"Fairy Cube" and why I love it

As I've mentioned before, I love the manga by Kaori Yuki, each and every of them.

So you can probably imagine how happy I was when I found her new series, "Fairy Cube", at my favourite bookshop. I bought it on a whim - and because I knew I'd probably like anything written and drawn by her - and wasn't disappointed.

I can't tell too much about the story at the moment - I've just read the first volume of a multi-volume series -, but it's already getting interesting. For one thing the main character has already died and become some kind of wandering spirit, just to come back into another body, just to get his own back.

Then there's the evil spirit which has taken over his body after making his own father stab him. It's a changeling - there's a lot of European and especially Irish/Celtic mythology in it, something I like a lot as well - who has chosen the hero's body when they were both little.

Then there's a strange man who can see fairies and lost souls and can also do magic. He's behind both the hero loosing his body (because of a cube with a lizard in it which he gave the hero, in the story those cubes house the spirits of fairies and other supernatural creatures who want to have their own human body) and getting a new one. His eye-patch reminds me of 'One-eyed Cross', a character from "Neji", another of Kaori Yuki's stories.

Then there's the grandmother of the boy in whose body the hero returns to the world of the living - after the boy died because the fairy trying to take over his body could not control it. She's blind, but she can see more than one might expect - as the last scene of the first volume shows.

Then there's the girl he loves and who has - in her youth - also believed in fairies. She's in danger because of the changeling in the hero's body who wants her - because he knows the hero watches over her and loves her.

Then there's the hero's father who has to live with almost - as the body is not dead - killing his own son ... and suddenly being treated completely different by him.

Then there's a little fairy living with the magician with the eye-patch. She wants a human body, too, but she also wants to help the hero after seeing how completely he's focused on his goals.

Finally there seems to be a third party in the magical department, a seemingly young boy who turns up a the site of the burned down shop of the magician and will surely - if I know anything about the way Ms. Yuki writes - play an interesting role in the future.

As always there's beautifully drawn people and other creatures (like the translucent fairies you can see in some panels whenever the hero calls up the other world) and loads of blood. As always there's Kaori Yuki's style with a lot of grey and shadows. There's the horror coming right after a comedic break. It's a very promising first volume and I'm sure I won't regret buying and reading the series.