The Fall 2023 Light Novel Guide

The Lawyer in Shizukuishi Sleeps with a Wolf

What's It About? 

Shizukuishi, a small town tucked away in the Tokyo metropolitan area, is home to the law practice of a man named Sora. He's good at what he does, but he also has a secret: The white dog he looks after is actually a wolf. This wolf also happens to be his brother, Fuuka, who can only return to human form when the two are alone. The brothers found themselves on this strange path many years ago, along with an old enemy of Sora's...

The Lawyer in Shizukuishi Sleeps with a Wolf has a story by Akira Sugano, with illustration by Yamimaru Enjin. English translation by Yui Kajita. Published by Yen Press (October 17, 2023).

Is It Worth Reading?

Rebecca Silverman

Rating:

I was expecting this to be a BL or perhaps a bromance fantasy light novel. While it could be the latter if you squint (and want to see it that way), what this is is a story about the nature of being human and the dangers of becoming trapped in the way you see “right” and “wrong” as a total binary, stagnating into an idea of justice that may not be fully possible. It follows Sora, a young man of the Emishi people (an ancient indigenous group in Northern Japan), who travels to Heian Kyo to avenge his master Aterui, whose death he blames on Sakanoue no Tamuramaro. (Those last two are real historical figures, and the history is well grounded in the novel.) He, his brother Fuuka, and Tamuramaro all become immortal after meeting with the bodhisattva Miroku, for reasons Sora doesn't entirely understand. The story mostly takes place in the modern day, with brief flashbacks to both the Heian and Showa eras, and its true point doesn't sink in until the novel's close – but once it's been said, we can see how it had been letting us know what it was discussing all along. It's a little bit oblique and some of the modern lawyer sections drag, but on the whole, it's well thought out.

The main driver of the action is Sora himself as he tries to sort through his emotions. He's been alive for 1200 years by the time the Reiwa era comes around, living with his brother Fuuka and occasionally bumping into Tamuramaro. Sora isn't sure what Miroku wanted from him – the bodhisattva simply told him that he wasn't ready for the Pure Land yet and “cursed” Fuuka to be in the form of a dog in the presence of other people. Sora is ready for life to start again for him, and Shizukuishi is the first place he's lived that he's felt he could truly stay and grow old in, assuming that “aging” is something that he could do. His greatest wish is that Fuuka be human again, but as he thinks back over time and talks with Tamuramaro, who has reappeared in his life, he begins to question whether or not Fuuka ever really was. It's a philosophical journey for him, and if it isn't precisely high literature, it does a very credible job of guiding both readers and Sora along the path. The most important relationship isn't quite what it appears, and Miroku is careful not to give away any answers whenever they show up, which makes the internalized narrative work. I hesitate to call it an enjoyable book, but it's certainly an interesting one, and sometimes that's every bit as worthwhile as a quick, light read. I think the best word for it is “worthwhile.”