Yami to Boshi to Hon no Tabibito

Yami to Bōshi to Hon no Tabibito (ヤミと帽子と本の旅人, "The Darkness, the Hat and the Traveler of Books") is both a visual novel H game and a non-adult, 13 episode anime series. An interesting fact is that many characters appear in this story come from a number of other H game titles, whether released or not. Please notice although characters (and their relationships) remain basically the same, the story between game and anime is quite different.

The story follows the travels of Azuma Hazuki, a tall, brooding high-school girl, as she searches for her vanished adopted older sister and love interest Hatsumi throughout many different "book worlds", although this is rather more focused in the anime series (where Hazuki is the main character) than in the game (where a nameless, maybe male character is the main character, who "occupies" a different person's body in different "book worlds," including Hazuki's at some points). Other major characters include the strange caretaker of the book worlds' library, Lilith, who wears the enormous single-eyed hat referred to in the title (apparently named "Joe Harry"), and a pudgy, lecherous talking parakeet nicknamed Ken-chan. The series is most popular among shōjo-ai fans, as a majority of the female characters are blatantly attracted to Hazuki (though the game was hardly about yuri). Moreover, this is the first example of (relatively) mainstream anime where lesbian love is the main focus, and centering on the main characters.

As an anime, YamiBou is very hard to follow due to its incredibly non-linear plot (think Legend of Mana) and massively self-referential nature. The art and animation are beautiful, and while there's a fair amount of fanservice, it's never too obtrusive. This is one of the first serious attempts to bridge the gap between shōjo and shōnen anime; the reason for the fanservice is that the series would otherwise be pure shōjo, being almost entirely character-driven and focusing on developing relationships more than actual plot. For those who can follow the confusing and oftentimes depressing story, it will be a deeply moving and emotional ride. The ending may make the viewer wonder what the point of the whole thing was.

Characters And Plot(Anime)

Azuma Hazuki (東 菜月) is the most obvious example (though hardly the first) of the "tall, dark, and bishōjo" archetype; tall, brooding, and serious, with long black hair and striking blue eyes. This is the closest thing to seme or "top" that appears in most yuri. She appears cold and unfriendly to most people and is fiercely protective of Hatsumi; however, she is actually very vulnerable and romantic, even to the point of being somewhat submissive, and idolizes Hatsumi to extreme levels. So much so, in fact, that she considers her own sexual attraction to Hatsumi vulgar and shameful. This is best shown in episodes 1 and 7, where you are given flashes of her thought processes. Episode seven may also mark the first instance of a female character masturbating in a non-hentai context; the scene was tastefully done, and many are of the opinion that if the viewer's primary reaction is arousal, he or she is completely missing the point. Some have criticized this particular scene as being pure fanservice, but it is actually a very large step forward in portraying yuri love as something human and complex; many shoujo-ai pairings tend to be subtext-y, ethereal, and not quite realistic in terms of sexual attraction, or go to the other extreme and degenerate into outright pornography. Hazuki is one of the most "human" characters to appear in yuri, and those who sympathize with her will feel many of her emotions with her.

Azuma Hatsumi (東 初実) is Hazuki's adopted older sister and love interest; the two are not blood-related. Hatsumi appears to be mute (though she proves otherwise on several occasions) and communicates mostly through sign language and gestures. Despite being older, Hatsumi is much shorter and thinner than Hazuki; childhood pictures of the two show the situation reversed, as Hazuki was a sickly child and, according to herself, would not have survived were it not for Hatsumi being there. While it at first seems that Hazuki's love for her is one-sided, episode seven proves that Hatsumi returns the affection in equal measure...though she seems curiously inept at letting her younger "sister" know it (sending anonymous love letters, for example). In episode 1, Hatsumi disappears in a flash of green light ("souma") on midnight of her sixteenth birthday, just as Hazuki is about to steal a kiss in her sleep. The events that transpire lead Hazuki to a mysterious pandimensional library, in which all worlds and time periods are kept in books. There, Hazuki learns from one of the Library guardians, Lilith, that Hatsumi is actually only one form of the other Guardian (Eve) and that she hops from book to book every 16 years for her own amusement.

Lilith, as mentioned, is one of the two guardians of the pandimensional Library. She is very attracted to Hazuki and flirts relentlessly, though she is always shot down. Lilith appears vapid and not just a little flaky, but that is quickly shown to be an act (though her attraction to Hazuki is genuine). She wants to find Eve and bring her back to the Library, and uses Hazuki's love for the wayward Guardian to her own advantage for this purpose. Lilith seems to be involved in some shady dealings, though she seems to have no intention of keeping her end of the promise and uses the ones she "contracts" with as means to an end (finding Eve). Lilith is sexually omnivorous and loves both men and women, though her ability to carry on anything but a fling is seriously doubtful.

Kogechibi lives in the library, and looks like a 4-inch tall version of Lillith with a vocabulary composed mostly of squeaks. She has a disturbing love of fireworks and can say a few words if they have something to do with explosives. She builds her own miniature catapults and launch platforms, packing hollow fountain pens full of gunpowder and using them as bottle rockets...though how she learned to do this is something of a mystery as she can't seem to read. She does play a small part in the plot later on but is mostly there for comic relief in the anime. In the game, it is revealed that the guardians "fragment" when overexerting themselves, and that the fragments take on a life of their own; Kogechibi is one such example.

Gargantua appeared in episode 2 as a mysterious madman with three bumbling demonic servants and one creepy demoness hanger-on named Seiren (probably derived from the Hellenic Siren). His rantings about "finding Eve" are entirely cryptic at this point in the series, though they are forcefully driven home in the next two episodes where he appears as a lonely orphan boy in a book world corresponding roughly to 900 AD judging from the looks of it. Eve is also present here, this time as the mute, magic-using Jill, assistant caretaker at the orphanage. Gargantua is fiercely attached to her and, in a tragic turn of events, stabs her fatally with a knife while jealously attempting to dislodge a fellow orphan, Ritsuko, from her arms. Jill disappears in an explosion of souma that drenches the two children in life force, which has important implications for the future...

Ritsuko first appears along with Gargantua in episode 3, though her major role is in episode 4. Set in approximately 100 years after episode 3, she has become an immortal and a magic user; she appears to be no older than 25 despite being well over a century old, and travels the countryside performing healing miracles as a way of life. She has never forgotten Jill or Gargantua, and still carries miniature protraits of them in her locket. When she comes to the kingdom's castle to heal the princess Mariel, she is taken in as court alchemist. One day, while escorting the princess around the village, she is pulled into an alley by a man with purple hair, dressed like a medieval lord. This is Gargantua, who has apparently also become immortal and has learned magic...though his is a far darker brand. He insinuates himself into the royal court, only to make off with princess Mariel and attempt to sacrifice her to Lilith in order to be shown where Eve is. Ritsuko foils him, but is framed for the kidnapping and thrown into a dungeon.

Quill appears in episode 5, which corresponds to the early Stone Age. While technically a minor character in a minor episode, she is important because she leads Hazuki and Lilith to her cave-village, where they notice that something evil is afoot. A giant monster breaks out of the primitive shrine the cave people have erected, and this is where we first see Hazuki go all-out as a swordfighter. One wonders where the monster came from and what it is, since it seems to transform into something small and disappear after its defeat...however, no explanation is ever given. Strangely, Quill becomes mute after the defeat of the monster, though what connection (if any) she has to Eve is unclear.

Miruka (sometimes given as Milka) appears in episode 6 under the care of Seiren. She is a mysterious, lonely girl with a cruel past who has stopped aging and is trapped in the body of a 5-year-old. Seiren cares for her lovingly, and she has befriended an enormous white tiger, Rascaless, as well. Although intitally afraid of Hazuki and Lilith, she warms up to them and has Seiren take them to the villa in the center of the island...where it is revealed that Seiren and Lilith have a history. In addition, this episode takes place in a different book from the previous 2, called "Lunar Cage" in the game canon. This world is subject to periodic reality shifts called "rip-rip" by Miruka, in which the sky and the ground beneath it tear open, only to close again without a trace. These affect Miruka profoundly, making her lose her coherent mind and even collapse at times. At one point, a "rip-rip" splits the sea, and Miruka wanders into the dry gap, mumbling something about crossing the ocean...the rip subsides, and she is nearly drowned. Hazuki attempts a rescue but cannot move fast enough, and it is Rascaless who saves Miruka. Back at the villa, it is revealed that Seiren was "grooming" Miruka to use her magic against Lilith for abandoning her, but Miruka apparently has none even though her aging has stopped. Lilith shrugs it off and tries to reconcile with Seiren, monumentally (and perhaps intentionally) clueless as to why the demoness is so angry, and then sends Miruka on her way across the ocean on a ship...fully aged. This is also where Arya makes his first major appearance, though he has been shadowing the travelling women in various (usually cross-dressing) forms since the first episode; in this case, he is a sailor who assists Miruka on her journey.

Fujihime (藤姫; Princess Fuji) and Youko Meirin (Mei-lin the kitsune) appear in episodes 8 and 9, which take place in a book that corresponds roughly to the samurai era in Japan. Fujihime looks exactly llke Hatsumi, except with blue eyes instead of red. She can talk, and she also possesses the comb that Hatsumi was brushing her hair with in episode 7 in modern-day Japan (Hazuki asks Hatsumi if it's "an antique," and gets a positive answer). Meirin is a cheerful, wily kitsune with two tails (out of nine) who is trying to "raise her rank" by getting close to the princess. As Meirin and Hazuki both have to enter the "Bamboo Fortress" to achieve their goals, they eventually run into one another. The samurai who attackd Meirin earlier were actually Fujihime's guards, and at her orders, treat Hazuki with respect. Hazuki spends a long time at the fortress in the personal attention of Fujihime, and is given the comb which eventually ends up in Hatsumi's possession. That night, a pack of evil kunoichi sneak in, intent on getting the comb for themselves; apparently it's a link to Eve, though why they (or their demonic-looking leader) know this is unspecified. In an impressive if gratuitous display of swordfighting and shounen anime clichés, Hazuki defeats the leader and escapes with Lilith to parts unknown with the comb.

Lala is the monolithic AI controlling the spaceship that Hazuki and company find themselves on in episode 10, in a book that opens into the far distant future. The ship is an "emigration spaceship," meaning that the inhabitants have left Earth and are searching for a new planet to settle on. They are disturbingly young, not a one of them being over 10, which is strange considering that the ship has been drifting for over 200 years. Hazuki and Lilith find out that all the adults were killed in a plague some 9 years ago; a particularly disturbing scene shows Hazuki's young guide talking to her mother, getting a response, and then leaving the room. When Hazuki looks at the mother's bed, she sees a skeleton with bits of decaying hair and flesh still attached; Lala had been providing the voice, and had likely been doing so for all the children on board. Eve appeared here too as Lular over 100 years ago, though she had vanished on her sixteenth birthday (sound familiar?) while performing an EVA to fix a malfunctioning part; not even the spacesuit was ever found...

Tamamonomae(-han) (玉藻の前) is actually Meirin's future form as a fully-evolved kitsune with nine tails. Perhaps the only character even more sexually voracious than Lilith, she constantly flirts with and gropes Gargantua when he stumbles into her floating "Space Hall" along with his three goons. For some reason, she is on very familiar terms with Lilith, and not entirely respectful ones at that. The Space Hall is unique in that it seems to be a pandimensional locality in the same sense that the Library is; that is, it is beyond the flow of time that exists in the book worlds. All three interested parties (Gargantua and company, Hazuki and Lilith, and Eve in her "raw" form) appear here as a result, and this is the beginning of the (depressing) end.

Other Media

There is a one-book manga adaptation, Yami to Bōshi to Hon no Tabibito ~Romance, illustrated by Aya Sakurai. It follows a compressed version of the game's events, focusing (predictably) on the romantic moments between the nameless main character and Lilith, most near the ending. Its ISBN is ISBN 4-04-713593-3.

External links

• Cielo su Terra (http://www.cielo-su-terra.com/), a fansiteja:ヤミと帽子と本の旅人