Yokai Doctor by Yuki Sato

Yokai Doctor is a delightful little manga I found sitting, along with a Marvel collection of X-Men comics from the Sixties, on the free giveaway table at the Marion Public Library. Being the pig that I am, I grabbed them up before any adolescents even got a look at them. I'm the biggest kid there is, after all.

I was pleasantly surprised to discover a thoroughly engaging, and at times puzzling, but always entertaining Japanese comic book about a young girl, Kasuga-san, who has, much as her grandfather did before her, the power to see spirits. She claims, to the general adulation of her high school, that she can exorcise said spirits. but she's telling a wee little, wide-eyed (I mean really wide-eyed) fib to her classmates, who follow her into the forest, a haunted, spooky place where Japanese businessmen possibly go to commit suicide if they feel they have dishonored the company. Seppuku is the least of our worries here, though (as a matter of fact, not even an issue in this issue).

At the same time, into our story wanders the ever-horny, spiky-topped, black-clad Gokokuji-kun (kun and san being honorifics denoting "young, inexperienced one," and "superior, experienced one," respectively), who is a picked-on, friendless loner, and who could be the younger, more handsome and far less dower brother of Lord Morpheus. (Well, maybe a bit of a stretch there).

Kuro Gokokuji (his full name) gets the shit end of the stick from anyone and everyone around him, it seems--he hallucinates grabbing ahold of Kasuga-san's tits, but is just fondling a fat boy with man boobs instead (maybe it's Legion of Superheroes hero Chuck Taine). He falls asleep in class and gets what I take to be the blackboard eraser thrown at him by the teacher. It's all Manga Highschool Confidential wacky hijinx until someone loses a soul.

Speaking of which, Kasuga-san takes a sizable portion of the student body out to the woods with her, where a giant, toad-like monster with long, stringy hair and scaly reptile skin imprisons the entire student body (who has brought along their magic seance candles, roots, incense, etc.) in a giant gelatinous cube. Rather inconsiderate of him, don't you agree?

Luckily Gokokuji-kun is secretly a (drumroll please): "Yokai Doctor"; a physician who specializes in treating pesky little Japanese demons, or, Yokai. To this end, he gets the giant toad thing to let the kids go (after getting nearly swallowed himself); but then the whole thing seems to happen again in the same book, so I am confused.

No matter. Gokokuji-kun, the intrepid and fearless Yokai Doctor, and Kasuga-san get to be sweet on each other, despite the presence of nasty, snarling, and frankly at times seriously, weirdly surrealistic and grotesque (there is one scene in which a pair of Rolling Stone lips grow in the back of a girl's head and an immensely long tongue, snakes out of the back) Yokai around them.

One of them, a cute little manga critter I think is called a chibi in the trade, hates Kasuga. But loves her; she however can only speak everything she thinks in reverse. It's a funny little scene, and the whole book is a fun, fantasy romp, that brings out the inner child of fat, lonely, bitter cynics and comic book geeks everywhere (the kind that horde the stuff away before anyone else has the chance).

The artwork is clear manga beautiful, easy on the eyes, and full of wild-eyed and wide-eyed closeups, that often seem to be flying through the air; the visual emphasis is immediate, and the pacing and artwork seem to mimic the visual style of anime, which is understandable as they are so closely related. It is not the dark and swirly color art of American comics and graphic novels, which can be a headache to the eyes, especially for the visually impaired. Its language is something all its own, and the dialog is terse, short, and to the point. The meaning can often be abruptly jarring, even somewhat inscrutable, and very hard to follow, but, there it is.

There's a certain fantasy and television element to the manga language of storytelling; which may seem paradoxical, but it is, indeed, a way of speaking and telling stories that are culturally unique, and always a pleasure. This was Volume 1 of a series, but it's a full-length book. And every page was darn tootin'.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have an appointment with another doctor. He sits in a wheelchair, is bald, has telepathic powers, and Wolverine for a student. And brother, lemme tell ya, when Logan is one of your star pupils, even a dreaded Yokai begins to pale in comparison.