I am approaching this book from the perspective more of a Cthulhu mythos fan than a manga fan. Apparently mythos critters, entities and tomes appear occasionally in Japanese language manga; Edward Lipsett (from Kurodahan Press) tells me that they are mostly treated as easily defeated demons or monsters, not as the unfathomable immensities that they are. Taimshin No 1 by Hideyuki Kikuchi and Misaki Saitoh is, as far as I know, the only one of these to see Enlish language translation so far. Edward specifically warned me it wasn't very good. Oh, well, when has that ever stopped me?

Publication date is 2004, and I got a very cheap used copy, so what the hey. The story is that some Japanese citizens at risk are being possessed by otherworldly entities and causing havoc locally. Dr. Taima is a master acupuncturist of a specific school and he has to track the problem down to its roots. He ends up going to Dunwich(!), first tracking the meridians of power to the house where Wilbur Whateley and his twin were born, and then to Sentinel Hill. With his special acupuncture needles he is able to sever the lines connecting Wilbur's twin's dimension and our own, except perhaps for one going back to Japan (paving the way for sequels?).

My kids eat manga up; they just love it. Manga animation dominates the cartoons these days (Kappa Mikey plays on this pretty well). They have Naruto, Mega Man and Dragon Drive, and who knows what else. I have never been to into them myself, although as a parental responsibility I have to read one occasionally to see if it is age appropriate. The same things you find in kids' manga you find here: the stereotypically infernally competent, preternaturally unflappable, physically beautiful main protagonist, exaggerated emotional traits, big eyes, small noses etc. If you hate manga, don't bother. There are also some somewhat graphic sexual references, so this is definitely adults only.

So what did I not like? Most of it! I think sometimes manga enthusiasts use their knowledge of art, stereotypes and traditions as a form of shorthand. Much of the time exactly what was happening in a given panel was completely unclear to me, a relative manga novice. Why everyone was doing what they were doing was pretty opaque. The lack of emotional responsiveness of the protagonist was a bit of a turn off. That some one would stand around while Yog Sothoth spawn was manifesting, arms crossed, slightly bored was a stretch. Not having any western tradition of acupuncture, the idea that a few special needles will banish such a creature is also hard to swallow.

What did I like? It's a bargain used so there was no risk! Also, the depictions of the Yog Sothoth spawn and other demons was pretty good, certainly worth a look. It was cool to see a Japanese comic refer to HPL's creations. I still have never seen the sequel.

I think Lovecraft and manga would marry up pretty well in the right hands, much like HPL and comics, as in Yuggoth Creatures and Fall of Cthulhu. I am looking forward to the forthcoming English language Arkham Woods; this is probably just the first in what will become its own subgenre. ( )

If you enjoy H.P. Lovecraft and/or Cthulhu, you'll love this one. The author, Hideyuki Kikuchi has taken Lovecraft's mythos and intertwined it with demon-hunter acupuncturists.

The main character, Taima, is smart, cool, calm, mystical, and one of of three 'needle-master' demon-exorcists in the world. What d'ya know... they're all bishonen!

I have a phobia of needles, but these acupuncturists needles are really *long* and I can think of them as short spears. Mostly, Taima sticks them into monsters and mystical semi-inanimate objects, anyway, so my phobia isn't triggered by reading.

Misaki Saito does a nice job with expressions and showing characters from different angles and viewpoints. It's a very interesting combination. ( )