilled. But now that story has been published in this book—and the cover of that book (the Japanese edition) is graced by an original painting by the world-renowned artist, Martiros Manoukian. On top of that, the story is being made into a live-action movie coming to theaters this summer (2002). What a world of difference that is from only being read by two people.
“Wake Me from This Dream” was the starting point of my career as a writer, and as its creator, I feel deeply and genuinely happy to be able to watch it grow.
—Yoshikazu Takeuchi