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

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

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 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

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

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

A collection of four short stories by Fuyumi Souryou.... more>>

The Rainbow Fish is a story about a painter and her problems dealing with a culture that doesn't leave too much space for artistic inspiration. From a little girl to adulthood, Sari struggles to show how she sees life through her eyes. This story is something of an autobiography.

Damned Sun is about a cynical girl who isn't very enthusiastic about most things teenagers like. She meets a man, a funny, interesting gangster. They get along very well from the beginning, understanding each other without too many words... But it only lasts one day, since what shakes Maki from her apathy can't last long...

Strange Trait asks the question: Are human beings are like groceries? Do they really have a certain durability? A writer thinks so, and she bases her novel on the idea.

A Strange Gene is about Ayano Yoshimusa; a superb worker, efficient, accurate, and cold. Saegusa, her colleague, is her opposite: messy, chaotic and warm. He admires his boss, whenever he talks to her he realises what a perfect creature she is… But as always, not everything is what it seems. When a sixteen years old appears and tells him she lives with Ayano, Saegusa seems to perceive that something might be hidden under the perfect appearance of this beautiful woman… <<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

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

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

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

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

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

"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

A compilation of short stories by Keiichi Koike.... more>>

1. Knockin' on Heaven's Door

2. 3000 Leagues Searching For Mother

3. Lazaro Franco's Fourth Hour

4. The Fallen Samurai And The Sea

5. Loopa

6. Kenbo's Diary

7. Sponge Generation

8. By Plane

9. Horizon

10. Landed

An astronaut sent on a space mission promises his wife and child that he will come back to them. <<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

A modern tale of the supernatural by the author of the Eisner Award-winning . ("marginal" is one of several aliases by creator Garon Tsuchiya.) ... more>>

Masahiko is estranged from his family and lives a dead-end life in Tokyo, working as a chauffeur for high-class call girls. When his sister dies under mysterious circumstances, he inherits an unlabeled CD from her possessions. Listening to the jazz music it contains, he is propelled into an out-of-body experience. As he repeats the experience, he begins to wonder if this was how his sister died. Masahiko is determined to find the cause of her death, and the mystery behind the CD. <<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.

G takes place at these points we call boundaries. Boundaries between times, dimensions, destinies, life and death, …... more>>

It tells the story of young Tomak through his initiatic journey.

The Death Grass Spirit is never far...

This story is related to the short story "Lazaro Franco's Fourth Hour" published in Heaven's Door. <<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.

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

Takumi is a high school student. He is withdrawn and is not interested in 3D things. In his town, a mysterious serial murder case happens and people get panicked. One day, when he chats on the internet, a man suddenly contacts him and gives him an URL. He goes to the website and finds a blog image that suggests a next murder case... On the next day, it really happens...... more>>

Takumi Nishijo suffers from intense delusions as a result of his apparent schizophrenia and the extremely secluded lifestyle he lives as a hikkikomori. One day he accidentally stumbles upon a gruesome murder scene, a part of a chain of events called "New Generation." After this, his life gets caught up in these events, and he meets a bunch of increasingly insane anime girls with swords. <<less

The story is set in a dystopian alternative present where any kind of substance able to alter the state of mind is legalized and authorized for consumption at home or in designated places called Pomp Bars.... more>>

These products, once considered very dangerous, are now freely advertised on TV. The bartender chooses the ones more suited to his customers and serves them with special cocktails.

When the Pompies movement obtained the liberalization of the drugs it seemed a historically meaningful change destined to improve the world - a dream realized in a manner that radically affected humanity's way of life.

But in a world where all feelings are artificial and where everyone is a potential drug addict, nothing has really changed for the better. Only a select few drugs are considered dangerous and put under strict control by hygiene offices, which is given full authority to handle matters related to the severely addicted.

Kabu, a small-time peddler and heavy addict. Used to any kind of hallucinogenic trip, he is able to feel the happiness through the ecstasy of the drug, while on the same time hypocritically hating who gave birtn to that society which has forced him to the live this way.

After an overdose caused by mixing two incompatible drugs, he spends his days looking for stimulants until the encounter with an enigmatic man who offers him a new kind of illegal substance. Ultraheaven.

From that moment on his incredible journey begins - where dream and reality are fused in an undivided world - causing him both hysterical joy and unbearable pain. <<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