The Yuukos

[meganbmoore]

Lately there seem to be a lot of the "mysterious shop owner/deal maker with ties to the supernatural" manga coming out.  Even though Pet Shop of Horrors predates it by quite a bit, I kind of think xxxHolic's popularity contributes a lot to how many are being licensed.  It also tends to naturally cause people to gravitate towards thinking the other books are ripoffs.  I think it's a natural assumption, btw, even if it's an incorrect one, not only because Petshop of Horrors was never-as far as I know-as big as xxxHolic, but also because the licensing filters awareness of other books in the genre(s), and can skew our perception of when things came out.  For example, Yumekui Kenbun Nightmare Inspector is on (I think) vol 2 in the US, and has both visual and thematic elements in common with xxxHolic, which just had vol 12 come out in the US.  In original publication, however, xxxHolic came out a year or two later.  (I looked it up earlier this week, but am too lazy to go check the exact period of time between publication now.)

Anyway, I'm curious.  What all books have come out in the genre in the US?  (And i mean as the prominent theme.  Urahara in Bleach and-I understand-Kou in Wild Adaptor are of the character and thematic type, though Urahara is eventually more of a cog in the megaplot, but they and their shops aren't the focus of their individual series.)

Off the top of my head, there's:

Antique Gift Shop
Fairy Cube*
Hell Girl**
Legal Drug***
Nightmares for Sale
Petshop of Horrors
Petshop of Horrors: Tokyo
Tarot Cafe
xxxHolic
Yumekui Kenbun Nightmare Inspector

*I'm on the fence regarding this one, actually.  On the one hand, Kaito's shop and his plotty stuff is pretty central to the plot, but on the other, it isn't the focus.  Hm...Probably shouldn't count it, but it could still end up revolving around that later on.  Probationary status, maybe?
**I'm counting the website, as people specifically go there to acquire her services.  Pretty much applying the idea as a whole to modern tech, instead of the "small shop" nostalgia.
***At least, as I understand it-this one I haven't read yet.

Anyone have any others?  (I swear I'm forgetting at least one I read/have read.)

Or, for that matter, thoughts on the genre in general?  I tend to automatically grab the books when I see them, but I can't quite pin down why I love the genre so much.

And if you know of others, can you mention licensed/unlicensed?  Purely for purposes of acquisition.

Comments

[the_rck]

Yume Kira Dream Shoppe fits the genre.

[ryanitenebrae.livejournal.com]

Too tired for thoughts on the genre at the moment, but Tarot Cafe, perhaps?

[amewarashi.livejournal.com]

Personally, I adore the Mystery Shop genre. I might've become obsessed at the moment CLAMP started doing it, since I was already in the CLAMP fandom when the serialization began in Japan (and man, were raw scans hard to find in the old days! there were whole arcs of XXXHOLiC I had to "read" in Chinese scanlations and didn't know what they were about until they were published in Spain months/years later). So I see your point of them making it more mainstream in the West, although funny enough it wasn't MY first bite on the genre. I started liking it when I watched the PSoH OVAs when I was what, 19-20? And I always felt PSoH had to be somehow inspired on the Gremlins movies back in the 80's.

Can't rec any because you've already listed the manga/manhwa I already know :)

[swanjun.livejournal.com]

Is CMX's Time Guardian part of this genre? I'm not sure.

[valkyriesailor.livejournal.com]

Get Backers and Monochrome Factor. The owner are not the main character, but have some connection with supernatural. Maybe I define the genre wrong.
And I just remembered... wouldn't be Fairy Tail in this too?

I think the good in this genre is that you know where to go if you want to reach something, that you wouldn't the normal way.
If someone would say 'over the rainbow you can find your luck' that's something nobody belives to achieve. But if someone says just go to this bar and look for XY~... guess it makes it more real. ^.^

[artillie.livejournal.com]

Wait, there's something in Legal Drug other than teh ghey? News to me.

Um, I mean, no, I don't have anything useful to contribute to this discussion. Don't mind me.

[desdenova.livejournal.com]

I don't think I'd put Legal Drug in this genre, exactly. 'cause while the shop owner definitely runs that sort of business, the story is not at all focused on the "mystery shop" business, the way it is in PSoH, xxxHolic, etc. The principal characters (and the readers) never see the customers or know why the customers want what they want. The shop business is just a macguffin.