Volumes 1-7
Story and Art by Kusunoki Kei

Kusunoki Kei is probably best known for her OGRE SLAYER series released by Viz Communications. She does have some traditional shoujo manga out from her early days, but, as OGRE SLAYER demonstrates, her specialty is definitely on the supernatural/fantasy side, usually with healthy doses of fighting and blood thrown in for good measure. Of course, fans of Kusunoki will also know that her stories are not just about gore and violence; there tends to be an undercurrent of sadness that gives depth beyond others in the genre.
JINROUZOUSHI is, I think, the pinnacle of this fusion. A work that took Kusunoki nine years to complete, the last volume was released just this year. I came across it seven years ago, but for various reasons Kusunoki had suspended progress on it in favor of other series, and I had given up hope, thinking it one of those manga that have just been left on the wayside due to low popularity or publisher difficulties.
Fans are lucky indeed that JINROUZOUSHI has finally made it to its conclusion. Set in medieval Japan, at the turn of the seventeenth century during a period of bloody warring, it is essentially the story of a woman named Kikumaru and a man, Rougaou, who has been reborn with a stunted body and no memory of his past. In a world where women killed in war linger on as angry ghosts that devour humans, hoping for the opportunity to gain substance and become real again, the key is the legendary wolf-people. They are incredibly powerful and their bodies very difficult to harm, but if a ghost were to drink their blood they would gain substance. To eat their flesh means a return to a human appearance, and the heart of a JINROU, a wolf-man, is the most coveted prize of all—eternal youth and immortality.
Rougaou is one such wolf-man, hunted by ghosts that swarm at the slightest scent of flowing blood. Twenty years before the beginning of the story, his original body had been ravaged and he barely escaped with his life. Almost half of his body had been eaten, and so he took refuge in a woman's womb to be reborn as a boy who would not grow. Kikumaru, to whom Rougaou gave some of his blood in his past life, finally finds him after years of searching, and together they set off to destroy the monsters that had fed on him, so that he may recover the lost parts of his body and his memory.
This series will never be considered a classic, but it is definitely very good. The art starts out simple and rough, but the improvement in Kusunoki's skill is very apparent; by the fifth volume, the details of the clothes, hair, and fine shading should impress any reader. As for the storytelling, while it is at times not quite as polished as it could have been, it is interesting and creative in format and a major highlight. Almost nothing of the actual plot is revealed at the beginning, and the story unfolds in spurts, including a long flashback as well as several seemingly unrelated scenes, until all the threads are drawn together for the climactic confrontation.
The reason JINROUZOUSHI succeeds is because it works at a personal level, building characters that we sympathize fully with, one by one. It is a bitter, poignant love story of Kikumaru and Rougaou, but it also contains many other tragedies of lost and sacrifice amongst the supporting characters, all of which make for a haunting tale that will stay with you past its conclusion.
Of course, another point would be the action itself. This manga is definitely not for the squeamish, as hideous monsters and gruesome deaths abound. For that matter, however, Kusunoki does not disappoint in displaying her trademark finesse, especially in the case of the superhuman powers that these characters possess. One of my favorite scenes is of Kikumaru standing in a horde of attacking ghosts, gouging her neck with a finger and unleashing the lethal stream of razor-like blood that is her weapon. The scenes are intense, brutal, and over in a flash—so short that I wish there was more. In fact, I enjoyed this manga so much I was almost sorry to see it come to a close. This manga is highly recommended as Kusunoki at her best.

Published by Shinshokan
7 volumes, completed
Black/white, page info not available
Vol. 1: ISBN4-403-61273-3
Vol. 2: ISBN4-403-61293-8
Vol. 3: ISBN4-403-61367-5
Vol. 4: ISBN4-403-61380-2
Vol. 5: ISBN4-403-61428-0
Vol. 6: ISBN4-403-67002-4
Vol. 7: ISBN4-403-67004-0
¥810 for volumes 1-5, ¥820 for volumes 6 and 7
Available now in Japan
Where to buy