#Somewhat strange mogeko

[lazyfrogget]

People keep finding my old Mokego drawing, so I decided to just remake it already-

[space-puppeteer]

Mogeko Castle AU where it’s mogeko castle but leans more into horror than comedy

[kandyrezi]

Now I'm curious to see how Froze and Yonaka-tann would meet and fall in love 🤔

I once wrote headcanons for Rawberry x Moge-ko, in which Rawberry accidentally falls into one of the portals in the beginning of the flame world invasion and ends up in mogeko castle, and the two have a weird relationship to one another; bordering between trying to murder, but also hateflirt with eachother.

so that being said, Somewhat Strange Mogeko tells Yonaka to go to the very top of the castle if she wants to return home, but imagine an alternate scenario for in which, instead of the following scene of her waking up on that train, she is teleported straight into the gray world.

Froze has a very no-nonsense presence about her, keeps calm and collected, and so, Yonaka would gravitate towards her the most at a certain point. Froze is not very trusting towards otherworldly characters, so she eyes Yonaka with suspicion and keeps her guard up around her.

imagine someone like Dialo being less wary, only kind of confused ("no horns? no wings? ...at all?"), she is a good judge of character and views her a polite, good-mannered girl. (by extension, Chelan would be kind to her as well.) Dialo's ease around Yonaka makes Froze consider, at least a little bit, being less on edge around her as well. the first, and friendliest conversation Yonaka and Froze would have is when Dialo invites them all to eat apple strudel together, and inquire more about where Yonaka came from, and how to get back home.

Froze is somewhat of an errand girl around the village, so Yonaka, being the polite-mannered girl she is, feels obligated to offer if she can help her out when given assignments to complete. yeah, the angel is fine with her helping out with the more benign tasks. this would be sort of the starting point of them beginning to form a closer relationship, I think.

it's definitely a slowburn for these two; it takes a while for Froze's cold demeanor to melt, and Yonaka is used to keeping others at arms-length, but it's got endless possibilities nonetheless.

and I suspect just because Yonaka keeps her distance (emotionally), doesn't mean she wouldn't develop a crush from afar pretty early on.

[ambrosesystem]

oh right he's still called somewhat strange mogeko. i mean he jerks off is he really THAT strange from the rest

[j0rk]

mogeko march - day 18 - fav human

[sakuramoussy]

[arttu-nh]

[imaginemogeko]

Imagine Mogeko Office.

Somewhat Strange Mogeko was never even hired in the first place. He doesn’t get paid or even have a job to do, but he shows up everyday without fail anyway. He attends all meetings.

[frutavel]

YEEE I DID THE THING!

Only one that's left is Sama (Moge-ko) :3

These guys act just like the characters they play as, so their personalities are very different from their original selves (esp Bai, Zanda, Zabre and Sama).

My favorites are Kauany and Zabre, their outfits are just 👌👌👌

And as for Urhau, I was initially going to just put her in the chicken costume but then I had this idea for a silly poofy dress based off it and I couldn't resist :3

To refresh, Taraya is Somewhat Strange Mogeko, Ravi is the Prosciutto Fairy, Kauany is the Blood Spirit, Manso is Hasu, Isaura is Moffuru, Urhau is Mogecuckoo, Zandazi is Defect Mogeko, Zabre is King Mogeko and Zubaida is Yonaka ;)

Also, you know I had to That to Zanda and Zabre FOR THE MAXIMUM ANGST!

[madamhatter]

am i valid for url meme...

Send Me A URL and I’ll Respond With My Opinions… / accepting 

Roleplaying/Writing

My favorite muse(s) of theirs and why: Bamboo Rice will have a special place in my heart because I love big ol’ dorks whO WILL DO ANYTHING FOR THE PEOPLE/THINGS THEY LOVE. And Bamboo was really the one I got to know and we were able to somewhat extend conversation about him :’D. 

My favorite interaction/thread of theirs: Any time Xander literally opens his mouth and everyone else has to reply like “NO” and he’s like “YES.” I really just love how your general interactions can literally terrorize multiple blogs/fandoms in one successful swoop, no matter which character it is. I only know so few of your characters but I can tell this is something that has happened frequently with the others.My thoughts on their unique characterization/interpretation of their muse(s): what do you mean tsun isn’t Bamboo’s writer? And Boston Lobster’s? And Xander’s?  Why am I being fed these lies? However, there was one thing I noticed that I adored and that was the fact you really brought in actual and plausible headcanons that make sense in relation to the character’s upbringing and what they have and may not have experienced. IE: I remember Bamboo being mentioned (by you) to be illiterate due to their surroundings and being deep in the forest. As strange as it sounds, people really don’t go that far down into detail and I appreciate it. My thoughts on their writing style as a whole: You know that meme where Gordon Ramsey says “finally, some good fucking food”?  That’s literally me when I see any of Tsun’s posts, IC or OOC. I just like reading their stuff and being intimated by the writing in a way that pushes to me to go back to my more serious writing times. Also don’t get me started on their meme ANSWERS, IM HONESTLY RECOVERING FROM SEVERAL ON XANDER’S BLOGS, DON’T @ ME IT READS LIKE POETRY - Situation(s)/Plot(s) I’d love to see their muse(s) in: HMMM… I would like to see Xander in an AU where he properly is a king of a land, even if it is through questionable means (which may be slightly OOC); I do think your Sengoku M. muses will have a god damn fun time in a deity-based AU. Lmao, and if you have doubles, you can always mimick the Evillous Chronicles series with like twins (Daughter of Evil, Servant of Evil, Regret Message, etc.) because those are fun times :3ccccSomeone else I love seeing them interact with: @box-of-characters and @cirocchio ; no questions about that. No matter which character, it IS THE FUNNIEST THING TO ME. Anything else I want to say about their roleplaying: So how the hell does a gem like you stay hidden for so long? What’s your secret? Why keep hidden?? I’m going to have to hold you high in the air for folks to realize the quality that is you as a writer. 

If We Know Eachother

What I Think Are Their Best Qualities: Can deal with my bullshit, has the shitty sense of humor like me, and doesn’t find me annoying. Tsun just really knows how to get the dash working and chat with others, making a whole group experience that doesn’t exclude anyone. Tsun also takes heavy consideration and stuff when writing for characters and trying not to insert his midwestern twang in otherwise very regal mouths. Seriouly, though, I think his best qualities will alwas be the way they’re able to frame their characters’ emotions and always involve movement with them, making a whole scene play out. It isn’t stagnant, it’s always flowing, like a river.What I Think Are Their Strengths: Can laugh and tolerate my horrible fucking puns. It’s just super easy and comfortable to talk to you and get to know you! I say that not only are you an amiable personality, I really do say that at the end of the day, you care for your fellow roleplayers much more than writing partners and more as friends. This is beyond writing that I’ll consistently gush about but, I get that you’re an all around package who brings your A+ game and only deserves the best. A Memorable OOC Interaction Of Ours: How…how do I choose one?? I usually send him very cursed things over Tumblr IMs (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=120HFjKPuJ4) and we’ve explored the realm of what strange things seiyuus sing. Every OOC interaction is memorable! Why Others Should RP With Them: It’s really hard nowadays to find roleplayers that really care for their characters but also know when to mess around and not take them as seriously. With the addition in being dedicated to building their characters and open to new and exciting ways to interact, I don’t why why you aren’t following yet. Also, he helps me cope with the stupid and long novella replies with eveN BETTER ONES SO, YOU GOT THAT BONUS. How Others Should Approach Them: Maybe it’s me and I see that it’s really easy to message people like a moron like “he-hewwo??” But, I always say drop into Tsun’s messages and drop a hello! I always say it’s better to drop in to meet the person first rather than their writing. It helps build bonds! Other Roleplayers I’d Recommend To Them: @vacuitas ; I think both of your multimuse blogs will greatly mesh well together and with Kat’s blog backstory and OCs should really be explored and you got some interesting personalities on both of your blogs that can either get along or hate very much! Anything else I want to say about them: how you haven’t gotten tired of me yet and the weird things I’ve sent you is beyond me– But, Tsun, you’re a real sweetheart and know how to bring a smile to my face without realizing it ;v;

If We Have/Plan To Interact

A plot I’d like to write with them: ANYTHING. ANYTHING. just honestly throw me ideas about AUs and I’m like butter, easy to melt and get into things. *steeples hands* If there’s any way I can make a character suffer at the expense of one of mine getting hurt or being mean, lmk :eyes:. Maybe hm… “Asselin you’re not a demon and those horns are totally fake - what the bloody hell. No I’m not going to stop pulling these horns these are NO way real ” AU. A muse I want to introduce to them: Natsume from Enstars. Just trust me, just trust me you will love that little shit and he’ll fit in with your crowd and he curses people like a fucking moron please I LOVE HIM… Since you like characters in trashbags, but I want you to have a variety, I can also bleed in some of my Mogeko charas like Shirogane (a scaredy cat wolf) and Battler Ushiromiya from Umineko (he’s a man who defies meta to solve the murders of his family that fateful October 4th, 1986). Also Phantom from Maplestory, I …love him to bits, he’s amazing. He’s gorgeous, he’s powerful, tends to not take things seriously is a phantom thief but I …oh god I love him so much : ‘ ) A ship/broship I’d like to propose to them: Xander/Sophie’s dynamic is amazing, I love when the bourgeois and the peasants argue. I’m also glad that their relationship can translate on different levels but there’s always that call-back to bickering yet support. If I can propose another, uhh– I really like Bamboo/Spam as a friendship and Boston/Spam as a mix of plato/romo (not too sure but I really liked their differences, i can see it as a “grey” area).  UHHHH… Asselin/Sophie looks like it could be a god damn trip :tm: bc a servant of satan of a witch sounds all sorts of chaos :3c. A thread with them I’m excited about: CHISANA THREAD, CHISANA THREAD! GIANT ASS DRAGON INDEBT TO WITCH AND HE REGRETS TURNING HUMAN BUT THEN HE REGRETS TURNING BACK AND … YEAH.  Anything else I want to say: God has forsaken you since you’re my friend and I hope you realize the path you’re now down wnjdfksnfdsj/. 

[lazyfrogget]

Somewhat Strange Mogeko

One of my favorites horror games! :3

[uci-fanfic-requests]

may I request a fic in which an escort (preferably Matsumoto hehehe) is trapped in the mogeko's castle? I wanna see what would the moges do to him

Admin Notes: Well, last time I did a MogekoCastle crossover, it was with Hirahara. So… Matsumoto with a bunch of newspecies that come in the plenty for him to… take samples from?! Something tellsme the Moges aren’t going to be the ones doing anything… -Admin Hirahara

Matsumoto fell asleep on the train home. He didn’t plan onit, really, but he totally missed the stop to the manor from Licorice GeneralHospital. In hindsight, he should have taken up the Doctor’s offer on using oneof the patient’s rooms for the night. It wasn’t his fault, entirely, that hewas so tired that day. No one expected Hachi to accidentally flip the diningroom table, and certainly no one expected the slime monster to take the falldamage and splatter all across the wall. And really, who could have possiblyknown that he was so tough to get out of the floor, and that it would havetaken the staff the whole day to wash him out and put him back together? Suiginlooked like she was going to murder the cat, had he not run away and hid behindhis grandmother the whole time.

Having reminded himself on why he was completely lost at thelast station on the train, Matsumoto decided he’d have to find a way to atleast contact the manor and let Rokkaku or Saitou know that he, unfortunately,was completely lost and needed a way back home. Unfortunately, there wasn’teven a telephone booth by the station, and by the looks of it, there wasn’tgoing to be another train any time soon.

“U-uwah…” Matsumoto sighed, realizing that he was utterlystranded. It was worse than being lost in the Living World. Luckily, as hewalked to the end of the train tracks, he could just make out a giant structureof some kind not too far away. Judging by the shape, he concluded that it was avery large house, at least. Maybe even an old castle. “Maybe someone livesthere.”

He walked briskly to the structure, not at all noticing thathe was being watched from the bushes. When he made it to the front doors, hewas rather fascinated by the shape of the strange statues the lined theentrance. When he knocked on the door, it opened. It was empty inside, fromwhat Matsumoto could tell, so he did his best not to move anything out ofplace. Although he wasn’t one to intrude into other people’s homes, he consideredthis an emergency and would explain himself later.

When he finally did find a phone, he was slightlydiscouraged to discover that it wasn’t connected up to anything. With a deepsigh, the only other thing he could think of doing would be to spend the nightat the castle. He was sure there would be a bed, and again, he’d be glad toexplain himself if the owner did find him. However, as soon as he left the roomwhere the phone was, there was the sound of activity from the entrance. “Hm…?”Matsumoto wondered, quietly walking towards the sound.

To his surprise, strange cat looking creatures were all overthe place, having not been there previously. They were all yelling somethingabout eating meat, and from the looks of it, they were currently having a feast.When one of them finally noticed Matsumoto, though, a dead silence fell on theroom.

“Not a girl,” one of them muttered, then the chant spread toall of them. “Not a girl. Too bad. Not a girl.” Any normal person, in thissituation, might become terrified and run away. However, Matsumoto… he couldn’thelp but find these things fascinating. He’d never seen a creature like them inGokuto, and already, he could tell they were going to be a peculiar species tostudy.

“There are a lot of you,” he said out loud, a smile creepingon his face. “W-wow, that means there’s a lot I could study from you.” Thatsilenced the crowd immediately. Mostly, they were confused as to what thisescort was talking about. One of the strange cats decided to make his move first,going to bite Matsumoto’s arm off. Instead, though, he was easily caught by thehead. The feeling… was extremely strange, and the escort ended up just holdingit between two hands, stretching and squishing it.

“Hm… very strange. It doesn’t seem like you have much of anormal bone structure.” He then grabbed the bottom jaw of the cat and openedit’s mouth all the way up. “Yet you have teeth, so your skull must be somewhatin place. Or… maybe your flesh just stretches off the skeletal system?” He keptmumbling to himself, poking and stretching the cat while it struggled toescape. The other cats… didn’t dare move.

“You’ll have to let me take a blood sample,” Matsumotofinally said, revealing a needle from within his cape. “It won’t hurt, I justwant to study the cells and-“ at the sight of the needle, the cat immediatelyjumped out of his grasps. “Hey, came back!” Matsumoto called, but it was nouse. Said cat was long gone. However, he looked back towards the other crowd ofcats and smiled, displaying the needle again. “Would one of you mind letting metake a sample?”

None of the cats were okay with this. Immediately, theyscattered, saying something like ‘scary’ and ‘go away’ as they ran. Matsumotojust shrugged, putting the needle away. “I’m not very athletic, but…” hestarted running after one of them. “I’m not passing up the opportunity forresearch!” With that, the entire castle was thrown into chaos as the escortwent around, attempting experiments on the various cats that roamed the place.

—

“I’m home!” A call came from the hallways as Saitou was justabout to head out looking for said escort. He had gone to the hospital to seeif Suigin was planning on keeping their escort overnight, only to have learnedthat he had headed out some time ago. And having no idea where Matsumoto couldhave possibly gone, Saitou had come home, expecting the escort to show up.However, when the whole night had passed by and not one sign of him was to befound, Satiou was determined to head out and find the missing mint eyed boy.

Luckily, though, Matsumoto was standing in the doorway,covered in what looked like scratches and bruises, as well as dirt and dust.“Matsumoto, what happened to you?” Saitou asked, mildly concerned. Matsumotosmiled, dusting himself off a bit.

“Oh, Saitou, I fell asleep on the train,” he explained. “AndI ended up at this castle, where it was filled with… Oh, yeah.” Matsumotoreached into his cape, displaying a strange red lump in a jar. “I got all sortsof samples from these things that were there. There was a lot of them, so Idon’t think they minded too much missing a couple.” He also had a crown of somesort, skin, wings, and a white fur in a few other jars, as well as bloodsamples. “I’m going to research them up a bit and see if I can use any of it asmedicine.”

“A castle?” Saitou asked, thinking but not exactly surewhere he could have ended up. “How did you get back?”

“A train eventually came,” Matsumoto nodded. “I was going tocall but, the phone was out. And these cat things really put up a fight, butit’s all pretty worth it.” With that, he merrily walked down to his lab, wherehe planned to begin his examination of the various parts and organs he’dcollected, while Saitou frowned, wondering what on earth the escort had done.

[kandyrezi]

Family Time

Fandom: Mogeko Castle

Characters/Pairings: Moge-ko/Yonaka, Mogenko (OC)

Genre: Fluff/Family

Summary: “Moge-ko organizes to spend some quality time together with Yonaka and their son.”

///

On a usual dull evening such as this one - a youngster with blonde hair in red trousers - was waltzing through the halls of the humongous castle he called his home. Occasionally coming across the small creatures called mogekos, who roamed around everywhere in there, though he paid no mind to them, mostly thinking of them simply as pests or playthings than anything.

His stroll of boredom was interrupted when he heard a familiar 'mogegege' echo through the hallway. His primary instinct would've been to ignore it, if it wasn't for a small mogeko appearing in front of him and block his way, in a blink of an eye, looking suspicious as always, even with only one primary expression.

"Moge-ko has requested your presence on the first floor, she asked me to come and tell you," the little guy piped somewhat nervously, as Mogenko simply stared down at him dumbfounded for a few long seconds.

The mogeko was none too pleased at the lack of a response, then started wailing; "So, please, please, please be there! She said she'd kill me if you didn't go!"

Mogenko still chose to remain quiet, only turning away from him and finding his way in the huge castle to downstairs. He was grateful he was only on floor three at the moment, so not much of a long way to go.

Once there and arriving at the kitchen, he pushed open the doors and was greeted by a sight of strange events. His Ma had a pink apron wrapped around her waist and was meddling with something at a counter. She spotted her son almost immediately, and gestured him to sit down across Yonaka, his other Mama.

"There you are, Moge-chan!" the blonde exclaimed, childish excitement present as always, "Come sit, I'm almost done!"

Mogenko went to quickly give his braided mama a hug, who was a little taken by surprise at the gesture, but returned it nonetheless. The small boy then took his seat, curiously looking at whatever his Ma was doing.

"I made us dinner. Hope you're a carnivore!" Moge-ko waltzed towards the table covered in royal purple cloth, on it was placed a tray of loaf meat.

Mogenko stared blankly yet with intriguingly at the plate of the kind of meat. Yonaka however, looked mortified. It was yellow colored, evenly cooked, a curled tail was sticking to the plate in the corner.

"Uhm, Moge-ko... don't tell me that's-"

"It's dinner obviously, dear Yonaka-tan! A very good feast. Dig in!"

Mogenko muttered an "okay" then poked the meat for a few times with his knife and fork, not actually thinking much of it, he took a slice and put it in his mouth.

"How do you like it?"

Yonaka seemed even more horrified, waiting for his answer.

"... It's good, Ma." He replied after a few seconds of being silent. It was how he usually was anyway, thinking things over before saying something, or if he absolutely deemed it necessary.

"Aw, Moge-chan!" Moge-ko cooed at his son, pinching his cheek before turning towards Yonaka expectantly.

"Um, It's alright... I-I'm not hungry, really."

"Wha-?! But Moge-ko really tried to make this family night special!"

"Y-Yes, but I..."

Mogenko stopped to stare at his other mama, titling his head in curiosity – when the latter sighed in defeat.

"Well, I guess just one bite..."

The small boy wanted to inquire why was he asked here. He's never seen his Ma cook. He assumed one of them wanted for all three of them to spend some quality time together. He took a wild guess which one, at that thought.

After the hushed dinner between skeptical and gleeful chatter on Moge-ko's side, she hardly gave them time to finish up (although Yonaka was grateful) before they both were dragged into another room located on the second floor not too far away.

"How about some games?" the ecstatic womanchild suggested. She bent down to pick up some darts from a cardboard box. "Let's do darts!"

The dartboard was located directly across the entrance on the wall – on it was a frightened out-of-his-mind mogeko, who'd been nailed on the board.

"You can go first, Moge-chan!"

Mogenko grabbed two, took his careful time to aim, and with one quick shift move, the flying dart made its way towards the target and hit right into the whimpering mogeko's shoulder. Another dart flied right ahead and aimed at his leg this time. Drops of blood rolled down the board.

On Moge-ko's turn, she aimed right for the center and both of the darts flew right into the yellow cat-creature's stomach. Yonaka sighed at all the ruckus. She had politely refused to play and they moved on to another room, which was where the television was located with various r-18 movies stacked on top of eachother.

Moge-ko had scared off any mogekos in the way (just like the other two rooms before), and set up a horror-themed movie night. Yonaka grabbed some snacks both of the blondes requested and set herself in the middle of a couch, while Moge-ko made herself comfortable to her left, and Mogenko to her right.

As they settled in, a couple minutes passed and Moge-ko seemed to be greatly enjoying it, as she giggled and pointed out her favorite violent, bloody parts. Yonaka looked more than a little disturbed, trying to keep composed through all that, and Mogenko hardly showed reaction, so it was difficult to tell what he was thinking, just letting it pass like a usual thing. Some mogekos had attempted to sneak into the room out of curiosity, but they were either put off by the bloodshed movie, or Moge-ko growling if she spotted them.

Somewhere in the middle of film-watching, Mogenko noticed from the corner of his eye his Ma buried her face into the crook of his other Mama's neck and cuddled up close to one another. Even though it was dark, the light from the TV screen glimmered and her blushing face could be seen. Halfway through the movie, the child felt a wave of tiredness rush over him. Stretching his arms above his head, he curled up in a fetal position against his mama, who put a reluctant arm around him.

Since they'd somehow gotten together - Moge-ko, despite still having violent tendencies, had calmed down on torturing people (not so much on the mogekos - they still pissed her off quite a lot), now that she had her "wife" and son to keep her occupied.

Mogenko couldn't ask for a better, if not a little strange, life to live at the castle.

[sakuramoussy]

Oh I forgot to post this, it took about 3 hours to make haha I couldn't come up with a background though

[arttu-nh]

A little doddle dump

[recentanimenews]

My Week in Manga: January 9-January 15, 2017

My News and Reviews

Last week at Experiments in Manga I posted the Bookshelf Overload for December. It includes a pretty big list of things, in part due to massive holiday sales, so hopefully future months won’t be quite as ridiculous. Another thing that happened last week that was kind of cool was related to a post that I wrote back in 2014. My Spotlight on Masaichi Mukaide is probably one of the most noteworthy things that I’ve ever written and it actually got quite a bit of attention when I posted it. Well, Masaichi Mukaide himself apparently came across it recently and even left a comment.

Probably the biggest manga news from last week was the slew of licenses and other announcements made by Seven Seas. Here’s the list of manga:

Absolute Duo by Takumi Hiiragiboshi and Shinichirou Nariie Alice & Zouroku by Tetsuya Imai Captain Harlock: Dimensional Voyage by Leiji Matsumoto and Kouichi Shimahoshi The Count of Monte Cristo by Moriyama Ena Cutie Honey a Go Go! by Hideaki Anno and Shinpei Itou Devilman G by Go Nagai and Rui Takatou Dragon Half by Ryusuke Mita Hatsune Miku: Bad End Night by Hitoshizuku-P x Yama and Tsubata Nozaki Hatsune Miku Presents: Hachune Miku’s Everyday Vocaloid Paradise by Ontama Magical Girl Special Ops Asuka by Makoto Fukami and Seigo Tokiya Sleeping Beauty by Yumi Unita Spirit Circle by Satoshi Mizukami The Testament of Sister New Devil Storm by Tetsuto Uesu and Fumihiro Kiso Unmagical Girl by Ryuichi Yokoyama and Manmaru Kamitsuki Wadanohara and the Great Blue Sea by Mogeko

Seven Seas is getting back into translating novels and has a deluxe edition of Ryo Mizuno’s Record of the Lodoss War: The Grey Witch with illustrations by illustrations by Yutaka Izubuchi in the works, too. Also announced was a full-color edition of Madeleine Rosca’s Hollow Fields and five more illustrated literary classics. (I found Seven Seas release of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass to be quite enjoyable.)

It’s a pretty interesting group of announcements with a fairly wide range of titles to choose from. There’s even a manga from the late ’80s (Dragon Half), and not many of those are licensed any more. I’m particularly curious about Moriyama Ena’s adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo (the cover art is gorgeous), the josei manga Sleeping Beauty by Yumi Unita (whose Bunny Drop left me with extremely conflicted feelings), as well as the number of titles which are part of classic franchises.

Quick Takes

Devils’ Line, Volumes 1-2 by Ryo Hanada. I actually didn’t realize it at first, but Devils’ Line is the second work by Hanada to be released in English. The first was the doujinshi Good-bye Geist which overall I enjoyed. However, Devils’ Line is Hanada’s first professional series. In general, I’m liking it, too, except that the artwork is terribly inconsistent. At times it’s absolutely spectacular (the cover illustrations are especially great) but within a few panels it may have lost all sense of scale an anatomy. I can’t quite tell if this is mean to be deliberate or not; if so, the execution is unconvincing. The story isn’t as tight as it could be, but it does have a nice blend of genres, including romance, horror, action, crime, and thriller. And, like Good-bye Geist, the series has a marvelously ominous atmosphere. The plot centers around Tsukasa, who unfortunately seems to be a magnet for both vampires (or “devils”) and sexual assault, and Anzai, a half-vampire working for the police in a unit specializing in devil-related incidents. Vampirism in Devils’ Line has an intensely sexual component to it; the eroticism often associated with vampires in other stories is in this case incredibly dark and violent.

The Ghost and the Lady, Volume 2 by Kazuhiro Fujita. Admittedly, The Ghost and the Lady is kind of a strange manga series. In part historical fiction and in part supernatural drama, the manga’s disparate elements don’t always perfectly mesh, but I still enjoyed the series a great deal. In The Ghost and the Lady, Fujita mixes together historical facts and legends, reimagining the life of Florence Nightingale and her accomplishments during the Crimean War with a distinctly supernatural flair. It’s clear that Fujita has done a tremendous amount of research for the series; and as the afterword by the series’ translator Zack Davisson points out, more or less every named character in the manga has a historical counterpart. There’s Nightingale herself as well as the people she knew, Grey is based on a famous ghost of the Drury Lane theater, and even historical figures like the Chevalier d’Éon have prominent roles to play. (Speaking of whom, I really need to find a good biography of d’Éon to read.) Despite the presence of the ghosts, the supernatural aspects of The Ghost and the Lady seem to come and go; I do wish that the eidolons had been utilized a little more in the series’ second half because it’s great when they are.

Holy Corpse Rising, Volume 1 by Hosana Tanaka. As can be safely assumed by provocative cover art, Holy Corpse Rising is a manga series that includes a fair amount of nudity and scantily clad women. However, despite the occasional ridiculousness, the fanservice is largely keeping with the style and tone of the series as a whole, so it doesn’t feel out-of-place; a significant portion of Holy Corpse Rising is intended to be titillating. In general, Tanaka’s artwork is quite attractive, though the women in the series are the most beautiful. They’re also by far the most powerful characters, both in ability and status. The first volume of Holy Corpse Rising serves as an introduction to the war between the Credic Church and the witches. Nikola, a monk who is a specialist in witch lore, is charged with securing the aid of the coven of first witches in the Church’s fight against their descendants. But first Nikola must resurrect them and in the process manages to put himself in some rather compromising situations. So far the first witches each seem to gain their power from a different bodily fluid (tears, blood). And since there are twelve of them, Holy Corpse Rising has the potential to enter some pretty kinky territory.

The One Hundred Nights of Hero by Isabel Greenberg. I don’t recall exactly what it was that brought The One Hundred Nights of Hero to my attention, but I’m so glad that I read it because it is marvelous; I loved the comic. Greenberg takes inspiration from existing stories and even provides retelling of folktales over the course of the graphic novel. The framework is deliberately similar to that of One Thousand and One Nights and there are stories within stories within stories. In fact, The One Hundred Nights of Hero is about the power of stories and storytellers. It’s also about love and “brave women who don’t take shit from anyone.” At the center of the comic is Cherry and her maid Hero, two women who love each other dearly. Night after night, Hero spins tale after tale in an effort to save their lives. The world of The One Hundred Nights of Hero is an incredibly misogynistic one. While different from our own, in some ways it is also tragically reminiscent. The One Hundred Nights of Hero isn’t always particularly subtle and can at times feel somewhat heavy-handed, but it’s a wonderfully powerful and unabashedly feminist work. I definitely plan on seeking out more of Greenberg’s comics.

Moshi Moshi by Banana Yoshimoto. Despite being an extremely prolific author and one of the most well-known Japanese novelists translated in English, I haven’t actually read any of Yoshimoto’s works until now. The story of Moshi Moshi is told from the first-person perspective of Yoshie, a young woman whose father has recently died. A successful musician, the circumstances surrounding his death are somewhat unclear, but it’s believed that he committed double suicide with a woman who neither she or her mother knows. The novel follows Yoshie as she tries to come to terms with the unexpected loss of her father by reinventing her life in the chic neighborhood of Shimokitazawa. Her mother joins her there, feeling that the ghost of her husband is haunting the family home, and Yoshie herself is plagued with recurring dreams in which her father appears, searching for his phone. Though Moshi Moshi does tend to drag a little in places, I really liked how Yoshimoto handles the themes of love, loss, and the inevitability of change in the novel. I suspect that Moshi Moshi likely isn’t the best introduction to Yoshimoto’s work, but for the most part I did appreciate it.

By: Ash Brown