I Thot You Was a Toad's manga / #supernatural(121)

Confusing and muddled. It starts off as a sweet romance and turns dark, then darker, revealing a horror-filled tragic backstory. Somewhere along the way, there's a suicide pact, and then, ghosts. Good luck making sense of it.

Iris, who consumes minerals for sustenance, hides a tragic past and a painful secret. Bent, a rock dealer, comes across him, seemingly by accident, but in spite of their growing attraction, leads him into greater danger. Aoi Aki's worlds are as mysterious and wonderful as her artwork, and this one is tinged with the bitter as well as the sweet.

Fourth in Sakyo Aya's were-cat series.

Raberu/Label/Ravel is the son of a king who was killed during a rebellion. The king begged his court sorcerer to save his life, so the sorcerer shrank him to about the size of a nut, swallowed him and "gave birth" to him about half a century later by ... well, through ... the anus. Now the boy is his apprentice. Apparently this story is going to become a yaoi story and, so far, the sorcerer has broken some spells by proxy, but I'm still stuck on the whole rebirth thing. It just ... Dies.

Shimeji, known as the Bloody Doll, comes to life as a result of his master's love. Unfortunately, only one of his masters was pleased by this. One of Mishima Kazuhiko's best stories.

Yuki has been neglected by Hikaru, who is busy at work, and is nearly seduced by the strange bisexual president of the UFO club at his university.

Kaichi is a mind reader with his own home and business, and a friend from back in school in the handsome lawyer, Anan Kei, whose thoughts are largely veiled from him. Just as it seems as though Kaichi and Anan are about to become lovers, Kaichi is asked by his uncle — the man to whom he owes his livelihood — to look after his abused step-cousin. Tatsuya is also able to veil his thoughts from Kaichi, but it is clear that the darkness hides tragic secrets which Kaichi is determined to find out. The trouble is, this leads to serious misunderstandings with Anan. A fascinating story with Kitazawa Kyou's usual sexy drawings of men. The translation needs the support of a good editor, but the meaning does come across.

I'm not just reading this story; so far I'm loving it. Fire and Water seem like polar opposites of what they should be: the ifrit/efreet is cold and standoffish; the water sprite is warm and passionate. Very cute story about how opposites attract. The "Sploosh" treatment for demon battles also seems like a very effective tool, kind of like how I take care of Tomcats battling outside my window late at night. Plus Kanda Neko's art is so pretty.

This prequel to Wild Fangs follows the story of man-beast Mao's brother, Kiri, and the man who manages to subjugate him. It goes into greater detail on the subject of war and Kiri's role in the conflict.