Beginners special selection 2

Version française/日本語バージョン

I'm sorry for taking so much time, I said I'd write the second selection mid-July but I was very busy. As promised, here are web mangas aimed at a bit more mature audience.


Title : アイカギ屋
Artist : トモリ
Website : brown note
Chapters : 4 (ongoing)

Kogake is an unusual locksmith: on top of the normal keys, she also makes keys that can open the door to someone's heart. While promoting her shop, she travels through many parallel worlds. But Kogake's twin sister, Koyomi is afraid Kogake might never be able to come back to her own world one day.

Aikagiya is a supernatural story with a bit of romance and a lot of slice of life. This art style isn't very engaging but the story is interesting enough to override that weakness. The level is moderate beginner: the grammar is pretty simple with short sentences but as always the problem is the kanjis. There aren't a lot of them but since some of them are unusual or advanced level (i.e. tobira 扉 or kagi 鍵). So you may want to have a dictionary ready at hand.

Yôgen Kaikitan

Version française/日本語バージョン

Yôgen Kaikitan by Kubouchi Yôko

Warning! I use this image with its author, Kubouchi Yôko's permission. Please do not host it on another website, do not modify it, do not claim it as your own. Please respect Miss Kubouchi's work and intellectual property: ask for her permission beforehand (plus she's very nice and answers quickly).

Title:  妖幻怪奇譚
Author: 窪内葉子
Website: かしこ
Chapters: 17 (ongoing)
Keywords: occult, supernatural, clan, curse, yôkai, calm and level-headed heroine 

Sakisaka Hina is part of an exorcists clan and she is a "cursed child". On her 17th birthday, her guardian god Amane, a hinnakami, comes to meet her. He's the one who has been protecting all the cursed children ever since the cursed began. He grants them any wish but in exchange he takes their soul to Hell after their death. That's why most cursed children resent him but Hina's different and she was looking forward to meet him. 

I looooove this web comic. At the beginning it was a bit difficult for me because the art is a bit too BL-ish to my taste but once I started I got completely hooked. I find the main characters very realistic (the side characters a bit less). Hina is the BEST: she's calm, composed, doesn't whine, isn't aggressive, she's got ethics but doesn't go all Miss World "a world in peace". One one hand she's mature (and her short hair strengthens that image) but one the other hand she sometimes reacts childishly, even though she tries to controls herself.
If you're looking for an ersatz of Fruits Basket, go look elsewhere. 

The language level is pretty hard and there's plenty of references to the Japanese folklore like yôkai and such. There are extras explaining the different types of ayakashi appearing in the manga but unless you're a specialist in Japanese ethnology, it's not the kind of vocabulary you use in your every day's life. So get your dictionary ready. The text is typewritten and the page size is nice so it's easy to read. 

Another good point: it's updated regularly for a web comic.