Wicked City: Black Guard

Wicked City #1

by Hideyuki Kikuchi

Another world exists beyond the one that humans can see–a world populated by demons. For centuries, demons have crossed into our world, some looking for a new life, adventure, or just a job. But many are intent on causing chaos and destruction, feasting on human flesh and fear. A tenuous Peace Treaty is the only barrier between the worlds, the only thing protecting humankind from utter devastation.

Every hundred years the Treaty must be renewed—and the time for that secret ceremony is at hand. Violent demonic splinter factions that are hell-bent on destroying the ancient pact are preparing to assassinate a key figure who is vital to the signing ceremony.

Enter the Black Guard, a secret police force that protects the boundary between the dark world and our own. It's the job of two Black Guard agents—Makie, a gorgeous demon, and Taki, a hard-boiled human—to form an unlikely partnership, stop the assassination, and avert an all-out war. But to save both their worlds, they must risk not only their lives, but their very souls!

Genres: Horror, Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Japan, Japanese Literature, Supernatural, Novels

272 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1985

Reviews

[Burden · Rating 5 out of 5]

As with most of the books I read, I was drawn to Wicked City because I am a fan of the anime film. I must admit that this approach hasn't always favoured me well, and I usually find out that one of the versions is vastly superior to the other. But thankfully, on this occasion, I was glad to discover that both adaptations of the story were made to an equally high standard.

The novel itself is your basic dark fantasy affair. The peace treaty between the human world and the demon world is expiring and, for the next 24 hours, the 'black guard' secret police must ensure the safety of Giuseppe Mayarte - the man responsible for signing the next treaty.

This isn't really the sort of blurb that normally gets my blood racing, but knowing the anime quite well, I was pretty certain that I would enjoy this read. And trust me, if you make the same exceptions this time around that I did, then you will probably find yourself equally rewarded.

The author, Hideyuki Kikuchi, is a fantastic writer that paints a particularly vivid picture of Tokyo's seedy night life. And although his writing style is far wordier than that found in my usual light-novels, every single page pulls you further into the crevices of his dark world. This isn't a thinly imagined world either - Mr Kikuchi has clearly taken his time to think about the timeline of the two worlds and create an alternate telling of our history. I found this part particularly fun (who knew about Jesus' secret 'demonic research' trips to Japan. Not me, that's for sure).

This project gave the author a lot of creative liberties, allowing his imagination to run wild on hordes of weird species of demon, and I think this freedom really shows through everyone of the books pages.

I would say my biggest gripes with this novel were the very graphic sex scenes (There were plenty of them. And at least half of them weren't consensual), that the author started hinting at his big reveal far too early in the book and that I would have liked some sort of epilogue.

I know it is probably the sex scenes that are responsible for making this book as infamous as it is, but it's such a shame to see a talented author resort to such cheap tricks, just to sell a few extra books. It really is a discredit to his skill as a writer. To me, this novel is a dark fantasy masterpiece, whose legacy will in no doubt be forever tarnished by these needless scenes of adulteration.

Despite these small shortfalls, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and will be reading the next in the series as soon as I finish writing this review! 5/5

[Tim Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

I personally disliked this book, it was boring and stretched, the books plot was already over while still having 50-75 pages to go through.

[Kamakana · Rating 2 out of 5]

190717: varied two/three. if you want manga in written form. fantasy, pulpy, fast, surreal. some images. usual existence of other world demons, treaty with our world, cross-species fear, hate, violence. 'black guard' human partnered with 'black guard' demon. comic, satirical, ultraviolent. fast. and sex? hetero, abusive, violent to women, gang rape (no psychic consequences?)... i guess appeals popularly in japan... strange allusions to me of ws burroughs' images 'naked lunch' etc... but not too likely to read on series...

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

My rating is kind of lingering in-between three and four stars. I think the book definitely gets more right than wrong but it does get a few things wrong and these things hurt the book's overall appeal. First, let's talk about the good. To start, the voice of the novel is very appealing. Taki is a classic noir hero (hard-boiled, kind of a chauvinist, bleak-minded) but the book goes out of its way to humanize him and skewer his personality in a fun, deconstructionist way. Secondly, the universe that the book creates is marvelously well-developed for the page count and is a whole lot of fun. Tokyo is a busy metropolis, a place of ancient mystery, and a beehive of paranoia and demons. Lastly, the thought that went into the demons and monsters in this book is truly disturbing. Each and every one is unique and every encounter always produces something unexpected (and all of them toy with hardcore body horror).

Sadly, there are a few things that weigh the book down. The intensely graphic nature of the story does get to be a bit too much at times. It's one thing to have the calloused Taki kill a female demon in the process of seducing him because in a weird way this works to exude that time-honored uncaring personality many hard-boiled heroes share. On the other hand, it's a whole other thign when the main female lead, Makie, get sgang-raped in graphic detail not once but multiple times throughout the novel (despite being described as one of the most powerful agents). Moreover, the book sometimes feels like you're reading a video game with constant references to PP power. Lastly, the book loses some steam in the final quarter. The final twist of the novel also doesn't help because the romantic sub-plot didn't really add up to much in my eyes.

In the end though, I'd still recommend the book to fans of body horror, the anime movie adaptation, or disturbingly dark urban fantasy (or maybe erotic fiction, if that's your thing). It's sleazy and practically overflowing with pulp but it's a lot of fun while it lasts, despite some unsettling and cheap choices.

[Cornerofmadness · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novel is interesting in a couple of respects. For one, it’s actually 25 years old. I knew it was older but I thought about only 15 and it’s by the author of Vampire Hunter D and these into anime/manga know that classic. Wicked City also had a one shot anime and I have no idea why I like it or this novel. They are utterly male sex fantasy, heavy on the tentacles. Yes, Makie, the female has immense power in this but she does end up on the bad end of a gang rape. Taki, also sort of gets raped and tortured but there is far less detail on that. Oh and Black Guardsmen can apparently use their talents to enhance sex…and expect some of the demons to turn into vaginas with teeth.

See? I had to spoil that bit just to give the proper warnings. So why in the hell would I read this or own the anime? I don’t know. There’s something compelling about it in spite of the misogyny. It’s an alternative earth that knows there is a demon dimension that some times intersects with ours. Some of the demons are friendly. Most aren’t. The Black Guard, who possess high Psychic Powers (PP), are pretty much the border patrol and police force rolled into one.

It’s time to sign the Peace agreement for 500 years this time. Taki believes his job is to guard the mystic, Mr. Mayart, until the man can sign the accord. In 24 hours every malcontent demon will want them dead. Taki is assigned a partner, Makie, a demon in a beautiful human form. Together they try to keep the ridiculously sexually active Mayart under wraps, failing miserably and meeting demons, rape and torture at every turn until an ending neither of them expects. What is to be said about this? I have no idea why I like it. I shouldn’t given its attitudes towards females but somehow I do. It’s highly erotica and graphic both in sex and violence so…Now I’m just curious how they pulled off the live action movie that’s on the cover of the book.

[Leila Anani · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the 1st novel of the Wicked City trilogy - adapted (fairly faithfully) as the anime wicked city and not so faithfully as the live action movie. If you are familiar with either of those you are pretty much guaranteed to love this.

Every century a peace treaty is signed between inhabitants of the demon world and the human world - this latest treaty set for 500 years peace is unprecedented and many demons do not want it to go ahead. Diplomat Mayart is vital to the signing ceremony and two Black Guard (supernatural police) - Taki from the human world and Makie from the demon world have to work together to protect him for 24 hours until the signing.

I love the plot of this one - and it has one hell of a good twist too. The characters are great too - pervy old Mayart is like Happosai from Ranma and a real handful.

There's lots of Kikuchi's trade mark freaky sex too - we get a woman that turns into a giant vagina, demon rape, succubi that absorb their victims and have faces in their abdomens, tentacles, snake rape - You like hentai you'll love this - but it balances the erotic horror with a decent plot.

The problem I think a lot of people have with this is the writing: First off it's translated from the Japanese so it is always going to be a little stilted but Kikuchi's sparse writing style can be problematic as well. It is like reading a screenplay - It's very visual in terms of content but seriously lacks description - you do have to re-read bits to make sense of what's going on sometimes. Watching the anime first with this one really helps.

Personally I absolutely love this series - it's up there with Yashakiden, but it's not going to be to everyone's taste.

[aaron · Rating 3 out of 5]

this book is centered on taki (human male) and makie (demon female) who are partnered up in the black guard. they are a group of individuals who are powerful enough to protect the two worlds and keep them from colliding. this book just reeks of sex and action. it is a solid book and entertaining, but it is definitely not kikuchi's best. his vampire hunter d novels are so taut and this book just doesn't hit that high level. that isn't to say that this novel isn't solid, because it is, it just isn't as good at the "d" novels. makie makes a kickass female lead while taki (the story is from his viewpoint) makes a solid male lead. it has great action and interesting plotlines that lead to some fun twists. i'm interested to see if there will be anymore and if they'll continue to get better and more interesting.

[Pygmy · Rating 1 out of 5]

You know...supposedly Hideyuki Kikuchi is the Steven King of Japanese horror but I haven't found a single one of his books to be creepy. After his VampyD novels took a turn for the idiotic, I decided to try a new series of his in hopes that he would have improved his game with a new concept. With this book, he sort of succeeds. I found the narrative voice appealing, the urban fantasy backdrop fascinating, and the pacing good. The only problem?

GRAPHIC DEMON RAPE SEX RAPE OF COURSE ITS THE GIRL

Yeah, tentacles and the whole works. =_= And I still wasn't creeped out! It was just gross. why o why couldn't the author trade the gummy gore for some real atmosphere?

[Sean O'Hara · Rating 1 out of 5]

Kikuchi certainly knows how to write descriptions of slithery tentacle beasts pounding at the walls of reality. In fact, his slithery tentacle beasts feel more realistic than any of the allegedly human characters that populate this novel. At one point, the main female character is viciously gangraped -- apparently for several hours -- but twenty pages later she's all, "Hey, wanna go have sex," to the protagonist. It's not even like this is a different day -- the story only covers twenty-four hours. This is barely even thirty minutes later! Who thinks this is how women behave?

[Missy Ann]

Not getting a rating. I'm don't know what the exact problem is but it's most likely one (or combination) of the following:

1. Culture shock, too different & I just can't make the leap.

2. Lost something in the translation.

3. Poor translation.

4. Poorly written.

There is *something* there. I made it 66 pages in, swinging wildly between wanting to know what was going to happen & moments of "that's so stupid". I suppose you could say the motion sickness made me give up on it.

[Janice · Rating 4 out of 5]

By the author of the Vampire Hunter D series, but TOTALLY different feel. Not just because it's a different setting and characters, but a totally different rythm and flow to the story. Much more graphic than Vampire Hunter D, for one thing. Lots of sex for another. Liked it a lot.

[Ingenue · Rating 1 out of 5]

Demon vagina dentata! The perfect way to inspire me to never read anything by Kikuchi again!

[Dale · Rating 1 out of 5]

Terrible. Not an original thought in the entire book.

[Scott Baker · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you like anime monster tales, you'll enjoy this book.

[Toby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Awesome. It even has pictures. I like pictures, especially that one where Maki has, like, demon semen all over her face but doesn't look that fussed about it.