The Infinite Palace by Shintaro Kago

Translation: Rodrigo Diaz

Year of publication: 2021

The exquisite Spanish edition of The infinite palaceby the unrepeatable Shintaro Kago, we owe it to Moztros. It includes, in a single volume in paperback format with a soft cover with a dust jacket, two self-contained stories, although closely related to the basic concept: “The Princess of the Never Ending Castle” and “The Twelve Sisters of the Never Ending Castle.” By the way, the fact that the reading meaning of this manga is Western is due to the fact that it was originally published in Italy by the publisher Hollow Press.

The infinite palace It is a real gem. One that, as is usual in Kago’s works, makes the most of (and even twists it as needed from time to time) the graphic and narrative language of the comic, mixing a multitude of genres (uchronia, ero-guro, humor… .) and has a plot and drawing that are surprising for their quality, freshness and eccentricity.

In “The Princess of the Never Ending Castle” (196 pages), Oda Nobunaga dominates the world and establishes himself in an immense vertical palace. His vassal Akechi Mitsuhide challenges him to a duel for control of the planet. In one reality, Nobunaga wins; in the other, he loses. Consequently, the palace is divided into two towers, which represent the resulting timelines, and both possibilities coexist as neighbors. As events unfold, the towers will branch and branch to infinity.

Thus, “The Princess of the Never Ending Castle” is an ambitious story with an original premise and brilliant execution. Particularly surprising is the clarity with which, at a graphic and structural level, it captures something as complex as different universes that develop in parallel and even coexist; To do this, Kago uses several resources, among which I would highlight simultaneous vignettes and the repetition of images or texts (sometimes with small variations, other times literally).

In “The Twelve Sisters of the Never Ending Castle” (92 pages), Ukita Hideie, faint-hearted lord of the Okayama palace, gives his beautiful daughters to the fetishistic lords of neighboring palaces in exchange for them stopping their attacks. One of the young women, the brave Nadeshiko, decides to stand up to both her father and the invaders.

“The Twelve Sisters of the Never Ending Castle” is a very worthy spin off, which in no way feels creatively lazy or redundant. Plot-wise it is even crazier and more hooligan than its predecessor, and contains deliciously perverse and grotesque ideas that will delight ero-guro lovers; Furthermore, it has a protagonist with a lot of personality.

Summing up: The infinite palace It’s a genius on par with Kago’s best work. In it you will find a fresh approach to the idea, so in vogue thanks to the popularity of the superhero genre, of multiverses; games with the language of comics (which, although they do not reach the level of, for example, Fraction o Reproduction by mitosis and other storiesare still extremely fascinating); and, of course, chaos, violence, physical deformations, depraved sex, scatology and absurd humor.

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And here’s an interview with Shintaro Kago, people: