Shibuya Nemesis

Alex Lund, Shibuya Nemesis, 2019 Click on back cover to enlarge Yosha Bunko scans

Alex Lund
Edited by Gabriella West
Cover design by Damonza.com
Shibuya Nemesis
A journey towards the top of Tokyo
USA: Alex Lund, 2019-11-11
229 pages, paper cover, POD

This story would qualify as an inspirational coming-of-age story for teen readers -- it's that easy to read and guaranteed not to trigger any emotional trauma.

Josh, fresh-out-of-high-school in Vancouver, comes to Japan, his mother's homeland. He brings only his guitar and song writing skills, and dreams of overcoming his stage fright and shyness. By the end of the story he has quietly fallen in love with Miki, who becomes the lead singer with a newly formed band that featured Josh with Tony, the second guitarist, Shota, a bassist, and Tami, a drummer.

The strong-willed Tami, who likes to be the center of attention, has a penchant for bossing Shota. Miki, who believes band chemistry is everything, tells Josh and Scurvy, the band's manager, that she will leave the band if Tami doesn't back off. Scurvy talks to Tami, who gets the message, and Miki stays with the band.

The band needs a name, and Josh -- its principle song writer and lead guitarist -- though Tony thinks he is better-- comes up with "Shibuya Nemesis" -- which catches on as the band -- and songs Josh has written for Miki and she has polished -- will acclaim at Tokyo's biggest stage in Shibuya.

The rivalry between Tami and Miki continues, and at one show -- when Miki steps off the stage for a moment between songs -- Tami talks to the audience from her mike, which is Miki's job. After the show, Miki tells Tami "Never do that again!"

Miki eventually leaves the band for reasons I won't reveal here. Nor will I spoil the ending, having already spoiled parts of the middle.

Lund himself spoils the beginning -- by revealing too much in advance of the start of the story. Josh tells the story in his own voice, and he prefers to explain things that would have been more interesting if dramatized.

Alas, we are reading Alex Lund (www.alex-lund.com) -- "a Tokyo resident since childhood" who bills himself as an "urban explorer" -- through Gabriella West, a California writer raised in Ireland, who appears to a novelist, proofreader, and editor based in San Francisco.

The "since childhood" spiel on his novels is caste somewhat differently on the "About" page of his website (viewed 6 August 2024).

Alex Lund arrived in Japan from his native Scandinavia in his early teens, and has been based in Tokyo for around 30 years.

Running his own consulting business for many years in the retail and fashion industry, Alex spends most of his time pacing up and down the streets of Tokyo in a constant pursuit of exploring every corner of the urban jungle of shopping and entertainment districts in the world’s largest metropolis.

As an eager first-hand observer of how Tokyo continuously evolves as a reflection of the fast-paced changes in trends and sub-cultures, Alex uses his experience as a canvas and source of inspiration for his writing, trying to offer his readers insight into the fascinating city of modern Tokyo.

Shibuya Nemesis (2019-11-11) is the first of three novels Lund has published as of this review. See my reviews of his other novels at When the Fireworks End (2020-05-09) and Loose Ends in Yokohama (2020-10-31).