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死者の声を聞くことができる“いたこ”能力を持つ主人公・唐津九郎ほか、奇妙な能力を有する「黒鷺死体宅配便」メンバーたち。今回、彼らの前に登場する死体は透明人間で…。大塚英志&山崎峰水による大ヒットホラー
198 pages, Paperback
First published August 5, 2008
10 people are currently reading
174 people want to read
About the author
Eiji Otsuka
361 books143 followers大塚英志
Social anthropologist and novelist. Graduated from college with degree in anthropology, women's folklore, human sacrifice and post-war manga. In addition to his work with manga he is a critic, essayist, and author of several successful non-fiction books on Japanese popular and “otaku” sub-cultures. One of his first animation script works was Maho no Rouge Lipstick, an adult lolicon OVA. Otsuka was the editor for the bishojo lolicon manga series Petit Apple Pie.
In the 80s, Otsuka was editor-in-chief of Manga Burikko, a leading women's manga magazine where he pioneered research on the “otaku” sub-culture in modern Japan. In 1988 he published "Manga no Koro" (The Structure of Comics), a serious study of Japanese comics and their social significance. Also as critic, Otsuka Eiji, summarized the case of the Japanese red army's 1972 murders as a conflict between the masculine and the feminine principles as they were both embodied by women and against women (Otsuka,1994).
Social anthropologist and novelist. Graduated from college with degree in anthropology, women's folklore, human sacrifice and post-war manga. In addition to his work with manga he is a critic, essayist, and author of several successful non-fiction books on Japanese popular and “otaku” sub-cultures. One of his first animation script works was Maho no Rouge Lipstick, an adult lolicon OVA. Otsuka was the editor for the bishojo lolicon manga series Petit Apple Pie.
In the 80s, Otsuka was editor-in-chief of Manga Burikko, a leading women's manga magazine where he pioneered research on the “otaku” sub-culture in modern Japan. In 1988 he published "Manga no Koro" (The Structure of Comics), a serious study of Japanese comics and their social significance. Also as critic, Otsuka Eiji, summarized the case of the Japanese red army's 1972 murders as a conflict between the masculine and the feminine principles as they were both embodied by women and against women (Otsuka,1994).
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
December 5, 2020
This series always had a make-gaze thing going on, but it's getting worse and the female characters seem kind of sidelined now (despite being the most competent).
August 23, 2009
A series of stories that take you again through Japanese culture and history.. A temple dolls when their owners do not want them any more? How sweet! :) The WWII Story was creepie but I am going to look up the history the cite there. If they really did use kids in special pits to try to here incoming bombers-wow amazing low tech wonder! Again our bald hero meets his nurse and smiles like a shy nerd, while the team leader steams in the corner with her private feelings still in the closet.
Also there is a High tech peeking tom story too.
We get the back story finally on the two minor team members--cute girl that emblams with joy and the shy boy with the alien hand puppet --his story and how it was drawn vs how he tells it makes you cry--did me.
Then we discover he is just not schizo--he does have powers--beautiful powers beyond all knowing--even his. This story pushed this volume to 5 stars alone!
The black leather jacket dude how finds the bodies--well--all we learned is he missed all of classes going to college! LOL
So hope there are more coming from Japan!
Also there is a High tech peeking tom story too.
We get the back story finally on the two minor team members--cute girl that emblams with joy and the shy boy with the alien hand puppet --his story and how it was drawn vs how he tells it makes you cry--did me.
Then we discover he is just not schizo--he does have powers--beautiful powers beyond all knowing--even his. This story pushed this volume to 5 stars alone!
The black leather jacket dude how finds the bodies--well--all we learned is he missed all of classes going to college! LOL
So hope there are more coming from Japan!
May 30, 2012
Stuff I Read – Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service Vol 9
So my birthday was a little while ago and with it came two more volumes of Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service, of which this is the first. After the developments of the seventh volume I was kind of hoping to get into some larger story, and this volume does get into the larger narrative, but it does not pick up plot points from the last volume. Instead we get four different cases, all of them fairly short but all of them also fairly satisfying. Of course, they were rather smaller in what they tackled, as well. The first story dealt with a fan obsessed with an idol, the second with a voyeur with an invisibility suit, the third with dead ears that hear the future, and the last with Makino and Yata’s back stories. So all in all a very diverse group of cases. And the last finally starts to reveal the connections between the characters, giving us a rather rare look at Makino’s character and getting us a bit deeper into the origin of Yata’s power.
The first mystery probably has the best imagery, though, and focuses on an idol as she is being stalked by a series of dolls. This is definitely my favorite mystery of the volume, as it contains much more creepy stuff happening, mostly in the form of these dolls that get possessed and want to play hide and seek. That they are possessed by the spirit of this obsessed fan is a nice touch. This mystery also gets into a little bit the nature of idols and their fans. It talks a bit about how the idol is someone who basically is out to get a cult following, and yet some of them, like the woman in this story, dislike the actual people that begin to follow them. As the Kurosagi guys ultimately decide, once an idol goes to the point where she is an idol then she really gives up her right to privacy because she needs the attention just as much as the fans need someone to idolize. So I think it is rather hilarious that, despite the idol committing no crime other than rejecting the fan harshly, she is still thrown to the dolls, as it were. In a horrifying moment she is brought face to face with her own nature, and that kind of breaks her. At the least it gets her to adopt a more appropriate style.
The second mystery is a bit more technological, and involves a suit that can make someone invisible. The creator of this technology is a pervert who is using the suit to get into women’s locker rooms. Pretty straightforward until he is killed by a business associate who wants the technology to develop weapons and such. As a story it’s not really anything special, but it does have a lot of funny moments and it does have this feel where the author portrays using that technology to peep as being somehow more noble and worthy than using it for weapons. And I’m not sure about that. I mean, it might be purposefully sarcastic or something like that, but I think that either use of it is a misuse of it, and I guess I don’t think that keeping it out of the hands of the military to use it for masturbation is really all that noble. But the story is rater hilarious, and does set up that opposition, where the pervert is the hero and is fighting the good fight, using that technology only for lonely and lewd motives.
The third story is the longest of the volume, and involves a politician who could apparently hear the future. It is a rather odd story that starts during World War II when a group of young boys heard a voice from the sky saying that Japan was going to lose the war. In any event, the man’s corpse is stolen and it’s kind of up to the group to find out what happened to it. The nurse who can hear the last word from the dead from volume 8 returns in guest role, and it is her who informs the group of the case. In truth the body was taken by the man’s political party in hopes that they could find someone to talk to it. They mistakenly think that the nurse possesses that ability, though, and so kidnap her in order to try and find out from the corpse what to do. When the group shows up and brings the prophet back to share his secrets one last time, well, it ends with the villain committing suicide. The story really revolved around the premise that people can hear at different frequencies, and that some might be able to hear the future, as the boy’s could. Rather weird, but a solid story.
The last story isn’t even a mystery, but a nice little character piece with Makino and Yata, who help entertain a group of grade-schoolers. Throughout the story, it has been these two characters that seem most interested at doing something with themselves, though one could argue that Makino already has done something with herself. But here we learn that Yata still volunteers and does things for charity, which is something that really no one else in the group cares to do. And while he isn’t that good at it, it is fun to see and rather cute and all that, and it teases a bit that there might be something developing between Yata and Makino. Which I guess is good fan service. But indeed. This also goes into their pats, and how they both lost their families at a young age. And, with Sasaki, it’s starting to look likely that everyone is going to have a story like this. Though Karatsu might be different. In any event, it looks like most of the group lost their family or were touched by death in some way, which is probably why they ended up in the vocation they are in. But it is nice to see and the volume ends with one of the funniest moments in the entire series, so really this was a good volume.
I kind of hope that the story gets back to the things that were brought up before and with the Corpse Cleaning Service pair, but at least the author seems to be getting better at pacing the smaller stories and the characters are getting explored a bit more. There is a pretty good balance in this volume when you look at what kinds of mysteries and stories are in it, too, so that is good as well. And so this volume really came through for me and I feel like I understand the characters a bit more for having read it. Which is good. So I give this volume a 8.75/10.
So my birthday was a little while ago and with it came two more volumes of Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service, of which this is the first. After the developments of the seventh volume I was kind of hoping to get into some larger story, and this volume does get into the larger narrative, but it does not pick up plot points from the last volume. Instead we get four different cases, all of them fairly short but all of them also fairly satisfying. Of course, they were rather smaller in what they tackled, as well. The first story dealt with a fan obsessed with an idol, the second with a voyeur with an invisibility suit, the third with dead ears that hear the future, and the last with Makino and Yata’s back stories. So all in all a very diverse group of cases. And the last finally starts to reveal the connections between the characters, giving us a rather rare look at Makino’s character and getting us a bit deeper into the origin of Yata’s power.
The first mystery probably has the best imagery, though, and focuses on an idol as she is being stalked by a series of dolls. This is definitely my favorite mystery of the volume, as it contains much more creepy stuff happening, mostly in the form of these dolls that get possessed and want to play hide and seek. That they are possessed by the spirit of this obsessed fan is a nice touch. This mystery also gets into a little bit the nature of idols and their fans. It talks a bit about how the idol is someone who basically is out to get a cult following, and yet some of them, like the woman in this story, dislike the actual people that begin to follow them. As the Kurosagi guys ultimately decide, once an idol goes to the point where she is an idol then she really gives up her right to privacy because she needs the attention just as much as the fans need someone to idolize. So I think it is rather hilarious that, despite the idol committing no crime other than rejecting the fan harshly, she is still thrown to the dolls, as it were. In a horrifying moment she is brought face to face with her own nature, and that kind of breaks her. At the least it gets her to adopt a more appropriate style.
The second mystery is a bit more technological, and involves a suit that can make someone invisible. The creator of this technology is a pervert who is using the suit to get into women’s locker rooms. Pretty straightforward until he is killed by a business associate who wants the technology to develop weapons and such. As a story it’s not really anything special, but it does have a lot of funny moments and it does have this feel where the author portrays using that technology to peep as being somehow more noble and worthy than using it for weapons. And I’m not sure about that. I mean, it might be purposefully sarcastic or something like that, but I think that either use of it is a misuse of it, and I guess I don’t think that keeping it out of the hands of the military to use it for masturbation is really all that noble. But the story is rater hilarious, and does set up that opposition, where the pervert is the hero and is fighting the good fight, using that technology only for lonely and lewd motives.
The third story is the longest of the volume, and involves a politician who could apparently hear the future. It is a rather odd story that starts during World War II when a group of young boys heard a voice from the sky saying that Japan was going to lose the war. In any event, the man’s corpse is stolen and it’s kind of up to the group to find out what happened to it. The nurse who can hear the last word from the dead from volume 8 returns in guest role, and it is her who informs the group of the case. In truth the body was taken by the man’s political party in hopes that they could find someone to talk to it. They mistakenly think that the nurse possesses that ability, though, and so kidnap her in order to try and find out from the corpse what to do. When the group shows up and brings the prophet back to share his secrets one last time, well, it ends with the villain committing suicide. The story really revolved around the premise that people can hear at different frequencies, and that some might be able to hear the future, as the boy’s could. Rather weird, but a solid story.
The last story isn’t even a mystery, but a nice little character piece with Makino and Yata, who help entertain a group of grade-schoolers. Throughout the story, it has been these two characters that seem most interested at doing something with themselves, though one could argue that Makino already has done something with herself. But here we learn that Yata still volunteers and does things for charity, which is something that really no one else in the group cares to do. And while he isn’t that good at it, it is fun to see and rather cute and all that, and it teases a bit that there might be something developing between Yata and Makino. Which I guess is good fan service. But indeed. This also goes into their pats, and how they both lost their families at a young age. And, with Sasaki, it’s starting to look likely that everyone is going to have a story like this. Though Karatsu might be different. In any event, it looks like most of the group lost their family or were touched by death in some way, which is probably why they ended up in the vocation they are in. But it is nice to see and the volume ends with one of the funniest moments in the entire series, so really this was a good volume.
I kind of hope that the story gets back to the things that were brought up before and with the Corpse Cleaning Service pair, but at least the author seems to be getting better at pacing the smaller stories and the characters are getting explored a bit more. There is a pretty good balance in this volume when you look at what kinds of mysteries and stories are in it, too, so that is good as well. And so this volume really came through for me and I feel like I understand the characters a bit more for having read it. Which is good. So I give this volume a 8.75/10.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 29, 2018
This is a really good edition of the Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service. The premise is that a group of student from a Buddhist University graduate to find out their degrees are useless at gaining employment. The do have paranormal powers that allow them to find unburied ( or improperly buried) dead and try to get paid to return them to a proper place to spend eternity. Mainly it is humorous but this edition goes a little further with two stories. The series gets better and better.
June 21, 2022
4.5/5
4 stories and more historical fiction and background on the main cast!! I like the inclusion of science, once again. Bits of supernatural voodoo-like ritual and the return of the "listening ears". Personally, could've been 5 stars, but not a fan of Kereellis's long speeches. I know it's part of his character, but it makes me want to skim or skip his dialogue altogether.
4 stories and more historical fiction and background on the main cast!! I like the inclusion of science, once again. Bits of supernatural voodoo-like ritual and the return of the "listening ears". Personally, could've been 5 stars, but not a fan of Kereellis's long speeches. I know it's part of his character, but it makes me want to skim or skip his dialogue altogether.
August 28, 2018
Really good.
June 12, 2020
This volume gets sad and heartbreaking. Nice one.
October 29, 2010
I will admit, the artwork at the beginning of the series wasn't the absolute greatest. However, no one can deny that as the series progressed the artwork has improved drastically as Otsuka got a better feel for his characters. This volume is no exception to that.
As with the previous volumes, this volume can be read as a standalone book with only a few exceptions. There's a few references to previous story lines, but none that are so absolutely necessary that you have to read the previous volumes. (But I do recommend reading all of the previous books for the best experience, though.)
The stories in this volume show that the stories are getting more "out there" than the first few tales in the series, with one story being about a dead scientist who made a suit that could render him invisible & another about a dead professor with a gift for knowing lots of nasty little political secrets. There's also the return of the Mumume-Tan costume as well as a story about dolls that like to stalk a certain pretty celebrity.
Over all, my impression of this volume is that I liked it- I just didn't like all of the stories. The one about the dead professor was a little boring, which is unfortunate because it's a rather lengthy one. It's not absolutely terrible, but when I re-read this volume I usually end up flipping through it rather than reading through it.
As with the previous volumes, this volume can be read as a standalone book with only a few exceptions. There's a few references to previous story lines, but none that are so absolutely necessary that you have to read the previous volumes. (But I do recommend reading all of the previous books for the best experience, though.)
The stories in this volume show that the stories are getting more "out there" than the first few tales in the series, with one story being about a dead scientist who made a suit that could render him invisible & another about a dead professor with a gift for knowing lots of nasty little political secrets. There's also the return of the Mumume-Tan costume as well as a story about dolls that like to stalk a certain pretty celebrity.
Over all, my impression of this volume is that I liked it- I just didn't like all of the stories. The one about the dead professor was a little boring, which is unfortunate because it's a rather lengthy one. It's not absolutely terrible, but when I re-read this volume I usually end up flipping through it rather than reading through it.
June 11, 2009
Another solid installment in the series. There's been talk since pretty early on that there was a larger storyline evolving here, and I have to say, this might be the first time I've seen any indication of that. But the two rumored hook-ups do seem to be moving us in a more certain direction.... I think I'd appreciate that at this point, something with stakes a little more elevated than another story based around something the writer read on the internet (like hearing tests, for example). I mean, I like that stuff too, but I think at ten volumes, the story needs something more than that to keep people coming back for more.
August 2, 2010
Not my favorite stories for our team to solve in this volume, but still very enjoyable dynamics/characterizations throughout. I do love how we get to explore a lot of local Japanese urban legends and ghost tales throughout the series (as we do in this particular volume). I also appreciated that we got some more background for two of our team members: the channeler (Yata) and the embalmer (Kei). It seems like no small accident that these young adults all find themselves in the business of corpses having had very traumatic experience with death in their childhood years...
March 22, 2016
I love how Otsuka-sensei delivering past war crime into contemporary pop culture---without any attempt to justify anything. This one is the case I thoroughly enjoy in the book.
I've been wondering about those Nara (or Nire) Ceremony guys. Where the hell are they?
Well, I guess it's okay since I got to see the back story of Yata and Keiko's childhood...wow including Sasaki, they all have serious childhood mental issue here...
What's left is Numata, Kuro, and Yaichi's, of course. Ah the thrill!
I've been wondering about those Nara (or Nire) Ceremony guys. Where the hell are they?
Well, I guess it's okay since I got to see the back story of Yata and Keiko's childhood...wow including Sasaki, they all have serious childhood mental issue here...
What's left is Numata, Kuro, and Yaichi's, of course. Ah the thrill!
November 1, 2019
I reviewed volumes 1-14 for Lady Business, but the long and short of it is that it's one of my favourite horror series, and when it wants to do political commentary, it goes HARD. It just also has some storylines that I side-eye INTENSELY.
Caution warnings for the series:
Caution warnings for the series:
July 15, 2016
Still an excellent series; I think things need to start shifting a little, though. The premise of the series has been really successfully laid out so far; now we need to start getting into the mysteries. Otherwise, I'm afraid the story will begin to feel too predictable and formulaic. The last couple chapters here, though, give me hope that the story is beginning to explore its gray areas.
September 28, 2015
La historia del "Solo-hide-and-seek" es muy buena, con un potencial creepy-ness grande si lo quisieran retomar de otro modo.
En este volumen, Yata tiene momentos protagónicos, para variar un poco y fue algo fresco que se agradece.
En este volumen, Yata tiene momentos protagónicos, para variar un poco y fue algo fresco que se agradece.
October 16, 2009
More Kurosagi corpse fun. The best thing about these remains the endnotes - I always learn something fascinating about Japanese culture.
October 31, 2009
It continues to get even awesome and freaky stories. Cannot wait for vol. 10!
March 30, 2010
More superbly crafted little stories. I don't think I've mentioned yet the little bits of humor that Otsuka tosses in, but sometimes I find myself laughing out loud like an idiot....
Read
April 23, 2010No entiendo la relación entre el autor y Mamoru Oshii, no sé a qué se debió el "tributo" que apareció en este número, pero yo me hubiera ofendido :D
August 30, 2011
More weird ears.
March 5, 2015
I really want to see kikuchi and karatsu as a couple in later volumes :'3
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews