Satomi Ran

Satomi Ran (里見 蘭 'さとみ らん') is a light novelist. He lives in Tokyo and was born May 5, 1969. After graduating from Waseda University, he worked in editorial production, was a writer for many films and turned many film scripts into novels. He debuted as a novelist in 2004. In 2008, he won the Japan Fantasy Novel Award for Excellence for his novel "Kanojo no Shiranai Kanojo" (Roughly: The Girl of the Girl who Doesn't Know). He has written 12 original novels, and penned the story for two manga that other artists drew.

The Kotodama Tsukai Series
His debut novel, As Stealthily as a Beast, also happens to be his first collaboration with Takashima. The plot is as follows:"I will protect you. Even if you go against a god.""The task from the 'Tamagami' is to erase Takigawa Sei. However, Takao has put his own past over the boy...... the curtain is raised to a spectacular heroic tale!""After hearing a strange message, Takigawa Sei suddenly has his eye on life! Kiri and Fumiaki, who have been given special powers due to the Tamagami, begin to pursue the power of Sei with the expectation that their organization will be destroyed before long. Accordingly, Takao was the one to give the order to eliminate the boy. Up until now, he has been living with Kiri and company. However...... Takao saw the appearance of himself as Sei in the near future, and swears on his life to protect the boy by risking his life and betraying his friends. Because the two have met by chance."Two more volumes followed, also illustrated by Takashima: As Easy as a Miracle (奇跡のごとくかろやかに 'きせきのごとくかろやかに') and As Loud as a Storm (嵐のごとく高らかに 'あらしのごとくたからかに').

The subtitle of the books (Kotodama Tsukai 言霊使い 'ことだまつかい') refers to Sei's power to use words like magic: Kotodama literally means "the mysterious power of words to alter reality" and Tsukai means "one who bares." So Sei is the "Barer of the Power to use Words to Alter Reality."

Characters

 * Takigawa Sei
 * Takao
 * The Tamagami
 * Kiri
 * Fumaki

Publication History
The first volume was published on November 2004, the second in June of 2005, and the last in August of 2006. The first novel received relatively positive reviews, but the other two were less well received, with the third being all but trashed.

Drama CD
In July of 2007, a Drama CD was made by Anchusa, with Takashima creating all-new art for the cover. The voice cast is as follows:
 * Miyano Mamoru as Takigawa Sei
 * Morikawa Toshiyuki as Takao
 * Koshimizu Ami as Kiri
 * Nazuka Kaori as Nonoka
 * Nakagawa Shingo as Fumiaki
 * Nakamura Yuuichi as Frankenwolf
 * Hayami Shou as Mana Yuduru

Trivia

 * At the time of the Drama CD's recording, Nakagawa and Nakamura (voices for Fumiaki and Frankenwolf) were members of D-BOYS, young, male acting group. They have since aged out.
 * Morikawa, who voices Takao, also voiced Emba in Wild Rock 's Drama CD.