Manga, short thoughts

Nightmares For Sale by Kaoru Ohashi

Oh Shadow, I liked you better when you were Count D and your pawnshop was a pet shop. That being said, you’re still an interesting take on the tempter and make a worthy incarnation of Lucifer. I wouldn’t buy this series based on this first volume, however, it may pick up later. The artwork is clean if nothing particularly special. The concept of the shop that sells desires has been done before, and better, but if you like it when the Devil is in the details, this is probably a series you’d enjoy.

Category Freaks by Sakurako Gokurakuin

Hmmms, I like this one so far. It has a Ghost Hunt/Hellsing vibe to it, though not as good as either of the aforementioned titles. Asagi is interesting, mainly because he smokes and in my shallow, easily influenced world view that makes him sexy. The plot is standard monster hunter/demon slayer fare. It got interesting when the demon eye that chills in Asagi’s abdomen when he fights manifested in the form an attractive, charming bishounen. That being said, the really neat part of the series are the rabbit princesses that eat up all the remnants of the freaks/demons after they’ve been KO’d by their Stand partners. They’re horribly cute and horribly creepy.

X-Kai Volume 2 by Asami Tohjoh

I really, really liked this series. Kaito is a beautiful, tragic creature and I must say I love the flowers as weapons. However, I felt that this series would have been much better had it been a few volumes longer. The story arcs feel rushed and really, really interesting characters that could have been developed in more depth before disappearing aren’t mined to make the story more substantial. The series was beautiful if short and fragmented.