Onmyoji and Tengu Eyes Vol. 1: The Spirit Hunters of Tomoe

Onmyoji and Tengu Eyes (Light Novel) #1

by Yoshiko Utamine, Yone Kazuki (Illustrator), Kai Sadler (Translator)

A Supernatural Mismatch Made in Heaven

Paranormal incidents heat up when two mysterious men cross paths in Tomoe, a small town in Hiroshima with a long history of supernatural encounters.

Misato Miyazawa is a strikingly beautiful young man with a troubled past. Born to a distinguished family of onmyoji—specialists in divination—Misato is no stranger to the occult. That’s why he jumps at the chance to join the Abnormal Disaster Unit in Tomoe’s Town Hall Crisis Management Division, a unit more commonly known as The Spirit Hunters.

Enter Ryouji Karino, a fiery, handsome man with peculiar green and silver eyes. Working as a freelance monk and raised by a man claiming to be a tengu, Ryouji is by no means an average citizen. When he finds Misato in a sticky situation, he ‘kindly’ steps in, and the mismatched pair end up living together.

What dark mysteries will unravel before them as they attempt to confront paranormal happenings under the constraints of government rules?

Genres: Light Novel, Fantasy, Supernatural, Mystery, Paranormal, Urban Fantasy, Fiction

270 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 20, 2020

Reviews

[V.ya · Rating 3 out of 5]

When a long-haired, beautiful onmyoji with a dark past unexpectedly finds himself homeless, a man with striking green-and-silver eyes offers him a place to stay.

This premise had so much potential to give us action and romance—but unfortunately, it doesn’t quite deliver. Instead, it’s more of a slice-of-life story where we follow Misato and Ryouji separately. The story slowly reveals the mysteries of their pasts and their daily lives as professional exorcists, but in the beginning, they barely interact at all.

Things suddenly shift into overdrive around the climax, with multiple events happening all at once. Just as the dynamics between the characters finally start to get interesting, the book veers off into two chapters about the main characters’ past daily lives. I expected some key revelations in these chapters, but there was nothing of significance.

Overall, while the story had its intriguing moments, it falls short of my expectations.

[mrmrmr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Few times has a book hit every single trope and cliché I enjoy quite like this one. Is this book objectively a 5-star piece of literature? No. 10/10 can't wait for an anime and live action adaptation though. I'm already following the manga.

What this book does do well is create quite the strange and unsettling atmosphere. Both the main characters are mediums/exorcists, so they can see the dead and the yōkai as well as they see the regular world, yet the narration keeps a very casual and slice-of-life cadence which serves to both accustom the reader to their world, while never getting rid of the feeling that something is lurking somewhere in a corner. It might be supernatural in genre but from the POVs, especially Misato's, it felt a lot like magic realism. Little facts get dropped here and there, like people who are or feel isolated from society being closer to the other side than regular people, and it does open a chilling door of possibilities.

Misato is a great main character. He hides many secrets, and events from his past are told in a very straightforward manner, yet they leave you with more questions than answers. I just love when the narrator is actively trying to hide stuff from me, and has to dance around their own thoughts and actions as characters around them approach subjects they don't want uncovered.

Also 10/10 for the realistic depiction of adult friendship. The two main characters live together yet they barely interact because of their conflicting work schedules. Watching TV shows together in the dead of the night between shifts is the mood if you have a job in your twenties.

Ryouji is fun, especially in the extra chapters. But I'm still stewing about an unresolved thread in his deception plot... How far ahead did he plan. One of Misato's questions regarding his connections to real estate brokers didn't get resolved and it's driving me up the wall. It's not a plot hole, but depending on the answer it changes the basic premise of the first chapter from "oh wow" to "holy shit".

Looking forward to the second volume.

[Mandy Szewczuk · Rating 4 out of 5]

While maybe not the smoothest translation, I really enjoyed the story. But then, I'm a sucker for pretty boy onmyoji, so it's hard not to be biased. I'm excited to read the second volume!

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a slow and meandering tale that has some really stellar elements lurking like monsters in the back of a dark closet. (The simile is intentional, I assure you.) While not the best I've read from the publisher, I'm definitely curious to see where it's going.

[Diomaris · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a lovely read! I completely enjoyed this book! The mystery element was awesome, it kept me entertained and kept me intrigued! I’m glad that they both found each after the hard past they both suffered. I like that the snake is it’s own entity and that the main character has accepted it. I’m so looking forward to reading the next volume 1. I totally love the authors commentary at the end! I would have loved to read this novel earlier! Thank you for bringing such an awesome novel to me! I’m looking forward to more of their adventures! I’m glad both characters found a place where to belong! ❤️❤️❤️

[valkyreads_ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the stories that I happen to stumble upon while searching up on something on the Internet.
Also, this is one of the cases where I judge the cover and decided to read the book.
(The cover is GORGEOUS FYI!)

So I'll break down the review into three parts:

I. The Pros
- friendship between two individuals living the solitary life due the nature of their jobs

"Ryouji had grown up not knowing himself, and Misato had grown up knowing neglect. There might be a lot of differences in their immediate circumstances, but they both looked up at the same distant sky"

-supernatural world and entities, the rituals, and the creatures
-remarkable explanation on the onmyoji and exorcism rituals; from Buddhism to Shintoism, the mantras and talismans, hence even if you're unfamiliar with most of it, you get to follow along easily
-short chapters and it's not heavy
-beautiful description of the town Tomoe
-there are extra chapters in the end, that provided a little back story to our main characters: Misato & Ryouji.

II. The Cons (But it's not the worse, just slightly off)
-the pacing of the story in the earlier chapters was extremely slow, I almost DNF, but I believe in the art on the cover, so I pushed through
-in my opinion, there's too much description on the house, it became slightly redundant
-the main characters' interactions only started almost halfway through, I wished there are more interaction between them, so I hope Volume 2 will deliver this. Give me more of the bromance please! (iykyk)
"His elegant features were impassive, graced with an icy beauty. He possessed a slightly different aura than usual, and it took Ryouji’s breath away."
(You know what I mean right??)

III. Side notes
-this could be an awesome cozy anime, with nice background arts and some action scenes, not too heavy, but enough to keep it entertaining.

It's a good weekend read, very pleasing and cozy, hence I can't wait to start Volume 2 and 3!

If you like slice-of-life, combined with a little magic and curses, then you would not regret picking this up.

4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐.

[Katja · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this very much! The setting and the two main characters are interesting, I really enjoy this type of stories with onmyodo and other means of dealing with spirit world and all weird and wonderful creatures, taking inspiration from myths and folklore. I wish there had been a little more of actual spirit busting and investigating weird events though.

I'd like very much to read more of Misato and Ryouji's life!

[B · Rating 4 out of 5]

A slow burn supernatural slice of life. That's a fast and cozy read. Don't expect much plot, intrigue or romance cause all we are doing here is daily living.

[Rachael · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice, quick read. I was totally invested.

I found “Onmyoji and Tengu Eyes” randomly browsing my library’s catalog after finishing a BL anthology. I was looking up the author/artists to read their work. A light novel came up and I was tee-heeing at the extra long, descriptive titles. I’d never heard of the publisher so clicked on the link fully prepared to tee-hee at more titles when “O and TE” stood out. Two guys on the cover and it was THE shortest title. Okay! [As a BL reader I was immediately curious :) ]

I read a sample and was in. I also liked that I hadn’t heard of the book at all.

In a nutshell, it’s about two young men alone in the world working as exorcists figuring out that they’re not alone anymore. The book is less than 300 pages, 8 chapters and 3 bonus stories. It was my first time reading a light novel and I liked it.

Since it’s a five book series (only 3 are in English so far), the first book is slow since the bulk of the book is introduction and set up. The last chapter really moves. I gather the following books will move faster since we know Misato and Ryouji already.

Is it a BL, you might wonder? Well….Yes and no. Yes, because the main emotional relationship is between men who are not related to each other, there’s some light flirting and vibes. No, because nothing is explicit. No talk of dating, kissing, no overt romance, etc.

The publisher tagged it as Bromance and that’s accurate. I like when the romance is clear and upfront but I also really like the Bromance and BL vibes. The are they or aren’t they of it. Plus the supernatural elements. It’s right in my wheelhouse. Looking forward to reading the next volumes.

[K.V. Johansen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this, though I found the style a bit odd, in that rather than taking the reader into moments of intense emotion or action, the narrative steps back and often relates it as a flashback told in rather a distancing fashion. That's not only for things that happened in the characters' pasts, but for scenes that a page or two before, you were about to encounter -- it'll jump over them and then go back and tell them in way that makes sure you know they're over, rather than having you experience them as they happen. I'm not quite sure what effect this literary choice is meant to achieve; I'm still mulling that over. I suppose it adds to the impression of an oral story told by someone well outside it, thought the book isn't framed as that.

The stories themselves are fun, combining the hunting and dispelling of curses and evil spirits with the tentative friendship between the two main characters. What I liked best was the vivid description of the countryside setting of the fictional town and the folkloric roots of the various monsters. The translator's in-story expansion of various elements that need defining, describing, or explaning to a non-Japanese audience was very well judged, very helpful and not intrusive, just part of the flow of the narrative.

I'm now reading the next one.

[Mel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a slow starter, but it really grew on me over time. The chapters are episodic, generally addressing an event in either of the main characters jobs or life, but there is missing time between the events covered in the chapters, similar in feeling to an episodic tv show where besides the slowly evolving relationships of the characters the plot from one episode to the next is only lightly connected. However, in a similar vein again to an episodic tv show, there is a subtle throughline that builds as the story progresses so the final chapter still feels appropriately climactic. I believe this was initially published as a serial web novel, and so there is a bit of repeated background information across chapters to help with information retention if you were reading in a serialized format, but while it was noticeable, it could also be helpful since I am not familiar with the Japanese folklore integrated into the story, so reminders were useful.

The final third of the book really took off for me, and while I was unsure if I would proceed with the series in the first half of the book, I am now really interested to learn more about Misato and Ryouji and see where their story goes from here.

[Helen Zheng · Rating 5 out of 5]

The pacing of this story is phenomenal. The author really set the scene, Tomoe, as a beautiful town, in both aesthetic and culture.
It was interesting to learn about the main characters Miyazawa Misato and Karino Ryouji. Both of their stories were explored mostly separately, to my surprise, with very small yet sweet interactions between the two. While this novel is tagged as Bromance, I find their relationship more "work collegues" than "close friends." I hope to see them together more in volume II.
Speaking of, I wonder what the author has in store for the second installment. Volume I tied up loose ends very well, and the extra chapters in the end explained a lot of the characters' backstories.

Originally, I had intended to rate this novel 4 stars (the opening was paced very slowly, maybe a bit too much for my liking), but my rating was soon discarded and replaced with 5 stars for the extraordinary effort put into describing different rituals. From Buddhism to Shintoism, mantras, mundras, and talismans were explained so that even a beginner to the concept of exorcism would understand them.

My final note is that... the book is only 220 pages. Goodreads staff, please...

[Mary Anderson · Rating 2 out of 5]

The premise of the story and the idea of the two main characters seem like they would make for a good read, HOWEVER, both the plot and the character development fall short in this book. Neither Ryouji nor Misato seem like tangible people, as they are riddled with too many tropes and not enough substance. Plus, they act inconsistently, which makes for a confusing read.

As for the story, it jumps around a lot, there's tons of repetition, and the last quarter is all side/back stories (which, honestly, would have been better placed elsewhere or not at all). I understand that this is only the first book of the series, but I still feel that there should have been more plot-related content. For instance, instead of a filler story about gathering persimmons, there should have been a post-event story wrapping up what happened after the inugami event, and furthering the relationship between Ryouji and Misato.

I wanted to like this book. It seemed to have plot and characters that were appealing to me, but, in the end, it fell short of my expectations and I felt disappointed that I spent $7.99 on it (e-book version).

[Lisa Tobleman · Rating 3 out of 5]

an uneven read probably due to its origin

So I Thought I was reading a light novel created from scratch but in fact this (as per the authors note at the end) is from an online self publishing kind of thing and it shows. There has been some editing to make the story make more sense, but it is uneven at best. The early story is intriguing and is fun flows ok, and has minimal translation gaffs, but it becomes less so in the later third of the book. I actually had to reread several sections twice because they seemed to begin out of nowhere for no reason. I don’t even know exactly how to categorize the story other than slice of life paranormal drama as told by a low level government worker in a small Japanese town. With an added flashback to being in college at the end.

[Kris · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is not well written, whether that is the fault of the writer or the translator, I do not know, but the early sections are very amateurish in style. The last two sections are more polished and far more readable. The pacing is all over the place, the story line episodic and there's very little actual action. I was firmly with Ryouji when he yelled, after all the build up to the conflict, "IS THAT ALL?" Really....

That said, the characters are well drawn, interesting and I'm looking forward to more of Misato's co-workers. The world building was excellent particularly the atmosphere of dread, the build up to the conflict with the inugami was well executed, even though the overall event fell incredibly flat.

[J · Rating 2 out of 5]

There is a lot of setup in this one one, and really, the spirit hunting I hoped for did not materialize until around the halfway point and is entirely lacking in descriptive quality. I think our two main leads have a hard time finding their personalities too—they become extra muddled in the bonus chapters. Still, there is some interesting development, and it’s something different from the broader isekai power fantasies and cringe-worthy romance offerings available in light novels. And, who doesn’t love some ghost stories this time of year (or really any time of year).

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

The translation was a little clunky, and to be honest, with my extremely limited (basically nonexistent) knowledge of Japanese folk beliefs, I was left confused a good chunk of the time. However, Misato is very endearing and I love his relationship with Ryouji. Also, I feel like the volume was just skirting around the idea of these two having ~romantic~ feelings for one another, and I’m here for that. Will be reading the next one.

[Siu Lum · Rating 4 out of 5]

Misato Miyazawa gets a job in Tomoe. He is searching for a place to belong and to help people. His past is sad and he has depressive episodes. He meets Ryouji Karino when he was about to be homeless. Ryouji offers his home and they start living together. They slowly form a connection. They are both alone in the world.

Through various situations, their friendship grows and Misato realizes that he has a found a home in Tomoe.

I plan to read the next volume soon.

[Tyas · Rating 5 out of 5]

The start is a bit slow, and in fact I was wondering why it seemed there were many things left unexplained/unexplored. But as the story progresses, we get to learn more about the two main characters as the "holes" in the early parts are slowly filled. I also love the setting of a rural town in Japan, where a lot of spectres still roam free. Can't wait to read the next book!

[Marina · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story has allurements which I love (Japanese folklore and mysticism). I dont mind a slow pace a all. It was the first time I read a novel of this kind (I thought it would be more of a manga style but I was alright with it). My issue was with... perhaps, the way it was translated? I guess that's the only way I can put it.

[Kati · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had a little trouble getting into it because the beginning seemed rather dry, devoid of the mysticism of Japanese spirits and folklore and it felt like a slice of life story from a small municipal office. It got much better once Shirota was introduced, the story focused more on the house where Misato and Ryouji were living and we discovered more about their past.

[Mylove4book · Rating 5 out of 5]

這本與其說是小說, 反而有種短篇散文集的感覺呢. 妖異公務員這種故事背景還算常見, 但文筆有種悠閒寡淡的風格, 算是不落俗套. 在從東京飛往台北的昏暗機艙內慢慢地閱讀，有種心靈飄移到日本的鄉下古宅的幻覺，也是個不錯的脫離現實的方式(?)
三日月出版社上次那本有閒貴族艾略特的優雅事件簿 也是這樣標題看起來普通、內文卻意外地有意思. 三日月在日系輕小說的選書好像還不錯喔.

[Space Panda]

DNF - It's an Urban Fantasy, yesterday I just finish another trilogy with this genre. It isn't my favourite type of story. That's why I didn't finish it, I don't want to read another Urban Fantasy in the same week.

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was better than I was expecting same with the second volume. I suggest to have some basic understanding of religion/spiritual background of Japan but easy enough for anyone new the topic. You might find yourself checking out related fables or origin stories.

[Emi · Rating 3 out of 5]

この表紙めっちゃ好き。
美郷、怜路それぞれの過去が話が進むにつれて少しずつ明らかになってくるんだけど、まだまだ明かされていないことや秘密がありそうで続編が気になる。

[˗ˏˋ maddie ˊˎ˗ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5. Well I'm definitely curious to see how this develops!

[Lois Bujold · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars might be a little low. For a change, not from an anime, though it could clearly be made one.

Found at random on Amazon when I was looking over the prior light novel read The Case Files of Jeweler Richard. A check of the sample found the prose style pretty good -- I've been burned before on light novel translations -- omniscient/third person but not too awkward once the tale gets underway, and with some nice descriptions and sense of place that the author's afterword, as well as the story, reveal as personally experienced. The two main characters are bundles of tropes, but they happen to be tropes I like, so, OK.

Misato is a type I enjoyed in the excellent anime Midnight Occult Civil Servants, young new buttoned-down hire at a bureaucratic but well-intentioned city department devoted to dealing with problems from the supernatural. (He also reminds me of that cool practitioner side-character from Elegant Yokai Apartment Life.) Ryouji is a maverick shaman/magician/freelance priest who likewise deals in exorcism cases, mostly for realtors trying to move haunted properties. Opposites attract, though not immediately, but the underpaid civil servant still needs a cheap place to live, so roommates ensue, intertwined adventures follow. For a change not Tokyo, but a smallish provincial city with a population of about 60,000 in a mountainous area. Angsty backstories follow at the usual pace. Not sure if I'll go on to Vol. 2, but there is one.

Ta, L.

Later: I did go on to Vol. 2. Enjoyed it. The plot in this one mostly revolved around Misato's angsty family background come around to bite him. Vol. 3, upcoming next year, promises a change of scene.

The prose style continues notably better than the average light novel translations I've seen, granted a bar so low it's on the ground. The author's afterword says there will be a manga version, which could work well. No idea if that will be translated, or when.

Ta, L.

[Mari · Rating 4 out of 5]

I went into this craving a web novel vibe, and that's what I got. It's very much a low-key slice of life story, with supernatural elements. There perhaps is some romance, but it's slow, slow burning at this point (update: apparently this isnt bl????? 😒 the author used the term ブロマンス bromance 🙄 im rioting). There isn't much of a central plot. And the action is very relaxed? Overall, I enjoyed the cozy tone, so I'm not complaining (but maybe just a little). I can't wait to read more.


I'm eager to read the manga adaption that is drawn by the author/artist Mito, who is known for Manly Appetites. ☺️

[Kei · Rating 3 out of 5]

独立した小説というより。。。映像化するために書かれているものに近い、印象を受けた。
登場人物が面白そうですが、その登場人物と読者の間にかなり距離があって、なかなか近づいていけない。読者としてすごい遠くから眺める、、部分的な物語。
映像として見えるが、感情が入ってこない。
もうちょっと物語の中に入りたかった