I've only read one other work by Mashiba Shin and that was called Nightmare Inspector: Yumekui Kenbun that was released in the early 2000s. I believe that this was his only work to be translated into English. It might have been his only series period until Yokai Rental Shop…… Well, research has proven me wrong, Mashiba has released a total of five series that all tend to have a mystery, fantasy element in the stories. Yokai Rental Shop is his most recent work to date.
A man finds a strange shop that his half brother is suppose to work at. He goes inside to find a boy covered in bandages from head to toe. He calms to be the man's brother and the keeper of Yokai: mystical beings that have different abilities. The shop he owns rents out the Yokai to customers for a fee……
Yokai will automatically be compared to Nightmare Inspector since English speakers have only read one of Mashiba's other work. Nightmare Inspector being that other work. Fans of that early series have a very narrow scope of what Mashiba can do as a Manga creator, so we all look for similarities. The first half of the series has a lot of little qualities that match and It was a bit of trip down "memory road" kind of experience for me. I basically liked Yokai Rental Shop for the exact same reasons I kept picking up a new volume of Nightmare Inspector every two months all those years ago. Fantasy elements of story telling that deal with relatable human issues turned into gripping storytelling presented as you flip each page. Yokai continues that style of story telling by presenting new cases when a new costumer comes to the shop to rent out Yokai. They are rented a Yokai depending on the problem they have. What these costumers fail to realize is that there's a price for playing around with these creatures. As soon as you don't follow what rules you're given, the power you're given goes sour really fast. The manga makes each case interesting because you want to know more about the peoples's problems, then their demise. I know it's kind of a dark thing for me to say but, You know that the costumer is going to screw up. Waiting for these moment builds a upmost feeling of anticipation. Yokai Rental Shop uses less time to get you into learning about the characters. Readers might feel a little bummed out at the shift in story after volume two. The series is four volumes which is five volumes shorter than Nightmare Inspector. Family drama takes over the second half of the series which blows all similarities to Nightmare Inspector out of the water completely. The story is still good because of the good balance of mystery and fantasy. Mashiba even finds a way to tie one of the last costumers into the final showdown. Things become a dark page turner that manages to land upon a positive conclusion. Nightmare Inspector was much darker in terms of story content but both series stay stable in creating rememberable characters, heart wrenching tales, and comedy in the darkest of subject matters. I still don't know why Mashiba Shin's work isn't more well known. Yokai Rental Shop could have lasted a few more volumes if you get my drift. [WIPES TEAR FROM EYE QUICKLY.]
Matshiba's artwork has always been top of the scale. This guy knows how to use a drawing utensil set. Yeah, I know that he should know how to because he creates manga. We have a lot of people out here who create manga who can't draw well. Characters are created using lines drawn with a stern sharpness that comes outs in the character's chins and jawlines. I love the inking that is done inside the panels. Designs done in this inking gives the manga a gothic look, especially since manga are normally printed in black and white.
Yokai Rental Shop is a great follow up manga if you were a fan of Nightmare Inspector like I was(new readers will enjoy this series too.). I hope that more of Mashiba Shin'a works are translated into English. More people will become fans of his works if they are available to read officially.
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