The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service, Volume 3

The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service #3

by Eiji Otsuka, Housui Yamazaki (Illustrator)

The Corpse Delivery Service has been helping dead people move on to the afterlife...but what about interred internal organs? In Volume Three, Kuro is surprised to learn that the voice enlisting his help is coming not from a dead man, but a live man housing a necrotic organ, the result of a faulty transplant. The pursuit of putrid parts leads the kids of Kurosagi all the way to the war in Iraq!

Genres: Manga, Horror, Comics, Graphic Novels, Japan, Fiction, Mystery

208 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

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).

Reviews

[Rod Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

A real dark and depressing outing with war refugees, organ harvesting, and suicide galore -- and with gore.

My library has a couple more volumes (but not the whole series) so I'm putting those on hold.

[Darrin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Manga aren't my usual thing. This is another case of being randomly attracted to the cover of the book and, in this case, the quirky display in our library as well.

My oldest son is a manga fan and he tried to get me to read the Saga comic book series which I understand is highly rated but I just don't get the concept of reading comic books for pleasure. Sorry, just not my thing. Even as a kid I collected and read Star Wars comic books for a while (yes, I still have my Star Wars #1 in a plastic sleeve) but beyond that, I just lost interest and have never really gone back.

So what about these manga? I found myself turning the pages and being interested in the story. I was reminded a bit of a much more gruesome version of the Scooby Doo cartoons I used to watch on Saturday morning but with more body parts, entrails and blood and brain spattered walls. Scooby Doo was a much more innocent time apparently....

That said, I liked the characters and the art work. I found the storylines interesting and I appreciated the jokes and dark humor. This was an omnibus volume but for practical reasons only known to Goodreads members who want to make sure they keep up with their book count, I broke it up into the three constituent books.

They are a lot of fun and in the back of each manga, there is a list of the "sound effects" in the books...basically a glossary that refers to the different hiragana, katakana and kanji characters you see floating around the pages. These are Japanese sound words that add to the story by allowing you to imagine the sounds made in any given scene.

Certainly these manga aren't for everybody...you don't want your 7 year old reading them for example...or the church lady down the street...and I am not even sure who I would recommend them to except my oldest son. All the same, give 'em a go if you are so inclined and you, like I do, enjoy technical drawings of body parts on the covers of books.

[Cristhian · Rating 4 out of 5]

De los TKCDS que he leído hasta ahora, el arco del mercado negro de órganos creo que es el que hasta el momento se me ha hecho más profundo y de una preocupación social real.

Lástima que solo abarca la mitad y las historias complementarias no se encuentren al mismo nivel (aunque no son malas).

[Derek Royal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reread in preparation for the September manga episode of The Comics Alternative: http://comicsalternative.com/manga-re....

[Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kurosasi is a series that explores death from a fascinating variety of angles. Without spoiling anything, I'll say that in this volume alone, we get three very different cases, with atmospheres that range from tragedy, to mystery/thriller, to a horror tale I could almost see happening in real life. It's also nice to see this series alternate between longer-form stories, and shorter vignettes, like the ones in this volume; it provides a nice variance of pacing to the overall narrative.

There's a lot to like in this volume, and as a whole, Kurosagi continues to be a very under-recognized series. Highly recommended if you're at all interested in mysteries/horror stories with good world-building, and a healthy dose of the supernatural.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

The premise of this manga is good but you really need too suspend disbelief on more than just the paranormal elements, like how random Japanese students (including one with a sock puppet) can get into a US military base to process the dead, how a Japanese uni student is licensed to embalm in the US and that they would be allowed to do so on US military dead and how its seems so easy just to take corpses from places with no paperwork. While there are paranormal elements, it’s still set in ‘real world’ Japan so having to suspend disbelief for so many ‘normal’ functions takes you out of the story.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

I get why I loved this series in college. But for some reason I left this volume in the shrink-wrap for almost ten years. I'd like to think my appreciation of horror and the eerie has grown, but I'm still the same dude who loved the goofy karmic corpse finders of Kurosagi. Probably won't read any more unless I move to a town with a richer library, but I recommend to anyone with a love of deadpan macabre and the time to fall into a manga.

[Nina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like how the stories touch upon people of different backgrounds and stories (immigrants and refugees, suicidal, black market organs, war). I do want to note there is the swastika symbol shown in 2 of the panels. This symbol has been long linked with Buddhism thousands of years before Hitler appropriated it for his use. Just wanted to clarify that.
There's also a lot of dark humor used and gore (body mutilation, blood, violence)- I think even more compared to the last volume.

[Peter Barr · Rating 4 out of 5]

In what seems like what would be a limited search, the author of the Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service has been able to come up with an interesting series of clients for the service. The characters haven't fleshed out much but the series has been upbeat and held it's own so far. It is unique.

[Mely · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't enjoy this volume as much as the first two. This installment had quite a few complex stories that weren't really my taste. Still lots of gory body horror that I love. Love the illustrations and I still want to continue the series.

[Noninuna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this volume as much as previous volumes. This time there are 3 cases and a new character introduced. What I can say of the gang is that they got less money but more experience doing volunteer & pro-bono jobs. Hope to see if there's a more interesting case in later volume.

[jeremiah · Rating 4 out of 5]

The quality of the stories improved dramatically in this volume. Hoping this trend continues.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good.

[FSSTBlog · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full Review: https://wp.me/p9chEO-iy

A gruesome continuation of the Kurosagi series. It's as good as the previous two and returns to the format of the first volume.

[Radclyffe U-Haul · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first half just ends without feeling totally finished? Still thoroughly enjoyable though.

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Getting more creative!

The cover drawings actually hint what’s the deliveries about in this volume and they are different. I love that!

[Lily May · Rating 5 out of 5]

these books are so so fun and very quick to read i am loving it <3 shout out to the library

[Regan Flieg · Rating 4 out of 5]

@ Squid Game, Kurosagi did it first

[Jade · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love where the story is going

[Janay Johnston]

DNF'ed about half way through. This series just isn't holding my interest anymore. I think this will be my last one.

[Xilks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gratuitous Sasaki nip through shirt.

[Ylenia Damiani · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the sarcasm strung throughout a very dark manga. I love how easy they explore death and keep its sacred nature

[Mads · Rating 5 out of 5]

god these are so good

[Caitlyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

this series eatssssss

[Claire · Rating 3 out of 5]

not as good as the first two

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stuff I Read – The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service Vol 3

The third volume of this rather strange manga is a return to the episodic format of the first volume. Once again the team tackles three mysteries involving dead bodies. And once again the manga carries a good deal of weight while keeping a quirky sense of humor. The series still tackles some incredibly macabre scenarios, and includes some good mysteries, though most of the suspense is put on the back burner for this volume. Where before the first two volumes had an immediate sense of danger and violence, this volume relaxes a bit, and is truer to a regular comedy, though still about dead people. The characters remain solid, though, and the situations, while not quite as strong as the first two volumes, do make for good stories.

The first part is probably the weakest, though, and involves an Iraqi that has traveled to Japan, where his nonessential organs were harvested. Then he was deported, and then he was killed in Iraq and shipped back to Japan to a processing center, having died in some sort of violence and been mistaken for a US Soldier. Of the three stories this one seemed the weakest, because so much of the story is passive. The agency really isn’t even trying to find this guy that hard, and the main action is just the group kind of wandering from place to place and putting the pieces together. The corpse itself ends up solving what mystery there was for them, and the ending is incredibly abrupt. Really the entirety of the chapter seemed more suited to a prologue, and the chapter ends with the real story just getting started. But before anything is really resolved the volume moves onto the next mystery.

Which turns out to be a much better story than the first, and indeed is the best in the volume, in my opinion. Asked by a murdered man to find out how he died, the group investigates a strange series of murders and how they relate to graffiti that has started showing up around the city. When they opt to set up their alien channeler as the next victim in this mystery, they stumble across a twisted game of tag that involves murder. This story is the one that captures the feeling of suspense and dread of the first and second volumes, bringing violent killer into the mix. And while the story still seems to fall a little short of some of the others that came before, it is a good mystery and a good story, and adds some twists into the work that makes it complex and fascinating.

The last story of the volume begins when the group finds an ear in a magazine, and goes from their to try and find out the story behind what happened to the owner of the ear in an attempt to get some profit. And what follows is a very interesting story, the idea behind it being quite creepy and effective. The execution here is a bit lacking, though, and sadly this story too doesn’t have too much going for it. The mystery is intriguing, and the truth of what happened is original, but it’s just not incredibly satisfying. They determine that a combination of sounds and music created a tune that provoked people to kill themselves. Which is an interesting thought. But it turns out to be entirely incidental, which is a bit unfortunate because it takes away most of the menace and horror of it. Even the danger the group is put into at the end isn’t all that threatening.

But even though this volume doesn’t quite measure up to the previous two, it remains a great series, and the characters and stories are entertaining and fun. Maybe it is just that the combination of corpses and humor are a good fit for manga. Whatever the case, the series continues to be a joy to read, and a welcome break from many of the other manga series, that are so dependent on battle and such. The fact that this gathering of misfits is out to try and profit by helping the dead is great, and I look forward to the next volume. As for this one, it gets a 7/10.

[Nick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Overall Rating: A
Synopsis: Your body is their business! From writer, Eiji Otsuka, and artist, Housui Yamazaki, Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service is a manga that combines horror, and humor. The surprising thing about the series is that it does a good job at both. The story follows five Buddhist college students as they start up a unique service, one that serves the dead. Using unique skills, like dowsing and speaking to the dead, they find the dead and help them free their souls for reincarnation. Oh, and did I mention one of them speaks to aliens through the puppet on his hand?

Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service follows Kuro Karatsu, an average student at an average Buddhist college. Kuro is trying to find a job, but his grades aren't good enough to get anything good. Fortunately for Kuro, he has a skill the other students don't, he can also speak to the dead. After getting roped into some volunteer service where he meets other specialists like himself, who can find dead bodies using dowsing, speak to aliens, and an embalmer (a rare occupation in Japan), the group forms the Kurosagi (which means black crane) Corpse Delivery Service. Their job is to find dead bodies whose souls cannot move on, and help free them so they can be reincarnated. Unfortunately for Kuro and the others, apparently the reason souls can't move on is because of some fucked up shit.

For example, the first case they get involved in deals with two lovers killed by the girl's father. Apparently, the girl had been a member of the pop group, Dokkiko, and the father had been abusing the girl. When he found out about her relationship, he became jealous and killed her and her boyfriend. Even more disturbingly, he replaces her corpse with a deer's carcass and takes her corpse back to their home to further abuse. Don't worry, the case ends happily enough, with the dead lovers killing the father so their souls can be released.

So, where's the humor? Well, if people speaking to aliens through hand puppets isn't enough to make you smile, I'm fairly sure you're dead inside. Even if that isn't your cup of tea, there is lots of shit to make you giggle in the series. For example, in the same story, Numada, the bad ass Dowser, comments on the pop group the dead girl belonged to, saying that she was a pure idol, and her departure from the group broke the hearts of all her fans. The delivery is fantastic and it's this kind of humor that makes the book great. The characters in the book deal with the horror like normal people. Well, normal people who have special powers and are kind of weird.

You might think that in a book where characters can speak to the dead, that the stories would be more action focused, or at least fast-paced, but the writing is often somber, and spends a lot of time presenting different facets of death and how people deal with it. The series also does an excellent job of juxtaposing real life issues like scrapping up enough money to buy lunch, and the supernatural issues that come along with speaking to the dead. I highly recommend checking this one out, but don't read it alone at night, unless you like creeping yourself out.

For more manga and anime reviews, please check out Hobotaku.

[Charles Dee Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

When you are in a business called the Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service, you do not expect one of your clients to get up and walk away. That's what happens early on in this installment, but the kids find him later, genuinely dead. In fact, he is dead twice over. He is carrying an older, deader transplanted kidney. This discovery leads the team to a very dodgy trade in organ harvesting from illegal immigrants. It also takes the to Iraq. Since this third volume is episodic unlike the single, book-length tale that made up Volume 2, the Delivery Team still has time to encounter a murder/suicide club operating in Tokyo.

A significant feature of this series is the Glossary and Notes at the end of every volume. The glossary mostly translates the kanji used for sound effects, but there are also notes that give some cultural background to the plots. The notes also explain various misconceptions the authors have about Western societies that make it into the plot.

[Christiane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good compilation of stories featuring the Kurosagi Corpse Delivery crew. The first two stories in the book are well...a two-parter. While the crime that the spirit experienced is horrifying on its own (illegal immigrants/organ farming), the author tries to tie it in tangentially to the war in Iraq, which I found a little heavy-handed. There's also an introduced character in the two-parter that serves as a deus ex machina of sorts. He appears in the last story too and does the same thing. I hope they don't use him too often in future volumes. Finally, the second half of the two-parter ended very abruptly. I had to re-read it a couple of times to make sure that it was all there was. Still, I liked the way that the story worked with the character's strengths and weaknesses. The two one-off stories were very good; I didn't see the twist in the first one-off story (X + Y = Love) coming! Overall, a solid selection of stories. Good stuff!

[Gphatty · Rating 3 out of 5]

This stuff is somewhat graphic -- lots of mutilated or decayed corpses. Macabre plot twists. But in the end, it mostly felt like a series of Scooby Doo stories set in Japan and for older children. Each member of the KCDS has well defined skills and character traits; tbey joke, fight, and solve crimes as a loose team.

So far, no over-arching story -- anyone could jump in and get what's going on. Except one thing: the sound effects are written in Japanese. So are the inscriptions and signs throughout the book. And sometimes, it seems that those words/letters are actually useful to know.

Thankfully, the translators have included an annotated glossary in the back of the book. However, it detracts from the flow of reading the story.

Great for teens, and mystery lovers. And folks that like realistic ghost stories.