Sleeping Moon by Miyamoto Kano

Rating: 8
Sublime 2013 - Tokuma Shoten 2008
2 volumes
Translation: Christine Dashiell

If you've never read any Miyamoto Kano I suggest you immediately go read some, if only to discover the variety available within the BL genre. Miyamoto deviates from the norm, she pays little heed to standard tropes but carves out a distinctive style and world of her own. If you have read some before but have never been taken by it then I urge you to give her another try, I find that sometimes you have to be in a certain mood to read her work; I'd say that she doesn't write instant gratification material, you sometimes have to be prepared to be unsettled to appreciate her stories. Sleeping Moon, an eerie supernatural tale of time slips, ghosts, and fleeting romance, is one of her best and a good showcase of her qualities as a writer that set her apart from the crowd; a more plot-focused story than her usual fare, it's even won over many readers who were not fans of her work before.

In Akihiko's family, there is a legend of a curse that brings early death to its male descendants. Approaching his thirties, Akihiko is worried that he is next and so he returns to the ancestral home, where his Aunt and cousins live, to investigate. One night, he experiences a time slip and meets Eitarou, an ancestor from a hundred years ago who is also studying the curse in his own time. Together, the two work to unravel the family mystery before the strength of the curse grows too strong.

It sounds pretty corny but it never is. Miyamoto doesn't do melodrama, it's not in her or her characters' style. There's no thunder and lightning shock and awe but rather the imagery of the story is the ethereal light of the moon over a rural landscape blanketed by softly falling snow. It's a beautiful, evocative ghost story calling on traditions of old Japanese folklore with a spookiness that creeps slowly upon you. However, the story never gets heavy or morbid thanks to a couple of typical Miyamoto characters to ground everything in reality. Realistic but offbeat is how I'd describe her characters. She doesn't write romantic heroes, rather, her characters are always very fallibly human, riddled with quirks and weaknesses that lend them so much authenticity. Akihiko, thankfully, doesn't behave like a stock character from a horror movie but has very believable reactions to all the supernatural activity, often amusingly so, the humour serving to dispel any overt tension, and the story remains an easy approachable read throughout.

The story works well as a straight mystery but just as intriguing is the developing love-triangle between Akihiko, his cousin Ren, another male descendant cursed to an early death, and their ancestor, Eitarou. Slipping through the time stream to meet a hot guy under the gleam of the moon to solve a mystery, it's probably the most romantic set-up Miyamoto has ever written. Back in the present, Ren presents a more typical Miyamoto relationship, a casual sexual relationship that might or might not turn into something deeper. Ren is bisexual, has a casual attitude towards relationships, and, attracted to Akihiko, comes onto him with the line, "No matter what we do, we're going to die soon anyway, so why not enjoy the short lives we have left?" Akihiko initially puts up some trifle resistance but soon enough goes with the flow. Whom will he end up with? With Miyamoto, you never know what to expect.

I could write pages about her characters but I'll spare you with just a few lines. When it comes down to it, it's her character writing that sets Miyamoto a cut above the rest. Her characters are awkward, indecisive, weak, irresolute in their ideals and feelings, in short, they have personality which makes them realistic. When I say that you have to be in a certain mood to read her stories, I mean that you have to be prepared for that touch of realism, that you shouldn't expect a perfect love story or a perfectly resolved plot because life is never so neatly managed in reality. Sleeping Moon combines well the romantic supernatural with the fickle strains of realism, a fine balance that makes this one of Miyamoto's best stories to date.