Animus

by Antoine Revoy

The residents of a quiet Kyoto neighborhood have slowly come to realize that inauspicious, paranormal forces are at play in the most unlikely of places: the local playground.

Two friends, a young girl and boy, resolve to exorcise the evils that inhabit it, including a snaggle-toothed monster.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Horror, Fantasy, Comics, Young Adult, Mystery, Fiction

221 pages, Paperback

First published May 8, 2018

Reviews

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Animus is the YA creation of Antoine Revoy, who grew up in Paris and Tokyo, loving comics from east and west. What we know is that Japan has an elaborate system of yokai (monsters, supernatural creatures), and this ghost story fits that manga category, but it also features realistic drawing. This story takes place in a Kyoto playground where two kids, Hisao and Sayuri, stay after dark and meet a boy in a Kabuki mask. He tells them about the hidden secrets of the playground: Magical creatures abound; the swings lead to dreams, the sandbox leads to your deepest fears; if you go up the slide, you get younger; down, you age. When this happens to a friend, and their friend get solder and even gets dementia, they have to find out who the Kabuki kid is and how to save their friend. So it’s a kind of supernatural mystery story.

The Kabuki boy (they also call him Toothless, since he is missing some teeth) we learn wants to be freed from the playground, and needs their help. He’s a ghost and wants to move on! Break the curse! There’re also many missing kids in the area. All the dots are not quite connected in what feels to me like a rushed ending, after a very promising beginning and premise but it has creepy elements and sweet elements, and I like the artwork more than the story.

[Mir · Rating 3 out of 5]

For most of the length this was actually a 4-star read. The art was excellent and the story was creepy.

Then the last few pages are some random out-of-nowhere crap that is totally not satisfying as an ending.

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was sent an early copy of this from Macmillan/First Second Books in exchange for an honest review.

In the same day that I received this, I immediately dove in! Being a fan of dark tales and Japanese comics told me right away that I would love it. After finishing this I am left very confused, yet intrigued. Most of the time I hate when stories leave me wondering what happened, but I think that is what makes this so special. It's not fluffy at all and can definitely give some chills. This is a quick and fun read that I really enjoyed. Also, the artwork is gorgeous! Seriously though, what just happened ? ? ?

[Paige · Rating 2 out of 5]

Artwork and story were both very interesting but I wasn't a huge fan of the ending since there were some things I didn't understand, but I may just have to think on them a little more.

[Andrea Kneeland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everything you could possibly want from a mildly creepy Japanese ghost story. A haunted playground, unsolved murder, and a kid in a kabuki mask. Though the storyline and atmosphere will feel familiar to anyone who has read or watched Japanese ghost stories before, the illustrations are steeped in realism (as opposed to more traditional manga-style), and the dialogue and stories are read left to right (I assume because the author/illustrator was raised in Tokyo but currently resides in the U.S.). If you have students like mine who only read manga and refuse to read English-origin graphic novels, I think you can still sell easily sell this to a skeptical audience with the right booktalk, because all the story elements are there. Recommended for middle school and up.

[J.D. DeHart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Animus works in a variety of ways. First, it is a complex chaptered work, just as any novel offers depth.

There are elements of horror in the book that are effective, and the overall narrative is nicely accomplished.

As with many other titles from First Second, Animus features accomplished artwork and storytelling, and does do in a manner that is literary and attains high quality. Highly recommended!

[Jay G · Rating 2 out of 5]

Want to see more bookish things from me? Check out my Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfer...

Thank you to FirstSecond and Raincoast Books for sending me a copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

In a small town in Japan, a haunted playground sits. Two children, meet Toothless, a masked ghost of a lost little boy tethered to the playground. Toothless tells the children of the eerie characteristics of the playground and all that it has the ability to do.

I was originally very excited and the plot line intrigued me, but honestly, I was a bit bored while reading this. There was no colour in the frames, which easily lost my attention as the story progressed. I wasn`t invested in what happened to any of the characters and didn`t care much about their story. I was intrigued by what each piece of the playground was able to conjure up, but that`s where my interest stopped. I am also not totally sure what happened in the end, which left me frustrated to say the least.

I can see why many people would enjoy this, it just wasn't my cup of tea.

[Rod Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

To add to this book's creepy atmosphere, I highly recommend reading it while waiting out a thunderstorm in a grimy pedestrian underpass with dim, flickering lights and water running underfoot. Just saying.

Revoy expertly mixes manga, horror, missing persons, serial killers, and fantasy to create a most awesome yet terrifying playground in Kyoto, Japan, inhabited by a supernatural figure in a scary mask. Two little kids explore the powers and mysteries of the playground and are forever changed by it.

I only wish I fully understood the ending. I get the bits about the little girl, but I don't understand what the boy in the mask has to do with combs and moths.

[Jules Nymo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This graphic novel was so different from most books I had read before. It’s a dark tale about a haunted playground with strange pasts and parts that are alive.
The story started with a couple trying to find their missing son. The police had more missing kids posters with unsolved cases. Fast forward to two kids who went to the playground and met this kid there who is trapped within the playground. To help the kid as known as Toothless get out of the cursed, these two kids, Hisao and Sayuri tried to help and uncover his past as whether happened to him and his life as people know it. Deeper they look, more they discover what it seems isn’t what it really is.
This book took my mind away. I started reading and became confused as what was happening till the end. More pages went by, my confusion was high but once I was done with the book, I realized I understood it all. Everything was connected. Be warned, this has one of the greatest plot twist you wouldn’t see coming.
Filled with curiosity, friendship, dark tales, dreams, a playground, and the fears that lie deep in the human mind and the heart.

[Nicole Westen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really loved this. And like many people, I was a little confused over the ending. I understood some of it, since I read a lot of manga and think I have a better understanding of Japanese culture than a typical american comic reader. I grasped the Tsukumogami aspect, but I just don't know about the Shu Tou. It was said in the comic that the Japanese equivalent of the 'four something', a comb, a mirror, a sewing kit, and red string, are not supposed to be given to anyone else, with the only possible exception of the woman's daughter. But what is supposed to happen if they are given away to someone? I couldn't find anything online regarding this, other than don't give people in Japan a comb, because the word for comb 'kushi' can also be interpreted as ku (pain/suffering) and shi (death), and if you break a comb it is the Japanese equivalent of breaking a mirror. Does anyone know bad thing is supposed to happen if you give away the items from a Shu Tou ritual? I feel like knowing that is the key to understanding the ending.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Deliciously creepy, and darker than I was expecting. The illustrations are straightforward and well-done. The plot flows smoothly and even takes a few turns where you don't expect it to. I had no idea what this book was about before starting it, and I think that's the best way to go.

[Kuroo Dabi · Rating 3 out of 5]

QUE LIBRO MÁS LOCO.... a ver, al principio no entendí el final, me quedé varias horas dándole vuelta al asunto porque no te explican nada, tu tienes que empatar la información que has leído en todo el libro y sacar tus propias conclusiones... En pocas palabras, nunca voy a saber si lo que yo entendí es como el autor lo pensó o no, porque no hay respuestas y la verdad me molesta un poco.
El libro en sí es muy bueno, la historia, los dibujos... Todo menos el final, siento que debió explicar más, pero si el final que yo estoy pensando es el correcto entonces estaba bien pero no supo ilustrarlo.

Ahora si ya leíste el libro y quieres saber que opino yo del final esto es lo que yo pienso... Así que por si acaso SPOILER.

Al inicio del libro te hablan de una tradición china donde las parejas hacen un ritual bajo la luna para que les bendiga su matrimonio, este ritual consta de ciertos objetos que no deben dar a nadie solo a sus hijas o nietas cuando se vayan a casar de lo contrario la bendición se romperá y habrá mal augurio en su vida.
Como vimos al final toothless resultó ser una peineta no un niño, lo que llego a pensar que esa peineta tal y como el dijo, fue tomada de su casa y enterrada por una mujer que lloraba... Entonces el debió de ser una peineta bendecida por la luna que fue robada de la casa de su dueña por otra mujer que quien sabe "no quería que él matrimonio prosperara" y al no ser hija o nieta de dicha persona la tradición se rompió y toothless adquirió forma de un fantasma niño porque creo que se volvió un objeto maldito esperando ser liberado por alguien más a la luz de la luna.
Eso explicaría porque todo el parque tenía vida y hacía cosas espantosas como tambien increíbles, también explicaría el porque todo eso desapareció cuando toothless fue liberado, por la maldición.
En cuanto a porque la niña decidió envejecer antes de que la maldición se rompiera sin dar vuelta atrás fue porque ella tenía miedo a sus padres, al inicio del libro cuando entra a la caja de arena y está le muestra sus mayores miedos vimos como aparecían sus padres cadavericos, en realidad su temor era a sus padres  por eso decidió envejecer y marcharse de allí.

Eso es lo que yo entendí, pero ustedes pueden sacar sus propias conclusiones y decirme sus teorías, porque siento que me falta algo más.

[Ryan Fohl · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you like the tv show stranger things, you should read this. The artist can draw anything! He really succeeded at created a full rich setting. Love the unique character designs. Very good story telling. I loved the solution to the mystery, and the ending. The main characters could have been more developed.

What I learned: what cats dream about. What Japanese prisoners dress like.

[Louise Uy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was in for the beginning and middle but by the culmination and ending it all comes together illogically and haphazardly.
For a mystery plot the breakthrough clue came almost out of nowhere and I had to reread it a few times trying to find out how the girl even realized the 'bridge to the moon' was the monkey bars.
For a supernatural plot it's weak in it's own lore- beyond a shallow mention at the start, the lore of the combing ceremony does nothing to give context to how it ties into the cursed playground, or why the girl suddenly chose to become older and go away, or why the comb (if it was associated with women) suddenly decided to pass off as a human masked child that passes more as a boy, asking to be found again in order to free the curse. So they started out trying to make their own lore but then at the end demand that we understand the symbolisms thrown to us at the last part, (masks, moths, comb etc), things I feel were only thrown into this mix because they are japanese tokens.

So great buildup and use of art and atmosphere but a botched unsatisfying, rushed conclusion.

[Angie Pinchbeck · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked this book...right up until the very ending. And then I was very confused, and it really left me feeling like I had no idea what had just happened. The illustrations are beautiful and the story lovely, but the ending really ruined it for me.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing. Just amazing

[✨ Aaron Jeffery ✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this book

Update 2020: wanna reread this, can’t really remember anything about this

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

Animus is a horror/mystery/Manga-like graphic novel ( it reads left to right as opposed to regular Manga books ) essentially focused on a strange and mystical playground in Kyoto, Japan, two children, and a missing boy.

Revoy's Manga-like artwork and detail help craft a scary read.

[Blue · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well drawn, well paced ghost story where two kids try to help a stranded soul be freed from the magical playground. Creepy and poignant, the story is aptly left open to interpretation in the end. There are several plots twists, but the one in the end is probably the most surprising. Recommended for those who like playgrounds, slides, swings, and garden creatures.

[Jenn Marshall · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was so good. I love how creepy the story was. It is about a playground that is not your normal playground. Some kids are trying to solve the mystery of a strange boy and the playground. At the same time theres a missing boy. It's interesting and I love the art work.

[Danielle LeBlanc · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super creepy graphic novel about a mysterious playground in Kyoto, Japan. Students! If you aren’t piling up your graphic novels to read this vacation, get on it. Curtis Memorial Library has the best of the best.

[Seth T. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Animus is neat little horror book, more Ghost Story than Immortal Serial Killer. Created by French illustrator Antoine Revoy based somewhat out of his memories of growing up in Japan, Revoy focuses on playgrounds as liminal spaces sitting between the natural and the supernatural.

Against the backdrop of a rash of missing children and mysterious deaths, two children (Sayumi and Hisao) work together to uncover the mystery of the ghost who haunts a local playground and the supernatural aspects unique to each piece of playground equipment there.

As is common with horror comics, you're not looking so much to be scared as you are looking for a creepy atmosphere to invest in - and Animus delivers on that nicely with an art style that is always just a bit to the left of comfortable (a bit like Ito in that sense, even if their art doesn't resemble each other's at all).

[Arwyn Hager · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got creeped out at the end, I feel like I’m missing something

[Krystle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked the creepy vibes this story had, plus the slight mystery twist. It has a real manga feel in graphic novel form and it's set in Kyoto! A fun standalone.

[Monica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Åh! Denne var skikkelig ekkel, spennende og skummelfin! Tegneserien for deg som leter etter Stranger Things-vibber. Anbefales på det varmeste.

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to admit, I purchased this on a whim because of the artwork on the front and back cover and the ominous warning to "STAY OUT OF THAT PLAYGROUND"; the masked boy and the moths in the eerie blue palette, it was as if it was daring someone to read it. Plus, I'm automatically drawn to anything with moths...weird, I know.

I really liked this strange little story. I didn't completely understand everything but I wasn't bothered by the unanswered questions. I like the possibility of endless theories as to what actually happened and what everything meant. Toothless was strange but intriguing. Nothing is quite what it seems. I would highly recommend this to anyone who is interested in unexplained mysteries, folklore and the peculiar.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started reading this wonderful graphic novel and I was so hooked that I finished it in one day. It left me thinking for sure! I love the art style and the narrative was both creepy and beautiful all at the same time. I give it a 4.5/5 stars only because the ending left too much unsaid/unexplained for me. I like a cliffhanger ending, but this one had too many loose ends. Still, it is definitely worth reading, and I will be recommending this one to my students who love Japan and who love graphic novels/manga.

[Myron Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kids are disappearing throughout Kyoto. Two middle school students encounter a mysterious kid named "Toothless" at the playground who could explain the mysterious happenings tied to the disappearances. The strength of the book is the investigation done by the two kids. Things are not what they seem and soon readers realize that strange things are happening to both kids, especially the strange nightmares they are both having. Readers first hear about the disappearances through an ongoing police investigation through a police inspector yet that inspector disappears from the story quickly and the focus is squarely on the two middle school kids. Fans of horror comics will enjoy Animus.

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well that was a creepy little ghost story. The cover and title of Animus suggest something nature/animal related. It's not that. A strange little masked boy hangs out in a playground. When a pair of kids start playing there, the boy points out that each play structure can do something fabulous or terrifying. Naturally, the kids explore these new options. Meanwhile, the Japanese town struggles with a crush of disappearances. Could the playground and the missing kids be related? Take a wild guess.

Antoine Revoy does a brilliant job of slowly expanding the story, piece by delicate piece. It's a one-sitting graphic novel for sure. You're not putting this one down. The art is excellent too - manga-esque in its crisp details. I just can't get over how the cover and title give away nothing about how haunting and strange and riveting Animus is. I was totally surprised (in a very good way).

[Genevieve Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I enjoy graphic novels when I get the chance to read them, I don't tend to specifically seek out or purchase them, just because the dollar-to-word ratio is so skewed. That said... WOW. This graphic novel completely knocked my socks off.

I got an advance ebook copy from Netgalley, and completely expected Animus to be slick and colorful, like its cover, and some kind of a fantasy adventure, like the Amulet series.

Instead, it was a retro Japanese childhood ghost story, a perfect blend of endearing and creepy. The art is lovely, and fits the vibe just right. At times, Animus was chilling, at times sweet, and when it ended it left me feeling pleasantly unsettled. I know I'll be thinking about this story for days.