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Kusunoki's Garden of Gods #2
Kusunoki's Garden of Gods, Vol. 2
With the arrival of the free-wheeling kirin and the stern ho’o (in chick form), the Kusunoki residence is now more lively and divine than ever. The garden changes to spring at the whim of the Yamagami, and Minato and the other residents spend their leisurely days watching the cherry blossoms and savoring seasonal delicacies. New kami wander into the garden, and Minato finds his way into other kami realms, proving that springtime really is the season of new beginnings. Meanwhile, however, the onmyoji find themselves busy exterminating the huge number of evil beings that seem to keep rearing their heads in spring…
244 pages, Paperback
Published May 20, 2025
5 people are currently reading
14 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 19, 2025
Just as enjoyable as the first, as we settle in and get more familiar with the inhabitants of the garden of Gods, and other characters introduced in the the first. It was interesting to be introduced to Saiga's sisters, as well as a couple of kamis and the like. Still had the easy, slice of life vibe that I enjoyed, and this time round we do get some action which helped kick up the momentum at times. All in all, this is shaping up to be like a cross between Natsume's Book of Friends and xxxHolic, two of my favourite manga/anime series.
Looking forward to the third installment!
Looking forward to the third installment!
May 21, 2025
Sadly, I did not enjoy it as much as I did the first volume. This one felt a bit scattered and not working towards the same plot; it felt a bit "lost." That said, it is a good story, and I like the slow pace at which it is told. I also enjoyed all of the fabulous characters and the magic!!!!! On to my next adventure, Happy Readings!!!
June 15, 2025
Addictive, sweet, and wonderful!
This series is a lovely step into Japanese fairy tale urban culture, and a refreshing cozy experience. Love the characters, story, and detailed world building. Can’t wait for the next installment in this fascinating universe.
This series is a lovely step into Japanese fairy tale urban culture, and a refreshing cozy experience. Love the characters, story, and detailed world building. Can’t wait for the next installment in this fascinating universe.
August 12, 2025
Not bad, it is monotonous but it is a good read when you want to relax; read something without any means or goals and make the anxiety lessen. It is not the best, but it does the job.
February 22, 2026
Had these been around for me to find when I was a teenager...
Kusunoki’s Garden of Gods Review
5/5 stars
This will be a spoiler free review. Onto the review!
Most of the light novel series I see floating around are those ones by that one author, the ones with the guys from Chinese mythology who reincarnated and are super gay. You know the ones I’m talking about. Heaven’s Blessing or whatever they’re called. I assumed based on what very little selection of light novels I’ve heard about that most of them are romance or romantasy and that I likely wouldn’t enjoy them.
Well, I found a light novel series for me. And it was completely by accident. I get emails from the library I work at every week with a list of all the new stuff that our collection team ordered. When I was going through the teen section, I saw this and thought it was a new manga series. I usually try to keep up with new manga, so I thought it was weird I hadn’t heard of this, but I figured it just slipped under my radar.
When the first one of these arrived at the library, I learned that this is not a manga series. It’s a light novel. I assumed it was manga because it lists both an author and an illustrator on the cover. That usually means manga. Nope. It’s just a light novel with illustrations. I’m really glad I read it despite it not being a manga, because I immediately fell in love with this series. Now I’ve read two of them, and I’m waiting for the third to arrive. Update: THE THIRD HAS ARRIVED!!!
This series is about a guy named Kusunoki who can see mythical creatures and spirits. His parents are architects, and they recently built a house for an older couple. This couple had intended for this house to be their retirement home, but shortly after moving in, they passed away. I’m not entirely sure why, but for some reason, the house reverted ownership back to his parents. I’m guessing this has something to do with Japanese property law that I’m not familiar with. The important thing is, now his parents own this random house in the middle of nowhere and need someone to house sit until they find a new buyer.
And of course Kusunoki ends up as the house sitter. He just recently finished college, and had just moved back home to job hunt. The old couple died right before he could begin job hunting, so he’s the perfect person to live there temporarily. His parents offer to pay for all his necessities, since he’s doing a favor for them. The perks of being rich architects, I guess.
Immediately upon arriving at the house, he notices that anything he writes down very quickly fades. Trying to do simple things like write out a grocery list is suddenly very difficult, because the ink keeps disappearing. And then an injured wolf appears in his garden. But it’s clearly not a regular wolf. Kusunoki ends up nursing this creature back to health. As it turns out, this is the god (aka kami) of the mountain, so if he had ignored it, the entire mountain nearby might have started to wither and die.
The mountain kami then decides to move into his garden. Cause what else better things does he have to do? Kusunoki very quickly learns that he can see things that are invisible to other people, and some of these invisible spirits might be the cause of his notes suddenly going blank.
This series is part cozy fantasy and part paranormal ghost hunt, and I think that combination works really well. Kusunoki ends up making friends with some of the local exorcists, as well as many of the local spirits and kami. The kami start teaching him how to use magical powers he never knew he had, which he then uses to help his exorcist friends get rid of evil spirits.
I know that what I just described might not sound like it’s cozy, but trust me, it is. Most of the story is him hanging out in the garden with the kami, learning magic, which mostly involves trying out different paper and ink. Also, the kami love sweets, so most of his excursions into town are him visiting pastry shops. The ghost hunting only makes up a small portion of the actual story, and even when you do see it, it’s not written to be super spooky or scary. In other words, if you go into this series expecting a horror series, that is not what you’re getting.
I fell completely head over heels in love with this series from the moment I started it. The kami are very cute (though you probably shouldn’t call them that to their face lol). Kusunoki is very sweet and clearly cares very much for all of them. The exorcists are, well, at times a bit dysfunctional and stupid, but that just makes them all the more endearing and funny.
Apparently, this is quite a long series that is just now getting an English translation. And there’s an anime coming out later this year, the art of which will be based on a manga adaptation that I didn’t know about, but hasn’t been translated into English. It looks like they have a good team working on the anime, so I’m very excited.
If you’re looking for a cozy fantasy that has just a hint of spooky, I cannot recommend this series enough. I love it so much.
Have a nice day/night everyone!
Kusunoki’s Garden of Gods Review
5/5 stars
This will be a spoiler free review. Onto the review!
Most of the light novel series I see floating around are those ones by that one author, the ones with the guys from Chinese mythology who reincarnated and are super gay. You know the ones I’m talking about. Heaven’s Blessing or whatever they’re called. I assumed based on what very little selection of light novels I’ve heard about that most of them are romance or romantasy and that I likely wouldn’t enjoy them.
Well, I found a light novel series for me. And it was completely by accident. I get emails from the library I work at every week with a list of all the new stuff that our collection team ordered. When I was going through the teen section, I saw this and thought it was a new manga series. I usually try to keep up with new manga, so I thought it was weird I hadn’t heard of this, but I figured it just slipped under my radar.
When the first one of these arrived at the library, I learned that this is not a manga series. It’s a light novel. I assumed it was manga because it lists both an author and an illustrator on the cover. That usually means manga. Nope. It’s just a light novel with illustrations. I’m really glad I read it despite it not being a manga, because I immediately fell in love with this series. Now I’ve read two of them, and I’m waiting for the third to arrive. Update: THE THIRD HAS ARRIVED!!!
This series is about a guy named Kusunoki who can see mythical creatures and spirits. His parents are architects, and they recently built a house for an older couple. This couple had intended for this house to be their retirement home, but shortly after moving in, they passed away. I’m not entirely sure why, but for some reason, the house reverted ownership back to his parents. I’m guessing this has something to do with Japanese property law that I’m not familiar with. The important thing is, now his parents own this random house in the middle of nowhere and need someone to house sit until they find a new buyer.
And of course Kusunoki ends up as the house sitter. He just recently finished college, and had just moved back home to job hunt. The old couple died right before he could begin job hunting, so he’s the perfect person to live there temporarily. His parents offer to pay for all his necessities, since he’s doing a favor for them. The perks of being rich architects, I guess.
Immediately upon arriving at the house, he notices that anything he writes down very quickly fades. Trying to do simple things like write out a grocery list is suddenly very difficult, because the ink keeps disappearing. And then an injured wolf appears in his garden. But it’s clearly not a regular wolf. Kusunoki ends up nursing this creature back to health. As it turns out, this is the god (aka kami) of the mountain, so if he had ignored it, the entire mountain nearby might have started to wither and die.
The mountain kami then decides to move into his garden. Cause what else better things does he have to do? Kusunoki very quickly learns that he can see things that are invisible to other people, and some of these invisible spirits might be the cause of his notes suddenly going blank.
This series is part cozy fantasy and part paranormal ghost hunt, and I think that combination works really well. Kusunoki ends up making friends with some of the local exorcists, as well as many of the local spirits and kami. The kami start teaching him how to use magical powers he never knew he had, which he then uses to help his exorcist friends get rid of evil spirits.
I know that what I just described might not sound like it’s cozy, but trust me, it is. Most of the story is him hanging out in the garden with the kami, learning magic, which mostly involves trying out different paper and ink. Also, the kami love sweets, so most of his excursions into town are him visiting pastry shops. The ghost hunting only makes up a small portion of the actual story, and even when you do see it, it’s not written to be super spooky or scary. In other words, if you go into this series expecting a horror series, that is not what you’re getting.
I fell completely head over heels in love with this series from the moment I started it. The kami are very cute (though you probably shouldn’t call them that to their face lol). Kusunoki is very sweet and clearly cares very much for all of them. The exorcists are, well, at times a bit dysfunctional and stupid, but that just makes them all the more endearing and funny.
Apparently, this is quite a long series that is just now getting an English translation. And there’s an anime coming out later this year, the art of which will be based on a manga adaptation that I didn’t know about, but hasn’t been translated into English. It looks like they have a good team working on the anime, so I’m very excited.
If you’re looking for a cozy fantasy that has just a hint of spooky, I cannot recommend this series enough. I love it so much.
Have a nice day/night everyone!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews