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Reviewed by Ysabet Reinhardt MacFarlane Your body is their business! Horror isn't really a genre I usually go for, but when I hear enough good things about a title--especially if those good things include words along the lines of "quirky"--I'll usually check it out regardless of genre. Quirky horror with a sense of humor? Sign me up. Hello, The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service. The titular delivery service (which often omits the word "corpse" on its cards or when talking to people other than prospective clients--which is to say, when talking to the living) is a business with five employees, all of whom are students from a Buddhist university who have had trouble finding gainful employment through the usual avenues. Instead, since most of them have unusual abilities or skills--mostly to do with corpses, whether that means speaking with them, dowsing for them, or embalming them--they're putting those talents to use by putting the deceased to rest. The first volume (reviewed elsewhere on this site) was composed of several short stories, but these volumes extend their stories' reach; all of volume 2 is devoted to a single plotline, which hits very close to home for one member of the group, and volume 3 is divided into two stories. I enjoyed volume 1, but have to say that it feels like the series hits its stride more as it takes the time to delve deeper into the mysteries the characters come across. Unusual post-execution treatment of death-row criminals, organ harvesting, a series of bizarre murders...there's a lot of interesting material in these two books. Unsurprisingly, there's a lot of gruesomeness depicted once you peel back the shrink-wrap, but the art is clean and matter-of-fact about it: when there's gory stuff to look at, it's presented in a way that focuses on the story, not on an attempt to gross the reader out. All of the characters are very visually distinct, which is nice to see. The cover design is particularly good--it's actually interesting to examine, which isn't something I get to say often, and it relies on the design drawing you in rather than on a single piece of eye-catching artwork. The books also just feel good, since they're a bit more solid than a lot of manga volumes. If this is representative of the physical treatment Dark Horse gives most of its titles, I'm impressed. Likewise, the script reads very well, and while I didn't find myself referring to the SFX glossary while reading, I can appreciate the decision to include them at the back rather than in the book itself. It's much more straightforward to have a note indicating that "BA" is the sound of an arm being quickly extended rather than trying to come up with a corresponding English sound effect to include on the page. Each volume includes an extensive sound effects glossary with cultural notes, and vol. 2 includes comments from the author. This series is sold shrink-wrapped. Think you could have written a better review of The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service v2-3 ? Write us and we'll probably let you give it a shot! --EiC PC |
3 February 2010
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