Fantasy novels center on empire that deals with breakout of mysterious illness

The Twitter account for the Kadokawa Bunko novel imprint revealed on Wednesday that Nahoko Uehashi's (Moribito, The Beast Player Erin) Shika no Ō (The Deer King) fantasy novel series has an anime project in the works.

Kadokawa originally published the novels in two volumes simultaneously in September 2014, and then rereleased the series in four volumes in June and July 2017. The novels have more than 1.5 million copies in print.

The novels center on Van, the head of a group of soldiers who expected to die fighting for their lands against a large empire looking to incorporate their home into its kingdom. Instead of dying, however, Van is taken as a slave and thrown into a salt mine. One night, a pack of strange dogs attacks the salt mine, and a mysterious illness breaks out. During the attack, Van takes the opportunity to escape, and he meets a young girl. Elsewhere, rumor is spreading that only immigrants are coming down with this mysterious illness. The medical scientist Hossal risks his life to search for a cure. Doctors also study a father and child who seem to have survived the illness. The novels tell the interconnecting stories and bonds of those who fight against a cruel fate.

The novels won the Japan Booksellers' Award and won the fourth "Japan Medical Novel Award" in 2015.

Kadokawa streamed a promotional video for the novels in 2015 to commemorate the win.

Uehashi's Moribito and The Beast Player Erin novel series both received television anime adaptations. Moribito also inspired a live-action television series adaptation. The North American publisher Scholastic published the first two volumes of Moribito in English. Uehashi won the Hans Christian Andersen Author Award in 2014.

Source: Kadokawa Bunko Twitter account via Otakomu