The Embalmer, Volume 2

The Embalmer #2

by Mitsukazu Mihara, 三原ミツカズ

Mitsukazu Mihara's dramatically chilling look at the meaning of life, death, and the other side continues...For Shinjyurou Mamiya--an embalmer in a nation where men of his profession are viewed as outcasts--memory has always been like a prison. He reminisces about his first love and how that experience has locked him into a holding pattern in his current place in life. He encounters the lonely, the forgotten, and those who desperately hold onto their last of shred humanity. But his dealing with death will ultimately lead him to the true freedom that life offers..."The Embalmer is a great starting point if you like reading books about the great beyond, because it stays firmly grounded in the land of the living. If you've ever lost someone close to you, this book will really tug at your heartstrings, but it also might become a treasured part of your bookshelf." ign.com

Genres: Manga, Fiction, Romance, Graphic Novels, Comics, Death, Comics Manga

192 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2004

About the author

三原 ミツカズ (MIHARA Mitsukazu) is credited with helping shape the GothLoli look through her work in the "Gothic & Lolita Bible"

In 1994, she won the first "Feel Young New Face Manga Awards" Judges’ Special Prize with her short work, "The Children Who Don’t Need Rubbers."

She resides in Osaka, Japan.

Sometimes credited as MIHARA Tsukazu.
[via Mangaupdates]

Reviews

[Inn Auni · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm waiting for Shin to finally confess his true feeling. The romance was slow burn. We got more insight on Shin. And of course the side stories were heart-warming as usual. And I found out that it had a 12 episodes live action.

[Alice bookworm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Feels more soap opera and there's more focus on the reoccurring characters than than the one shot but I think it works a lot for the most part, Mihara is a very good writer so even the more unusual plots kept me hooked.

[Albercik · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pierwsze rozdział po prostu nie... tak się nie robi.
Poza tym "przyjemne " w czytaniu.

[Eliška Trhlíková · Rating 4 out of 5]

dobre, projde mi, ze se to vic rozjelo a pribehy jsou zajimavejsi

[Karola · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5

[Nicole Bunge · Rating 4 out of 5]

So Vol. 2 is a bit better, because we get more background on Shinjyurou. He's got an American father, who was also an embalmer - for the Embassy and the military. He was an outsider as a kid too, got beat up a lot.

We also learn more about Shouko Koyuki - a hot female hospital doctor who is both an advocate for Shinjyurou's embalming practice (she refers him a lot of clients) and seems to either shamelessly flirt with him, or be hooking up with him. (Kinda hard to tell - especially after the story of her past marriage is told.)

Some of the stories are a bit creepy, but... people react weirdly to death. And actually one of the things I like about Mihara is the twisted, dark way she portrays humanity. It's not horror, and it's not done for laughs, it's just that human drama, emotions, and predilections are disturbing at times. (This is more overt in the "Doll" series - which deals more with sexuality, perversion and humanity, but I note the underlying themes are present here too.)

For manga, and for the minuet/short story format, Mihara is very good at making you care about her characters. You may not like them, but you want to know their stories. So I'll have to seek out the other books in this 6 series set now.

[Sparrow · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't think this issue was as great as the first one. The stories were okay. I think the one with the dollmaker was a bit farfetched. I loved the one with the doctor who married the older doctor - that was bittersweet and lovely. I liked learned more about Shin's past, but honestly, why would a girl lie about being a cop's daughter? Also a little farfetched. Hence why I knocked off a star from my original review of this issue.

[es. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This volume was just as good as the first, and allows us a glimpse into Shinjyuruo's life, but only a little. We learn of how he came to be an embalmer, and when we learn of his life, it changes to scenes with another's who lost his father and is now under Shinjyurou's care. Its tragic, but beautiful and a life lesson at the same time.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

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