As discussed in last month's issue of BANDWIDTH, Takahashi's sequential stories have made her the most translated mangaka in the world. With hits like Urusei Yatsura, Maison Ikkoku, Ranma ½, and Inu Yasha, Takahashi has proven that she is truly worth the title Princess of Manga.
This month BANDWIDTH is focusing on the short stories or minor works written and drawn by Takahashi. Though entitled minor, many of the stories hardly rate second labeled such because of their length and duration in publication. It can be said that many of the short stories like The Tragedy of P (Rumic World V. 1) and the mini-series The Mermaid Saga, rival the quality of some of Takahashi's major works.
Takahashi's short stories are broken into two major categories, The Rumic World and Mini-Series. Takahashi's short stories were compiled into the Rumic series, which was broken into The Rumic World Trilogy and Rumic Theater tankoubons. While the mini-series, the Mermaid Saga and One Pound Gospel are three tankoubons respectively. Each story is a testament to the diversity and creativity Takahashi posses not only as an artist but also as a storyteller. These comics also show Takahashi's ability to shift her writing and art style for a mature audience, and prove that Takahashi is definitely one of the best contemporary storytellers.
Takahashi's career began when she won Shogakukan's Best New Comic Artist Award in 1978 for the short story Those Selfish Aliens (Kattena Yatsura), not to be confused with Takahashi's famed series Urusei Yatsura (Those Obnoxious Aliens), which also began in 1978.
Those Selfish Aliens is a 32-page short story that first appeared in Shonen Sunday number 29. It is an utterly ridiculous sci-fi comedy, about a newspaper boy named Kei who is kidnapped by aliens, fishmen, and the Japanese Government to be used as a weapon of war. In the midst of being kidnapping Kei meets a lovely young woman named Akane who was kidnapped by the fishmen as well. Together they try to save Kei from the battling factions, all who want Kei dead.
Time Warp Trouble was the second story Takahashi had published, it appeared in Big Goro in 1978. Time Warp shows how Takahashi can take a very typical story and make it profound. Time Warp Trouble opens up on Saturday at Bellyful High School during the Chemistry Club. Minoru is very concerned because scientists have predicted unless Japan changes the way it produces its food, in fifty years there will be a devastating famine. So while conducting and experiment and trying to eat lunch at the same time he drops food into the experiment causing a rip in the space time continuum and hungry raiders, who appear to be from the Tenmei Era, which began in 1783 when Mt. Asuma erupted killing 920,000 Japanese people.
After a struggle for their food, the students agree to help the hungry marauders by giving them food to take to back to their village, plus the principal said he would disband the Chemistry Club and send the hungry group to jail, if the group of marauders did not return to the hole from whence they came. Minoru is proud to help these people, especially their leader who is a more handsome version of himself, and whom Minoru believes to be a distant relative. And so as the hungry marauders leave they promise to return for more food, as well as, message of hope and promises of retribution.
Shukumaru and Suzu are in a terrible fire in Medieval Japan, but when Suzu wakes up she is in the future, in a field near a construction plant. Now a high school student named Suzuko, she is quite happy and content. On her way home from school she picks up her neighbors young son Shuhei, and as they walk past a gas powered power plant it explodes, thrusting Suzuko back into medieval Japan amongst a field of dead soldiers.
She begins to search for Shuhei when she finds his clothes amongst a pile of old clothes from dead people. She believes despite this omen that he is still alive and forces Shukumaru to take her back to the field until Shuhei is found. One day she is forced to forgo her daily search,because of a pending attack from a warring group. When the group attacks a fire is started in the village trapping Shukumaru. Suzuko runs into save him and as the fire consumes the two and they are transported forward to the present day, to face the ultimate decision of whether to return in the present or return to the past.
This strange story published first in 1983 in Shonen Sunday Extra, uses the classic Takahashi sci-fi love angle to bring two teenagers, despite time and age together.
Maris the Super girl (Chojo) is from planet Thanatos and is an officer with the Space Patrol's Special Police. People from Thanatos are extremely strong; in fact they are so strong they must wear special strength restraints to keep them from destroying everything around them. Unfortunately these suits can only go so far, and in Maris' case they do very little at all. The story opens with Maris on vacation working off the damages she inflicted upon a Space Patrol ship. But this vacation will not be enough to pay off all of debt Maris incurred, apparently Maris has destroyed quite a few space ships and civilian property, and needs some cash fast otherwise she will be working without a paycheck for a very long time. Lucky for Maris that a young alien prince is kidnapped and Maris hopes that when she saves him he will fall madly in love with her and pay off all her debts.
When Maris finally infiltrates the ship she finds more than her so-called Prince, as she has to duel for her and partners life against the rouge kidnappers who are money hungry than Maris. This story is probably one of Takahashi's most famous short stories. The story ran in Shonen Sunday Extra in 1980 and was adapted into a very successful OAV.
Warau Hyouteki or The Laughing Target appeared in Shonen Sunday Extra in 1983. It is the story Azusa and Yuzuru, cousins who were engaged at six years old, by Azusa's very controlling mother who was the head of their family. Soon after the arrangement Yuzuru moved away, and nothing more was said of the engagement until nearly a decade later when Azusa's mother mysteriously dies and Azusa decides to go and live Yuzuru until their marriage. One problem Yuzuru has moved on and has a girlfriend and has no intentions of marrying Azusa.
Azusa of course is not very happy with this situation and neither is his girlfriend who has fallen victim to all sorts of supernatural attacks that began when Azusa arrived. Afraid and frightened she not only breaks up with Yuzuru she also quits school. Creating a deep rift between Azusa and Yuzuru which may result in one of them being killed.
The Golden Gods of Poverty first in 1978 in Shonen Sunday Extra and is a cute story featuring Takahashi's favorite Japanese gods Benten (Benzai-ten), whose name will appear again in the Urusei Yatsura series.
This supernatural tale is about a very dysfunctional family, Sake's parents who are scientist use him to perform scientific experiments in attempt to create gold but instead they invoke the Seven Lucky Gods: Jurojin, Ebisu, Daikoku, Fukurokujin, Benzai-ten, Hotei and Bishamon, and hope that they will reward them by giving them gold so that they will never have to work again.
Only one problem the gods themselves are broke and very hungry and are planning to eat Sake's parents out of house and home. So Sake's parents have a plan, they want Sake to give into Benten's advances so that she will give them money. But Sake thinks Benten is too old and is reluctant, but because he wants his parents approval he decides to take the gods on all out law-breaking excursion.
Tamuro Gomi and Yura Enjoji are the stars of this whacked out spy dramedy. Tamuro and Yura are agents for the HCIA or Japanese CIA (JCIA). They are special agents who work under the Psionic Division. Psionics are people with super human powers, Tamuro can teleport or trashport (he can only teleport from piles of garbage to other piles of garbage-giving him the nick name roach boy) and Yura posses superhuman strength and hates it when people call her gorilla girl.
Their JCIA liaison is Special Agent Sekoi a serious yet bumbling man who is responsible for informing Yura and Tamuro of the Pig Syndicates plots against Japan. The three meet at the JCIA secret meeting place and number one source of income, a Japanese Style House of Pancakes (One of Takahashi's favorite meals which also be a running plot line in Ranma 1/2).
Wasted Minds is a five-part of mini-series, which appeared in Shonen Sunday Extra in 1979. All five of the stories: Mr. Pig, The Pig is Dead. Long Live the Roach!, Water Whirled, The Forest of No Return, and A Total Waste are featured in Rumic World Part 2.
The 35-Gram Club is a high school medium club, that took its name from the belief that when the soul leaves the mortal plane it weighs only 35 grams or less than 1 pound or approximately .008 pounds. The story opens with Mayumi a forlorn high school student who wants to contact her boyfriend, Yoshio, who recently killed himself. So she goes to sign up for the 35 Gram Club's fundraiser, which for a reasonable fee will invoke the spirit of the deceased. Ryoko is the medium and Toyama is her partner, these two are the coordinators and only members of this club, and for the following prices they are willing to make contact with the dead and for a mere 1000 Yen even channel a spirit.
Unfortunately Ryoko's ability to contact the dead is stronger than she realizes as every forlorn spirit of their high school whose friend, enemy, or lover who sat in on the séance comes through, with the exception of Yoshio. And a debacle of all sorts arise as chintzy friends and spirits collide over why no one tried to contact them and how cheap so and so was for not committing to a séance.
When My Eyes Got Wings is an interesting sci-fi spiritual story about a little boy named Hitomi who is in the hospital indefinitely. One day Hitomi drops a ball out of his window and a high school girl named Ikumi picks it up and ends up becoming Hitomi's friend and visiting him everyday, much to the chagrin of her boyfriend Daiisuke, who has been experiencing weird phenomena since Ikumi began to visit Hitomi. And when Daiisuke asks Ikumi to stop visiting Hitomi he becomes the victim to Hitomi's bird whom seems to be stalking Daiisuke for blood.
Sleep and Forget is a murder sci-fi mystery about a boy name Ryohei who loves dogs to the point where he trusts them more than people. He lives in the mountains with his dogs, so when one of his classmates, Haruka, comes upon him in the mountains one day while chasing her dog, he is not too pleased. Ryohei tells her not to come back to the area because if she happens down one of the uninhabited roads in the area her dog might meet an unfortunate demise.
Of course she does not listen, and in fact is intrigued by the mystery of the mountain returns and ends up in another time and world, where she feels she is possessed and her dog dies giving birth to a demon dog that wants both Ryohei and Haruka dead.
Soshiro is the head of The Face Pack, a group of students who are masters of disguise. They believe that their ability to change faces is not only a great extra-curricular activity, Shoshiro and his cronies have found that their skill is a great way to get out of trouble and make a profit. But the principal disagrees with this blatant abuse of The Face Pack's technique and promises to band the group if they do not stop using their techniques to trick people and make money.
But someone else is doing their best to disband The Face Pack, the group's legendary founder. Whose face changing abilities were so great that no one ever discovered his identity, he has returned because he is disturbed by their immature and illegal behavior and seeks to teach them a lesson by turning the member's own tactics on themselves.
The six stories compiled in Rumic Theater were originally published in adult manga anthologies. Each story revolves around a wife and her family in some strange but inspiring situations that will leave you thinking more about life's lessons once you complete each.
The Tragedy of P is the story of a woman, a penguin, and her apartment. Mrs. Haga is a housewife who lives in the Heisei Apartments with her husband and son. One day her husband comes home with a penguin that one of his client's has asked him to baby sit. BUT the Heisei Tenant's Association has a zero tolerance policy when it comes to pets of any kind, and Mrs. Kakei of the tenants association has no problem enforcing the rules, even if it means having the tenant evicted. So Mrs. Haga has her work cut out for her, especially when her son brings all of his friends from school to see P, and one of them happens to be Mrs. Kakei's son.
So when Mrs. Kakei discovers another tenant with a cat and wants to her to give the cat away or leave Mr. Haga speaks up only to be questioned by Mrs. Kakei, "So a person who likes animals is a saint...And one who dislikes them is a monster?" Further tearing Mrs. Haga between her love for P, her fellow tenants with pets, and her family's home.
This story is heart touching, and if you have a pet you will really appreciate this story. But it will also leave you questioning whether our love for animals leads us sometimes justifying keeping them despite what might be best for them.
The Romance Villa Wedding Chapel is a decrepit wedding chapel that has been in Yukari's family for three generations. Unfortunately she can no longer afford to run the Chapel, due in part to Chapel's less than romantic facilities. Which include an excommunicated priest, with a drinking problem, add to that crumbling walls and no air conditioning in the middle of June.
Yukari hopes her ex-husband can help out with his back alimony payments, but that will not be enough. Then one day a man who had worked for Romance Villa some years ago returned with his wife to renew their wedding vows. It turns out Yukari's father had given him the money to move to America after he had been burglarized. The man became very wealthy and had just moved back to Japan to start over and thought Romance Villa would be the perfect place.
In the end though the couple's wedding proved much more than a financial wish as the couple gave Yukari and her staff more than cash to keep the dream of the Romance Villa alive.
Ritsuro Hirooka is very upset. People keep thinking the sidewalk in front of her corner house is where the neighborhood's garbage should be dropped off. And the garbage gets stranger and stranger, as weird mask and artifacts from all over the world, seem to be appearing daily with the regular rubble. Much to Ritsuro's dismay the artifact bandit is actually her husband's bosses' wife.
When Ritsuro's husband's boss gets drunk his wife throws out some of his children, which he has collected on his trips around the world. In the morning when he is sober he returns and brings his "children" home. Needless to say that Ritsuro and her husband are now in a bit of a predicament, being that her husband is now up for a raise and they do not want to jeopardize his chances over garbage.
Both Mr. Tonegawa was killed in a car crash. His mother was in the passenger seat and survived for a few days. But no one feels sorry for his widow. It is rumored that the widow Tonegawa was an evil woman, who was cruel to her mother-in-law, and not a very good wife. Mrs. Tonegawa let a private nurse care for her mother-in-law in her last hours, and may have possibly been responsible for her demise, at least according to neighborhood gossip.
So when Mrs. Tonegawa goes on vacation and leaves her plants with a next-door neighbor, her guilt seems more apparent when this neighbor accidentally knocks over one of the plants and pieces of bone fall out. Leaving this normally unsuspecting housewife possibly in the midst of a homicide.
On December 14, 1994, Risa Hoshino, a 90-year-old woman died. But returned to life that very same day with supernatural powers like telekinesis and the power to fly on a crutch. She decided to come back to life when she heard her nurse and family looking at her locket that contained a picture of a young man named Takanezawa, who was just released from the hospital.
It turns out the young man that had just been released, reminded Risa of a young man whom she loved when she was younger. Apparently when she rejected the young man for a doctor at the hospital he committed suicide. So now she believes that Takanezawa is the reincarnation of her lost love.
Takanezawa loves to climb rocks, and in fact was in the hospital because he fell from a high rock. So now Risa believes she has returned from the dead to protect him. And basically does so by following him around on her flying crutch scaring him and others half to death playing his guardian angel.
Hanako is extremely happy but nervous, because her mother-in-law is interested in buying a house with Hanako and her husband. Only one problem a very large gremlin followed her mother-in-law to Hanako's house. The gremlin is determined to drive a wedge between Hank and her mother-in-law to stop the purchase of Hanako's dream house. And only Hanako can see the gremlin. The gremlin is so bent on keeping Hanako from buying the house it causes Hanako and her husband to get into a car accident so that they could not attend the appointment with the agent to buy the house.
This is a great supernatural story, if you are a spiritual person, and have had similar experiences to Hank you will appreciate this story of perceived fate and the actual course life takes.
Rumic Theater Volume 2: One or DoubleThis volume of the Rumic Theater is actually named after one of the short stories featured in this tankoubon, One or W (One or Double). The nine stories that appear in this manga were never compiled by Viz for the manga obsessed. The stories featured in this collection were written by Takahashi between 1978 and 1994 and have appeared in a variety of manga magazines including Big Comic Spirits (which ran Maision Ikkoku) to Shonen Sunday (home of Takahashi's Urusei Yatsura, Ranma ½, and Inu Yasha), to the Shoujo manga anthology Petit Comics.
Shoko, a high school senior, wants to dance with her secret crush at the senior formal. There is one problem, the dress she brought is too tight, apparently Shoko is fighting the battle of the bulge and needs to loose some weight to fit in her dress. So Shoko signs up for a diet camp, which is run out of the temple in Karuizawa, dedicated to goddess Kannon who was known for working hard and praying to achieve enlightenment. The priest at the temple guarantee that those who are fully dedicated to loosing weight like the goddess Kannon to attaining enlightenment, will loose weight.
The trainer Yamamoto, a high school student, trains the students by having them shave the excess weight with off of a portly goddess Kannon statue. Yamamoto the victim of a beautiful woman, is not pleased to help Shoko attain her goal, but because of her determination he tries his best to help attain her goal, despite how silly he thinks Shoko is.
Despite stereotype associated with this title, this story has nothing to do with a womanizing male. Rather the concept of this story is very similar to that of Ranma ½.
Shiro is a boy with a problem, every time his nosebleeds he turns into a dog. And like in the Ranma stories where cold water conveniently appears out of no where, Shiro always seems to find himself with a nosebleed.
The story opens with Shiro helping a young girl named Momoko who is being harassed by a boy named Togakushi. Shiro steps in and defeats Togakushi but ends up with a bloody nose. Momoko noticing his skills fighting asks Shiro to join the boxing club; of course he declines for fear of many bloody noses. But after a little incident with a soccer ball to the face and a little nuzzling with Momoko he decides to join the club, despite the chance his secret might be exposed, and from this point on the romance and blood begin to flow.
Is it right to imitate your dead friend to gain her inheritance? Nozomi's best friend Noriko has just passed away and inherited 500 million-yen from her grandmother, whom Norkio had not seen in twenty years. So Nozomi and her boyfriend Susumu decide to take advantage of the estranged relationship and attempt to obtain the inheritance for themselves.
But Noriko's estranged family is not willing to part with such an inheritance, especially to a person who has not been seen in two decades. And Noriko's family is willing to go to any lengths to keep the money for themselves, putting Nozomi and Susumu in danger.
Maitreya Bodhi Sattva, the future Buddah, predicted to come back to Earth 5.67 billion years after the death of the historical Buddah's death, has decided to come back a bit early to help save the world by teaching and promoting spirituality. But Goko a student bent on saving Japan from pending starvation (This story has a very similar plot to Time Warp Trouble that appears in Rumic World Volume I). Goko feels that is not spirituality is not the answer and wants people to rely on their mortal fortitude in order to survive.
The news media sees an opportunity in the Maitreya and a mere High School debating over the issue of human salvation, and offer both Goko and the Maitreya television shows. Needless to say in a media intensive world the sound bites and flashy logic of a high school boy appeals more to the everyday person. So in order for Buddah to spread his message he receives an image makeover to become flashier to appeal to the younger generation. Leading to an intensive battle leaving the world wondering when and how glamorous the end of the world will be.
Tet-chan's granpa Gen-chan is his amateur Baseball manager. Gen-chan's schedules games and collects the fees and is supposedly putting them in an account for Tet-chan. But Gen-chan has a girlfriend who he likes to wine and dine and all of Tet-chan's money has been used give Gen-chan's girlfriend, Ai-chan, the best of the best.
But before Tet-chan can get too angry he falls for Ai-chan's granddaughter, Aoi. But Tet-chan has to be cautious about how he acts if he wants to date her. Apparently Gen-chan has made it seem that Tet-chan is an ungrateful grandson. So when both Tet-chan and Gen-chan are given the chance to make some extra money and impress their lady friends, both sign up on opposite teams. The winning team will receive 50,000 yen each but Tet-chan underestimates Gen-chan who has a few tricks up his sleeve and will do anything to take Ai-chan on a Hot Springs vacation.
Reserved Seat is a very interesting tale of death, possession, rock and stardom. Masahiko hated to go to Takarazuka Concerts with his grandmother who recently passed away.
It turns out Masahiko hated his grandmother just as much as the Takarazuka shows, and maybe more so. Masahiko goes to his grandmother's funeral dressed in drag and flips her picture the bird and leaves for practice. But when he gets their he is forced to grieve anyway, because his band mates want to replace him as lead singer.
Masahiko's band mates want to hold a contest amongst the other members to see if anyone of them are good enough to possibly replace Masahiko, Masahiko was invited to compete, but never appears. Though determined to make it to the rehearsal he never shows up and he cannot remember why. But later on that day he sees himself on TV with a nun at a Takarazuka Concert. And after this incident it seems every time a Takarazuka Concert is scheduled, Masahiko finds programs and cannot figure out how he has no recollection of attending these performances.
One of Mashahiko's band mates thinks it has something to do with his blatant disrespect for his grandmother's death that has brought about these recent occurrences. While his other band mates think he is just ignoring them and going insane. Either way Masahiko aims to fight his appearances at the Takarazuka musicals.
Miyamoto, a Kendo artist, has an overbearing sensei that thinks Miyamoto can be the best Kendo artist ever. In fact Miyamoto's sensei is so obsessive he drives Miyamoto to quit. Miyamoto's girlfriend Ichiyanagi picks him up and they head home. But the obsessed Sensei will not relent and is hot on Miyamoto's trail, and he hops on a bike with no breaks and causes an accident which results in he and Ichiyanagi dying. While Ichiniyagi's body is recovered the coaches body cannot be found.
While Miyamoto grieves over Ichiyanagi she awakes. But not as Ichiyanagi, the coach has taken residence in Ichinayagi's body and the only way Miyamoto can get Ichinayagi's spirit back into her body is to defeat the coach at a Kendo match, which must be done quickly before Ichinayagi's sprit disappears forever.
Hinako a high school student has asked her friend to help her raise money to find her long lost mother, who was thought to be dead until a postcard revealed otherwise. Obi a male student from her class follows her to the red light district of Shinjuku where it is believed Hinako's mother resides. He find her walking arm and arm with an older man and immediately assumes the worse, but it turns out the man is a Private Investigator who intends to steal Hinaoko's money, but after a little persuasion from Obi, decides to help the two teens search for Hinaoko's mother.
Yahihata Agricultural High School's rugby team has lost 999 straight games and after the 1000th game if they loose the team will be disbanded. And while the rest of the school has accepted the fact that their rugby team is a bunch of losers, one student feels that the team can win. And her words of comfort and support are heard at every game, she is known as the Goddess of Victory, and proudly cheers her team on too bad only one student, named Kanago, can hear her.
It does not seem to matter what genre or story Takahashi creates, because if her name is linked to it there's a 99% chance it will be a great read. One-Pound Gospel (Ichi-Pound no Fukuin) is one of those stories. This series ran from 1989 to 1996, in Young Sunday, and was compiled into three volumes in 1991 it was adapted into an Original Animated Video.
One-Pound Gospel is the story of Kosaku Hatanaka, a boxer looking to score in the big time. He is the first pro to come out of Mukaida's Gym, and is therefore the only hope his coach has of brining some honor to his disgrace establishment. Though Hatanaka is a skilled fighter he seems to always lose the fight to his appetite.
As a boxer trying to make his weight class, it is important to follow a proper diet and keep fit. Hatanaka keeps fit, but can't help himself when it comes to the dinner table. Or lunch table, breakfast table, and a couple snack tables for that matter. His eating habits force him to take laxatives before fights just to make his class, a ritual that makes him the butt of many jokes. Hatanaka's boxing career is laughable at best. He has gone from junior bantamweight, bantamweight, junior featherweight, etc. His gluttony has caused his trainer to lose all hope in his prized fighter, and has made Hatanaka's opponents the favored boxer in every fight.
But despite his struggle with gluttony, one person seems to see something special in the young boxer. Sister Angela a novice nun, she's a Mother Theresa type of person. Hatanaka visits Sr. Angela often to confess his gluttony and to be forgiven for his eating habits. But the students and employees at St. Mary's know different. They know he is there to see Sister Angela and her beautiful smile. And Sr. Angela is glad to see him as well.
This beautifully drawn Manga is one of Takahashi's finest works, combining sports, romance and humor. The overall themes of temptation run rampant throughout the series as Hatanaka must stay away from food and Sister Angela must stay away from Hatanaka's tempting charm. The story has a magical feel to it as well, as Hatanaka starts making his weight despite his eating habits. Humor comes in, as he can't seem to grasp Angela's status as a nun. His frequent attempts to win her love are met with a slap and fuel for his next fight.
One-Pound Gospel is a different kind of work from Takahashi. It uses elements from the romance and sports manga genres to create a very successful story. Rumiko Takahashi continues her success as One Pound Gospel lands a knockout punch.
The Mermaid Saga (Ningyo Saga) was serialized in Shonen Sunday from 1984 until 1987. The series is about a young Japanese fisherman, who five centuries ago ate the flesh of a mermaid's tail and became an immortal. And in order for him to finally rest in peace he must seek a mermaid and eat the flesh once more.
The series opens with Yuta searching for Cape Nosuri, where it is rumored mermaids dwell. Upon finding Cape Nosuri he is immediately murdered by the old women who live there. But unaware that Yuta is immortal the decrepit residents are quite surprised when he comes back to life and helps their soon-to-be human sacrifice, Mana escape.
Mana was taken from her village as a child to be nurtured into a beautiful woman whose flesh will give an aged mermaid the gift of youth. But in order for a mermaid to become young again Mana must first become immortal, and must eat the flesh of mermaid's tail. So for the first time in 500 hundred years, Yuta finds himself face to face with an immortal and together, Mana and Yuta, set out to find a cure for their immortality.
What makes this series unique is that it does not just focus on the travels of Yuta and Mana, but also revisits Yuta's past in full depth stories. The Mermaid Saga is one of those fictional stories that are so well written the reader actually begins to believe the stories to be true.
The Mermaid Saga was adapted into an OAV mini-series, Ningyo no Mori, 'Mermaid Forest' and Ningyo no Kizo, 'Mermaid's Scar', in 1991 and 1993 receptively. The Mermaid Saga is a dark, violent, innovative manga series. If you love Inu Yasha you will love this story just as much and maybe more.