I didn’t expect to like this book as much as I did. The cute cover got my attention, and it was only after I requested it that I realised this would be a “horror” book, and let me just say, if all horror books were like this, I’d be so much more into them!

This Japanese folklore is a mixture of text and comics. I absolutely loved the comics and thought that the text was fairly gripping. Honestly, more books need to be a combination of text and comics. I didn’t realise at first that the comics were related to the rest of the story, but once I did, I went back to read them again and saw it from a different point of view and it all tied it in well together.

Thank you for the free ARC!

✨What is this book about?
For me, this book structure is a mix of novels and comic or graphic novels. The novel part is telling the stories featuring Japanese supernatural creatures, and the comic shows the journey of Julian and Chie (author and illustrator) returning the lost boy Akira to his family in the north of Japan. They need to finish the journey as fast as they can to save Akira’s sister while encountering supernatural creatures in the journey.

✨What is my opinion about the book?
For me, it can be quite a while to get the hang of this book. Actually, the novel part and the comic part are related to each other but they do not seem like that at the earlier part of the book. Actually, characters in those stories and in the journey are related to each other either directly or loosely. So, in a way, each character is important in their own way.

Characters and some events from previous work of the author and the illustrator are also directly referred to and shown in this book. This got me confused for a while but I managed to get the gist of it (I never read the previous work). The quite unique structure of this book can be confusing at some points but, the writing and the illustration save this book. The writing is quite easy for me to understand and I like the comic part.

✨Who are the real main characters in this book?
For me, the author and the illustrator! All characters are related to them and they managed to see some of their creations in their journey. For the journey, of course it is Akira. Actually, his case is indirectly referenced in the novel part but it is quite late in my opinion.

✨Last thought?
The way of how these stories are structured reminded me of one of my ARCs a few years back. That’s why I think the real main characters are the author and the illustrator. Plus, I like the stories because they are not too creepy for this lady’s not really brave soul. Maybe my thinking is not too accurate, I see the novel part as the main quest and the stories are the side quest. But, they are related to each other. So, it may be quite complex for some people. However, I still want to recommend this book for anyone that wants to read stories featuring Japanese supernatural creatures, but do not want to read truly scary stories. Lastly, the stories are not equal to 100.

Rating: 3.75 ⭐

Thank you to Guppy Books and NetGalley for this ARC! This review was voluntarily written by me.

An absolute treat to read, I was so pleasantly surprised as this is not the kind of book I would usually choose and I would have missed out massively! Julian Sedgwick has given us nothing short of an epic and the knowledge, love and devotion he's put into this books seeps through the pages and are completely infectious. For anyone who is (and rightfully so) fascinated by the japanese culture in general and their famous folklore ghost stories in particular, this is a fantastic read. The illustrations at the end of each chapter, brought to us by the extremely talented Chie Kutsuwada tie with the story so beautifully in the end, an amazing combination of graphic novel and prose. An extremely immersive reading experience, I felt like I was standing right there, next to the characters and I could picture all the small and big details as they unfolded, several times with my hairs standing on end. Japan is truly an otherworldly place and this brilliant book delivers a rare reading experience, can't recommend it highly enough.

thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my review copy, all opinions are my own.

This was a tad odd combination of a comic and Japanese ghost and other stories in written form, which I’m not sure if they were unique or a collection of folklore. The latter were a bit too long and not all that interesting, even though I’ve read similar stories before; the reason I requested this. The manga was about three persons journey through Japan with supernatural creatures and occurences that didn’t have anything to do with the written stories as such. It was a bit difficult to get a hang of, but fine. The whole left me a bit indifferent though.

I liked the graphic novel segments dispersed between the story stories that created a thread throughout. It was interesting reading horror stories routed in Japan and Japanese mythology.

Cute! A fun introduction to Japanese folklore with alternating enjoyable illustrations and prose. It had more prose than I would've liked, but it was a good mix.

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the authors for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review!

DNF @ 20%

I was excited for this book as the topic of ghost stories related to Japan makes me curious. Sadly, I could not get into it: I expected more of the graphic novel parts and less of the heavy-text ones. Despite that, the style was not the key issue, as I actually enjoyed the idea of them alternating, but the stories did not click with me so I could not get hooked.

The graphics were nice though, and the main plot and its presentation were rather interesting. The idea had potential, but the execution was not my kind of thing. I felt that by alternating through the two different styles, the graphic novel got confusing and cut into parts. It was not clear to me how the everything intertwined in terms of characters and storyline.

Oddly enough some fine authors have really failed to please me once they've got the bug of Japan – being hung-up about the place so much they seriously change their output and end up turning me off. Peter Carey, David Peace – and now Julian Sedgwick – hardly have much else in common, of course. This, the second collab between Sedgwick and the same manga artist, is clearly part of that indulgent love letter category of writing, and as such will struggle. Here Sedgwick, and the artist (who draws himself as a waist-height rabbit, of course) are travelling the country in search of ghost stories – and toting a homeless spectre of a kid along with them. There is a ghost cat seeing them straight, a look at a phantom skateboarder, and no end of other pieces, in these potentially linked short stories, bookended by manga pages.

The main issue is the stories fail to spook – yes, wailing cats might be expressively awful, and so on, but these stories don't chill anyone, they just are. The third story, of a student taking a haunted flat because it was as a result a lot cheaper, does have some frisson, but gets too cosy and domestic once past that. And they don't really shrug off any sense of cultural appropriation – the fourth tale, where someone is harangued into having a greater respect for the spirit worlds, and about how Japan is getting too developed, isn't bad, but would surely make more sense coming from someone who had been born Japanese.

And when, closing on the midpoint, this turned into sequels of Tsunami Girl – this partnership's first output (which I was due to review for netgalley until Guppy brought forward the archive date with neither reason nor warning, meaning it became inaccessible), I found even less point in continuing. Nor, on this unfortunate evidence, any reason to keep my library copy of Tsunami Girl on the to-read pile. Japan strikes again.

Delightfully spooky and cozy, this book is a mix of manga and perfectly well spaced ghost tales - a concept which particularly caught my interest, and enhanced the reading experience in my opinion. The characters are so endearing they get the readers to root for them, and to wish they could protect them.
As for the graphics I loved them, especially the ones of the yokai during the parade scene - which was simply grandiose!
The little touches of humour here and there were touching, and made me smile.

A beautiful dive into Japanese folklore! The mix of prose and illustration is brilliant, making this a unique, haunting, especially immersive read. I especially loved the eerie atmosphere throughout the linked stories, and the gripping, voicey characters quickly and sharply etched in both words and art. An absolute must-read for manga enthusiasts, or those interested in Japanese lore or fantastic stories in general!

Is “cozy spooky” a genre already? Because that is exactly what this book was for me. A warm, fuzzy, gloomy blanket that spirited away the cold and rainy autumn nights.

In the story (a mix between manga style segments and prose) we follow the adventures of an assorted party of characters, some human, some not so much.
In their path from Tokyo to Osorezan we get to know a bunch of local Yokai, explore local legends and get to feel that the veil between this and the other world is sometimes not as thick as we like to believe.

Most stories left me with that bittersweet feeling I normally expect (and crave) from Japanese novels. The representation of Japanese folklore was much more deep and well researched than what I initially expected and the little pearls of Japanese language disseminated in the book not only helped create very vivid images in my mind, but also taught me a thing or two.

As far as the audience goes, I am going to greenlight this book for all ages: While adults will inevitably read more into it than younger readers, the spookiness and gloominess is light enough to be suitable for everyone .

I was lucky enough to receive an ARC, but I am about to purchase a hardcopy as soon as it becomes available as I want this physically on my shelf.
My only regret? Not having this book in my hands in time for Obon.

This is another immersive spectacle from Julian and Chie. The mix of manga and story is wonderful and I was so captivated from start to finish!

I love this even more than Tsunami Girl. It is rich in Japanese folklores which I absolutely love. The alternating graphic novel and prose work very well as a format for retelling of folklores.

This is a must-read. I will definitely use this in my course one day.

This was so fun and enticing, I loved the mixture of graphic novel comic book type pages, but also the novel aspect - it was so much fun and I couldn't put it down!