Monthly Mongoose Manga: October 2018

Spooktober won’t be getting in the way of my fluff! Then again though, the first two manga I read this month involve murder and/or ghosts, so I’d say I’m still in the spirit of the season!

Tasogare Otome x Amnesia

Seikyou Private Academy, built on the intrigue of traditional occult myths, bears a dark past—for 60 years, it has been haunted by a ghost known as Yuuko, a young woman who mysteriously died in the basement of the old school building. With no memory of her life or death, Yuuko discreetly founds and heads the Paranormal Investigations Club in search of answers.

After a chance meeting leads Yuuko to cling to diligent freshman Teiichi Niiya, who can see the quirky ghost, they quickly grow close, and he decides to help her. Along with Kirie Kanoe, Yuuko’s relative, and the oblivious second year Momoe Okonogi, they delve deep into the infamous Seven Mysteries of the storied school.

Tasogare Otome has a very interesting concept that spans many genres, ticking my boxes for a good horror, mystery,drama, and romance manga. Our main heroine, Yuuko, is a very mischievous but ultimately friendly ghost, who seems to have lost her memory. Our MC, Teiichi, is a pretty standard romcom MC, being average and shy but getting a spine when the situation calls for it, whose only unique feature is his ability to see Yuuko.

The formula for the first half of the manga actually follows a “villain of the week” type of deal. Each of the seven mysteries, or at least some other new mystery they get informed about, are investigated throughout the story and these chapters tend to be my favorite. The people involved in these mysteries are usually very lonely or troubled, and I enjoy watching our MC and Yuuko have to deal with the reveal of each mystery, wether they be supernatural or mundane,as each usually opens up even more questions about Yuuko herself.

The second half start to focus purely on Yuuko’s mysterious past and death, and it is the exact opposite of a good time (and I mean that in a good way). The story is incredibly miserable, and actually reminds me a lot of Noragami’s way of handling the backstories of angry spirits. You will hate a lot of people while reading it, and Yuuko’s untimely death will be one that sticks with you for a while.

I highly recommend reading the manga as well as watching the anime. Both offer a lot to the table in terms of story and art, and it’s good way to get into the spooky Halloween season.

DINER

Anybody want some E D G E?

Diner is a new manga that I very hyped about.

A woman is kidnapped to be used as fodder for a human trafficking racket by the Yakuza and is about to be killed due to nobody buying her, she screams that she can be of use to them through her cooking skills. Before the killing blow is struck, a mysterious man buys her and knocks her out. When she comes to, she awakes in a maid outfit and is told by the mysterious man that she is now a waitress in a diner for killers.

The chapters so far have been very entertaining and the concept itself is wickedly fun. The world in this manga reminds me a lot of movies such as John Wick, where the mundane is made dangerous by the criminal underbelly. A neutral diner with rules specifically for assassins sounds exactly something that would be in John Wick. I also love the style of the world as well as the hypercompetent former assassin turned diner manager as a foil to our very scared and confused protagonist.

I am very excited to see more from this manga

Seven Deadly Sins

It’s pretty rare for me to like almost every character in the main party but Seven Deadly Sins pulls it off! While I have my problems with King’s whiney tendencies and Melodias solving every problem, Ban is such a strong character and his interesting backstory and mission makes up for both. I’m only 150 chapters in and while the story is standard shounen fare, the character interactions really make this a manga that stands above the usual. I’ll be talking about it more in-depth once I’m all caught up.

Sono Bisque Doll

Wakana Gojou is a 15-year-old high school boy who was socially traumatized in the past due to his passions. That incident left a mark on him that made him into a social recluse. Until one day he had an encounter with Kitagawa who is a sociable gal, who is the complete opposite of him. They soon share their passions with one another which leads to their odd relationship.

I’ve always loved manga about passion, and Sono Bisque Doll shows us two people with different hobbies and the surprising middle they find in their respective artistic pursuits. Kitagawa, a gal, is a huge otaku and wants to try her hand at cosplaying seriously. Gojou’s hobby, which he is much more shy about, is his Hina doll-making. When Kitagawa finds out, she asks him to try and make her a costume of one of her favorite characters from an eroge, and their relationship blossoms from there.

It’s a new manga, and despite the fanservice, the chapters showing the different facets of cosplay, such as how expensive it can be, and how much time and skill is required to make a source-accurate costume, as well as the stress that can be coupled with having deadlines, is shown here in wonderful detail. The characters are also very strong here, with the both the gal and the guy being very honest with each other, as much as teenagers can be anyway. It feels like a friendship of mutual benefit, and the attraction doesn’t feel forced at all. I highly recommend giving this manga a follow!

Love so Life

Japan continues their valiant efforts to make their youth want some kids. Love so Life is a classic shoujo, with all the dokis you can ask for. I am a huge fan of age gap romance, because it’s always interesting to see characters struggle with themselves about what society thinks of them vs. the feelings they have for each other.

Throughout the manga, there is a huge emphasis on the importance of family, but also a nice message about dealing with loss. Almost every main character in this manga has lost family in some way, and I think it’s handled brilliantly. There’s no needless melodrama, because all the conflicts feels realistic and are caused by characters’ wants and needs conflicting with one another, not because of malice. If you’re in the mood for a nice little heartwarmer, this is the manga for you!

That’s all for today, folks.

-TLM