Manga Review: In/Spectre, Volume 5, by Kyo Shirodaira and Chashiba Katase

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5

Publisher: Kodansha Comics

Release Date: July 2017

Volumes: 9+

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 4. 6.

Goodreads Synopsis:

The new mystery thriller with a romantic edge from the creator of Blast of Tempest, and The Record of a Fallen Vampire!
Both touched by spirits called yokai, Kotoko and Kuro have gained unique superhuman powers. But to gain her powers Kotoko has given up an eye and a leg, and Kuro's personal life is in shambles. So when Kotoko suggests they team up to deal with renegades from the spirit world, Kuro doesn't have many other choices, but Kotoko might just have a few ulterior motives...

Review:

Kotoko has come up with four possible theories, and she's going to throw all of them to the online forum. She's decided to flesh each one out, and see what happens, one at a time. The first one is a frame job, which might make sense to some people. And then she decides to agree that she is a ghost, and flesh out that idea. They're all a bit far-fetched, and she knows that a lot of people will counter her ideas and she's ready for that. She's giving a history lesson, throwing out possibilities for why Karin might be vengeful or why someone might want to kill the detective. She's thought out all of these possibilities thoroughly.

Her main opponent is Rikka, who is killing herself just like Kuro and grabbing strings to get to the conclusion she wants. It's a hard foe to fight.

This series is really thought- and text- and idea-heavy. There isn't a whole lot of action, and I admit I'm kind of waiting for more of that. But I do like the way it's been adapted, as I imagine the novels were even more so. The images and way the online forum is visually portrayed is well done, and the artwork is so pretty.