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Takeshita Demons #2
The Filth Licker
Miku is going to School Camp in the forest, with her friend Cait and the rest of her class. It should be fun. But Miku has premonitions of danger, and when Oscar goes down with a festering rash, and a rushing wind blows out the bonfire she's sure something bad is going on. Then Alex finds the frog-like Filth-Licker in the boys' toilets, and all at once Miku, Cait and Alex are on a secret mission to overcome the vengeful Shape-Shifters or Super Demons before it's too late. Later that night, with Alex kidnapped by a pyromaniac fox, and Cait possessed by some angry sickle weasels, it's up to Miku and the Filth-Licker to save them all from disaster. Coming in 2012 Takeshita Monster Matsuri
- GenresJapan
208 pages, Paperback
First published June 2, 2011
4 people are currently reading
34 people want to read
About the author
Cristy Burne
22 books17 followersCristy Burne is an internationally published award-winning children’s author working on the intersection of story, science, technology and creativity.
Cristy has worked at CERN (home of the Large Hadron Collider!), at Questacon (as part of a science circus!), and in a ute (as a rubbish collector!). She has also bungee-jumped, sky-dived, back-packed, and exploded sewage on her neighbour.
Cristy’s books have been shortlisted for the WA Premier’s Book Awards and the Wilderness Society’s Environment Award for Children’s Literature, won the WA Young Readers Book Awards, and been recognised as Notable Books in the Children’s Book Council of the Australia awards.
Cristy’s latest titles include Fiona Wood: Inventor of Spray-on Skin, Beneath The Trees, and the co-authored Wednesday Weeks science-meets-fantasy series of comedy adventures.
Cristy has worked at CERN (home of the Large Hadron Collider!), at Questacon (as part of a science circus!), and in a ute (as a rubbish collector!). She has also bungee-jumped, sky-dived, back-packed, and exploded sewage on her neighbour.
Cristy’s books have been shortlisted for the WA Premier’s Book Awards and the Wilderness Society’s Environment Award for Children’s Literature, won the WA Young Readers Book Awards, and been recognised as Notable Books in the Children’s Book Council of the Australia awards.
Cristy’s latest titles include Fiona Wood: Inventor of Spray-on Skin, Beneath The Trees, and the co-authored Wednesday Weeks science-meets-fantasy series of comedy adventures.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 27, 2011
This review originally appeared on http://spinechills.blogspot.com
Takeshita Demons, the first book in this series, was one of the most original books I read last year. Not only was it brilliantly written and packed full of fascinating Japanese mythology, it was genuinely spooky! So you can imagine how eager I’ve been to review the sequel, The Filth Licker, and I’m pleased to say that this series is just getting better and better.
The Filth Licker is packed full of even more Japanese demons, some helpful, some decidedly less so, and I loved the way the unfamiliar names and quirks of the monsters are slipped into the story without it ever feeling like a mythology lesson. I actually walked away from this feeling like I’d learnt something, while also being highly entertained, which to me means that Cristy Burne has done the impossible.
I also loved seeing the relationships grow between the characters. In the last book, Cait had been a true friend to Miku, fighting demons by her side. But now she seems more interested in how many pairs of jeans to pack, and pretends to have no memory of their demon-fighting days. To everyone’s surprise, Miku’s real ally turns out to be Alex, her annoying bully, who knows a lot more about Japanese demons than he’s been letting on. The exchanges between them really makes you grow to love these characters , and there’s one scene in particular involving a giant monkey demon, stolen thoughts and spilled secrets that had me laughing out loud.
There’s a scene where Miku tells the tale of the Hyaku Monogatari, the Hundred Tales ceremony which summons a malevolent force, and somebody commends her on it by telling her it was, ‘Clean, no gore, and very spooky.’ I feel like the Takeshita Demons series is a lot like that – one of the rare horror stories that you can safely hand to younger readers without fear of threats from angry parents, but at the same time is genuinely packed full of spooky stuff. This is a series that is both highly original and wonderfully entertaining, and I can’t wait for the release of book three, Monster Matsuri in June next year.
Takeshita Demons, the first book in this series, was one of the most original books I read last year. Not only was it brilliantly written and packed full of fascinating Japanese mythology, it was genuinely spooky! So you can imagine how eager I’ve been to review the sequel, The Filth Licker, and I’m pleased to say that this series is just getting better and better.
The Filth Licker is packed full of even more Japanese demons, some helpful, some decidedly less so, and I loved the way the unfamiliar names and quirks of the monsters are slipped into the story without it ever feeling like a mythology lesson. I actually walked away from this feeling like I’d learnt something, while also being highly entertained, which to me means that Cristy Burne has done the impossible.
I also loved seeing the relationships grow between the characters. In the last book, Cait had been a true friend to Miku, fighting demons by her side. But now she seems more interested in how many pairs of jeans to pack, and pretends to have no memory of their demon-fighting days. To everyone’s surprise, Miku’s real ally turns out to be Alex, her annoying bully, who knows a lot more about Japanese demons than he’s been letting on. The exchanges between them really makes you grow to love these characters , and there’s one scene in particular involving a giant monkey demon, stolen thoughts and spilled secrets that had me laughing out loud.
There’s a scene where Miku tells the tale of the Hyaku Monogatari, the Hundred Tales ceremony which summons a malevolent force, and somebody commends her on it by telling her it was, ‘Clean, no gore, and very spooky.’ I feel like the Takeshita Demons series is a lot like that – one of the rare horror stories that you can safely hand to younger readers without fear of threats from angry parents, but at the same time is genuinely packed full of spooky stuff. This is a series that is both highly original and wonderfully entertaining, and I can’t wait for the release of book three, Monster Matsuri in June next year.
December 23, 2019
Was great however, followed some of the same story lines from the last book.
August 27, 2011
A fantastic follow up to last years Takeshita Demons: WELL worth it! Late primary especially will love the spookiness and the authentic Japanese demons!
April 4, 2017
Ten Second Synopsis:
Miku, Clair and their class are going on school camp - but Clair seems absentminded, to say the least, and before the class even gets to the camp one of Miku's classmates has been preyed upon by a Yokai. When the camp leader suggests telling ghost stories around the fire, Miku knows that they are risking the Hyaku Monogatari - an ancient ritual that creates a super-demon.
The Filth Licker featured far more yokai than the first book in the series, with everything from the titular Licker, to weasels with sickles for hands, an invisible set of footsteps that just wants you to get out of his road and a devious, tofu-wielding monk. This one was so packed with yokai that it was a little hard to keep track of who was working with or for whom, and who had or hadn't taken over which character's body/thoughts/memory.
There is a lot of action in the second half of the book as the three protagonists head into the forest and are chased, kidnapped, set on fire, frozen and generally given the run around by various nefarious spirits.
I really like the idea of a Filth Licker demon (I've come across it before in other books - particularly Kathryn Tanquary's The Night Parade - and the one in this story is just adorable.I'm still enjoying coming across inexplicable spirits, like the tofu monk. These little insights into yokai culture make me want to bust out my Yokai encyclopedia and dive on in.
This story was lacking the creepy atmosphere of the first book and seemed to focus on the action scenes rather than developing any sense of suspense. Much was made early on of Cait's loss of memory and mood swings and I thought this was going to be more of a focus than it actually became. We still don't really know much about Miku's inheritance of her powers so I'm hoping that this will be fleshed out a little more in the third book.
Miku, Clair and their class are going on school camp - but Clair seems absentminded, to say the least, and before the class even gets to the camp one of Miku's classmates has been preyed upon by a Yokai. When the camp leader suggests telling ghost stories around the fire, Miku knows that they are risking the Hyaku Monogatari - an ancient ritual that creates a super-demon.
The Filth Licker featured far more yokai than the first book in the series, with everything from the titular Licker, to weasels with sickles for hands, an invisible set of footsteps that just wants you to get out of his road and a devious, tofu-wielding monk. This one was so packed with yokai that it was a little hard to keep track of who was working with or for whom, and who had or hadn't taken over which character's body/thoughts/memory.
There is a lot of action in the second half of the book as the three protagonists head into the forest and are chased, kidnapped, set on fire, frozen and generally given the run around by various nefarious spirits.
I really like the idea of a Filth Licker demon (I've come across it before in other books - particularly Kathryn Tanquary's The Night Parade - and the one in this story is just adorable.I'm still enjoying coming across inexplicable spirits, like the tofu monk. These little insights into yokai culture make me want to bust out my Yokai encyclopedia and dive on in.
This story was lacking the creepy atmosphere of the first book and seemed to focus on the action scenes rather than developing any sense of suspense. Much was made early on of Cait's loss of memory and mood swings and I thought this was going to be more of a focus than it actually became. We still don't really know much about Miku's inheritance of her powers so I'm hoping that this will be fleshed out a little more in the third book.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews