Eines Abends im Februar 1967 besteigt ein junger Mann eine Fähre, die ihn zurück auf seine Heimatinsel Kyushu bringen soll. An Bord kommt er mit einem Hippie-Mädchen ins Gespräch, das eine seltsame Faszination auf ihn ausübt. Auf die Frage nach ihrem Namen gibt sie ihm nur scherzhaft „Emanon“ zur Antwort, „no name, aber rückwärts“. Je länger ihre Gespräche andauern, desto klarer wird, dass Emanons Erinnerungen viel weiter zurückreichen, als er je für möglich gehalten hätte …
Emanon is strange even for an immortal—a person with a mind over three billion years old, her consciousness endlessly migrating from new body to new body over the entire history of life’s evolution on Earth. Emanon Volume 4 tells the story of her existence in that odd decade called the 1980s, as Emanon’s latest incarnation grows from a grade schooler who seeks to conceal her intelligence, to a teen trying to avoid a relationship with the superhuman classmate pursuing her, to a young adult facing the death from old age of her best friend Hikari—a mortal time-jumper whose own life has crossed that of Emanon many times in the past, and will do so again many times in the future…but who dies at last in the here and now.
Exploring diverse settings from the Japanese countryside to the icy plains of Pluto, this installment of the Speculative Japan series showcases both emerging talents and established authors. Readers will encounter a rich array of stories that traverse various landscapes, including warm islands and Martian terrains, as well as delve into intricate psychological realms. This collection offers a unique glimpse into the imaginative breadth of Japanese speculative fiction, now accessible to English-speaking audiences for the first time.