Hiragana Noir: Shadows in the Dark
I’m working on a new project that’s a little different to all my other work. It’s called ‘Hiragana Noir: Shadows in the Dark’ and it’s a neo-noir detective story. The protagonist, Damian Peates, is hired to investigate a casino heist. Like most noir stories, what begins as a routine investigation, quickly escalates into a labyrinthine of twists and deceit. But there’s one or two unique things about this book.
I’ve teased quite a lot of photos and videos about this new project on my Instagram and Facebook (links at the webpage footer, if that’s your thing), but if you haven’t seen much yet, you can check out some new and old releases below including a 60-page sample of the book!
So what is so unique about this project then?
…it’s probably easier to show you rather than explain. Take a look at some of the pictures again:
What I’ve tried to create is a compelling and natural way for absolute-beginners to read a story (in English) and pick up Hiragana. Now I know this project won’t be for everyone, and a more advanced student might be like “Umm.. just pull up some mnemonics online and learn them in a few days.” While I agree there may be more ‘direct’ ways of learning, I think there is some merit to this approach, not to mention I’m just plain enjoying making this - It’s nice to go out on a limb with something that isn’t being written to fit into a curriculum, satisfy a theory or to get inside a classroom. And in the words of the enigmatic David Bowie, “never play to the gallery”.
I suppose there’s a whole other reason I’m doing this too. If you speak to me for long enough, you might strike upon the right topic and learn that I wasn’t always a language teacher. After school, but before teaching I actually studied a Bachelor of Policing. After which, I did surveillance and investigation work for a casino. A large part of that job was investigating any illegal or undesirable behaviours (thefts, assaults, cheating etc.), finding missing or wanted people, as well as maintaining the integrity of the casino itself. I also had a bit of a knack for finding things and people (which annoyed plenty of people) as well as being in the right place at the right time, if I say so myself. It is the reason I’m still such a night owl and those experiences had a huge impact on my life, probably as much as living in Japan as a kid. I’m not saying its biographical or anything, but it’s been cathartic revisiting my past, I’m enjoying exploring the power of visual storytelling and I’m having a lot of fun with this narrative form.
A new picture from Hiragana Noir: Shadows in the Dark
I’m planning on initially releasing it in English, but I think a Japanese version for advanced readers (without the Hiragana overlay) would be feasible eventually too. I’ve included a monster 63-page sample from the book below and as usual, I’d love to hear your thoughts. So feel free to drop a comment on Instagram or Facebook, or just shoot me an email. Oh and btw, this story as well as the separate flashcards will all be included as a free addition to the existing Bakemono Hiragana Flashcard set (when they’re done anyway), so happy days!
Wish me luck!
P.S.
I don’t expect many people to spot this, but this actually isn’t the first appearance of Damian Peates (he makes a brief appearance in The Story Pit)
