Due to a traumatizing incident in her childhood, Hinako is living a secluded life in a harbour town and often struggles with her will to live. The ocean she sees every day has been both threatening and eerily fascinating for her ever since and from its depths emerges (literally!) the yōkai Shiori who wants to eat her.
Author: 苗川 采（なえかわさい）
Publisher: KADOKAWA
Length: 162 pages
Shiori is mysterious, dangerous and surprisingly straight-forward in telling Hinako she needs to stay alive so that Shiori may one day feed on her. Until then she will fiercely protect her. But Hinako still has her doubts she has much worth living for…
This manga has a captivating imagery and considerably few speech bubbles in the first volumes. This makes it quick to read and easy to understand for N3 level readers, especially since much of the action also takes place in school and mostly explores the girls’ relationship at first.
There will be unknown vocabulary mostly related to yōkai and the supernatural in general which also increases in the later volumes when the story picks up its pace a bit. Being already familiar with some Japanese folklore stories will certainly help understanding references to common tropes and what is said between the lines.
Instead of the common 食べる (=to eat), this manga regularly uses 喰べる（たべる） when referring to yōkai eating human flesh. You may not find this word in your dictionary. It’s derived from 喰う（くう）and implies a more animalistic and greedy kind of “eating”, more along the lines of “feeding on” or “devouring”.
As described above, this manga deals with some heavy topics including depression, suicidal thoughts, survivor’s guilt, violence, blood and of course the topical cannibalism. You can read a 35-pages long exerpt on bookwalker to check if you like the vibe. I personally found the combination of horror and girls love really unique and fascinating.
Currently, there are 7 volumes in this supernatural and angsty girls love series. You can get it for example through Amazon Japan – I’m part of their affiliate program and will receive a small comission if you click on the link and decide to make a purchase.
dokushoclub.com 