The Japanese title for this series is はじめの友人。
This is a supernatural horror series, with a boy becoming friends with someone who may or may not be possessed by a very old, vengeful spirit. It features mystery elements, and an often uneasy atmosphere.
Check out my review of Yuureijou no Danna-sama here!
Before we start the review, let’s look at some info about this volume
Who wrote this manga?
This manga was written by Iroha Tanno. You can check out their X profile here.
What are the themes?
- Red herrings
- “Who can be trusted?”
- People following old beliefs and customs
You can check out this series for yourself below.
What happens in volume one?
After being brought along to the countryside with his family, Ryouta isn’t the happiest boy in the world. It’s difficult to fault him for this, as apart for one rather particular festival, this village really doesn’t have all that much going for it. After mistakenly thinking that he discovered the villagers moving a body, the villagers are quick to grow rather fond of Ryouta, and they begin explaining exactly why they run this ritualistic festival every year.
To explain it briefly: a very long time ago, many great misfortunes occurred in the village. One day a powerful ascetic came into town, and sealed the misfortunes away. Every year since then, a festival is held to praise the ascetic. While everyone seems to be happy to end the explanation here, one of the older residents suddenly cuts in, in a slightly cryptic way: Uruwi-sama is here. What does this mean? We don’t really get an explanation, as the rest of the villagers choose to ignore his seeming meaningless rambles.
A little while later, Ryouta runs into a somewhat strange boy his age. As we soon learn that this boy is a descendant of the ascetic, it becomes a little more clear as to why he acts so strangely. He was brought up absolutely forbidden from having any contact with anything from outside the village. Leaving the village is also absolutely out of the question. So now that he has been given the opportunity to talk to a boy from a seemingly whole different world, he’s incredibly excited.
Exciting to share his village with Ryouta, he takes him to the temple where something is sealed away. The boys enter the temple, and while there is a sealed-off area, it doesn’t seem all that unusual. That is, until something reaches through the seals, pulling both boys inside. It isn’t exactly clear what was in the area that the boys were pulled into, and they were thankfully able to escape before too long.
They pass out upon returning to the temple, and while Ryouta seems to be perfectly okay, minus some bumps and scrapes, the boy who brought him there seems… different.
Ryouta and his father leave the village not too long later, and before long seven years have passed. Going to school, a mysterious, slightly suspicious-looking boy calls Ryouta out by name. Could this be the boy from all those years ago..?
My thoughts about this volume
I really enjoy Japanese ghost stories, so I really wasn’t surprised when I was rather invested from the very start. I like the inclusion of a mysterious being (Uruwi-sama), especially with the olden-time spelling that the author chose to use. It really shows that this being was prominent a rather long time ago, and that not all that many people know about it today.
I think the set-up was rather well done as well. Ryouta mistaking the villagers for carrying a body, and then introducing the older man who spoke nonsensically about this Uruwi-sama, slowly brought a creepier and creepier atmosphere. When we meet his new friend, things turned light again, only for them to turn much darker very quickly. This back and forth in tone and atmosphere worked really well to keep the story feeling fresh and exciting.
I especially thought that the potential possession of the boy was very interesting! I’m 99% certain that it is indeed him who appears at the end of the introduction, and I’m very excited to see exactly how he was able to leave the village.
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