I read a lot of manga that I began building my own collection beginning with some of the CLAMP series and an ongoing series called Yona of the Dawn. I started thinking about all the time I spent reading all kinds of manga that I may as well start talking about some of them that I read each month. I do read more than one series in-between, so I will choose to talk about some of the series that I recommend and these are ones that I finished reading or I am caught up with in a series. Now here is my monthly wrap up of manga I read in February.
1.The Demon Prince of Momochi House by Aya Shouoto
A completed series about Himari Momochi who inherits a mysterious house in the mountains on her sixteenth birthday. An orphan, she has never seen this house before but to her surprise she finds three handsome squatters already living in the house and have taken over her role! And she learns that the house exists as a barrier between the human and spiritual realms.
This manga is more shojo than all the other shojo series I have read. It focuses on the romance and the growing relationship between Himari and Aoi, who is one of the squatters living in Momochi house, and he is a ayakashi. Thanks to Aoi, Himari learns more about the estate and his role as the guardian of the house. This series took me awhile to get into. I thought volume one was repetitive because each time Aoi tells Himari not to look at him before he transforms into his ayakashi form, she does anyways. I was pretty tired when this showed up consistently in the chapters but after volume one, the series does get better.
I love reading how the relationship between Himari and Aoi as they develop their feelings for each other. It was very heartwarming watching them spend time together until the last two volumes when Himari had to find a way to live on her own. I was heartbroken to find out what Aoi did to let everyone go but then the series ended in a very sweet way and I was happy again! This is beautiful story about romance between a human and a ayakashi and I am so glad to have read it. People who read this series also said it is similar to Kamisama Kiss which is what I am currently reading right now.
2. Kakuriyo: Bed and Breakfast for Spirits, art by Waco Ioka, original story by Midori Yuma
Based on the light novels, the story is about Aoi Tsubaki with the ability to see spirits, something that she and her grandfather had in common until he passed away. After her grandfather’s passing, Aoi learns that he owed a great debt – to the manager of Tenjin-ya, an inn in Kakuriyo. After her kidnapping to the spirit world, Aoi’s options are: marrying the head of the inn that her grandfather trashed, or get eaten by demons. But Aoi finds another way to settle her grandfather’s debt, by opening up her own restaurant!
I read five volumes so far and I am having so much fun reading this series! I love reading Aoi’s journey as she strives to open her own restaurant in the spirit world with the help of a kind fox spirit name Ginji, and her before nemesis, Oryo. During her stay in kakuriyo, Aoi begins to make new friendships with all sorts of spirits from different walks of life, even her relationship with the ogre demon whom she is betrothed begins to soften. I also love reading about Aoi’s cooking and how she prepares every dish for the spirits. My only complaint is that volume 4 and 5 are too short and there aren’t enough food descriptions because I love reading about food!
Part of Aoi’s past is shrouded in mystery as there are flashbacks of a masked ayakashi feeding her food when she collapses from hunger after her mother abandons her. We still don’t know who this ayakashi is, although I finished watching the anime so I already know who it is! I still want to continue reading the manga because I want to see how the relationship between Aoi and the ogre demon turns out, hopefully it’s different than the anime. And I also love reading about food!
3. Oshinbo by Tetsu Kariya
I would describe this as manga for foodies. There are six volumes and each one is based on a specific type of Japanese cuisine. I have only read four volumes: izakaya, rice, fish and sashimi, and Japanese cuisine; I read these volumes in no particular order. I heard people writing on Goodreads how this is on the top list of the most recommended manga to read, and that over 1 million copies were sold. Also the manga talks about Japanese food and cuisine which immediately caught my attention because I love eating Japanese food! I mean who doesn’t?
As I read through the volumes I noticed something: it was like reading a very informative essay about Japanese food, cuisine, and etiquette in manga form. There was so much detail and facts about the world of Japanese cuisine that this was more educational than a casual read. There was some light comedy relief provided by one of the characters, Yamaoka who is a lazy and clueless employee at a newspaper company in charge of the ultimate menu project. As he and his colleague tour around Japan meeting chefs and people, they learn where the ingredients came from, their journey to the kitchen, and how the chefs prepare them. As I said before, this is a manga for foodies because many of the characters are also foodies and therefore come off as pretentious and obnoxious because they claim to know all about good food. There is one particular character, Kaibara, Yamaoka’s father whom he cut ties with because his father loves food more than people, including his own family. This guy is one of the most pretentious characters in the manga and I hate his personality but boy, when he said he loves food, he really loves food. His knowledge of Japanese cuisine is incredible but so is his stubbornness. His son, Yamaoka, also has an encyclopedic knowledge of food too but isn’t as stubborn as his father, just lazy and clueless although he also has his best intentions at heart.
As much as I love reading about food and drooling over the food descriptions on each page, I still had a hard time reading because I didn’t like any of the characters, particularly Yamaoka who is so lazy at his job that I wonder why he even works for a newspaper. He is also pretty rude and stuck up in social situations too which I found annoying. This was definitely a different kind of manga that I am not used to reading that there were times when my mind wandered off. Other then that, if you are looking for an informative manga with a wealth of information and food descriptions about Japanese cuisine, then I recommend this.
Hoot Reads Books 