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漫画 虚構推理 / In/Spectre #18
In/Spectre Vol. 18
Kotoko Iwanaga delves into a historic Edo era mystery when a high school friend consults her about his family's possible connection to yôkai. According to legend, a samurai named Shirokura Hanbei battles and slays a yuki-onna in the mountains. Hanbei is later suddenly killed under mysterious circumstances and there are two himself or the yuki-onna. The spine-chilling “To Slay a Snow Woman” mystery continues. Confronted between the choice to tell the truth or to lie, how will Kotoko present the evidence?
258 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 16, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 11, 2023
Kotoko continues the tale of the swordsman and the yuki-onna, or snow woman, from the Edo era. This time out, however, the lie that covers up the supernatural doesn’t seem terribly satisfying at all. But the truth would confirm the existence of spirits, so it’s not like she can just whip that out either…
In/Spectre has always been a fairly gangly and awkward adaptation of its source material, making for one of the most odd fits for a manga I’ve read. The art work is quite excellent, but cramming the light novel into this format is always haphazard at best.
Still, there are some delightful visual flourishes to this one. I would never accuse the series of phoning its art in, that’s for certain, and the way the passage of time is portrayed in the latter chapters is really clever.
As for the story itself, it’s okay. I mean, it’s not quite as good as a murder case or anything, but it’s also not terrible being a little different than the usual stuff we see from the series. In fact, outside of Kotoko’s narration there’s really nothing from our leads until the very end.
And the whole situation is an inversion of the typical narrative; as I alluded to, the non-spiritual explanation that fits the facts is an incredible downer and doesn’t satisfy in the slightest, except it does line up neatly with what knowledge there is.
Meanwhile, the actual truth is a long tale of love and loss and obsessions spanning many years that also explains everything, but provides the person asking all this of Kotoko some closure on the question of their very nature.
The denouement is rather interesting because of how it resolves the dilemma and suggests that perhaps recent events have changed Kotoko. Then again, if our swordsman does have yuki-onna blood in his veins, there’s definitely some wiggle room if you squint really hard.
It’s pretty good. I liked the story and seeing old friends from earlier in the series is a nice touch. The real problem for the reader comes down to whether they liked this story or not. Cuz if you did not, or do not, you are in for one hell of a slog trying to get through this one as there is absolutely nothing else.
There’s barely any humour, even, minus a couple of asides here and there during the telling. It proves that this is more than just its main characters, but also reinforces how much they tend to add to any given story arc.
This is definitely a big recovery from the last volume, where this story was so boring I thought my brain was going to atrophy, but I think the way it started to tie its threads together was done far, far better than the slog that was the set-up. It’s not like brevity has ever been this series’ strong suit, but I feel that it really hurt it with this particular entry.
3.5 stars - I liked this volume and the way it all plays out turns out to be rather satisfying, both in the past and the present. I wouldn’t want this series to be like this all the time, but as a digression from all the regular drama it’s a nice palette cleanser.
In/Spectre has always been a fairly gangly and awkward adaptation of its source material, making for one of the most odd fits for a manga I’ve read. The art work is quite excellent, but cramming the light novel into this format is always haphazard at best.
Still, there are some delightful visual flourishes to this one. I would never accuse the series of phoning its art in, that’s for certain, and the way the passage of time is portrayed in the latter chapters is really clever.
As for the story itself, it’s okay. I mean, it’s not quite as good as a murder case or anything, but it’s also not terrible being a little different than the usual stuff we see from the series. In fact, outside of Kotoko’s narration there’s really nothing from our leads until the very end.
And the whole situation is an inversion of the typical narrative; as I alluded to, the non-spiritual explanation that fits the facts is an incredible downer and doesn’t satisfy in the slightest, except it does line up neatly with what knowledge there is.
Meanwhile, the actual truth is a long tale of love and loss and obsessions spanning many years that also explains everything, but provides the person asking all this of Kotoko some closure on the question of their very nature.
The denouement is rather interesting because of how it resolves the dilemma and suggests that perhaps recent events have changed Kotoko. Then again, if our swordsman does have yuki-onna blood in his veins, there’s definitely some wiggle room if you squint really hard.
It’s pretty good. I liked the story and seeing old friends from earlier in the series is a nice touch. The real problem for the reader comes down to whether they liked this story or not. Cuz if you did not, or do not, you are in for one hell of a slog trying to get through this one as there is absolutely nothing else.
There’s barely any humour, even, minus a couple of asides here and there during the telling. It proves that this is more than just its main characters, but also reinforces how much they tend to add to any given story arc.
This is definitely a big recovery from the last volume, where this story was so boring I thought my brain was going to atrophy, but I think the way it started to tie its threads together was done far, far better than the slog that was the set-up. It’s not like brevity has ever been this series’ strong suit, but I feel that it really hurt it with this particular entry.
3.5 stars - I liked this volume and the way it all plays out turns out to be rather satisfying, both in the past and the present. I wouldn’t want this series to be like this all the time, but as a digression from all the regular drama it’s a nice palette cleanser.
August 8, 2023
The best story arc so far!
September 17, 2023
Sad, but good.
July 23, 2023
That ending was so tragic. 😭😭😭
Glad to have yuki-onna back though!
Glad to have yuki-onna back though!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 11, 2025
4,5
Interesting
Interesting
August 30, 2024
Since I was a kid, I always watched detective “whodunit” mystery movies with my family. (Jeremy Brett’s Sherlock was one of my favorites! A classic.) The tropes of the genre have a very nostalgic feeling for me.
Last night, I tried to revisit that nostalgia by watching one of the newer Poirot films, “A Haunting in Venice” starring Kenneth Branagh. It hit some of the right notes, but ultimately wasn’t really a satisfying experience.
This volume of Inspectre, however, totally hit the spot! The way she lays out her deductions, the fact that she gives multiple, plausible accounts, and the underlying layers around her decisions to reveal the “truth” of the yokai world or not… excellent.
I also loved the Yuki Onna plot line and characters, so I’m ultra happy to see them make a comeback! Can’t wait for the next volume. 🥰
Art: ★★★★★
Plot: ★★★★★
Characters: ★★★★★
Last night, I tried to revisit that nostalgia by watching one of the newer Poirot films, “A Haunting in Venice” starring Kenneth Branagh. It hit some of the right notes, but ultimately wasn’t really a satisfying experience.
This volume of Inspectre, however, totally hit the spot! The way she lays out her deductions, the fact that she gives multiple, plausible accounts, and the underlying layers around her decisions to reveal the “truth” of the yokai world or not… excellent.
I also loved the Yuki Onna plot line and characters, so I’m ultra happy to see them make a comeback! Can’t wait for the next volume. 🥰
Art: ★★★★★
Plot: ★★★★★
Characters: ★★★★★
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews