Something strange is going on in "Soil New Town." The sudden disappearance of a seemingly normal family leads the two detectives Yokoi and Onoda to... more>> the idyllic town in the middle of nowhere. What looks like a routine case at first quickly turns into a complex and deadly riddle where nothing is what it seems to be. Will the two disparate investigators manage to solve the mystery before it's too late? <<less

In one unusual Tokyo high school, education takes a backseat to brawling as warring clubs wreak havoc in the hallways and chaos in the classrooms,... more>> all vying to be the baddest team around! Although they often contribute their fair share, only a handful of students serve to stem the tide of violence in this untamed outpost. These are the few, the proud, the powerful: the members of the Juken Club! <<less

Killy is a man of few words. He wanders, seemingly endlessly, through a lonely, gargantuan labyrinth of concrete and steel, fighting off cyborgs and other futuristic nightmares, searching only for something called Net Terminal Genes. And he has a very powerful gun, which he uses without hesitation whenever anything resembling danger rears its ugly head. ... more>>

Who is this quiet, violent, determined man and what are these Genes he seeks? The small communities he finds tucked into the crevices of this towering, dystopic ruin hardly give him leads on his treasure, driving him to find larger enclaves of civilization where people can reveal more about the world he lives in and the quarry he seeks.

Note: Nominated for the Harvey Award for Best American Edition of Foreign Material in 2006. <<less

Is there someone whom you desperately wish to see dead? If you want your enemies and rivals eliminated, free-of-charge and with no possibility of the crime being traced back to you, all you need to do is leave a message for "Usobuki Tadashi" in a certain telephone booth at a certain park.... more>>

Soon afterwards, a black-suited man with cold, crimson eyes will meet with you and confirm the target. He cannot be prosecuted, for he kills through the power of suggestion and the clever arrangement of events. He will accept any request: regardless of whether the target is saint or sinner, and no matter how foolish, cruel or misguided the client... All with a mocking smile on his face that belies his quiet amusement in the face of humankind's never-ending folly. <<less

Mia is a young girl who lives a day without much hope. Seeing the ruby brooch displayed at the jeweler's shop, she is quickly taken... more>> away. When she comes across this accidentally brooch, her life starts to twist irreversibly... <<less

Brainwashing is now a popular activity in corporate circles. Contracted by large companies, professional Washers hack into the brains of new employees and instil loyalty and drive.... more>>

This surge of brainwashing soon gives rise to Deprogrammers: elite Washers who are capable of not only undoing brainwashing but also breaking down the human mind. But as the Washers begin to fear the Deprogrammers and seek to control them, a fierce struggle breaks out...

It's in this world of mind games, trickery, and deceit, that a man is found unconscious by the side of the road, his mind crashed by Washers. Who is this man, who crashed him, and why? Reality and mindscape blur as the answers slowly come to light. <<less

A depressing story about how a Japanese family's life goes wrong: an immoral protagonist, her sister who was gang raped before, her alcoholic mother who... more>> later devoted her life to a cult, and her father who lost favor with his company... full of sexual content and highly violent. <<less

During summer vacation a group of fifteen children discover a mysterious man living in a cave surrounded by high tech gadgets, the man claims to be a game developer, creating a video game with a giant robot defending Earth from fifteen alien invaders. He asked the children to test the game for him and they agreed.... more>>

Notes: Received Excellence Prize from Japan Media Arts Festival in 2010 <<less

A collection of strange horror stories in the vein of authors such as R.L. Stine, from the master of absurdist horror, Takahashi Yousuke.

The story revolves around people who possess the ability to infiltrate human minds and manipulate memories. Their powers have been used in the underworld for... more>> covering up accidents, assassinations, and all manner of crimes. But these powers not only destroy others' spirits, but also corrupt the users' own hearts... <<less

The story could basically be split into two halves. The main story is about Tamai Shiina, who is an energetic middle-school teenage girl. She visits her grandparent's over the summer where she runs into a very strange creature. Shiina has had lots of strange dreams as of late and also when she was younger, and this strange creature is somewhat related to her visions. She names the small cuddly star-shaped creature, Hoshimaru.... more>>

Little did she know that this cuddly creature is really part of herself. After her vacation, Shiina goes back to her home, living with her father. She runs into other children with similar creatures the following days. However, these children have developed their creatures, and they have complete control over them. They mostly use these creatures for their own destructive pleasure and not for good. There is a group of teenagers that all have these strange creatures, and they plan to basically conquer the world, creating a utopia of whatever they desire. Will they succeed? Will Shiina ever develop Hoshimaru? <<less

The twin brothers Susumu and Tsutomu have been friends with the girl Sakura since they were kids. But when Tsutomu mysteriously disappears at the age... more>> of ten, Susumu and Sakura begin to drift apart. What Sakura doesn’t know: Tsutomu has returned, not as a person, but as the mirror image of Susumu. That is, whenever Susumu looks in a mirror, he sees his brother who talks to him. Thus begins a bizarre love triangle between Sakura, who torments the poor Susumu as much as she is being tormented by her peers, Susumu, who keeps thinking he has to save Sakura because he likes her, and Tsutomu, who despite being stuck in a mirror pulls everyone’s strings. <<less

Follows the fantastically absurd exploits of a wannabe detective and his female assistant who roam the Japanese countryside looking for work. Each chapter has them... more>> arriving at a new town plagued by some bizarre problem. <<less

The story begins with a middle-aged mother committing suicide due to problems with her adult son. Following her miraculous revival and return as a 20-year-old,... more>> she comes to know that her son does not, in fact, hate her like she'd assumed he did. However, in exchange for her second chance at life she's forced into playing deadly mind games with others in the same situation as herself. <<less

Morohoshi Daijirou's take on the Grimm Fairy Tales. Some are relatively straight adaptations while others have a sci-fi, horror, comedy, or mystery-twist.

A collection of stories:... more>>

- Under Execution, Under Jailbreak (1994)

A man in jail and his attempts to break out of his cell.

- Dolce and His Master (1996)

A man and his cat are stranded on a sinking yacht, their supplies of food and water dangerously low. Who will go over the edge first? And who will emerge victorious in the frenzied battle that follows?

- Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan - At a Confessional (1997)

Kishibe Rohan listens to the life story of a rich and successful man.

- Deadman's Questions (1999)

A ghost wanders around town struggling to accomplish his mission. <<less

One night, mild-mannered college student Mori Hiroshi bumps into a woman visiting his next-door neighbour, Yamamoto. Abnormally tall and dirty-looking, the woman has long, straggly... more>> hair, wears a man's coat and carries shopping bags in both hands. But then, without warning, she abandons her dogged pursuit of Yamamoto and shifts her attentions to Hiroshi himself. Who is this woman, what is she after, and will Hiroshi ever be able to shake her off? <<less

Naota's life isn't simple: he lives with his eccentric father and grandfather in a two-story house above a family-owned bakery in a town marked by... more>> a gigantic factory at its heart. The factory looks suspiciously like a hand iron, complete with a steam release at the top--not the most typical landmark. Life is already strange enough, but to top it off, his older brother's ex-girlfriend starts making extremely suggestive passes at him... and an impish, playful alien smacks him in the head with a bass guitar and then infuses herself into his family. <<less

A man who wants to escape his boring, repetitive life sets out on a journey. On the way, he comes across unbelievable things, terrible things.

A girl who calls herself a demon appeared before a timid student named Fumio Kijima. The girl claims to be a campaign girl from the demon world and she gives him the ability to “summon a room” from nothing but thin air.... more>>

At first he doesn’t abuse his power and uses it as a convenient ability in his every day life. But one day he is bullied by his classmates under a false pretext and is made to suffer. In the past he would have wallowed in misery and cried himself to sleep, but now he had a power to call upon.

“I will make them regret it!”

Using his powers to summon his “room”, he begins his era of confinement and brainwashing to achieve his goals. <<less

Students from a university mystery club decide to visit an island which was the site of a grisly multiple murder the year before. Predictably, they... more>> get picked off one by one by an unseen murderer. Is there a madman on the loose? What connection is there to the earlier murders? The answer is a bombshell revelation which few readers will see coming. [Locked Room International] <<less

"I woke up with nothing but fragments of memories from my life up to now. There was a man standing by my bed, who introduced himself as my lover. But one of my few recollections is of being left for dead in a snowy field by this very same man...... more>>

Still, he looks like the only one who can provide me with the answers I need. Who the hell is he? What was the real relationship between the two of us?" <<less

In the future, alien invasion is a daily occurrence and everyone must be prepared. Elementary School #9 has assigned three students to fight off the... more>> extra-terrestrial threat. <<less

A collection of stories:... more>>

・Devils x Devil - Kiryu in Paris

The story takes place in Paris in the not-so-distant future where a virus that could wipe out the human race is set loose in the city. The effects? It turns people insane and forces them to fight. This story is about Kiryu, Kiichi's uncle.

・Haiiro Odd-eye

・Inou Shain Suzuki Ichirou

・Oton 9 <<less

A research laboratory in the international city Kanazawa. Kei Sagami, daughter of the chief of laboratory, Professor Hiromitsu Sagami, becomes a witness of an experiment... more>> - the awakening of a sword, the Maken. It's able to heal mental disorders, at least according to her father. But as strange foreigners forcibly break into the laboratory, kidnap her father and put the actual carrier of the sword out of action, she experiences the true meaning of the Maken first hand. <<less