If you are looking to get into the Halloween spirit, but aren’t a fan of scary stories, I’ve got you covered! In this post, I share three dark fantasy manga series that won’t keep you up in the middle of the night.
All three of these series have both official English and Japanese publications, and can be read physically or digitally!
The Bride of the Death God
I highly recommend this series to fans of mystery series! You can check this out for yourself in English here, and Japanese here.
Aibi is a girl with not much time left. She is cursed with a rather unique disease, causing flowers to sap her life force and bloom from her body. When she only has a few days left to live, a mysterious grim reaper comes to inform her. Rather than acting scared like the reaper predicted, Aibi instead is grateful to him for informing her that her time is coming.
The grim reaper is also a mysterious character with something of a curse: he was once human, but is unable to recall any of his memories prior to becoming a grim reaper. Now as a reaper, he claims to enjoy watching people become devastated once they hear that their time is up. So, when Aibi isn’t fazed in the slightest at his news, he begins to take an interest in her.
When the day comes for him to reap her, she is able to cheat death. Now with more time on her hands, the two set off together.
Read my full review of volume one here!
Noragami
If you’re looking for a rather long adventure series, focusing on Japanese mythology, then I recommend you check this series out! You can read it in English here, or Japanese here.
This series follows a rather large cast of characters, but I want to focus on just two in this description.
We have Hiyori, a high school student who is slightly obsessed with watching wrestling. After being involved in a near-death accident one day, she develops a strange affliction. Her soul began randomly slipping out of her body. When it slips out, her body slumps over like she’s fallen asleep, and her soul is able to freely walk about the city. She doesn’t have much control over this affliction and should something happen to her soul while out of her body, she would instantly pass away. So, she needs the help of a higher being to cure her.
We also have Yato, a small-time god looking to make it big. He’s currently in the process of saving up money and earning new followers, so that he can one day have his own temple. He’ll do just about anything asked of him, leading to those that work with him to have little respect for him. By chance, he meets Hiyori one day, and he agrees to fulfill her request of curing her unique ailment.
A Kingdom of Quartz
If you are looking for an adventure series, following a young girl learning how to believe in herself, then I recommend this series to you. You can find it in English here, and Japanese here.
There are two kingdoms in this manga-world, with our main character living in the light kingdom, powered by quartz. In this kingdom, almost everyone is born with beautiful white wings, except for our protagonist, Blue, who is born with black wings. This, along with being an orphan, makes her a bit of an outcast. She doesn’t let this get to her though, and she still dreams of one day becoming an angel.
The opportunity to join the ranks and become an angel may come to her sooner than she could have ever expected. One day a host of dark creatures infiltrate the quartz kingdom, killing almost everyone she has ever known. While she does make it out unscathed, she finds herself the host of a brand new dark power. Was this power in her all along, causing her to be born with black wings? Or, was this power given to her by one of the dark creatures that night? The only was for her to know is to begin learning how to use it.
Check out my full review of volume one here!
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