Recently, the Chinese Simplified edition of "Voice of Sin" has finally landed on the Chinese book market! With the help of this work, japanese writer Shiota Samurai conveys to readers that the social responsibility of journalists is not only to dig out the truth, but more importantly, to combine the present and the future. This has profound educational significance for all text creators in the era of self-media.
【Japan】Shiota Samurai by "Voice of Sin"
"The Sound of Sin" is a mystery novel written by Samurai Shiota, and not only has the novel itself won many awards, but the Japanese film of the same name based on it has also won numerous awards. After watching the movie, looking back at the original work, I feel that the most exciting part is the protagonist reporter Akuzu Hideshi interviewing the planner of the unsolved case more than thirty years ago. Perhaps because of the limitation of the length of the film, the film only shows some of Akuzu's actions, demeanor, etc., while in the novel, on these basis, through Akuzu's interview skills and language, he guides a suspect in the largest unsolved case in Showa history to tell the truth behind the case little by little. Contact with a suspect in an unsolved case is quite a test for journalists. If it weren't for the fact that Shiota Samurai had been a journalist, it would have been difficult to write such a wonderful interview.
It is understood that the earlier traditional version of Taiwan's "Voice of Sin" followed the cover design of the Japanese version of one large and one small skeleton humanoid, leaving a somewhat terrifying impression. The cover of this simplified version uses the pattern of the tape, which more simply and accurately expresses the key to the story. In fact, the story of "The Voice of Sin" was inspired by the "Gligo Morrinaga Incident" in Japan in 1984, when the suspects recorded a tape of ransom using the voices of three children. Because the youngest of them was about the same age as the Shiota samurai and also lived in the Kansai region, he was inspired to describe the lives of the children involved in the case, which led to the creation of "Voice of Sin". More importantly, this story is an investigation of the relevant events from the perspective of two main characters with different identities and positions, while paying attention to the truth behind the case, it also pays special attention to the families of the criminal suspects who are innocently implicated, especially the later life experiences of the children in the recording.
Chinese Simplified back cover and cover of the Voice of Sin
The film version of "The Voice of Sin" was released in Japan at the end of October 2020, and due to the attractive storyline of the original novel and the strong cast selected for the film version, the film was also well received after its release. However, in my opinion, although including Akuzu played by Oguri Shun and One of the three children who were recorded by Hoshino Gen, are also included, the acting skills of all the actors are online, but due to the length of the film, it is difficult to fully reproduce all the wonderful details described in the novel in the film, especially the lack of Akuzu's language and communication skills when interviewing different people.
Perhaps because the story of social speculative fiction novels such as "The Voice of Sin" has always been more focused on the excavation of human nature, more social influence, and easier to resonate with readers than the Bengue school that only pays attention to the mystery of the puzzle and the suspense school that only pays attention to the atmosphere; perhaps because I originally paid attention to the novel "The Voice of Sin", but also because the film of the same name started shooting, and there was my favorite Japanese actor Oguri Shun to participate; in short, after watching the movie, I looked back at the original book of "The Voice of Sin". Most of my focus has been on Akuzu, and I haven't dwelled too much on the impact of the cases mentioned in this story on Japanese law and society.
However, it should not be overlooked that the original story of "The Voice of Sin" is actually unfolded in a two-line form. One line is featuring Toshi Tsange, a master tailor who inherited his father's business and the owner of "Sone Suit Customization"; the other line is featuring Hideshi Akuzu, a reporter from the Cultural Department of the Daiichi Shimbun. However, it is worth noting that when the film of the same name participated in the awards, Hoshino Yuan, who played Toshiya, participated in the award competition as a supporting actor. However, the first person to appear in the opening chapter of the original book is Shunya. He helped his mother, who was in need of hospitalization, find a cassette tape and a black leather notebook in the place where his mother said. The notebook is full of English, with only the words "Galaxy" and "Mando" in Japanese, while the tape contains songs he sang from his own childhood and two unknown words indicating the place and location. It was Toshiya's seemingly fortuitous discovery that triggered his subsequent investigation into the case that had been pending more than thirty years ago.
Stills from the movie "The Voice of Sin" Akuzu and Shunya
Although both are investigating the "Silver Man Incident", Toshiya and Akuzu's mental journey is completely different. Toshiya initially wanted to find out the truth because he suspected that his deceased father had been involved in the case. When he found some clues, he began to panic, if it was really his relatives involved in the "Silver Wan Incident", he was afraid that it would affect the future of his family, especially to break the child's peaceful life. Therefore, Midway Jun also gave up on continuing to investigate. Akuzu, on the other hand, was forced to participate in the investigation, a journalist who usually interviews celebrities and was temporarily seconded to the Ministry of Social Affairs by the director of the case reporting team of the Ministry of Social Affairs. The reason for choosing him was also simple, that is, because he had a foundation in English, he was sent to London to investigate according to the clues of a marginal nature that he had. In the process of continuous in-depth investigation, Akuzu gradually gained a sense of accomplishment and recognized his social responsibility as a journalist, which also made him more and more motivated.
Of all the interviews that have been conducted into the "Silver Man Incident," I think the most exciting part is Akutsu's interview with Toshiya's uncle, Tatsuo Tsone, the planner of the case. It is a passage that best highlights the characteristics of Shiota Samurai's past profession, and other writers may find it difficult to describe so accurately the difference in the mentality of reporters when interviewing different types of characters, and when they give a reply to the interviewee, but they do not match or deviate from the direction of their expectations, they are eager to interrupt the other party to correct the direction of the topic, and they are afraid of causing the other party to terminate the interview in advance.
Stills from the movie "The Voice of Sin" Akuzu interviews Tatsu
Although the statute of limitations for the prosecution of the "Silver Ten Thousand Incident" in law has passed, Tatsu, as the mastermind of that series of cases, will always be the object of Akuzu's most wanted interview, but Tatsu can refuse to accept the interview. Akuzu is also aware of this. What's more, he had already missed an opportunity to get close to the truth because he regarded the Japanese in the eyes of Europeans as Chinese, so he cherished the opportunity to regain the interview. After seeing Daxiong, Akuzu took the lead in telling the situation of the "Silver Man Incident" that he had already mastered, hoping that he could shake him with some truths that Tatsuo did not know, so as to induce him to open his mouth. In the end, Tatsuo did not disappoint Akuzu. It was only in the process of Tatsuo's confession, probably because of years of thinking and finally having an object to talk to, he said a lot in one breath, and even made Akuzu suspect that he had deviated from the direction of the topic.
Although Akuzu's mood seemed to be getting more and more agitated towards the end of the interview, the interview with Tatsu was generally successful. The only regret is that I didn't know from Tatsuo who it was and how to record Shunya's voice. And this regret can be remedied by Shunya, but Shunya has already rejected Akuzu's interview before. Later, Akuzu visits Shunya again with interviews with Tatsuo and a black tea gift. On the one hand, Toshiya wants to find out what happened to the recording that year, and on the other hand, he also wants to know what happened to the other boy in the recording, so he no longer rejects exchanging investigation results with Akuzu. It can be said that Akuzu's enthusiasm for investigating the "Silver Man Incident" touched Shunya, especially Akuzu's sentence "Unveiling the mystery of this unsolved case may not be the most important, the most important thing should be how to connect this unsolved case with the present and the future." It awakens Toshiya's determination to try to escape, but he wants to make a decision for his children and those past events. Under the joint investigation of the two of them, the whole truth of the "Silver Wan Incident" was finally revealed, and it also helped another boy in the recording to find his mother who had been missing for many years.
In short, I like the story of "The Voice of Sin", if I ask the reason, perhaps there is the blessing effect of Oguri Shun playing the role of Akuzu in the movie; perhaps I was attracted by the vivid description of the interview by Shiota Samurai; and maybe even the sense of identification with the "social responsibility as a journalist" conveyed through this story. In my opinion, "The Voice of Sin" is a work worth reading and savoring repeatedly, and it is worthy of the awards it has won. No wonder Oguri said, "After reading The Voice of Sin, I felt excited and uneasy, like opening a door that was forbidden to open. No matter how times change, there are always small but real voices that we cannot forget. "And I am also very grateful to the film based on this work, which helped Oguri win the first film best actor award, after all, the original story is very complex and wonderful, the character characteristics are also very distinct, providing a lot of room for the film adaptation and the actors' performances." (Author: Li Shuyuan)