Dark Mists

by Annika Eade

Kyoto, Japan. 1936. While a shroud of impending unrest hangs over Europe, in Japan the number of Yakuza members is close to outnumbering the Japanese army. In a government experiment, a group of geisha ladies are recruited to inform on the conversations they observe between the murderers and politicians. However, as untrained spies the geisha’s actions result in one of their member’s brutal and bloody murder.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Manga, Comics

134 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Cale · Rating 3 out of 5]

This Graphic Novel tells the story of Geishas asked to become spies for the government, and then spins out of the ramifications of that decision. It is fairly short, and the art is beautiful, very Asian styled while still working as a graphic novel. There is a sense of the culture in the art and the story, and it sets the story on its way. I wasn't thrilled with the ending - it seems abrupt and kind of silly, but part of that may be that I don't know the culture well enough. Even with the ending, the story is interesting, and goes in unexpected ways.

[Zanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

18.95

[Mely · Rating 2 out of 5]

In Kyoto in 1936, the Japanese government recruits four geisha to spy on and eventually assassinate members of the yakuza. This storyline is so full of awesome I am heartbroken to have to tell you that the comic is just not that good. Neither the art nor the writing helps distinguish the geisha from each other, which is a problem when they're all in formal makeup and have the same hair-styles; they have unique kimono, but the kimono change from scene to scene. It is pretty bad when the 13-year-old miko (apprentice) has to identify herself in the dialogue, because there's no way to visually distinguish her from the geisha in their twenties around her. (I also thought miko wore slightly different makeup and outfits from geisha, but I may have that wrong.)

Additionally, several of the plot twists depend on the geisha being kind of dumb, accepting the word of people who clearly mean no good, and not asking obvious questions.

I can't tell whether the ending is supposed to be a cliff-hanger or a resounding horror, but it left me cold either way.

[Belcky · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book collects all four issues. The female spy/assassin storyline is one that always interests me, and I enjoyed all the twists and blackmail and how events began to snowball out of control. I felt it was a shame we didn't get closer to the characters, however--I'm partial to a more character-driven story than an event-driven one. The ending is unsatisfying, but it seems to have been done intentionally so I don’t mind that at all! And when you think about it, could you really expect anything better to happen in a story like this?

The art is quite pretty, though I do wish it had been more lush and colorful--these are geisha in the 1930’s!--but the warm pastels are unexpected considering the subject matter, which I found more interesting than disappointing. Sadly, while the men are easy to tell apart, the geisha all look the same, which caused a little confusion in reading.

Overall, fine artwork, interesting story, but I wanted to be more emotionally invested.

[Phaedra · Rating 1 out of 5]

My husband grabbed this for me because he thought I might like it. The art is OK, the story is thread bare and wholly implausible, and I was relieved when the book ended. The idea is that a secret Japanese government decided to use geisha's as spies in the 1930's to find and wipe out the yakuza. The geisha's who are selected then are given rigorous self defense lessons and become talented assassins after a few short months. Everything about this was bland and predictable, it was hard to determine which geisha was which as the artist had the all drawn the same. The only way to tell them apart was by small hair ornaments or their kimono pattern... but the ornaments were repeated on some girls and when they changed their clothes they became indecipherable from one another again. Clearly this was just the first part of a story, but from the stilted writing and thin plot I won't be picking up the rest of the series.