Kirigoe Mima is in the third year of her career as a pure and innocent pop idol. Feeling like something big needs to change, she plans to give her image a major update. When the new Mima is revealed--complete with a sexy outfit and a risqué photo book–one of her most obsessive fans refuses to accept her transformation. To restore Mima to the innocent girl of her debut, he puts a terrifying plan to action that throws her life into chaos and mortal peril.
Widely acknowledged as Yasutaka Tsutsui's masterpiece, Paprika unites his surreal, quirky imagination with a mind-bending narrative about a psychiatric institute that has developed the technology to invade people's dreams. When prototype models of a dream-invading device go missing at the Institute for Psychiatric Research, it transpires that someone is using them to drive people insane. Threatened both personally and professionally, brilliant psychotherapist Atsuko Chiba has to journey into the world of fantasy to fight her mysterious opponents. As she delves ever deeper into the imagination, the borderline between dream and reality becomes increasingly blurred, and nightmares begin to leak into the everyday realm. The scene is set for a final showdown between the dream detective and her enemies, with the subconscious as their battleground, and the future of the waking world at stake.
Franz Kafka, the author has very nicely narrated the story of Gregou Samsa who wakes up one day to discover that he has metamorphosed into a bug. The book concerns itself with the themes of alienation and existentialism. The author has written many important stories, including The Judgement, and much of his novels Amerika, The Castle, The Hunger Artist. Many of his stories were published during his lifetime but many were not. Over the course of the 1920s and 30s Kafkas works were published and translated instantly becoming landmarks of twentieth-century literature. Ironically, the story ends on an optimistic note, as the family puts itself back together. The style of the book epitomizes Kafkas writing. Kafka very interestingly, used to present an impossible situation, such as a mans transformation into an insect, and develop the story from there with perfect realism and intense attention to detail. The Metamorphosis is an autobiographical piece of writing, and we find that parts of the story reflect Kafkas own life.
Brilliant anime director Satoshi Kon (Paprika, Paranoia Agent, Tokyo Godfathers, Millennium Actress, Perfect Blue) died tragically young in 2010 at the age of forty-six. But before he became a director, he was a manga artist, and Dark Horse is honored to remember Kon with the release of Satoshi Kon’s OPUS, an omnibus collection of a two-volume manga from 1996, created by Kon on the eve of his first film. OPUS contains the mastery of both realism and surrealism that would make Kon famous in Perfect Blue, as a manga artist planning a shocking surprise ending to his story gets literally pulled into his own work—to face for himself what he had planned for his characters! * Satoshi Kon was a Time magazine 2010 Person of the Year. * Kon was eulogized by director Darren Aronofsky. * Kon was a chief assistant to Katsuhiro Otomo on the Akiramanga.
When Dr. Nagashima loses his wife in a mysterious car crash, he is overwhelmed with grief but also an eerie sense of purpose; he becomes obsessed with reincarnating his dead wife. Her donated kidney is transplanted into a young girl with a debilitating disorder, but the doctor also feels compelled to keep a small sample of her liver in his laboratory. When these cells start mutating rapidly, a consciousness bent on determining its own fate awakens, bent on becoming the new dominant species on earth. Parasite Eve was the basis of the hugely popular video game of the same name in the U.S. and has been cinematized in Japan.
He was sure he was in front of a demon. Then again, when faced with a witch, he always felt that he was in the face of a demon. And now he was one of them. Fueled by his hatred for the witches, Mallor has risen to the top of every hunting clan in the world. He has bested every man that has tried to compete with him. Many witches have died by his sword. Some say he's the best witch hunter in existence. Author Poojitha Tanjore'sdebut novel, Rules of the Red Book follows Mallor as he leads his clan to the Election, an event during which all eight original witch lines congregate to elect a leader through trial by combat to the death. Through killing each clan's "chosen one," Mallor can end every witch line in one night. However, the witches have a plan, and soon Mallor finds himself becoming the very thing that he hates. On top of that, he finds himself falling for Analise, a beautiful, driven witch with a tragic past. Will Mallor's moral convictions be able to stand up to her, or will he falter at the swish of her wand?
A masquerade ball with a blue ribbon! Caterpillar dreams of winning, but wonders how she can since she is just a baby. Tadpole convinces her that her natural baby disguise as bird poo is perfect. As Caterpillar grows, her look changes, and she worries again. Tadpole tells her she now looks like a scary snake, and is sure to win! Then . . . just weeks before the ball, Caterpillar spins a chrysalis and hangs unmoving from her tree. Now, even Tadpole (who is changing into a frog) is worried. Will Caterpillar break out of her chrysalis in time? And if she makes it to the ball, will she still think winning is the most important thing of all?
A frail young girl flees a roaring forest fire in the middle of the night desperately taking refuge in a cave where she quickly loses consciousness. She wakes up in a strange, tiny village populated by fairy-like creatures. Her hosts seem intrigued by the sparkles of light that seem to surround her. The village chieftain explains that one of their hunters found her passed out in the forest and brought her back here for treatment. He asks who she is, but she remembers nothing except for a wall and flames. The chief is baffled by her tale as there has not been any fire in the forest lately, and yet the young woman does indeed show signs of burns. Somewhat recovered and dressed in woodland clothes made by the villagers, the young lady asks to meet the hunter who found her in the forest. She asks her savior to take her to where he found her, hoping that seeing the place will restore her memory. But Meliss refuses -- the rules of the village say that only hunters can enter the forest, and all of the sparkles surrounding the girl would catch the eyes of predators living in these woods... What follows is a tale of discovery, magic, tragedy, and adventure, as the girl discovers powers that may or may not be borne of an ancient evil. She befriends a cunning, talking wolf along the way, and together the two set out on a journey that will not soon be easily forgotten. A beautifully illustrated, magical fairy tale sure to appeal to young teens and up, created by the award-winning team behind the world-renowned LOVE series of wordless wildlife graphic novels.
ILLUSTRATED CHILDREN'S STORY ADAPTED FROM FRANZ KAFKA'S BEST-SELLING BOOK. (Available in Spanish as "La Metamorfosis Mini".) Gregor Samsa is a child who wakes up one morning having turned into... a dinosaur? A robot? Or maybe an insect? Little Samsa feels rejected and different from the others. He wants to do and try new things but, most of all, he wants to be happy. The mini version has been adapted for boys and girls ages 4 to 8, and has very colorful, inventive illustrations. Perfect for discovering universal classics - with children as protagonists. ***** Shall we start the collection? ***** READER COMMENTS: "Impressive adaptation with gorgeous illustrations." "Original and different." "Beautifully crafted." "Adapting these important books for such young children is a great idea." "A classic for literature lovers, placing great thoughts within reach of little ones." ***** Please share your comments with us! ***** "Other children's books in the Diminimini collection" Mini Wuthering Heights (adaptation of Emily Brontë's book). Mini Crime and Punishment (adaptation of Fyodor Dostoyevsky's book).
