Haikasoru 6: Harmony by Project Itoh (Trans. Alexander O. Smith)
By Project Itoh (Translated by Alexander O. Smith)
28 May, 2011
Haikasoru
0 comments
Harmony
Project Itoh (Trans. Alexander O. Smith)
Haikasoru/VIZ Media LLC
252 pages
$14.99/$19.99/9.99 UK
ISBN 9781421536439
I’ve reviewed to this before. I don’t know how people feel about me just reposting old reviews so I will link to that one and add some notes.
[Added in 2024: in the absence of a working link, the first review is appended at the bottom of this review]
Satoshi Itō, who wrote under the pen-name Project Itoh, died in 2009 at the age of 34 from the cancer he had struggled with since 2001. His first novel was Gyakusatsu kikan (Genocidal Organ) published in 2007. I believe in the time between his first novel and his death he had time for two novels (Gyakusatsu kikan, Hāmonī), one video game novel (Metaru gia soriddo ganzu obu za patoriotto), and two collections (Itō Keikaku Kiroku and the posthumous tō Keikaku Kiroku: Daini Isō). Also, as far as I know, Hāmonī (Harmony)is the only work of his to be translated into English thus far.
Harmony was written while Itoh was effectively on his death-bed and he was aware of it. To quote his father’s acceptance speech for the Philip K. Dick Special Citation: