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Nura
Rise of the Yokai Clan Vol II
Hiroshi Shiibashi

Viz Media (Distributed in the UK by Simon and Schuster)
April 2011/ ISBN 142153892X
Teen / Fantasy / Manga
Amazon US || UK

Reviewed by Rachel A Hyde


Rikuo Nura looks like a normal teenage boy, but he has a strange secret. He is actually one quarter yokai, those supernatural creatures that feed on human fear. He lives in a house with the rest of the Nura clan including their leader Nurarihyon – Rikuo’s grandfather. He has made the lad his heir, but some of the other yokai have a hard time accepting this three-quarters human boy being in charge. Some of his classmates are members of the “Kiyojuji Paranormal Patrol” which was formed by Kiyotsugu, after he was unknowingly saved some time ago by Rikuo in his yokai form. Now the team’s fearless leader wants to take the patrol on vacation to his family’s mountain retreat. The main reason is to hunt for yokai, but are the yokai hunting them?

I really think that this manga is one of my current favorites. There is so much to like about it: the yokai themselves who are so varied, the hilarious misunderstandings of the “patrol” on their mountain adventure and, perhaps most of all, the glorious graphics. There are some beautifully rendered fight scenes in this one, including some illustrations that would not look out of place painted onto a scroll and hanging on the wall. Anybody who doubts that a graphic novel is the equal of one consisting of just the written word would do well to read this. One to savor.

Reviewer's Note: Nura: Vol I
Reviewed 2011
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