ENMA the Immortal

by Fumi Nakamura

In the 19th century, feudal Japan was only a few steps away from the Meiji Revolution. A low-class samurai turned revolutionly fighter named Amane desperately attempts to elude the clutches of the Shogunate's Special Police Unit--the infamous Shinsengumi.

Fatally injured from sword wounds given to him by his former colleagues in arms, Amane somehow managed to roll upon the small shack of a tattooist named Baikou.
Realizing that Amane's life was in deep peril, the tattoo artist decided to etch a curse in ink onto the dying Amane's skin. And soon a forbidden sanskrit marking was now forever emblazened on Amane's hand. The technique Baikou utilized is called an "Demonic Interjection".

Amane survived the ordeal, but was then burdened with the fact that he was now an immortal. With the miserable knowledge of being exiled from the rest of human life, Amane would then resign himself to became an apprentice to Baikou in hope to evenutally master a range of tattooing techniques which would ultimately control the tattoo bearer's life. From this day on, Amane would be known as "Enma," named after the Buddhist gatekeeper of hell. He must now live forever granting others new life while desperately seeking the monster like him who is at the source of his life-long problems.

Genres: Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Historical

224 pages, ebook

First published February 24, 2011

Reviews

[hotsake (André Troesch) · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book was neither plot or character driven. In fact there really wasn’t any of either. This was more like a vaguely connected collection of underdeveloped short stories than anything else. Also, the dry writting made this a tedious read at times.
2.5/5

[Frances · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cross-posted from Nightjar's Jar of Books.

1866, Kyoto, and a young assassin named Amane Ichinose finds himself at the door of the legendary tattooist Baikou Houshou, clinging desperately to life - a life which, unbeknownst to him, Baikou can save, but not without consequences. Afterwards, burdened with immortality, the newly-named Enma Houshou remains unchanged, running from his mortal companions as they age and die, and caught in a seemingly endless struggle with the one person who shares his curse, the murderous Yasha.

Enma the Immortal is told in an episodic fashion, but although the chapters don't naturally follow on from one another, they share a lot of themes; I wouldn't be surprised to find any of them as standalone short stories, but each one does still add to the experience of reading the others. I tend to be somewhat put off by very episodic stories, and true to form, I was not always that invested in each chapter's self-contained plot (though the overarching storyline did hold my interest), but I enjoyed the characters and relationships a lot, and their emotional arcs flowed very well between chapters.

Enma himself was an excellent lead character, and his immortality made his relationships with those around him wonderfully complex. I particularly liked his interactions with the book's two most prominent supporting characters, Natsu - a woman who he raised as his younger sister - and Nobumasa, a client-turned-patron of his tattoo business, whose friendship Enma is reluctant to accept. Yasha, though incredibly important to the plot, feels less present for much of the book, but he appears more as the book goes on, and the occasional parts of the book that are told from his perspective provide an interesting contrast to Enma's worldview.

Nakamura writes in a matter-of-fact style that is present (though perhaps coincidentally) in many books I've read that have been translated from Japanese, and can be a little tough to get used to, but which I usually find quite refreshing. The English translation is by Neil Nadelman, and naturally I can't speak for its accuracy, but I never got lost, despite the book's foreign concepts, which speaks to its clarity.

Even given how intrigued I was by the concept of this novel, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked it. It's a shame that the sequel that is mentioned on the back of the book (Vertical, 2012 edition) does not appear to have been translated, but I will definitely be keeping an eye out for the comic book adaptation that was published by Dark Horse under the title The Immortal: Demon in the Blood.

[Unwisely · Rating 3 out of 5]

The historical part was fascinating (including factional disputes in Japan at the end of samurais- which I'm going to guess is Edo, but I already got rid of the book so might be wrong- through WW2), but as every other reviewer has said, the translation detracts from the book. I could imagine this as a pretty good comic, but reading it as text, the prose really affected my enjoyment.

On balance I mostly enjoyed this but I won't be seeking out more.

[MC · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enma the Immortal is about a young man who is cursed with immortality. Well, old, very old man by the end of the book, but physically young.

In the midst of the events leading up to the Meiji Restoration in 19th century Japan, a young man from one of the groups fighting each other is killed. On the verge of death, he stumbles upon an elderly tattooist named Baikou Honshou. Baikou, hearing the boy's plea for survival, tattoos and "oni-gome" onto the boy's hand. An oni-gome is a mark bearing the spirit of a demon that enters the person and keeps the person alive until the oni or demon loses interest or dies itself.

When the boy wakes up, he discovers that he is now immortal. He is horrified as he doesn't wish to live forever, and finds himself becoming a tattooist like the old man. He then takes up the name "Enma" Honshouu. Enma after the king of hell in Japanese mythology and Honshouu as the successor of Baikou.

This is where the fantasy ends. Though the long life to get into adventures and scrapes is fantasy in the background, that is so far as it goes. What it is about is really how this man deals with his immortality and living with this curse while his loved ones grow old and leave him behind.

It's very poignant and well-thought out. Including the difficulties one would have in the world with such abilities. Describing the mindset and so forth of the characters, "characterization, in other words, is something the author, Fumi Nakamura excels at.

I found the condemnation of Japan along with America interesting. Enma is written as hating violence now and disliking Japan going to war. Through his thoughts and those of others, we get an unflattering portrayal of Japan during war years. Culminating in this is the atom bombs, which are appropriately seen as evil. Japan has a history of glossing over bad stuff in their history, so this author showing not just the evil of atom bombs, but how Japan acted, was unique. And appreciated. Just as I appreciate honesty about America's past, so long as the good is listed also, so here.

The star-crossed lovers aspect of Enma and Natsu, combined with how they seem to (perhaps) have a hope of some happiness at the end really touched me. It was interesting seeing such a melancholy and immature immortal and a much younger but still more mature woman in Natsu. The contrast was striking.

I greatly enjoyed this, though it was slow in some points, and I do recommend it to others.

[Zo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the intricacy of the plot and the way it moved through history. I also understood where the author was trying to go most of the time so that was a big plus, especially considering that there were some issues with translation.
However, THE ISSUES WITH TRANSLATION!!! It didn't ruin the book for me, obviously, but it was annoying and threw off the flow of the plot at times. The biggest problems were either that the word choice (use of connotations) was imperfect, or the basic idea just didn't translate from Japanese to English very well. In addition, there were some moments where I felt a bit of sexism coming through. The majority of the time I think the author balances the male and female characters decently well, BUT there were some scenes that made me go "WHAT THE HELL did you just say."
Even though I talked a lot more about the failures, I liked the book quite a lot. I love the author's idea of 'tattoing immortality', and just the overall *feel* of the book (the emotions you, the reader, absorb XD) is very consistent and suits the theme of immortality as a tragedy. Glad I read this.

[Annie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I nearly put this book down as the prologue did not captivate me. Perhaps it was the effect of the translation but the writing felt stilted. The strength of this novel lies in its description of life in the different historical epochs in Japan. The fantasy aspect stayed consistent throughout. It was a a relaxing read and I will seek its sequel.

[Gavin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good idea but must have lost a lot of feeling and interest along with the translation.

[Larry Strome · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the passage in the English translation are a little awkward but otherwise good book