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Attempting to shake off a nightmare from her childhood, Itoko was supposed to be married in the village of Mizukago. There, she saw a doll that looked just like herself. Itoko wonders why this doll was made and what is the "mother of blue" the villagers speak of. Itoko feels herself being dragged into an abominable village tradition and another nightmare.
Yumiko Kawahara's disturbing short stories explore the strange and codependent world of dolls and the people who own them. These cautionary tales must come from some desire to teach people a lesson, for in each one there is a horrible outcome when the doll enters their homes. Volume 1 Milk at Mealtimes: A man spoils his Plant Doll, and it matures into a "woman". Potpourri Doll: A mentally unbalanced man buys his daughter a Plant Doll, and starts to obsess over the "nauseating scent" coming from it. Snow White, Part I: A jeweller tries to obtain Tears of Heaven from a Plant Doll named Snow White. Snow White, Part II: A poor man takes in a Plant Doll and dies from the exhaustion of taking care of it. In the end the doll cries. Rainy Moon: An artist with a supernatural reputation does a portrait of a Plant Doll named Rainy Moon. Lucky Doll: A man's Plant Doll, named Otohime, grants him good luck, yet his girlfriend is somewhat skeptical. The Distant Sound of Water: A man wanders the city trying to regain his memory. A Spell to Unbind Spring: A man returns to a secluded manor with a legend of a girl who drowned in a nearby lake. Volume 2 Blue Doll: A man working for a collection agency takes in a Plant Doll left behind by former clients. The Garden in the Sky: A maid gets entangled in a plot involving a fortune depending on the words spoken by a Plant Doll. The Missing Doll: A woman tries to find the Plant Doll once owned by her dead grandmother. Princess Jewel: When a boy's sister dies, his father buys a Plant Doll to help his mother deal with it. The Role of an Angel: After getting divorced, a young model buys a Plant Doll. Forbidden Fruit: Olympia is a special kind of Plant Doll, one who sings. But there is a sinister secret about this certain Plant Doll. A Voice in the Night: A woman wanders the city only to stumble upon her corpse. Volume 3 The Garden of Arcadia: A young man who is mysteriously transforming into a tree is taken to a research institute where he is comforted by many plant dolls. Circle: A group pools their money together to buy a plant doll, which they will all take care of. However, when most of the members begin to see the joy in breaking the rules of plant doll care, one member must take charge of her. Honeymoon: A young girl finds that her previously adoring father has bought a doll that is identical to her in her childhood. Dreams of Flying High in the Sky: A lonely novelist buys a plant doll to impress his editor. When she leaves to marry her sweetheart, he must raise the doll by himself. The problem is, the doll doesn't respond to him and he has never taken care of her! Emerald: A rich woman's young lover wishes to possess a plant doll. As he yearns after the doll his mistress begins to lose interest in him. The Storm: A young woman who is kept in a gilded cage attempts to escape to live life to its fullest. Volume 4 Quicksand: When a sick young boy dreams of a beautiful plant doll with aqua blue eyes, his parents are quick to purchase her when he sees it in the shop. As the boy spends more time with the doll his health begins to improve. A Gift: In the midst of refuse an angel waits to awaken. When she is woken before her time, will she ever bloom into a proper angel plant doll? Coral: A father brings home a mysterious ball of coral with a tiny plant doll inside. As the doll spends more time in the sun, the bigger she grows. The Tiara of Melancholy: A brother and sister team is hired to grow the fabled Tiara of Melancholy for a rich man. What they soon find out is that as the tiara grows it draws its energy from the doll itself.
From DMP: Riya Narukawa is a high school freshman with a tremendous talent for the violin, and an equally large bag of mental issues. He seems to have a split personality. After injuring his own hand to compromise his playing ability, he winds up on the doorstep of college student Atsushi Ikeda. Atsushi's a nice guy, maybe too nice and generous. He takes Riya in for the night and helps him with his hand injury. Atsushi realizes there is much more Riya than is on the surface, and learns just how difficult Riya's life actually is. Not only does he have a personality disorder, but there's an aggressive senior at his school who has his eye on him. Atsushi becomes a sort of safe haven for Riya, an escape from the life of music he's been bound to.
Attempting to shake off a nightmare from her childhood, Itoko was supposed to be married in the village of Migomori. There, she saw a doll that looked just like herself. Itoko wonders why this doll was made and what is the "mother of blue" the villagers speak of. Itoko feels herself being dragged into an abominable village tradition and another nightmare.
Story 1: Saber Tiger "From tens of millions of years ago, the saber-toothed tiger reigned as the strongest carnivorous animal on land." Told from the perspective of a saber-toothed tiger, Saber Tiger tells a story where time travelers appear in the mist of the Ice Age. Story 2: The Planet of the Unicorn Astronauts attempt to investigate a planet with environmental conditions frighteningly similar to that of the Earth's. Madness ensues. Story 3: Sergeant Story 4: Adamas Diamonds Story 5: Quo Vadis Story 6: Asphaltic Trap Story 7: The Planet of Winter
Ichabod is a young boy trying to find his biological father. This pursuit isn't made any easier by his tendency to get into trouble with the law. To top things off, his parents are just downright weird: Ichabod was raised by a lesbian couple. Thank god he meets Kirico, who is anything but ordinary.
From Mangascreener: The only common feature running through these stories is a grown-up protagonist somehow coming face-to-face with his childhood past, in a testament to the loss of youth, the disillusionment of growing old, and nostalgia for better times. In the Adachi pantheon, this is a rare diametric view of his eternal theme of "youth," in this case youth as seen through the lens of the past. It's a powerful statement from Adachi that might even be an acknowledgment of his steadily-creeping age. What is impressive about these stories is not the plots or characters themselves, but the absolutely perfect way he tells them, another facet of experience that comes with age. Most of the stories may require multiple readings to fully appreciate the airtightness of the plot and visual motifs."
The complete biography of Buddha, as seen by Osamu Tezuka. Received the Bungei Shunju Manga Award in 1975 and ended in 1984. The manga Buddha is fiction with many characters who represent various life morals. Example Chapra and his mother show the love of a mother to a son. From Anime-Planet: The time is several millennia ago; the place is India. Droughts and famine plague the country, and its people are forced into a strict caste system that rewards only the elite cream of the crop. Across the land animals and Brahmin alike rejoice, for the blessed child with a birthright to become a god is about to be born. His name is Siddhartha Gautama, later to be known as the Buddha. However, Siddhartha's life will not be an easy one. He will experience love and loss, learn about the value of life and influence the lives of many, including Tatta and Pariah, Bandaka the bandit and countless others. The complete biography of Buddha, as seen by Osamu Tezuka. Received the Bungei Shunju Manga Award in 1975 and ended in 1984.
Aizawa was bullied by Suzuki to the point of becoming truant. He picks himself back up and becomes a teacher. 20 years later, his bully's daughter is one of his students and she's being harassed in class, a secret she keeps from her father.
From Aerandria Scans: In New York, behind all the hustle and bustle of the big city, Kazuya and Keith execute “requests” in order to live. No one knows about them. But what happens to people who look directly into Kazuya’s jet black eyes…?! For some reason, they start to change, little by little. The much-awaited first volume of a romantic horror between light and darkness.
From Fifay.net: It was the roaring 20's, and the country was Japan. Bluecat, or Aoneko, is a debonaire aristocrat with too much money and leisure time. Along with his servant boy Tigerman, he dabbles in private detective work much to the chagrin of the real police detective Mr. Bee-Prince (Hachiouji). Bluecat is handsome--and yes, he knows it--witty, polite, and popular among the rich. However, his deviant libido, as well as his own attractive nature, often land him in danger. Note: This manga contains relationships between adoptive father and son, and molestation.
Amamiya Taki, an employee - albeit a reluctant one - of the Parapsychology Research Institute, is suddenly notified of the suicide of a twin brother he never even knew existed. This event sets into motion a shocking chain of occurrences, the first of which is the discovery that Taki has no brain. Note: Nominated for the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize in 2017.
