The Tree of Death: Yomotsuhegui Vol. 1

The Tree of Death: Yomotsuhegui #1

by Masasumi Kakizaki

An action-packed supernatural horror series about a battle over eternal life!

Nawa Kanetsugu used to be a police officer, until his wife and child were murdered and he sought revenge by any means necessary. In a new quest for vengeance after he’s released from prison, he discovers that a mortal wound won’t kill him. A confrontation with a mysterious girl shows Nawa that he’s eaten the fruit of Yomotsuhegui, the tree in the realm of the dead, and now he’s an immortal with monstrous powers. The girl is a god of death who wants his help to fight other dangerous immortals, since there may still be a seed of justice in his heart. Will Nawa find his humanity again in saving others from supernatural evil, or will these ghastly powers turn him into a monster?

Genres: Manga, Horror, Comics, Seinen, Fantasy

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 20, 2022

About the author

Kakizaki, Masasumi 柿崎正澄 is a Japanese mangaka.

Reviews

[Urbon Adamsson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Masasumi Kakizaki's art is truly remarkable.

Yomotsuhegui is the tree of the dead, whose fruits grant immortality to those who consume them.

We delve into the journey of Kanetsugu Nawa, a former cop whose family was brutally murdered, now driven by vengeance against those responsible.

The first volume is fantastic and hints at the potential for a captivating series. However, it's baffling that there are only three volumes. This leaves me uncertain about what to expect from the rest of the story.

[AsianMerr · Rating 4 out of 5]

The quality is to die for here for the art. I wish this was on apps or deluxe edition pages. Story is solid, the “be a real hero” stuff is deep when I it wants to be and I’m looking forward to seeing what happens after. When it got emotional it was really good but also knew what it wanted to be. Hopefully the mangaka wraps this up nicely since it’s three volumes. so far so good the parts with the daughter and mother were very upsetting.

[Kris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Basically imagine Kentaro Miura’s “Berserk” and the 2009 film “Law Abiding Citizen” mashed together. It surprisingly works really well here. The tone of the story and the artwork is undeniably dark and mature. Themes such as murder, torture, rape and suicide are prevalent, but they are there to progress the story and it never felt “edgy” for the sake of edginess.

[Naomi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Papa ist ein Held der Gerechtigkeit

Kanetsugu nimmt Rache an den Mördern seiner Frau und seinem Kind. Kann er es schaffen, die Unsterblichen zu besiegen? Zum Glück hilft ihm das Mädchen dabei, welches zudem beschliesst mit ihrem Anhängsel, einem Monster einzuziehen.

Das Dorf der Wunder - entstand dort der Ursprung zu allem? und woher hat Kanetsugu eine solche Macht?

brutal, düster und purer Horror!
Eine Empfehlung

[Tess · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[:¨·.·¨: `·. izzy ★°*ﾟ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ehhh idk how I feel about this one.

Trigger warnings for murder, sa/rape, gore/death etc.

Some scenes were very graphic and hard to read, especially the one depicting the murder and rape of a woman. I really wasn’t expecting anything like that either.

The general plot of the manga was interesting enough, but I just feel like those scenes were unnecessary to the overall story.
As for the characters, I don’t really care for any of them, they feel a little boring tbh.

I have vol 2 so I’ll read that, but not sure if this is a series I’ll continue after that, sadly.

[Chadwyck Byer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this while at BAM! wasting time. This is some dark stuff!

Warning up front… Murder, Graphic Violence, Sexual Violence, Suicide, Dismemberment, Language, Nudity

Basic set-up is good guy cop Nawa is wrongfully accused of murdering his family and years later is released on parole. He is out for revenge because he knows who did kill his family. So bloodthirsty Nawa goes after the serial killer. By happenstance, Nawa has some supernatural powers that make it almost impossible to kill him. And there are others like him. Ren, a Shinigama doesn’t like this and wants to restore death to the world but needs to enlist Nawa to help her find others like him. Yue wants the opposite and for humanity to just be happy and live forever. And there is the conflict! So who does Nawa side with is kind of what this volume is about.

Again, this is some dark and brutal stuff. It reminded me a lot of Spawn or The Crow. And that isn’t a bad thing. Mix in some H.P. Lovecraft vibes and imagery and you have Yomotsuhegui. There is some humor to be found as well. I especially liked Ren and her Alien like tentacle friend whose name escapes me have some great lines. They are always hungry and rummaging through Nawa’s fridge and cabinets or asking him to bring them Tokoyaki home. They also are fond of Pizza, Pizza, Pizza!

The artwork is stellar! I was blown away by the detail and think most people will be.

I’m sure this will not be for everyone but for a dark and serious look at humanity, this volume was very well done.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

CW: this is a very brutal manga and should come with a lot of content warnings (including rape, torture, gore, suicide).

Extremely good first volume of this manga. It’s brutal but so good. The brutality was not there for the sake of it and in no way romanticized or normalized. The art is spectacular and the character designs really good and distinct from each other. The dialogue is natural (for a manga), the world building efficiently done with an easy to understand plot. The protagonist and antagonist ‘sides’ are nuanced so it’s not a clear ‘good vs bad’ (even though one of the ‘bad guys’ was truly bad). Both sides look to be trying to manipulate the MC. The MC is engaging with an understandable motivation. and you can get behind his character.

[Inko · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got the book for the solid artwork, which I think fits the narrative of how the story is going so far. I should also mentions if you someone who can handle body-gore, this book has alot of that going on along with adult-themes. I like the world-building as well that some of the characters are telling to the main protagonist, which I am looking forward to seeing more of in volume two when it comes out with an English translation.

[Cornerofmadness · Rating 3 out of 5]

Let me start with the content warnings: rape on the page, rape/torture, violence against everyone, murder of a child, serial killers, suicide on page.

So yeah, this is dark AF. Nawa Kanetsugu was a police officer who is now in jail. A couple of baddies looking for him found his wife and daughter and raped/killed them. He killed one of them in revenge. Now years later, he's out. His sister has kept his house for him but otherwise wants nothing to do with him. You get the idea he'd kill himself to be with his family only he has to finish killing the men who destroyed his family.

enter two characters, the serial killer who killed his wife (who is also doing the rape murders mentioned above) and a mysterious girl, Ren, who just so happens, along with her spirit partner, to be a shinigami, a god of death. Her plan is to kill all the Undying, humans who have eaten of the Yomotsuhegui tree (sort of like Yggdrasil) as humans weren't meant to be immortal.

Bet you can guess which serial killer has eaten of it. (But what else he's done with it is creepy as hell) and Nawa himself has been exposed, another undying. He learns of 'the king of the Undying' who thinks humans should have immortality. Nawa isn't really torn between him and Ren. He doesn't much care for their agendas. He just wants his revenge.

In spite of the darkness, it works. I could have done without the rape being drawn. It could have been hinted at but it does serve its purpose. It reminds me of The Crow or Deathwish. I'm not sure if I'll read more. The art is quite good.

[Justin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have very mixed feelings about this one. On the one hand, the art is phenomenal, the concept is decently compelling, and the nature of the seeds that turn people immortal makes for a nice bit of body horror. But on the other hand, Nawa's backstory of "cop out for revenge no matter the cost, after the murder of his family" isn't terribly inspired, and the creature he turns into as the "Hand of the Shinigami" is literally just Small Cthulhu. I know the Cthulhu Mythos is public domain now, but that's just incredibly lazy.

I also can't really get behind a protagonist who's working with someone who opposes the idea of immortality across the board. For me, personally, it would be like rooting for a character who's pro-genocide, or pro-slavery. I like the idea of immortality, and it's going to be hard to justify continuing on with a story about the quest of people condemning others to death. Your mileage may vary on this point, especially if there end up being more drastic downsides to eating the fruit/seeds later on. As it stands right now though, as well-drawn as it is, the underlying plot of Yomotsuhegui just puts me off.

[Nekomata · Rating 5 out of 5]

Watched a manga recommendation video and added this to my list cause it sounded interesting.

Holy shit, it was as good as I thought it would be. Amazing artwork, very gory at times but I've read Berserk and this is nothing compared to that. But it does remind me of Berserk with the theme of revenge and the "dark side taking over" is like Guts' Berserker armour.

Can't wait to see where the story goes next!

[Facundo Aqua · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aunque la historia no es una locura, es un shonen bastante gore, oscuro y retorcido (en lo gráfico) además el protagonista es medio Cthulhu así que no me puedo ofender. Me gustan mucho, mucho los dibujos. Kakizaki hace unos monstruos increíbles y te compra más por los ojos que por otra cosa.

[Fer B · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid start to a short story, with heavy themes and graphic scenes, so read with caution. The protagonist has a good personality (meaning, he's the kind of protagonists/main characters I like), the plot is really interesting and the art is gorgeous

[Courtney · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5, rounded up to a 4 for Goodreads.

For picking this up randomly based off the cover, it was a good, quick read. I was unsure at the beginning, but towards the halfway mark and end of the book, I was invested. I’m looking forward to continuing this series and seeing where Nawa and Ren go.

[RATA 🐀 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dude bro cliché manga, NOT for ME

[LilaDream31 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intrigante e con disegni pazzeschi, decisamente horror splatter ma con un tema bello potente.
Attendo il prossimo volume con trepidazione

[Mónica · Rating 4 out of 5]

4,5/5⭐
Just amazing

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Empieza con muy buena premisa pero termina cayendo en lo típico de un shonen, solo que esta vez disfradado de sheinen para poder poner desnudos femeninos

[Alexx Martinez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sus 3 tomos

[Natasja · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome story en beautiful artwork.

[Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love a story that ends. A great quick read that doesn’t look to stretch it out as much as they can.
The artwork is awesome and it wraps up nicely. Highly recommend.

[Mersi · Rating 5 out of 5]

this was awesome! it really triggered my trypophobia

[Veronica (LaRosanna) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Le tavole di questo manga sono stupende, soprattutto quelle che coprono entrambe le pagine
Essendo solo 3 volumi la storia scorre molto bene, pochi fronzoli ma con le informazioni che servono
Anche i personaggi presentati mi sono piaciuti, avanti il prossimo volume

[Wavieff · Rating 3 out of 5]

feels SO LOST and SO SPLIT on what story it wants to tell...but that cthulu type dude ROCKS...the art is SO GOOD....