The World of Hideyuki Kikuchi, Part 1: A Wind Named Amnesia

Written in 1983 and later adapted into a film in 1990 of the same name, A Wind Named Amnesia was one of Kikuchi's many lesser known works (when compared to the more widely known Vampire Hunter D, Demon City Shinjuku and Wicked City).

A classic science fiction story from the old school era of Japanese animation and the dawn of cyberpunk in literature and cinema.

For the first time I encountered AWNA in 1993 when I was only seven years old. My parents had just bought me a Sharp VHS player and thought that every animation movie was intended for children. Almost 30 years later I also managed to buy Kikuchi's book with tha same name. What happened? I was fascinated. Although I was already familiar with his work, AWNA book (1983) revealed many new aspects of Kikuchi's creativity. In many ways the book is different from Kazuo Yamazaki's film (1990).

If the guardian robot is the main antagonist in the movie, then in the book its role is completely episodic. The story surrounding it ends off within the first 70 pages, whereafter the real action unfolds. Particularly interesting are the dialogues between the two main characters - Wataru and Sophia. These dialogues explain the fate of the world, give a holistic view of reality. Through their role as observers they manage to look at the world from above and, at the same time, to penetrate into its essence through contacts with people they meet on their way.

Several experiences in the Wild West of the Future manage to present to the reader a vivid picture filled with separate stories with parable elements, some of which can also be seen in the movie.

Personally, I caught a several elements from The Day the Earth Stood Still, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and Mad Max first two movies.
Because I read the book after the movie, I couldn't get rid of the images that were embedded in the Yamazaki's production.
Nevertheless, the specific Kikuchi's style I am accustomed to in his books, at one point it managed to prescind me from the anime.

There is one significant feature in the book that is not so evident in the film. The feeling that the reader travels with the main characters along the coastless western plains of America.
I can still remember the annotation: When young man named Wataru journeys across America in search of answers, he finds a wolrd lost without the most basic knowledge. Can humanity rebuild from the aftermath?..

Over the years, Kikuchi has become one of my favorite writers. And The Wind Named Amnesia is definitely one of the jewels in his literary crown.

Of course, I will not fail to mention that here, as in other Kikuchi's books, the great Yoshitaka Amano, a person who needs no introduction, is invited to be an illustrator.
If I have to rank Kikuchi's top five books, this one definitely finds a place in the rankings.