Mouryou no Hako

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The manga author Aki Shimizu continued the adaptation of Natsuhiko Kyogoku’s “Hyakki Yakou” series with the second novel, “Mouryou no Hako” or “Box of Spirits”. It continues to build on the themes from “Ubume no Natsu”, like crime, suspense, body horror, psychological trauma, and esoteric Shinto rituals, while adding some mad science to the mix.

The cast returned as they were from the first novel. Chuuzenji the exorcist, Sekiguchi the novelist and reader P.O.V., KIba the cop, and Enokizu the detective, carried on with the same roles. This time, Kiba was the one entangled with the femme fatale.

The story has expanded, because there was ... more than one investigation this Scooby gang was getting entangled in and the revelations could be more than they bargained for, if not, beyond the pale of human morality.

The story relies heavily on body horror, especially since one of the cases involved the discovery of severed human limbs around the city, with some of them in boxes. In fact, there was one scene that reminded me of the movie Se7en, the one with box. The movie flinched on showing the remains, but this manga spared no detail in the reveal.

Speaking of movie tropes, there’s a mad scientist character that even has a hunchbacked lab assistant.

The novels in the “Hyakki Yakou” have theme monster for each novel. The first one was an ubume, for this one it's the mouryou.

I think the story went over the top with the ending. Especially a late revelation between the mad scientist and the femme fatale with a relationship twist that felt force. Otherwise, this was solid follow up to “Ubume no Natsu”.