Born into a family of exorcists, young Kyouichi Sukami angers a local god at a haunted shrine and is spirited away, only to be rescued by his older sister Hanaichi. The entity returns, however, and the brave Hanaichi decides that the only way to protect her brother is to allow the malevolent spirit to take her in his stead.

Six years later and Kyouichi is still searching for his missing big sis, helped by friends from his school’s occult club – a group consisting of a great detective’s grandson, a gangster’s kid, a toy maker’s daughter and a make-up heiress. Kyouichi also has Hanaichi’s ‘Ghost Diary’ to guide him, a book that sets out how to deal with various supernatural beasties.

In addition, Kyouichi encounters Chloe Kowloon, a ‘reaper’ (shinigami) who claims to know Hanaichi. Kowloon tells our hero that if they can complete the Ghost Diary, she will get her memories back. Kyouichi agrees to help and Chloe signs on as the family housekeeper – but her quest to recover her memory soon puts the lives of Kyouichi and his friends at risk.

Ghost Diary’s strongest suit is undoubtedly its artwork. The character designs all stand out, especially Chloe with her lanky frame, gothic clothing and sheep horns (less appealing is her habit of constantly referring to herself and others as ‘moi’ and ‘toi’, which gets tired quickly). Be warned, though; for a manga with a 13+ rating, Ghost Diary’s plots are dark, even for a supernatural series. Overall, this new release is pretty interesting, slightly twisted and quite the looker. Reviewed by Ian Wolf

INFO
Credits: Seiju Natsumegu
Publisher: Seven Seas
Release Date: Out Now
Price: £8.99
Rating: 13+

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