This review originally appeared on Goodreads on April 5, 2012.

The Leopard Mask

By Kurimoto Kaoru – Hayakawa Bunko – September 30, 1979

Review by Robin Marx

(I read this book in the original Japanese, so I can't speak to the quality of the English translation.)

This is the first volume in a 130+ volume series of Japanese heroic fantasy. The series began in 1979, ending prematurely with the author's death of pancreatic cancer in 2009. Although Kurimoto herself was influenced by classic English-language sword & sorcery writers (Robert E. Howard, Henry Kuttner, and Clark Ashton Smith are some of the mentioned in the book's afterword), her own long-running series went on to have a considerable impact on Japan's fantasy fiction. The creator of the Berserk manga, Miura Kentarou, cites Guin Saga as a primary source of inspiration, for example.

I'm a dedicated fan of English sword & sorcery, and I picked up this book because I wanted to see what the Japanese variety was like. Heroic fantasy (as opposed to Tolkien-style epic or high fantasy) gained popularity in Japan in the 70s and early 80s, just as the US was undergoing its own sword & sorcery revival with paperback Conan pastiches, Karl Edward Wagner's Kane series, etc. Although it seems like there were a number of Japanese writers active in the field at the time (mainly established SF writers trying their hand at S&S, apparently), to my knowledge Guin Saga was the only one with any sort of long-term longevity. Unlike its contemporaries, Guin Saga remains in print. Even with the death of its creator, it continues to grow, with new Guin Saga World anthologies released seasonally.

Reading through the first volume, I found it to be a bit of a mixed bag. True to the sword & sorcery genre it features an exciting main character, an intriguing villain, and a fair amount of violent action (there's even an arena fight with a giant gray ape). However, the story is hindered by some pacing problems, weak supporting characters, and prose that tends towards the bland side of things.

The main character is a leopard-headed man named Guin. He wakes up half-dead in a haunted forest with no memories other than his name and the word “Aula,” which could refer to either a person or a place. He's powerfully built, and discovers that he's an expert fighter. He doesn't seem to be from any of the neighboring countries, and nobody has seen a creature like him. He's not a leopard-man—he doesn't have a furry body, claws, etc.—he's just a human with a bestial head. There are suggestions that he didn't always used to be this way, and that it may be the result of some curse. Rock on. Guin captured my interest right away. We don't learn any more about his past through the course of this book, that's likely hinted at in subsequent books, but we know enough.

In the other corner we have the Black Count Varnon. He rules a small keep in the wilderness, leading a group of knights who are both loyal and terrified of their lord. Varnon is afflicted with a rotting disease—a curse resulting from previous misdeeds—and must always wear bandages and a completely sealed suit of black armor. He's ominous, reclusive, and—should his armor be breached—very contagious.

Unfortunately, the book's other characters are less appealing. No sooner has Guin woken up in the forest when he's immediately saddled with Rinda and Remus, twin siblings and the fleeing teenage heirs to a recently conquered country. Sister Rinda is haughty and overbearing, while secretly insecure. Her brother Remus is a weak, simpering waste of skin. Both characters seem to exist to cower behind Guin, shrieking in fear whenever something spooky occurs. They're a burden, both on Guin and the plot. Throughout the book I hoped Guin would resolve their problems and send them on their way, but alas, it seems that the Wonder Twins are to be recurring characters and a major part of subsequent volumes. (Incidentally, useless child companions have become a regrettably big part of the Berserk manga, too.)

The pacing of the book has issues as well. There are large portions of the book where the focus is taken away from both Guin's derring-do and the Black Count's villainy, instead dwelling on Rinda (acting imperious) or Remus (crying and/or being afraid). These are the parts of the story that drag.

Despite a meandering second act, however, the climax recovers every bit of the excitement found in the first part of the story. While I can't recommend it unreservedly, I saw enough potential in the series that I've gone ahead and purchased the second and third volumes. I'm not sure I'll want to stick with it for all 130 volumes (and the additional 22 gaiden side-stories and anthologies), but we'll see how it goes. Lots of great series have shaky first installments, and (judging from its place of honor in Japan's fantasy fiction canon) I suspect the Guin Saga may be one of them.

★★★☆☆

#CapsuleReviewArchive #BookReview #SwordAndSorcery #Fantasy #KurimotoKaoru #TheLeopardMask #GuinSaga