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...And the End of the World
ISBN: 0-679-74346-4
The end of the world is a lonely place, or is it? What happens when you can't go back the other way? Haruki Murakami's critically acclaimed novel, Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, creates two fascinating and bizarre worlds for the imagination to play. The one world is somewhat normal on the surface, above Tokyo streets, but is anything but normal below. You journey through the total absence of sound to a world of secret labs and mad science, having an inkling all the while that you're being watched...
The other world is a Town surrounded by a high wall, where nothing can enter or exit except large golden Beasts that make the Town their home, or the birds. The Town is not large; there is a clock tower and quaint old buildings, and an old mill. There is a wood and a river that flows to a pool, where the water seems to fall off the ends of the Earth....
The Town is the setting for an equally fascinating animated series - Yoshitoshi Abe's Haibane Renmei, recently released in the US by Geneon. Abe reinvents the setting, replacing the Beasts with the Haibane, young women with beautiful gray wings. Follow Murakami's main character to the End of the World for wild adventure, and experience the new life in the Town with the Haibane. Both are worth the journey.
The End of the World isn't just a place, it's a song. Artist Angela is behind this ending tune for Uchyuu no Stellvia (optioned as simply Stellvia by Geneon earlier this year, with the first volume coming to the US in September). Angela is a promising new artist, pouring emotion into every note. Anyone impressed with singer Atsuko's talent in the Stellvia ED will likely be impressed by the album, released by King Records (KICA-619) and titled Sora no Koe. We have a couple short samples from the album for you; one from The End of the World, and the other from a song titled Over the Limits. Enjoy!
