Come into these arms again, and lay your body down. The rhythm of this trembling heart, is beating like a drum.
Still falls the night. Lust for blood. Killing under a scarlet moon.
For reasons less than honourable, I picked up
太陽のチャンネル or
Channel of the Sun, a new title illustrated by
Shinobu Kuroya and authored by
Yukito Urushibara, yet another scenario writer who's ventured into the world of light novels. I haven't actually read Yukito's best known work
いろとりどりのセカイ, so I'm going into this with just the knowledge that he has a habit of repeating himself and padding out sentences, and dividing whole sentences up into small, individual lines. Arguably the latter – aimed at creating a unique sense of rhythm – is not so much of an issue when presented in a book format, since the entire texts are laid out before the readers unlike visual novels that require mouse clicks and button presses. Though on the other hand some will likely find the broken sentences ineffective, clumsy and a pain to trudge through.
The story follows Hitoshiki Shima, a high school student who leads a double life as the strongest hitman. One night, he receives a bag to deliver for his job but is surprised to discover the
body of a pretty girl inside. He is almost immediately approached by another mysterious girl who tries to take the bag by force after Hitoshiki refuses to hand it over. Quickly realizing that he's no match for the seemingly immortal girl, Hitoshiki takes the bag and retreats through sewer tunnels. He safely arrives at
Kokuma Dormitory – Hitoshiki's home and the destination for his delivery – and shockingly finds the girl in the bag alive as
she rises, bathed in sunlight, and asks to meet Rintarou Shima – the original owner of the dormitory, a demon hunter, the self-proclaimed world's No.1 busybody, Hitoshiki's saviour, and his late foster father.
