What do you think?
あことバンビ [Ako to Bambi] #1
Ako and Bambi, Vol. 1
What happens when you put one down-on-his-luck amateur novelist and one amnesiac ghost girl in one bargain-priced haunted apartment? You get the punch line of Bambi’s life. The good news is, Ako is neither the ghost of the person who supposedly committed suicide in the rental nor an unfriendly poltergeist hell-bent on causing chaos. But she needs a place to hang out until she can ascend to wherever ghosts go and Bambi needs source material for his career, so maybe they can have a mutually beneficial relationship...
152 pages, Paperback
First published September 20, 2022
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
February 24, 2024
3.5 rounded up.
This is fascinating with tantalizing hints of what might have made the characters who they are and a good use of the four-panel format. I suspect that bullying will play a role, and quite possibly attempted suicide as more of the past is revealed, so keep that in mind, because it could get quite a bit darker from here.
This is fascinating with tantalizing hints of what might have made the characters who they are and a good use of the four-panel format. I suspect that bullying will play a role, and quite possibly attempted suicide as more of the past is revealed, so keep that in mind, because it could get quite a bit darker from here.
May 26, 2026
I believe Yen Press had sent this to me way back when for promotional purposes. An interesting idea of a ghost who actually is just the conscience of someone who is asleep?
Probably won’t go out of my way to continue, but if I see volume 2 in the wild I’ll get it.
Probably won’t go out of my way to continue, but if I see volume 2 in the wild I’ll get it.
June 22, 2024
Slow-paced and meandering: a young writer who dropped out of high school to work as a fiction columnist but has been recently replaced moves into a cheap apartment and discovers it's frequented by the ghostly apparition of a high school girl who doesn't remember anything about her life or death. He gets the idea to write a new story about her, but things get weirdly complicated when we start finding out more about the ghost-girl and a living girl at a nearby high school.
The story moves slowly and for awhile it's not clear what the connection is between the main author-story and seemingly random interludes with this seemingly unrelated schoolgirl. I think I might have enjoyed it better if it had stayed to the ghost premise, but the way they steered it just felt unsatisfyingly (to me) weird. It looks like the story is aiming to focus more on human interrelationships and the impact of life choices on those.
Might appeal most to fans of slow & surreal stories like Stein's Gate.
Content concerns: no swearing that I remember, no nudity or sex scenes (though mention of a background character having an affair), no drugs/alcohol/drunkenness (at least not in this volume - I don't know about later); mention of suicide
The story moves slowly and for awhile it's not clear what the connection is between the main author-story and seemingly random interludes with this seemingly unrelated schoolgirl. I think I might have enjoyed it better if it had stayed to the ghost premise, but the way they steered it just felt unsatisfyingly (to me) weird. It looks like the story is aiming to focus more on human interrelationships and the impact of life choices on those.
Might appeal most to fans of slow & surreal stories like Stein's Gate.
Content concerns: no swearing that I remember, no nudity or sex scenes (though mention of a background character having an affair), no drugs/alcohol/drunkenness (at least not in this volume - I don't know about later); mention of suicide
August 27, 2025
This story has an interesting premise with slow pacing and simple characters. The colors improve the atmosphere quite well.
I thought Sukuwa was the same person as Kojika, which led to some of the most intense confusion I've ever felt about a book. I genuinely began wondering if the characters were time traveling. It's really not that complicated.
The series is okay so far. I'll probably read more eventually.
I thought Sukuwa was the same person as Kojika, which led to some of the most intense confusion I've ever felt about a book. I genuinely began wondering if the characters were time traveling. It's really not that complicated.
The series is okay so far. I'll probably read more eventually.
August 30, 2024
This was an intriguing volume but very slow and not enough to make me want to continue. It was hard to follow at times because there would be a scene change halfway thru the 4 panel column that would leave me confused and pull me out of the story.
April 24, 2024
In Summary
Horror writer Bambi has an actual encounter with an apparition in his own home! However, Ako is not malevolent or even that unnerving. She is, though, a bit of a mystery, when Bambi discovers that she’s linked to a living girl’s dreams. It’s a lot of socially awkward characters dealing with a mildly bizarre phenomenon in this slow-paced supernatural tale.
The Review
Money’s tight for 18-year-old Bambi, a struggling horror writer. The only apartment he can afford is one whose previous occupant committed suicide in the bathtub. He doesn’t actually think it’s haunted though – until the apparition of a teenage girl appears before him. Fortunately, Ako has a pleasant disposition, and Bambi needs ideas for his next story. So the two strike a deal for him to model his next protagonist after her.
There are a few things that are unusual about this manga. First, the formatting resembles 4-panel comics, but it doesn’t follow the standard pattern where each column is a self-contained arc or thought. Rather, the story is presented in a chapter format, but the size/shape of the panels are limited to the one used for 4-panel comics. The panels are read from top to bottom, but scene breaks can occur anywhere, not just at the bottom of a panel column. In terms of printing, they used sepia instead of the usual black ink along with light blue for shading, which you don’t normally get for manga.
Then there’s the genre, which is somewhat difficult to categorize. The combination of a horror author in an apartment where a suicide occurred would lead you to think this is a spooky ghost story or thriller. But even though Ako introduces herself as a ghost, she has nothing to do with the apartment suicide, and we learn within the first third of the book that she’s not actually a ghost. Rather, she’s the alternate personality of a very much alive high school girl, Ako Yamashiro, which manifests when the real Ako is asleep. So while the manga has a strong supernatural element, it’s not scary or creepy. Rather, it feels like a slice of life involving socially awkward teenagers with a mysterious element thrown in.
Thus far, the main driver of the story appears to be the mystery of not-ghost Ako’s true nature and how she is connected to Ako Yamashiro. However, a huge amount of time is spent on detailing Ako Yamashiro’s school routine and Bambi’s writing career. When the psychic Irifune enters the story, she’s more of a vehicle to shed light on Bambi’s pre-writer past than a means to provide new insight on what kind of phenomena Ako is. Plus, the pacing is fairly slow. There’s not much action beyond package deliveries and conversations, so whether you stick with the story will depend on if you get attached to the characters.
I should mention that character interactions require a higher-than-average understanding of cultural references, mostly having to do with Japanese superstitions. Fortunately, the book does explain a lot in the translation notes, but dialogue regarding Japanese characters and name meanings doesn’t translate well into English.
For more manga and book reviews, drop by my blog Keeping It In Canon!
Horror writer Bambi has an actual encounter with an apparition in his own home! However, Ako is not malevolent or even that unnerving. She is, though, a bit of a mystery, when Bambi discovers that she’s linked to a living girl’s dreams. It’s a lot of socially awkward characters dealing with a mildly bizarre phenomenon in this slow-paced supernatural tale.
The Review
Money’s tight for 18-year-old Bambi, a struggling horror writer. The only apartment he can afford is one whose previous occupant committed suicide in the bathtub. He doesn’t actually think it’s haunted though – until the apparition of a teenage girl appears before him. Fortunately, Ako has a pleasant disposition, and Bambi needs ideas for his next story. So the two strike a deal for him to model his next protagonist after her.
There are a few things that are unusual about this manga. First, the formatting resembles 4-panel comics, but it doesn’t follow the standard pattern where each column is a self-contained arc or thought. Rather, the story is presented in a chapter format, but the size/shape of the panels are limited to the one used for 4-panel comics. The panels are read from top to bottom, but scene breaks can occur anywhere, not just at the bottom of a panel column. In terms of printing, they used sepia instead of the usual black ink along with light blue for shading, which you don’t normally get for manga.
Then there’s the genre, which is somewhat difficult to categorize. The combination of a horror author in an apartment where a suicide occurred would lead you to think this is a spooky ghost story or thriller. But even though Ako introduces herself as a ghost, she has nothing to do with the apartment suicide, and we learn within the first third of the book that she’s not actually a ghost. Rather, she’s the alternate personality of a very much alive high school girl, Ako Yamashiro, which manifests when the real Ako is asleep. So while the manga has a strong supernatural element, it’s not scary or creepy. Rather, it feels like a slice of life involving socially awkward teenagers with a mysterious element thrown in.
Thus far, the main driver of the story appears to be the mystery of not-ghost Ako’s true nature and how she is connected to Ako Yamashiro. However, a huge amount of time is spent on detailing Ako Yamashiro’s school routine and Bambi’s writing career. When the psychic Irifune enters the story, she’s more of a vehicle to shed light on Bambi’s pre-writer past than a means to provide new insight on what kind of phenomena Ako is. Plus, the pacing is fairly slow. There’s not much action beyond package deliveries and conversations, so whether you stick with the story will depend on if you get attached to the characters.
I should mention that character interactions require a higher-than-average understanding of cultural references, mostly having to do with Japanese superstitions. Fortunately, the book does explain a lot in the translation notes, but dialogue regarding Japanese characters and name meanings doesn’t translate well into English.
For more manga and book reviews, drop by my blog Keeping It In Canon!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 8, 2024
Manga that uses the eight panel - four horizontal panels side by side always offers a unique reading experience that fits a certain tone in stories. I enjoyed it in Doomsday with My Dog, Vol. 1 and I liked it in this story, though the story is a bit offbeat.
An unsuccessful writer nicknamed Bambi needs new material to pay the bills and he just might have found it in this ghost figure Ako who appears inside his apartment. Seemingly unrelated to a suicide that happened in the bathtub of his apartment, Ako doesn't know who she is and disappears and reappears in ways that Bambi is trying to put the pieces together... while writing about it in the hopes that it will help his career.
Not sure where it's going but it has a quiet style unfolding like a mystery too. It's accepted that she's this mysterious figure and Bambi is curious, but not frightened as she doesn't appear to be evil or have bad intentions.
An unsuccessful writer nicknamed Bambi needs new material to pay the bills and he just might have found it in this ghost figure Ako who appears inside his apartment. Seemingly unrelated to a suicide that happened in the bathtub of his apartment, Ako doesn't know who she is and disappears and reappears in ways that Bambi is trying to put the pieces together... while writing about it in the hopes that it will help his career.
Not sure where it's going but it has a quiet style unfolding like a mystery too. It's accepted that she's this mysterious figure and Bambi is curious, but not frightened as she doesn't appear to be evil or have bad intentions.
September 7, 2025
I really enjoyed learning about the characters in this volume, and am very excited to learn more about them!!
Kojika (Bambi) is a very interesting character! I love it when main characters are written to have a passion for writing, so I am a little bias~. He dropped out of school in order to pursue writing, much to the dismay of his classmates. We don’t really learn much of his family situation in this volume, nor exactly what led to him moving out to live on his own. I think it’s interesting that he was depicted as hating scary stories, as now he specializes in horror stories!
Ako/Yamashiro is a very cute, but mysterious girl, and I’m very excited to learn more about her! Both her sleep and awake self have very unique personality traits, and I wonder if were she able to fix her current condition, would they be able to merge into one? While Ako is almost overly cheerful, Yamashiro is almost overly gloomy. I guess I’ll just have to read on to learn more about them…
Check out my full review of this volume on my blog here!
Kojika (Bambi) is a very interesting character! I love it when main characters are written to have a passion for writing, so I am a little bias~. He dropped out of school in order to pursue writing, much to the dismay of his classmates. We don’t really learn much of his family situation in this volume, nor exactly what led to him moving out to live on his own. I think it’s interesting that he was depicted as hating scary stories, as now he specializes in horror stories!
Ako/Yamashiro is a very cute, but mysterious girl, and I’m very excited to learn more about her! Both her sleep and awake self have very unique personality traits, and I wonder if were she able to fix her current condition, would they be able to merge into one? While Ako is almost overly cheerful, Yamashiro is almost overly gloomy. I guess I’ll just have to read on to learn more about them…
Check out my full review of this volume on my blog here!
May 20, 2024
The art style is cute and I’m a big fan of the unique coloring choice. I don’t have an issue with the paneling style but I was kind of hoping we’d get a page that broke out of that style for an extra impactful moment. It hasn’t happened yet but of course still could in a future volume.
As far as the story goes, I’m interested if not somewhat confused. Less so now for sure, but especially in the first half I was not fully sure what was going on. That being said, I do think that it was intentionally done to add to the mystery. At first I thought Bambi was one of Yamashiro’s classmates in present time, then I thought it was a flashback, then I thought maybe some weird time stuff was happening, then I realized no that’s actually just two different people haha.
I’m still interested in seeing where the story goes so I’ll be picking up the next volume for sure.
As far as the story goes, I’m interested if not somewhat confused. Less so now for sure, but especially in the first half I was not fully sure what was going on. That being said, I do think that it was intentionally done to add to the mystery. At first I thought Bambi was one of Yamashiro’s classmates in present time, then I thought it was a flashback, then I thought maybe some weird time stuff was happening, then I realized no that’s actually just two different people haha.
I’m still interested in seeing where the story goes so I’ll be picking up the next volume for sure.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 29, 2024
struggling to rate/review this... maybe closer to 3.5 stars.
a few things I really loved: the art style, the low-stakes mystery, and Ako! I also liked being slowly introduced to characters - Hero really does know how to build an ensemble cast so I'm excited to keep going.
my biggest drawback was how lost I felt for the majority of the story, and I couldn't tell if that was intentional or not (I don't think it was). I really thought for a while that Bambi was one of Yamashiro's classmates, until I realized I was confusing him with someone else. I started to become really grounded in the story towards the second half of the volume however, so I'm looking forward to the next one!
a few things I really loved: the art style, the low-stakes mystery, and Ako! I also liked being slowly introduced to characters - Hero really does know how to build an ensemble cast so I'm excited to keep going.
my biggest drawback was how lost I felt for the majority of the story, and I couldn't tell if that was intentional or not (I don't think it was). I really thought for a while that Bambi was one of Yamashiro's classmates, until I realized I was confusing him with someone else. I started to become really grounded in the story towards the second half of the volume however, so I'm looking forward to the next one!
April 19, 2024
This is really interesting. I wanted to see what they'd do after Horimiya, and so picked this up; it's the story of an amateur novelist and the "ghost" (psychic projection?) of a girl who is haunting his apartment - it's quickly clear that she's not a real ghost (although she does know some), but what exactly is she? And why does she keep hanging out here? There's some slow development of tangled relationships, we're introduced to a bunch of interesting ideas, and so I'm really curious where it's going to go from here.
February 29, 2024
This series is so chill. Even with the “mystery” of Ako, it’s not a series that will have you on the edge of your seat. And that’s okay! I love it for that reason! Hero always creates series where it’s mostly character driven. It’s about the characters and the conversations they have. Never too much drama (even with a ghost! Lol)…
August 13, 2025
Somebody please translate the last 10 chapters 😭. Meandering, drags on, really slow, but still fun slice of life romance. They really lost the plot with the ghost and spirit idea though but lowkey idgaf I enjoyed the dialogue and characters enough though it should definitely be like 20% shorter. First romance in awhile to actually get me invested.
April 14, 2024
More like a 3.5
May 22, 2024
It meanders around in a way that’s not *bad*, exactly, I’m just not very engaged.
August 3, 2024
The premise so far is really cute and interesting.
October 8, 2024
I really enjoyed the two tone printing. The story unfolds in a confusing manor, but overall I think I'm enjoying it enough to pick up another volume.
October 21, 2024
Rounded up. Slow paced, but rather interesting in how the story layers upon itself. I have theories for the reveal in volume two.
November 19, 2024
Review in Process.
Unique premise and color palette. Interesting beginning to the story.
Unique premise and color palette. Interesting beginning to the story.
December 9, 2024
12/24 An interesting and unique 4-panel story idea! A little quiet maybe, but I'm intrigued to see where this is going and happy I have 3 volumes on hand.
February 14, 2026
This was just.. kinda meh, unfortunately? I thought it might be more funny? Or sweet? But not a lot happens and the characters are all kinda stagnant..
March 3, 2024
Volume was is primarily focused on introducing the characters and situation. Then it moves onto establishing the rules for how Ako's haunting works. Finally it begins to fill in some of Bambi's backstory.
I'm curious to see where things go in volume 2. The translated volume is expected on June 18, 2024.
https://pussreboots.com/blog/2024/com...
I'm curious to see where things go in volume 2. The translated volume is expected on June 18, 2024.
https://pussreboots.com/blog/2024/com...
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews