What do you think?
Rate this book
Mail #1
Mail Volume 1
Private detective Reiji Akiba has a theory about those awkward moments and weird coincidences we all encounter in life. They are actually encounters with the dead-their way of sending us a message. But you may not want to open such strange mail from beyond-not unless you can see the ghostly attachment, like Akiba can. And not unless you carry a gun that can kill what isn't alive, like Akiba's aptly named Kagutsuchi, "the tool between God and earth" . . . digging a divine grave to lay to rest the evil dead. Volume 1 of Mail opens with a model's photo shoot at what was a lovely riverside. But someone's thrown their trash away here: human bones. When the negatives in the darkroom reveal hidden horror, it's time for the magazine to hire Akiba. The answers lie in the secret basement of a shunned house . . . but they don't lie peacefully! · Mail was recently made into a live-action Japanese horror movie starring Chiaki Kuriyama - "Go-Go Yubari" from Kill Bill.
208 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 1, 2004
9 people are currently reading
215 people want to read
About the author
Housui Yamazaki
51 books12 followersHousui Yamazaki [山崎 峰水] is a Japanese manga artist. He also has two other pseudonyms [Yamazaki Hiroshi:山崎 浩], [Hiro Yamazaki:ヒロ 山崎] He wrote and illustrated the three volume Mail series in 1999-2002, 2004, 2005. He currently illustrates The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service, which is authored by Eiji Otsuka.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 22 of 23 reviews
February 10, 2017
Apparently I have a _need-to-rate-review shelf from like 8 months ago that, like many of these books, I forgot existed. So we're going to blast through them Mad Max style, in no way giving them the attention I am sure they deserve.
So this one seems special. I actually seem to have finished all three volumes of this one. So either they are pretty dang good, or they are light on words and I figured "why not read them all in a sitting?"
These are all short story collections. Each volume tells six stories about a ghost detective. He writes some stuff on a bullet, and says some words, and shoots ghosts with a gun that only hurts ghosts. I guess? I don't recall it making much sense at the time either. Thankfully, and unlike any other books on this shelf, I left myself notes. (Go me!)
There are some notes on each story reminding me what the plots are, but the opening scribble is "Good. Graphic novels are expensive, so not sure I'd pay those prices. Grab if your library has it."
So there you go. Hopefully me from last summer wasn't an idiot.
3.5 "expensive for what it is, but still fun" stars.
So this one seems special. I actually seem to have finished all three volumes of this one. So either they are pretty dang good, or they are light on words and I figured "why not read them all in a sitting?"
These are all short story collections. Each volume tells six stories about a ghost detective. He writes some stuff on a bullet, and says some words, and shoots ghosts with a gun that only hurts ghosts. I guess? I don't recall it making much sense at the time either. Thankfully, and unlike any other books on this shelf, I left myself notes. (Go me!)
There are some notes on each story reminding me what the plots are, but the opening scribble is "Good. Graphic novels are expensive, so not sure I'd pay those prices. Grab if your library has it."
So there you go. Hopefully me from last summer wasn't an idiot.
3.5 "expensive for what it is, but still fun" stars.
September 11, 2008
Overall Rating: B
Synopsis: Created by the artist from Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service, Housui Yamazaki, the series follows private detective Reiji Akiba, who specializes in the paranormal. Volume 1 opens with a nude model shoot, which immediately tells you why the books are wrapped in plastic. The shoot is in a river, and according to the location scout, it was beautiful. Apparently, it flooded, and everything from trash to a skeleton got washed into the area.
The photos reveal even more creepiness. Aside from the nude woman, there is also a headless girl in the photo. This is when we're introduced to the eccentric (a nice way of saying very weird) Akiba. He believes that the dead try to communicate with us every day, and that if we read their "mail", then we can help put them to rest. Sometimes, the dead aren't cooperative, so he also has special bullets with prayers on them that help put the more unruly spirits to rest as well.
I like Mail, but I hope it picks up steam. There are a lot of parallels to Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service, which I love, but it doesn't quite capture the dark humor. It's more like Trigun meets horror, which could be fantastic if the series builds up steam.
Synopsis: Created by the artist from Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service, Housui Yamazaki, the series follows private detective Reiji Akiba, who specializes in the paranormal. Volume 1 opens with a nude model shoot, which immediately tells you why the books are wrapped in plastic. The shoot is in a river, and according to the location scout, it was beautiful. Apparently, it flooded, and everything from trash to a skeleton got washed into the area.
The photos reveal even more creepiness. Aside from the nude woman, there is also a headless girl in the photo. This is when we're introduced to the eccentric (a nice way of saying very weird) Akiba. He believes that the dead try to communicate with us every day, and that if we read their "mail", then we can help put them to rest. Sometimes, the dead aren't cooperative, so he also has special bullets with prayers on them that help put the more unruly spirits to rest as well.
I like Mail, but I hope it picks up steam. There are a lot of parallels to Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service, which I love, but it doesn't quite capture the dark humor. It's more like Trigun meets horror, which could be fantastic if the series builds up steam.
March 1, 2017
If you want to have a batch of classy Japanese horror stories presented in the form of manga - then look no further!
And that's the main up and down for this piece. As if you are into whole horror story thing and you want something new - not the place to look for originality as you might know all of the tales of death and grudge, as this manga recycles all the good and tried things that we have seen in other media like anime or movies.
But - if you are into it, and want more of the same good-old stuff - then this one is definitely an invitation you can't refuse. You asked for it, and you got it - grudgy ghosts of mutilating rapists, dead and restless children in trunk, long haired ghosts - you get the picture.
And the main character is your classy I-see-dead-people type, but with a resolve and has his sleeve of secrets he is not intending to share in the first volume. Which is nice and hopefully, one day I'll buy rest of the batch to know how the story ends and to have my share of classy Japanese horror tales.
Didn't love, didn't hate - simply liked it.
And that's the main up and down for this piece. As if you are into whole horror story thing and you want something new - not the place to look for originality as you might know all of the tales of death and grudge, as this manga recycles all the good and tried things that we have seen in other media like anime or movies.
But - if you are into it, and want more of the same good-old stuff - then this one is definitely an invitation you can't refuse. You asked for it, and you got it - grudgy ghosts of mutilating rapists, dead and restless children in trunk, long haired ghosts - you get the picture.
And the main character is your classy I-see-dead-people type, but with a resolve and has his sleeve of secrets he is not intending to share in the first volume. Which is nice and hopefully, one day I'll buy rest of the batch to know how the story ends and to have my share of classy Japanese horror tales.
Didn't love, didn't hate - simply liked it.
August 18, 2015
Really enjoyed this. Reminds me of Doctor Who, in the style of Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service. Onto volume 2!
August 16, 2024
The stories themselves were pretty solid. I was drawn in by the characterization and quick pacing, but the use sound effects translated strangely. I've read other Manga, but this one surprised me in how much it used kana, which are basically symbols that represent sounds as I understand it. I suppose any Japanese linguist would be familiar with these, but I wasn't at all. The so-called glossary at the end makes an attempt to identify all of them, but I didn't know it was there until I finished reading my digital copy, and it wouldn't have been all that helpful anyway. So everytime I saw these, which was frequent, I could only guess at what they meant. And it made me wonder, would I want this sound written out in English? Well, no, probably not, which shows why the attempt to add sound effects in a comic falls flat. I was reminded of the original Batman tv series, which would write out sounds like "POW" and "BANG" and how cheesy that was. These kana are much more nuanced, but they didn't work for me because of the language barrier in particular. So I just passed over the kana quickly as they only detracted from the reading for me. The essay that comprises most of the glossary was really technical and boring in explaining the background behind these kana and more of the language in general. Overall though, the stories themselves were great all-around, and I'll probably read the next volume.
March 31, 2020
Mail follows a ghost detective, or rather a detective who looks for ghost -- it's a series of shorts focused on different ghostly cases, with one chapter (the last) actually focusing on who our protagonist even is. The stories felt a little same-y; there's only so many murderous child ghosts you can pack into one volume, and the ghost designs never felt as visceral as they needed to. I wish it had more of an eye for character development, because it felt very insubstantial until the last chapter, and by then I was already half-checked out of this concept.
July 30, 2022
I can understand why many perceive this manga series to be episodic. As the chapters progress the readers witness our main protagonist, Reiji Akiba, a detective with the uncanny ability to see things that many others can’t, help individuals who are experiencing hauntings. The concept of this manga honestly reminded me of Doctor Who meets Supernatural, which gave me the much welcomed nostalgia from watching those shows growing up!
January 26, 2019
Fun short story collection, but too episodic for me to be drawn in.
February 5, 2013
After reading this issue I immediately bought the rest of the series. This manga scared the SHIT out of me. It's kinda touching and super creepy, and only occasionally gory. I'm not sure why Japan's weird fetish with molestation makes an appearance in every manga ever, but it only features in one story in the whole series. I could go without that, but the rest of the stories are SOLID: a ghost that plays hide and seek, a girl who crawls around searching for her LEGS, OMG SO SCARY. And so good.
July 15, 2015
This horror manga series follows private detective Reiji Akiba, who specializes in the paranormal cases, through his investigation of ghosts who are endangering the lives of the living. There are five stories in each volume and each is unique and creepy in it’s own way. I enjoyed reading it and look forward to reading more.
August 18, 2010
Less interesting than the synopsis sounds, this volume is a series of short stories, with the connecting plot threads just starting to emerge in the final tale. The art is effectively creepy in spots, and I suspect subsequent volumes will be more interesting.
December 22, 2015
I've read it before but I recently found volume 3 shrink-wrapped in a local comic store for 50% off...and figured I might as well try to acquire the rest. I'm going to laugh when I go to my parents' house and see all three volumes sitting on a shelf.
September 24, 2008
The faces were kind of wonky in some panels, but for creepy done-in-one horror stories, this series delivers.
November 3, 2009
It was not too bad book. Not exciting and engrossed as Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service, but readable.
January 4, 2011
There’s nothing special here. Move along now.
June 27, 2012
I had forgotten I read this book until I read it again very recently. It's a pretty typical horror novel, with plenty of jokes thrown in, of course.
December 11, 2012
I love horror manga, especially short stories. So this was a quick, perfect collection to read in broad daylight.
June 12, 2014
more like a 2.5 bit who's counting? It's want bad, it was just nothing new.
August 12, 2016
Can something be terrifying and delightful at the same time? If so, this is it.
August 23, 2019
Alright horror series. A little predictable and not scary.
Their other work Kurosaki Corpse delivery has a better cast and more clever stories.
Their other work Kurosaki Corpse delivery has a better cast and more clever stories.
July 13, 2023
Incredibly frightening page turner! If you are into horror, this anthology will keep you at the edge of your seat
Displaying 1 - 22 of 23 reviews