Nightmare Inspector: Volume 9: Return

by Shin Mashiba, 179 pages

Hiruko follows one last dreamer into her nightmares and starts down a path of self revelation that brings him, and the reader, to a startling, bittersweet realization.

Both Mashiba's tale and her art are dark, dense, and complicated and hard to wrap your head around until you stop to think about everything that has come before...and then it all falls into place. It's frustrating and satisfying at the same time.

Nightmare Inspector: Volume 8: Madness

by Shin Mashiba, 177 pages

Hiruko is a baku, an eater of dreams. From his habitual booth in the Silver Star Tea House, he explores the depths of the heart. In exchange for his customers' nightmares, he follows them into their dreams in order to search out the root causes of their nightly suffering and suggest possible solutions--if there are any. Not all customers are innocent victims, however, and not all choose to follow Hiruko's pragmatic, disinterested advice. But the cool, collected baku has his own subconscious darkness to hide--and hide from.

The "dreams on the menu" in this volume offer up a variety of moods, from utterly serious to anything but: a boy afraid his dream-self's murderous intent will spill out into the real world; a flamboyant dealer in fantasy accidentally caught up in one of his own ridiculous delusions; a clever trap set for another baku; an old inn steeped in secrets; a memory-clouded drowning; a neglectful mother searching for what she's forgotten; an elevator boy "trapped" in his job; and Hiruko's hapless housemate's arranged-marriage meeting.

Mashiba's little glimpses into the human psyche are fascinating. Some stories inspire laughter, some hope, others melancholy, and still others a shiver up your spine. Her panels are dark and filled to the brim with her highly-detailed backgrounds in which she brings to life the ornate interior of the teahouse as well as the unique interior landscapes of her characters' minds. Her few reappearing characters give little away about their own lives except as hints are revealed by their interactions with each other and with the many varied individuals who pass through the teahouse's doors.

If you're a fan of episodic supernatural morality tales like Matsuri Akino's Pet Shop of Horrors (especially the original series--Tokyo's fun, but not nearly as awesome), you'll enjoy this quiet, imaginative study of human psychology.

The next volume is the last, and while I look forward to seeing more clearly into Hiruko's shrouded soul, I'll be sad to see him, his companions, and his uncanny insight go.