A plot with so

many quick twists,
it would make a good soup.

This book had jumped into the Manga box of 2013/14! :)

I wish it much luck in finding new readers! :D

I might be keeping this one.

Read last night.

Plot description from Amazon.com:
When high school student Souji Kushiki, an academic achiever and talented athlete from a well-to-do family, returns home from summer vacation, he finds that his sisters Harumi, Youko and Saki have changed. Their strangely clingy behavior borders on the inappropriate and bizarre, yet Souji just brushes off their mysterious conduct at first.

However, when Souji arrives at school the next day, he learns that, during the summer, three students were murdered by an unknown culprit. Are the victims linked, and could Souji’s sisters have anything to do with the murders?

With the help of his cheery and spunky new girlfriend Yukako Sasai, straight-laced Souji is about to venture into a mysterious world that might just be the death of him.


It's irritating that the main character (Souji) is such a non-actor in his story. What I mean by this is that after a while, you notice that all the female characters do all the talking. They pour out exposition in massive word vomits while Souji stares blankly at them. He has no personality at all!

Relationships are disturbing. Souji has an incestuous sexual relationship with his half-sister and his full-blood sister seems desperate to make a similar relationship into reality. Eeew.

The mysterious death of these three students is theoretically being pursued by one of Souji's classmates, but she doesn't seem to be very good at it. But then, the author writes in some notes at the back of the book that the story is “based on a story that, while it didn’t have enough to become a full-fledged novel, had been kicking around in my head for years”. No wonder this doesn't feel finished - it isn't!

The art is decent and the author does a good job of cultivating a creepy atmosphere, but the manga crumples under any scrutiny.

I ended up putting this one back in the Manga Bookbox!

I ended up putting this one back in the Manga Bookbox!

Picked this one up because it's by the author of Haruhi Suzumiya.
Curious that K00kabura says that the male character doesn't have much personality. I remember the males in Haruhi are pretty boring too and the females are the exciting ones.

I find this book rather boring, plot-wise, and rather disturbing, in other ways.

The premise that three top students of the school were murdered during the summer sounds promising, but it totally takes a back seat in the story. What we get is 80% about the dysfunctional family with Souji's three sisters, and 15% nonstop chatter of a female classmate. None of the girls are appealing, and even less so Souji with a zombie personality.

Hmmm how come there is no Mature warning on the cover? I'm not prudish but this book is pushing the limit - in one scene Souji's real sister loosens his tie and puts her hand into his shirt, in another Souji and his half sister slept naked in the same bed/futon. The narration says that the girl is an illegitimate daughter of his father, she works as a maid in the house and apparently got f**ked like one too. As for the youngest sister - several pics of her sucking *innocently* on an ice pop, in case readers can't get the hint...

I found Haruhi Suzumiya quite funny and entertaining but this one is a disappointment. The disturbing relationships aside, even halfway through the book I found myself losing interest, and that rarely happens in a manga for me.

To be put into the manga box when it arrives.

Putting into manga box.

took from manga book box

i agree that this was bizarre, and not necessarily in a good way. the setup is intentionally creepy, and there's some hints in this volume that things aren't quite what they seem (is it all a dream? an alternate reality? is everyone dead?), but it looks like the second and final doesn't actually resolve anything. will prob. wild release it since it looks like no one really enjoyed it.

I'm claiming this from spacedog's Manga/Graphic Novel bookbox; it sounds... intriguing!

Later: OK... I can see why this one's so very frustrating. The disturbing family dynamic, Souji's near-catatonic demeanor, loads of hints but nothing approaching an answer... and, I gather, only one more volume, which I admit I'm curious about even if it doesn't tie up any loose threads.

I did like the artwork, and the many passive-creepy panels of characters just standing there (with or without smirk), and the hints of some kind of possession/doppleganger setup - "are you the real one" and "now I know why the cats were watching us". I even enjoyed some of the dynamic between Souji and the keet-like Yukako. But without more of a story it just wanders away.

I may add a reader-advisory sticker to this one before releasing it, since its cover makes it look like a typical shoujo romantic comedy, and... it isn't {wry grin}. But I'm glad to have seen it.

I plan to leave this book on the book-swap shelf in the Tyngsboro post office lobby at around 2:30; hope the finder enjoys it!

[See other recent releases in Massachusetts here.]

*** Released as part of the 2017 Keep Them Moving release challenge. ***