Descendants of Darkness, Volume 1, and Descendants of Darkness, Volume 2, Yoko Matsushita. A fairly formulaic supernatural/horror manga, Descendants of Darkness is episodic enough to hold my attention without descending into soap opera arcs. The framing device is that agents from the ministry of Hades are dispatched on missions to earth to retrieve the souls of those who are overstaying their 'proper' time on earth. In Volume 1, one of the agents has a mysterious connection with a beautiful would-be suicide. Volume 2 takes the series into more standard folklore territory, invoking a devilish violin and a contract with a demon for one's soul. The agents themselves are so far a bit two-dimensional, but the stories are entertaining enough to keep it going.



Read January 2007