Kenshin

Matsuura Rieko’s Kenshin is based on the extraordinary premise of a woman transformed into a dog that becomes the pet of the woman she loves. At the same time, it presents a brutally realistic family relationship, overflowing with feelings of abnormal love and hate, which contrasts sharply with the pure meeting of souls of the dog and owner.

    Matsuura made her biggest splash with the 1993 Oyayubi P no shugyō jidai [trans. The Apprenticeship of Big Toe P], a novel with an unconventional plot that shocked readers in which she explored her unique outlook on sexuality.

    In this work, unbound by the conventions of an ordinary story, she gives her imagination even freer rein, and by doing so strikes a chord in readers’ hearts. In the novel, the heroine in the form of a dog tells the Mephistopheles-like man who demands her soul, “My soul is damaged and must taste extremely bad.”

    “Don’t worry,” he replies, “A well-beaten soul tastes good, just like certain kinds of meat.” With the kind of exquisite humor and earnestness epitomized in this dialogue, the story cultivates new ground for the contemporary novel. Dog-related puns feature throughout. Even the title has a double meaning: “a dog’s body” and “devotion.” (NM)