Category: Freaks, Vol. 1

Category: Freaks #1

by Sakurako Gokurakuin, Lindsey Johnston (Translator)

Supernatural phenomena and strange occurrences are no sweat for the Nanami Paranormal Investigation agency, headed by Asagi Nanami. As "freak" activity grows to a terrifying fever pitch, Asagi's assistants -- Naoki, Tokiko, and Mahime -- help to solve several major "freak" cases. Freaks are creatures with the ability to possess humans and prey on their weaknesses. However, Asagi and his gang are no ordinary humans; each is equipped with a special power to vanquish Freaks. Wacky paranormal adventures awaits! An 18+ title with age labeling and shrink-wrapping.

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

200 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2003

About the author

Native name: 極楽院 櫻子
Associated names: さくら あしか; 极乐院樱子; 極楽院さくらこ; 櫻 海驢; efini; MELT DOWN; SAKURA Ashika

Circle(s): efini
Part of the MELT DOWN circle with Reku Fuyunagi.

She writes most of her BL and shotacon manga under the pen name "Ashika Sakura", and writes tame BL and mainstream stories under Sakurako Gokurakuin.

She is most known as the original creator of "Sensitive Pornograph" and "Sekirei", which are now both anime. She seems to be authoring mostly male-oriented work than yaoi these days.

When she presents herself in the afterwords of her comics, she tends to be very shy, embarassed and modest when she writes them, which some fans find humorous because her manga can get very sexual and outrageous.

Gokurakuin is a huge fan of singer, Akina Nakamori.

Zodiac: Scorpio

Blood Type: AB

Reviews

[Lord · Rating 1 out of 5]

Average artwork, average story about supernatural investigators. Pointless fanservice causing this book to be 18+. I'm still curious to find out if the second book is as weak as the first one, though.. ;-)

[Cara Patel]

I'm really sorry that this didn't end up working for me as I loved both the art style and the premis. The problem I had with this is that with each chapter felt like the story was starting from scratch and the story felt very dissjointed.

[Rav.ingbooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Such a fun story. But I only liked it.

[Baheda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book are definitely awesome.

[Jacqueline · Rating 4 out of 5]

This fabulous little book introduces us to out cast of characters: Nanami Asagi, as stand who is the only thing that can protect humans from the creatures, known as Freaks, of the dark, Tokiko, a rabbit-girl who helps to sniff out and consumes the defeated Freaks, Mahime who acts as a secretary to Nanami and contains a freak of her own named Yahiro, and finally the poor gofer human, Naoki .

While it may seem like just another supernatural book, this particular mangaka offers much with her imaginative style, delicate drawings, and creative costumes. The story seems cliched at first, and while parts of it are, there are a few interesting twist that can grab the readers attention. I promise while it may seem like it's just another monster of the week work, it will offer much more with a little patience.

[Jade Vidal · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Category: Freaks, Asagi-sama is a Stand, which is a non-human person who gets rid of Demon-like people called Freaks, who possess people or haunts people. His crew, Amano-san, Mahime- chan, Tokiko-kun, and Izumi-san help him beat the Freaks. Amano-san, being the only human there, helps but is deeply terrified of the Freaks. They meet and defeat many Freaks in Volume 1, but get worse as they fight more. Will they ever defeat them all?

I like the book because it has a great story line and it's cool when they fight the freaks. It's sad at times (depending on the Freak) because of the Freak's back story.

I found it REALLY irritating when they didn't explain some parts and expect the reader to figure it out. Also, the size of the book is 1-inch smaller than a normal manga book, which is quite unfortunate for people with big hands.

[Kati · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting manga with great potential for future development. This volume consists of stand-alone stories that set the "mood" of the series. The last story tells the reader how Asagi and Amano met. Also, the vibes between those two are rather yaoi-sh - when Amano met Asagi, Asagi was dressed like a girl and Amano fell for him and hard. So far, it looks like he still has it bad for his boss and Asagi teases him mercilessly about that. This manga is funny but also very creepy and there are a lot of nude scenes so it's definitely not for kids!

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had to force myself to finish it. While the art work is beautiful, the subject and style of the book is not something I would normally go for when it comes to Manga. I would most likely try to watch it if it was an anime, but only as a background noise type thing. It was to much like those animes where there is only small stories that don't really connect and no background story that continues throughout the story like I prefer when it comes to Manga.

[Bara · Rating 2 out of 5]

Weak plot lines, weak characters and weak drawings. There is a lot more better mangas about monsters.

[tigerlily Mckenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

boobs and ghosts and boobs ad yes

[Online Eccentric Librarian · Rating 1 out of 5]

More reviews (and no fluff) on the blog http://surrealtalvi.wordpress.com/

Mangaka Gokurakuin is mostly known for her illustration work rather than her storytelling skills. Juvenile Orion series broke her out with its beautifully drawn characters but the plot was honestly silly and pedantic. With Category Freaks, she attempts to write a horror where people are injured but rarely die. At times, it feels like she's trying too hard to be CLAMP but without the twists and pathos that the CLAMP writing team make work.

Story: In the world are supernatural figures called freaks who prey on humans/are the result of ill human feelings/emotions. It's up to an elite group of humans and supernaturals to hunt them down and prevent them from hurting humans. Enter monster of the week story.

The story features an agency with several members, some more human than others (several possessed). There is also a supernatural little girl who eats the bad freaks after they are captured/neutralized. The story has adult themes (orgies stabbings) so despite the cutsey images, it's best for mature audiences.

I suppose the story will eventually go somewhere but for now, I'm finding a lot of the same issues I had with Juvenile Orion: pretty but fairly confusing art and a rather tepid and pedestrian storyline. There isn't much mystery and the stories feel rushed and not really fleshed out enough to be intriguing.