Associate Professor Akira Takatsuki's Conjecture (Manga), Vol. 1

Associate Professor Akira Takatsuki's Conjecture (Manga) #1

by Toji Aio (Artist), Mikage Sawamura (Original Story), Jiro Suzuki (Character Design)

“The mystical is nothing but phenomena plus interpretation, Fukamachi-kun.”

Naoya Fukamachi’s ability to unerringly detect lies has left him friendless and isolated all his life. It certainly isn’t helping him meet new people in college. But when he catches the interest of the handsome but eccentric associate professor of folklore studies, Akira Takatsuki, he finds himself with a part-time job—research assistant in charge of common sense, on a mission to help catalogue the supernatural!

Genres: Manga, Paranormal, Mystery, Fantasy, Supernatural, Comics, Graphic Novels

164 pages, Paperback

First published November 20, 2020

About the author

相尾 灯自

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a strong start to a series about a college student cursed with the ability to detect lies who becomes assistant to an eccentric college professor obsessed with folklore and urban legends. All of the characters are likable, and the mysteries are genuinely interesting. Akira, the professor, relies on his assistant to balance him out, as his enthusiasm frequently causes him to lose sight of the very real fear his clients exhibit. The side characters are equally interesting to the leads, and I hope we see more of them too.

[daria · Rating 5 out of 5]

oh man, it was so much fun

[Rafia Rahman · Rating 3 out of 5]

মোটামুটি আরকি। আশা অনুযায়ী হতাশ হয়েছি প্রথম বই পড়েই। সিরিজের বাকি বইগুলো পড়বো কিনা বুঝছি না।

[Gillian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful premise combining Scooby-Doo or supernatural with lie to me or ghost whisperer

[achilles · Rating 4 out of 5]

最近このシリーズの諸説を読み始めたので、キンドルであるのに、漫画も読みたかった。楽しかった！！！ホントウニ面白い！！！！

[Kyrsau · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightful read! Has a loosely similar vibe to Case files of Jeweler Richard, so I'm really eager to see where this goes.

Will try to write up a full review later!

[Elinor · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5
Promising !

[Elaine White · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oof, this is SO good!

I went into this not really knowing what to expect. I've recently read Hell Is Dark with No Flowers, Vol. 1 (manga) (Volume 1) (Hell Is Dark with No Flowers and The (Pet) Detective Agency, so I was hoping it was along those lines, which...it is, but it isn't.

Naoya Kukamachi was just a boy when he went to a local night festival and was given a terrible choice - choose a lollipop. Each of the three lollipops came with a terrible consequence; one meant he would lost his words, the second he would lose his ability to walk and the third...well, we don't find out that until Volume 2 ;) Naoya chooses the third, and faces some interesting consequences.

Flash forward to college, Naoya begins a new class Folklore Studies II. Right from the start, the mystery was intriguing. From Naoya's childhood to the intriguing Associate Professor Akira Takatsuki, who has made it his mission to study folktales and their origins. Since Naoya has an interesting one, he submits the story to Akira, who is fascinated.

Thus, they begin to work together to investigate folktales and mysterious goings-on. They investigate a supposedly haunted apartment and begin a second case, of a girl who may be cursed, which doesn't conclude until Volume 2.

The mysteries are really well written and plotted, exactly what I'd expect of a great manga. It was very reminiscent of A School Frozen in Time, Vol. 1. There was the same sense of mystery clashing with reality.

So far, there's no romance between Naoya and Akira, however they do have a close friendship. It's not explicitly BL in the traditional sense, but all indications are that the series has undertones. Which is very similar to how A Gentle Noble's Vacation Recommendation, Volume 1 is written.

Volume 1 does a fantastic job of drawing you into the story and exploring the characters. The supernatural aspects are well handled and the entire plot is very original. But, be warned that Volume 1 ends on a cliffhanger!

FYI: EVERY book I've referenced or mentioned here is fantastic and absolutely on the same par as this one. If you liked them, you'll love this and vice versa.

[K · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of those cases where I really loved the story, and then let the volumes build up on my shelf because other things were more pressing, and I knew I would probably still like this one whenever I got back to it...

I'm going to blast through the manga first, to sort of remind myself of the world, and also because it's a lot faster-paced. Then I can dig in and enjoy the rest of the light novels I have.

The art in the manga is maybe a little too "cute" for how I picture the characters - Naoya has a very round-cheeked face, and Takatsuki looks younger than 34, and always over-excited - but I'll get used to that. Their main dynamics are handled well, with Naoya lecturing Takatsuki for his flighty behavior and lack of public decorum, and Takatsuki making Naoya feel heard and needed and ... not "normal," but special for not being normal.

The author's afterword comments on how difficult it might be to adapt the talk-heavy book dialogue to a manga, and I agree it's pretty well done. The novel of course adds a lot more depth, but the manga is a good introduction to the story, or a nice visual chaser, whichever direction you choose to read them.

This first volume covers their initial case together, with the haunted apartment and the realtor who didn't know how to ask girls out normally. Then, as usual with these sorts of manga adaptations, we get the first part of the next story - the girl and the needles - to spur us into reading on.

[Susanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve read the light novel and found the manga adaptation as delightful as the original. It follows Naoya Fukamachi, a first-year college student in Tokyo who catches the attention of his folklore professor Akira Takatsuki. The professor makes Fukamachi his assistant, because the younger man has common sense and he can read maps. Together they investigate paranormal mysteries.

The manga has one and half of the mysteries investigated in the first volume of the novel, plus a tight introduction to Fukamachi’s special ability of hearing lies. The manga makes the most of the professor’s exciteable character and he’s even more fun than in the novel.

The illustrations truly helped me to visualise the sets in a way I couldn’t with the novel, not being that familiar with Japanese culture. And despite the tighter form, there are almost as many folklore lectures as there were in the novel. I’m not sure I would’ve gotten as much out of the manga if I hadn’t read the original, but all in all, I found this a fun read.

I received a free copy from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

[Niche · Rating 4 out of 5]

A college student with the secret supernatural ability to hear lies as grating noise ends up the assistant to a socially clueless professor investigating the paranormal. Covers one case and ends on the introduction of a second mystery, which is supposedly around half of the first light novel. The student, the POV character, has a somber feeling which juxtaposes the enthusiastic naivety of the professor; although, both characters seem to have a painful past.

I don't think it's BL, but "troubled, handsome pathos pair" seems to be weighted enough that all the associated recommendations are yaoi. Though, that is probably more reflective of the readership.

[Lois Bujold · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this quite charming, mainly due to our two protagonists, a folklore professor and his student assistant, both plagued with supernatural incidents in their pasts. Together, they fight what the enthusiastic prof keeps hoping will prove supernatural crime, but generally gets proved other. Based on a light novel series I've not yet looked up.

Have read vols 1 - 5, will certainly pick up 6 when it appears.

A note in the manga mentions a live action adaptation. I don't find it under that title at my usual suspects. Does anyone know more about it?

Ta, L.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such a great manga! I've read a lot of paranormal and horror manga and this one was really great. I loved the characters and I'm very curious to know more about the professor and Fukamachi. The ghost stories that were in this volume were also very interesting, even though I thought that it was very obvious who the culprit was in the first one. Overall, a good volume. I will for sure be reading more of this series.

[Devon Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this to be a very interesting read…a lot of times manga is a sort of condensed story to the point where anything too in depth kind of gets lost. I was worried when Takatsuki started his lectures and stuff that it was going to get boring, but I actually found it interesting and informative instead! This gives me big time Ron Kamonohashi vibes and I’m not mad about it…although I have to admit based on the cover I thought it was going to be BL 🤣 oh well, can’t have everything I guess!

[Dxdnelion · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting takes on folklore studies. investigating the supernatural phenomena while also having logical explanations. Thinking that it's going to be a bit of a gore/dark story, but I like how relaxing this manga is.

Although, I feel like there's nothing special about this manga, since I've read similar premises like this before. Volume 1 was okay for an introduction and the case is too simple for my liking. I hope the upcoming volume will be better. 3.6 🌟

[Kat · Rating 3 out of 5]

While a bit of a slow start, I can see that there is real potential for a great ghost detective series and his lie sensing young sidekick. This volume concluded in somewhat creepy way and I am interested to see where the story goes. It’s clear the supernatural exists due to Naoya’s ability to ‘hear’ lies, but not everything in this world I ghost related.

[Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

promising start to the series!! I loved the beginning - naoya's backstory was so creepy and compelling. I get why the first investigation wasn't real, but this second one seems to be very supernatural 0_o definitely a fun and spooky read! art was pretty good too!

[Kati · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny and sweet and also informative. And beautiful drawn, too. I saw the LA drama based on this manga and that prompted me to want to know more. I really like the professor in this book. He's just so... lovably unhinged.

[Jordan MacKinnon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually really enjoyed the set up for this series! It's like adult scooby doo!! And I think that prof and student relationship is going to be so fun! So I am deffs going to look forward to the rest of this!

[Maskedfaith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a book you picked up and can't help but get sucked into. I wish I had access to a class like this. The myths are so interesting. I want to know if the professor has a "gift" like his student. If you like mangas that have to do with myths and possible supernatural occurrences, try this.

[Aurora · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was fine, just a bit of a slow start, so I’m not very invested yet.

[Oliver Clarke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Breezily enjoyable occult detective tale about a ghost busting professor and his student sidekick

[Tib · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was certainly interesting!

[Azia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like this one! The characters are charming and the supernatural cases are actually very interesting. Left off on a cliffhanger. Looking forward to the next volume!

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️

[Mindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the two main characters! They balance each other out very well. And I love the concept of a folklorist researching these supernatural cases. It's a really interesting concept!

[Solyne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really love this story, both manga and drama adaptation are awesome!

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 ✨️

[Sheypski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting. Got me invested at the very beginning. Quite the brutal cliffhanger at the end though.

[Sandra (I don't read, I devour.) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really like it! It's not usually what I'm into, but I really like the concepts and I really like the explorations and the explanations. Kind of a detective story mixed with occultist stuff.