Time really flies by in a blink of an eye, and it’s time for this book to be put on the shelves so quickly.
What should I say in my acceptance speech?
The author thought about it a lot, but couldn't think of anything interesting to say.
Let me tell you why the author wrote this novel.
The reason why I wanted to write this novel is very simple - to pay tribute to the masterpiece that happened to be released 60 years ago this year and directly changed my understanding of the visual art of "movie": "Seppuku".
"Seppuku" was released in 1962 and was directed by the great master: Masaki Kobayashi.
Who is Masaki Kobayashi?
Along with Akira Kurosawa, Kon Ichikawa, and Keisuke Kinoshita, he is one of the "Four Horsemen of Japanese Film" and one of the most prestigious directors in Asia.
Borrowing from the Zhihu answer master [disciple]'s article on Zhihu: "Douban 9.2, why is this masterpiece not allowed to be broadcast in Japan?" "The evaluation of Masaki Kobayashi in "Masaki Kobayashi's most distinguished thing is his courage to use national elements and social prophecies to reflectively criticize Japan's imperialism and totalitarian system."
In his lifetime, Masaki Kobayashi has produced a large number of profound and classic works - "Seppuku" is one of them.
Regarding the general plot of this "Seppuku" movie, the author will not go into details here. You have to watch it with your own eyes to feel how shocking this movie is.
If you really don’t want to watch the original film, you can also go to Station B to watch the video analysis of the UP host [Muyu Shuixin], and just search for “Muyu Shuixin hara-kiri” on Station B.
Watching the entire movie, one feels "quiet".
The storyboard is very quiet, with no violent camera shake or high-speed camera switching.
The scene is very quiet, and the setting in the film always gives people a very empty and quiet feeling.
The lines are very quiet. Most of the characters in the film speak in a very calm tone, and there are rarely any loud roars that hurt people's ears.
But it is such a quiet movie that tells a story that makes you feel like thunder is roaring in your ears.
Through exquisite narrative, Kobayashi Masaki deeply criticized and ridiculed how cruel, disgusting and disgusting the so-called Bushido was in this movie, and how cruel and disgusting the so-called noble samurai who always talked about Bushido were. He was so hypocritical that when he asked others to commit seppuku, he spoke plausibly and felt high in his heart. When it was his turn to commit suicide, he was so afraid of death that he hid at home and dared not come out.
The author remembers clearly that the first time he saw this movie was when he was in college.
The author didn't like to watch movies very much until he started writing novels in his sophomore year. He didn't read many movies and only watched a few popcorn blockbusters such as "Transformers" and "Avengers".
Can you imagine how shocked a person who has only watched popcorn blockbusters before saw this movie by chance?
When I finished reading "Seppuku", the author was shocked and speechless.
Can a movie still be shot like this? !
Not to mention the special effects, there are only a few big scenes. The whole movie only switches back and forth between a few scenes.
It's obviously a black and white movie, with no special effects or big scenes, but the picture just feels so good.
The story told is not complex or grand. It neither completes any grand mission nor saves the world.
There is no messy stuff like Big Bear Girl.
It's obviously just a movie that tells such a simple story, but it doesn't feel sluggish or boring at all while watching it. After watching it, you just want to watch the movie a few more times.
The movie "Seppuku" really directly changed the author's understanding of the art of "film".
And this movie also became an opportunity for the author to start getting exposed to a large number of sword and halberd-themed works.
There is another very important reason why "Seppuku" shocked the author so much: the values conveyed in the movie resonated with the author.
The author likes the light and shadow of swords in sword and halberd works.
But I hate the so-called Bushido. I have always thought that the so-called Bushido is a piece of shit.
To be precise, I hate all "cannibalistic" feudal ethics.
I believe that old readers who have followed the previous book "The Swordsman" should be able to understand the author's attitude towards the so-called Bushido - Ogata Yishi killed countless crazy Bushido fanatics. In "The Swordsman", I never hesitated to describe how those samurai who always talked about bushido "eat" and "be eaten".
Out of respect for this great work that directly changed my "view of movies" and aesthetics, as early as last year, the author had already decided to open another sword movie at the beginning of 2022 when "The Sword Hero" is completed. A novel about halberds.
A sword and halberd novel that pays tribute to "Seppuku" and its director Masaki Kobayashi, which coincides with the 60th anniversary of its release in 2022.
Because it is a tribute to "Seppuku" and Kobayashi Masaki's work, the concept of this work will be exactly the same as "Seppuku".
[Criticize and ridicule the hypocritical, cruel, and disgusting Bushido to your heart's content]
Let all book friends take a look at what the so-called Bushido is all about, and how this shit-like thing can destroy people in a way that is both hateful and pathetic.
I wrote about the plot of "Tōjō goes crazy" in Chapter 43 "Bushido is a piece of shit", and in Chapter 58 "The Barbarian Fighting Group (Part 2)" in which Kamino forced his subordinates to commit seppuku on the grounds of promoting the spirit of Bushido, and he had to wait until the subordinates When he finished the plot that was only introduced to him by "Yi Zi Qi", the author felt a sense of relief that he had finally pulled out the shit he had been holding in for an hour.
It’s so cool to mock Bushido!
Those book lovers who want to see a plot like "Aoden leads Japan to prosperity" can leave. There is no such thing in this book.
This is why I set the background of this new sword and sword novel at the end of the Tokugawa period.
Because the Bakumatsu period was a time of chaos when the era of samurai was coming to an end.
In this troubled world where the samurai class is about to collapse, the ugliness of the usually aloof and showy samurai is revealed.
If you want to ridicule bushido as much as you want, it is most appropriate to choose this era when the samurai class is about to be swept into the dustbin of history.
Incidentally, it can also ridicule the Bakumatsu era. The author also has quite a lot of things he wants to criticize about the Bakumatsu era in Japan.
Although the previous "Swordsman" also criticized the so-called Bushido, the amount was not too much. Generally speaking, "Swordsman" is a relatively pure "fantasy adventure story".
As for this "Swordsman", it adopts a completely different concept, so the overall story atmosphere will be very different from "fantasy adventure stories" like "Swordsman".
Is there any way for me to successfully write this "Swordsman", which has a completely different concept from the previous work?
have no idea.
But I am willing to devote everything I have to writing the story of "Nioh" Tachibana Aoden following the success of "Shura" Ogata.
Ah, by the way - since the book was published, there have been a lot of flies in the book review section giving me all kinds of weird hats.
For these people and these comments, I have permanently blocked them all + deleted their posts without exception.
Because these people are so annoying, they didn't even read the content of the novel, so they just gave me these false and big labels.
Anyone who has read the contents of this book so far will know that these big hats are completely naked slanders against me.
There was no reason for me to let these flies, who were just messing around and showing no respect to me without even reading the content of the novel, continue to buzz around.
It is one of my cultural calling cards to criticize and ridicule Japan when I pick up my pen to fight: If people who practice Bushido are rare, then what kind of species are you guys who only know how to fool around?
This acceptance speech seems a bit long, so I’ll stop here. Anyway, there will be more opportunities to write afterward.
I will accompany "Nioh" Tachibana Aoto on his journey.
I hope you, who are reading this text, can accompany me on this long journey of "Nioh".
It will be officially launched at 12:01 noon today.
To be honest, when I decided to write this work, the author was under quite a lot of psychological pressure, because the author expected that after the book was published, there would be many people who would just mess around without even reading the content of the book. There's a lot of barking in the comments section for this book.
Even though I was mentally prepared, I still felt very depressed after seeing the big labels these flies put on me.
For the first order, the author doesn't have too many expectations. I just hope everyone can support me as much as possible.
Those book lovers who have to read pirated copies for various reasons also hope to spend 10 cents to subscribe to the first VIP chapter of this book before leaving.
Your little support can bring great comfort to the author's heart - there are still many friendly people who are willing to support this film, which I wrote under great psychological pressure. The subject matter is extremely niche and is destined not to become a big hit. , and it is very easy to attract unwarranted slander from some flies.
I would like to express my deepest gratitude to all readers who are willing to support me and this book!
…
…
Soo Meng Shi
May 24, 2022
