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Thursday, March 14, 2019

Short Manga Reviews: Kakuriyo, Vols. 1 and 2


Kakuriyo: Bed and Breakfast for Spirits, Vol. 1
(Kakuriyo #1)
Midori Yuma and Wako Ioka
Release: January 1, 2019
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Faced with the choice of being married to a strange spirit or being made into dinner, Aoi decides to create a third option for herself!

Aoi Tsubaki inherited her grandfather’s ability to see spirits—and his massive debt to them! Now she’s been kidnapped and taken to Kakuriyo, the spirit world, to make good on his bill. Her options: marry the head of the inn her grandfather trashed, or get eaten by ayakashi. But Aoi isn’t the type to let spirits push her around, and she’s determined to redeem her grandfather’s IOU on her own terms!

Aoi wants to work off her debt to the Tenjin-ya inn, but she only has one day to find a position and none of the managers are willing to hire a human! If she can just get someone to see past her family background, Aoi is certain she can prove her worth!

Review:
My main reason for picking this manga up is solely because I adored the anime adaptation that was made. I'm happy to say that I loved the artwork! The anime did an excellent job of staying true to the manga character designs. I love the story premise of this series and the story is just wonderful!
 
This first volume sets the scene for the rest of the series where the main character, Aoi Tsubaki, is mourning the death of her grandfather. Aoi isn't a normal human. She inherited her grandfather's ability to see spirits and he has prepared her to deal with them so she doesn't get eaten. Little does she know that her grandfather promised her to the ogre, Ōdanna, in marriage to cancel out a massive debt he had.

I love Aoi so much and her determination to work off her grandfather's debt instead of marrying the ogre. I also loved the variety of characters we've been introduced to so far. I'm intrigued by Ōdanna and I hope we'll get more information about him in the manga. I also love Ginji so much! 


So far the anime followed the manga pretty faithfully so there wasn't anything new that I didn't already know. But I loved it so much despite knowing what would happen. I can tell already that I'm going to love this series a ton. It gives me a ton of Kamisama Kiss vibes and I'm all for that. I look forward to reading more volumes in this series.

    
  5 / 5 Stars



Kakuriyo: Bed and Breakfast for Spirits, Vol. 2
(Kakuriyo #2)
Midori Yuma and Wako Ioka
Release: March 5, 2019
Faced with the choice of being married to a strange spirit or being made into dinner, Aoi decides to create a third option for herself!

Aoi Tsubaki inherited her grandfather’s ability to see spirits—and his massive debt to them! Now she’s been kidnapped and taken to Kakuriyo, the spirit world, to make good on his bill. Her options: marry the head of the inn her grandfather trashed, or get eaten by ayakashi. But Aoi isn’t the type to let spirits push her around, and she’s determined to redeem her grandfather’s IOU on her own terms!

Aoi’s having no luck finding a job at the Tejin-ya inn, but a chance encounter with the tengu Matsuba might give her another option! Her home cooking and kind manner impress the crow demon, and when he finds out why she’s in Kakuriyo, he offers to welcome her into his family as a daughter-in-law to pay off her debt! Can the still unemployed Aoi afford to turn down such a generous offer?

Review:
I was hoping that the second volume of this manga series would keep the momentum going and I can say that it does! This series is just so charming!

We're deep into Aoi's job hunt and she's getting a bit discouraged. I loved the fact that cooking is her stress relief. But what I loved the most about this book is the aftermath of the drunken tengu shenanigans of Lord Matsuba. He is such a lush but I loved him.

I loved that we got to see the world of Kakuriyo outside of the inn and see more of the city. It's a dangerous place for a human and we can see that through the art. Volume one is the set up book that introduces us to the world and sets up the premise for the whole series. Whereas this volume, we start to get into the meat of the story and the plotting is tighter. It made for an entrancing reading experience. I sat down and read this in one sitting and I was so entranced that it was over before I knew it. I can't give a bigger compliment to a manga than that.

We're starting to learn more about the characters as well as being introduced to new ones. What I loved is that we're starting to see that the ayakashi that Ōdanna surrounds himself with that have greater connections to him other than the boss-employee relationship. We're starting to see that there's more to Ōdanna than what we were originally led to believe. And I'm here for it!

I will say that reading this manga makes me so hungry and I want all the Japanese food. Why don't I live in an area with a good Japanese restaurant?

Even though I knew what was going to happen thanks to the anime, knowing hasn’t taken away from my enjoyment of the manga. I really loved it and I can safely say that I'm in for as long as this manga runs. I need more Aoi, Ōdanna, and Ginji in my life. 

P.S. I don't usually comment on them but the extra mini story in this volume was so freaking adorable!

ARC provided by the publisher via Edelweiss.

    
  5 / 5 Stars


Recommended for fans of: Kamisama Kiss

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