Yoki Koto Kiku

by Koge-Donbo*

In the ancient House of Nekogami, sibling rivalry is murder. When the patriarch of the Nekogami family passes away, he leaves the estate to his eldest grandson, Sukehiko. But he is at war, fate unknown. Between triplets Yoki, Koto and Kiku, and Sukehiko's fiancee Tamayo, only one will get the goods. With a fortune at stake, it's kill or be killed in a battle over inheritance.

Genres: Manga, Graphic Novels, Horror, Shonen, Mystery

208 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Koge-Donbo (or Koge-Donbo*) is the pen name of a Japanese manga artist. Koge-Donbo* started her career soon after college as a doujinshi artist. She got the idea of a unique pen-name, Koge-Donbo* from Akira Toriyama's pet cat. She made her first official US appearance at Otakon 2004 in Baltimore, MD as a Guest of Honor.
She's known best as the author of Pita-Ten, Kamichama Karin, and Kamichama Karin Chu series.

Reviews

[Bibliothecat · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ah, this is sad. I love Koge-Donbo*, both art and humour, but unfortunately that is almost all this particular oneshot has to offer. It should be noted that this is a parody of The Inugami Clan and, as is often the case with parodies, I suspect a lot of humour is lost if one doesn't know the source material. I think the majority of readers, myself included, have not read the novel this is drawn from but that is not the only reason why this didn't work very well - in fact, I think there are a variety of reasons.

Not being familiar with the source material makes this a very confusing plot that seems to be all over the place. The narration is also confusing and I am tempted to put that down to poor translation, it was really hard to follow sometimes. Standalone manga are always a bit tricky in terms of length and it feels pretty rushed.

Although I don't want to call this a bad manga, I would really only recommend it to people that have read The Inugami Clan, and even that is no guarantee that it will be much more entertaining. One definitely needs to keep in mind that this is 100% comedy, there's not a single serious moment to be found. That being said, I still utterly love the art and the characters' expressions alone are enough to get a laugh out of me.

[Taylor R · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was... okay. I bought it from a thrift store for a dollar, and quickly realized that I might be a bit too old for it.

[Beckiezra · Rating 3 out of 5]

5 stars for the art, I really enjoyed that, but the story was confusing which made it less pleasant and even when it made sense it wasn't always terribly appealing. Some of the translation notes at the end would have been more helpful at the beginning so readers know it's a spoof of an old mystery. I'm sure there was a lot happening that I wasn't getting, as is often a problem when reading something from a different cultural background, but this was worse than most. I did like stories focused on Koto and also the shinigami.

[Jaylie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing, very interesting, one of the best mangas!

[K · Rating 3 out of 5]

First published by broccoli books in June 2006. Also a company that went out of business but they used some high-quality paper and binding. This book is over 10 years old and has no yellowing however the spine glue seems to have loosened.

don’t understand the appeal in translating this for an English speaking audience when the book itself is a parody of a Japanese mystery novel. Apparently the novel itself sounds very appealing where as the manga differs from it greatly. Look up The Inugami Clan and Kosuke Kindaichi.

Yamato Nadeshiko- term for ideal japanese woman. Half of these notes could’ve either been put at the bottom of the page or really just translated better.

There really is no substance to this book, nothing of note can really be made about it other than the artist being famous and that the art looks beautiful. The jokes aren’t very compelling and the whole book ends with no goals really being met and they just battle all over again.

[Shelby (bookshelfworthy) · Rating 2 out of 5]

The art was beautiful; 5 stars. The story was lacking. I appreciate it was an E for everyone rating but I think it needed to be at least a T for teen rating in order for it to have been successful at what it was trying to accomplishing. Meaning there needed to be more violence and gore. The story wasn’t a story really it was more “episodes” or short stories and I think it needed to be laid out that way in a more straightforward manner. I mean we get that in other manga but why not this one? It had/has potential to be better if I was redone.

[Stephanie Jachymek · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was terrible. It wasn't funny. I didn't understand what the hell was even going on 50% of the time. The characters all suck. It's just bad. The plot had decent potential but was executed very poorly.
The art was pretty cute, but that's the only positive I can say about this.

[Holy Tash · Rating 3 out of 5]

manga on acids xD

[R · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting and confusing. I'm glad there is more information at the end. It's a parody!
Beautiful illustrations; funny and dark at other times!

[Bea Jacks · Rating 3 out of 5]

The art was gorgeous but the story was really hard to follow.

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall Rating: B
Summary: Created by Koge-Donbo, this dark comedy series is a parody of a Japanese mystery novel, "The Inugami Clan". The series follows Yoki, Koto, and Kiku Nekogami - three triplets who love each other, their older brother Sukekiyo, and his fiancee Tamayo. However, the patriarch of the Nekogami family dies and leaves the family fortune to his eldest grandson, Sukekiyo, who is off at war. If Sukekiyo does not return within six months, one of the triplets or Sukekiyo's fiancee, Tamayo, will inherit the fortune.

That's when the trouble begins! The triplets plot to take out Tamayo and each other so that they will be the one to inherit the fortune. Each of the triplets has a dream for what they want to do with the money, and a weapon of choice. Tamayo tries to play the peacemaker and is apparently an expert at avoiding weapons and fights in general.

I was a little surprised by how much I enjoyed this one. It's very dark humor with the triplets seemingly killing each other and constantly plotting each other's and Tamayo's deaths. The only thing I didn't like about this one was that it was sometimes hard to follow. For example, early on the triplets kill each other, but then they keep showing up. Whether they are dead and shinigami, or never really died wasn't entirely clear to me. I think this is part of the parody aspect of the manga, but the confusion led to me rating it lower. Regardless, I recommend this one to anyone who enjoys dark humor.

Check out more manga and anime reviews at Hobotaku!

[Ybgenny · Rating 2 out of 5]

Liked the art style but what on earth? I've been a fan of manga for years. And this book just left me cold. The idea behind the story was promising but felt rushed and unfinished. If the story was worked on it would be a good little story.

But as it is its confusing and hard to read. I really wanted to like this book but found it hard to make it to the end. I got there but I had to fight to get there... sigh :(

[Victoria Robinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a huge fan of Koge Donbo's art, but this particular book surprised me and the rivalry between the triplets at the end was just the biggest piece I couldn't get my head around. I wish there had been a sequel to this...

[Kristen Harvey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Weird manga book about triplets and a maid fighting over inheritance...

[Estefani Hernandez · Rating 4 out of 5]

SCARY!!!!!

[Michelle Carrell · Rating 2 out of 5]

Love this author and their art but this story plot was extremely confusing...

[Jelena · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love Digi-Charat and Pita-Ten but this one just wasn't very fun.