Halloween Manga Showcase, Part 2

 

The days have slipped away and Halloween is upon us, which means it’s time for another selection of manga titles I’ve translated which suit the spooky season. So without further ado: horror manga.

Disclaimer: The books featured in this post are rated 18+ or M (Mature). Proceed at your own risk.

 

The Demon Consort: “I Love You” Are Frightening Words by Risako Natade and Toshiko Machida

After posting about a local demon legend online, university student Ako finds herself being blamed for the bizarre death of her childhood friend. As more and more people around her fall victim to the ‘curse’, Ako begins to feel like she’s trapped in a nightmare.

This is a three-volume series that’s currently coming out in English. At the time of writing, only Volume 1 has been released.

I found this series quite unsettling (tone indicator: complimentary). I liked the supernatural element, which is very much in the vein of classic Japanese horror, and the gradual revelation of what the people of Kibigawa village are capable of – and capable of justifying to themselves – was very compelling. I was incredibly stressed for Ako throughout the entire process, though.

 

Hinatsugimura by Aki Shimizu

High up on Mount Hinatsugi, there is a hidden village seemingly stuck in a bygone age. The lady of the manor seems welcoming enough and she’s eager to take in lost or injured hikers, but something feels off. The fact is, once you enter that village, you can never leave. You can either become one of the villagers or become part of the villagers.

This is a standalone volume and the first horror manga I ever translated. It’s very atmospheric and features some pretty visceral body horror. One interesting aspect I remember from translating this book is how I tried to maintain the contrast between the modern speech of the various hikers who find their way into the village and the more formal, almost archaic speech of Touko and her daughter. Their ties to their past are a significant part of the story, so it was important for their village to feel like it exists in a bubble of its own.

 

That’s it for my spooky manga showcase for this year. If you’re celebrating Halloween, have fun and stay safe out there. And if you’re not celebrating, I hope you have a fun and safe weekend too!

Halloween Manga Showcase, Part 1

 

As we march on through October and draw closer to Halloween, I thought I’d put together a little list of manga series I’ve translated that feel appropriate for the spooky season.

Starting today with part one: non-horror titles with a dark or witchy aesthetic.

 

The Splendid Work of a Monster Maid by Yugata Tanabe

A black cat called Sumire wakes up to find that she’s become a human (sort of). Wandering the Demon Realm in search of a place to belong, she encounters Rose and Ivy – an undead woman and an android girl – and decides to join these monster maids in their splendid work recovering their master’s magic.

This series has gorgeous art with a lot of Victorian gothic influence in the character designs, particularly the maids. The characters are for the most part based on monsters and creatures from folklore and mythology, e.g. demons, nekomata, mermaids, and various forms of the undead, to name but a few. It’s like it was engineered in a lab to perfectly match my interests! I remember having a lot of fun working on this series and getting thoroughly invested in the story.

 

A Witch’s Love at the End of the World by Kujira

Long ago, witches were driven into hiding by witch hunts. After centuries of amassing power in the shadows, the teachers at the Hexenschule think transfer student Mari could be the key to finally getting revenge on the humans. Just one problem: she’s hopeless at magic. So the school star, Alice, is assigned to be her personal tutor.

Alice and Mari’s blossoming relationship is sweet, and I liked seeing how Alice gradually opens up and Mari gains confidence over the course of the story. Fun(?) fact: during my research while translating this series, I discovered that the founder of Mari and Alice’s school, Alice Kyteler, is named after a real woman who was condemned for witchcraft in Ireland in the fourteenth century. She escaped before she was sentenced and there are apparently no records of her life or her whereabouts after that point.

 

The Witches’ Marriage by studio HEADLINE

A witch’s power is built by forging bonds of love with another witch. Melissa has paired up with a string of naïve witches in the past, discarding each one once she got what she needed, but she may have finally met her match in her latest partner, Tanya, and her irresistibly pure, innocent cuteness.

Basically a GL romcom with magic. Melissa and Tanya’s interactions are fun and sometimes pretty cute. Plus, any time Melissa is forced to put aside her pride and admit to her true feelings is a good time. The character designs are what stick out the most in my memory. The costume designer must have had a lot of fun coming up with so many different outfits for the witches.

 

That brings us to the end of this instalment of my Halloween Manga Showcase. Keep an eye out for part two, which should be ready sometime in the next week (just in time for Halloween)!

Romance Manga Update

 

A 10-volume yuri romance series that I have been translating since 2022 is coming to an end. The final volume of Assorted Entanglements by Mikanuji is being released in September.

Link to the series page on Yen Press’s site

 

Our various mismatched couples are growing, changing and entering new life stages. Where will they end up? What will happen in the end with Minami and Iori, especially now that Shizuku and Saori are moving in with them? How will they adapt to their new life together? Find out next month in Volume 10!