Lianne Sentar

Ever since reading You're Never Alone, the first novel in Lianne Sentar's Tokyo Demons, I have been nearly consumed by everything even tangentially related to the trilogy. I find Tokyo Demons to be remarkably engaging and as the series has progressed I have become increasingly invested in both the story and its characters. Tokyo Demons has a small but very loyal fanbase, so perhaps it isn't too surprising that it became one of the flagship titles not only for Chromatic Press and the Sparkler Monthly magazine but also for Cherry Bomb, an imprint that provides an opportunity for Sparkler Monthly creators to explore more mature, sexually-charged stories and themes. Know What You Want, released in 2016, is the first Cherry Bomb collection to be compiled. It brings together four Tokyo Demons Cherry Bomb stories–"Building Up," "Coming Down," "Never Again," and "Save Me/Don't Save Me"–originally published online between 2014 and 2015. The volume also includes illustrations by Rem and Romy-chan and collects "Once," a related short story previously released in You're Never Alone, and "Unsaid," a comic illustrated by Tacto which was created specifically for Know What You Want.

Some of the stories collected in Know What You Want take place before the beginning of Tokyo Demons, effectively serving as prequels, while others actually take place during the events of the main series. Rather than being organized chronologically, the stories are arranged by character beginning with Ayase and Jo who are the two primary point-of-view protagonists of Tokyo Demons. "Building Up" shows Ayase consciously and subconsciously struggling to come to terms with her complicated and conflicted feelings for Kiyoshi while "Coming Down" delves into some of the more unfortunate parts of Jo's past. The following three pieces–"Once," "Never Again," and "Save Me/Don't Save Me"–form a triptych which turns to Sachi, a somewhat unexpected Tokyo Demons fan favorite, and more specifically to the shifting dynamics of his relationship with Kadoyuki. (Appropriately enough, Sachi is also the character featured on the collection's front cover.) Know What You Want closes with "Unsaid" which examines Miki, another member of the series' extended cast, and the painful ramifications of his devotion to Mitsuko.

Know What You Want epitomizes what Cherry Bomb is all about. The content is mature but it has purpose and meaning behind it. While there is sex, the real focus is on the characters and their relationships with themselves and with one another. The stories collected in Know What You Want provide additional background details and greater insight into the characters and story of Tokyo Demons. The situations portrayed are alluded to within the novels, but reading Know What You Want isn't at all necessary to understand the main series. Readers who aren't interested in erotica can still enjoy Tokyo Demons without needing to delve into Know What You Want, but those who are will discover that the collection expands and deepens the already impressive characterization and worldbuilding present in the trilogy. To varying degrees, all of the stories in Know What You Want can stand on their own satisfactorily, but the collection is really intended for people who have read and who are familiar with Tokyo Demons–the stories lose some of their impact and underlying meaning if removed from the context of the series as a whole.

The Tokyo Demons Cherry Bomb stories have been affectionately termed miserotica by both their creators and fans and rightfully so. Know What You Want is an intentionally uncomfortable, heartwrenching, and heartbreaking collection. Many of the characters in Tokyo Demons are teenagers who come from broken or nearly nonexistent families and homes. They are young, awkward, and apt to make terrible but well-meaning decisions in their social and emotional immaturity. While they are strong in some ways they are fragile in others, understandably desperate for and terrified of intimacy and human connection. The characters of Tokyo Demons are all incredibly well-developed and relatable, but it's Sachi with his heightened empathy who tends to be the character with whom I most personally resonate. Partly because of this, the fraught relationship between Sachi and Kadoyuki is one of my favorites in the series, so I'm happy to see it receive so much attention in Know What You Want. "Save Me/Don't Save Me" is a particularly powerful and moving piece (I have honestly cried every time that I've read it), but the entire collection is a provocative exploration of the complexities of love, longing, and acceptance.

Experiments in Manga… (meer)

For some very silly reasons, most of which are now unclear to me, initially I was hesitant to read Tokyo Demons, a trilogy of novels written by Lianne Sentar and illustrated by Rem. But after finishing the first volume, You're Never Alone, I was hooked. I immediately went out and devoured all of the bonus content and side stories that I could find. Honestly, I hadn't been so excited and captivated by a series in a very long time. Soon after, Tokyo Demons became one of the flagship titles for Chromatic Press. Tokyo Demons, Book 2: Add a Little Chaos was originally serialized online between 2012 and 2014. Later in 2014 it underwent final revisions and was collected into a single volume along with two additional side stories which delve further into the pasts of some of the characters. Despite my obsession with the series, for the most part I was able to restrain myself from reading Add a Little Chaos until the novel was completed. It was a difficult wait, and so I was thrilled when the second book was finished so that I could read it.

Kiyoshi has been rescued and Core's attack on the Byakko gang at Kiseki was able to be fended off, albeit not without casualties. The survivors who have taken refuge with the Church and sided against Core are still in danger though. Under the influence of Pitch, a powerful and highly addictive drug that he was forced to take, and due to the trauma of his kidnapping, Kiyoshi is no longer the person he once was physically, mentally, or emotionally. In fact, after being caught up in something with even graver implications than the simple drug war it initially seemed to be, everyone has changed. Ayase, Jo, Sachi, and all of their friends and allies are fighting for their lives and none of them are unaffected by the violence surrounding them. They are doing all that they can with the limited information that they have to fight against Core and save the others of their group who are still caught within its grasp. Working with the Church's resources, members of Byakko, and contacts within the police force, as well as with some unexpected aid from within Core itself, they may have a chance. But everyone has their own agendas and it's becoming more and more difficult to know who and what can be trusted.

As with many second volumes in a trilogy, the situation the characters find themselves in quickly escalates from bad to worse in Add a Little Chaos. Tokyo Demons has always been fairly hard-hitting, dealing with heavy themes like psychological and physical abuse and violence, but Add a Little Chaos goes to some very dark places. I have come to care about all of the characters in Tokyo Demons immensely, many of whom are broken and damaged people with tragic pasts, horrible presents, and grim futures. They are all so incredibly desperate to be strong and to protect themselves and the ones that they care about the most. It's absolutely heartbreaking to see them go about it in the wrong ways, even when they're doing the best that they can and what they believe to be right. Some of them are able to find a few brief moments of comfort with one another that they cling to only to have them ripped away by the chaos enveloping them. With layers upon layers of loyalty and betrayal, each revelation in Tokyo Demons is shocking and gut-wrenching, not only for the characters who have to deal with the immediate consequences, but also for the readers who can do nothing but witness it all happen.

Tokyo Demons is a complex and multilayered series; many of the seemingly independent storylines which were introduced in the first volume are now beginning to crash together in Add a Little Chaos and additional plot developments have been set into motion. Tokyo Demons also features a large and diverse cast of extremely complicated characters. Their even more complicated connections to one another are critical to the story as well. How they deal with their own personal struggles impacts the people around them as well as the larger conflict in which they find themselves. Even considering all of the superhuman elements and psychic abilities involved in Tokyo Demons, what make the series so compelling and engaging are its believably flawed, exceptionally nuanced, and constantly evolving characters and the constantly shifting dynamics of their relationships. From the beginning of the series alone I could tell that the scope of Tokyo Demons was going to be huge. If anything the story only continues to expand with Add a Little Chaos and increase in its intensity. I am still absolutely loving Tokyo Demons and am both looking forward to and dreading its conclusion.

Experiments in Manga… (meer)

I can no longer recall exactly how I first became aware of Tokyo Demons, but I now consider it to be an extremely fortunate accident. Recently I came across some very enthusiastic support for the series and was convinced to give it a try sooner rather than later. Tokyo Demons, Book 1: You're Never Alone, written by Lianne Sentar with illustrations by Rem, began serialization online in 2011 before being revised, finalized, and collected as a novel in 2012. Written in the tradition of Japanese light novels, You're Never Alone is part of much larger project which has expanded to include dramatized audio books (produced and directed by Rebecca Scoble, who also works closely with Sentar editing the novels), comics, short stories, games, and more. Tokyo Demons has since become one of the flagship titles for the newly established Chromatic Press. Plans have already been made for two sequel series, Tokyo Ghosts and Tokyo Angels.

For many students, and even some teachers, Fukuhashi is their high school of last chance. Roaming its hallways and dormitories are underachievers, juvenile delinquents, stoners, other outsiders, and teens from broken homes or with no families at all. Ayase, a first-year at Fukuhashi, has been trying to hide a part of herself for most of her life. If she's not careful, her body will break apart into a swarm of insects. Understandably, it's something she would like to keep a secret. But then Sachi, an over-eager and over-friendly classmate, drags her and two other students--the athletic Kiyoshi and his chain-smoking roommate Jo--to a club after the first day of school. Like Ayase, Jo isn't particularly interested in getting close to most other people either, unless it's to steal their wallet. But when Kiyoshi and Ayase accidentally interrupt a drug deal and Sachi and Jo are caught up in the fiasco, too, suddenly the four students are attracting much more attention and trouble than any of them wanted.

Despite all of the strangeness and unfortunate incidents surrounding the characters at the beginning of You're Never Alone, it took a few chapters for the story to really hook me. But once it did, I was a goner. After reading only the first book of Tokyo Demons, I already get the sense that the scope of the story is huge. It's a complex entanglement of powerful international organizations, people with phenomenal supernatural abilities, yakuza, street gangs, and police investigations. And that's just what's going on on the surface and doesn't even touch on the story's underlying themes. Now that I've finished the novel and know the characters better, I have a much better appreciation for those slower early chapters than I did while I was first reading them. They are needed and necessary to set the stage and introduce the characters and conflicts. It's a slow build with a natural progression that suddenly explodes into a flurry of action.

The entirety of You're Never Alone takes place over the course of a few weeks, but a lot happens within that short period of time. The story alternates between Ayase and Jo's perspectives. Since the two are involved with different groups of people this allows readers a wider understanding of the unfolding events while at the same time maintaining a sense of grounding and focus. This is particularly helpful since there are so many characters important to Tokyo Demons, each with their own troubled past and role to play. I love the characters in Tokyo Demons. It is clear that a tremendous amount of thought and care has been put into them and their stories. I was particularly impressed by how their talents and abilities, whether they are supernatural or not, are an integral part of what makes them who they are as people, affecting their behaviors, personalities, and relationships. I am looking forward to the completion of the next volume of Tokyo Demons a great deal. I haven't been this excited about a series in a very long time.

Experiments in Manga… (meer)