Of Swords and Parasols

Alichino are beautiful creatures said to grant any wish. In truth, they will grant your desires only if you enter into a contract with them that allows them to destroy your soul, and binds you to them for eternity. When a young woman looking for an Alichino to save her ill brother stumbles across a beautiful young man, she initially mistakes him for one. The young man, Tsugiri, claims to know nothing about the Alichino, but in truth knows much about them, and even lives with one. Hunted by Alichino his whole life, Tsugiri is the last Kusabi, a being with the power to kill Alichino.

This is one of the most beautifully illustrated mangas I’ve read, and it has a very interesting premise. Unfortunately, it never quite lives up to its promise. The plot is interesting, but it never quite goes anywhere. Tsugiri is a fairly typical Last Of His Kind Hero. The supporting characters are more interesting. There’s primarily Enra, the man who raised him, and Myobi, the Alichino who lives with them. Myobi claims to hate Tsugiri, but actually adores him (I suspect in the context of a pet) and her appearance alternates between that of a white owl, and a gothloli little girl, though she’s much older than her human appearance indicates. Later in the first volume, they’re joined by Ryoki, the human Myobi is contracted to-and claims to love-who has somehow kept his soul. I was particularly interested in Myobi and Ryoki’s odd relationship, whatever it was.

I suspect that, had it continued for a few more volumes, this would have become a very compelling series. The potential is there, and the third volume is fairly close to realizing it. Unfortunately, as I understand it, the mangaka was injured after finishing volume 3, and right after she returned to the series, the magazine it was published in went under.

A few images from the series: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6