<<set $guardian to false>><<set $jinmanga to false>><<set $guardianmanga to false>><<set $werefox to false>><<set $dororo3 to false>><<set $dororo2 to false>><<set $dororo1 to false>><<set $search to false>><<set $bon to false>><<set $adv to false>><<set $bambi to false>><<set $r to false>><<set $forty to false>><<set $swallows to false>><<set $fire to false>><<set $sorceress to false>><<set $science to false>><<set $stranger to false>><<set $xamd to false>><<set $spider to false>><<set $gods to false>><<set $devil to false>><<set $grove to false>><<set $wei to false>><<set $rabbit to false>><<set $tag to false>><<set $mandarins to false>><<set $shrine to false>><<set $toshishun to false>><<set $onions to false>><<set $legacy to false>><<set $sea to false>><<set $june to false>><<set $preference to false>><<set $moon to false>><<set $redbird to false>><<set $bamboo to false>><<set $candy to false>><<set $last to false>><<set $redcandle to false>><<set $goose to false>><<set $shoes to false>><<set $tstory to false>><<set $clothes to false>><<set $wizard to false>><<set $heronandduck to false>><<set $indreams to false>><<set $duckhunting to false>> <<set $allfalse to false>>
Answer a few questions, and I'll recommend a book for you! 😇
<button>[[Let's go!->What kind of book or story are you looking for today?]]</button>Are you looking for a book, a story, or a series today?
<button>[[Book]]</button>
<button>[[Story]]</button>
<button>[[Series]]</button>
<<set $werefox to true>><<set $dororo3 to false>><<set $dororo2 to true>><<set $dororo1 to true>><<set $sorceress to true>><<set $science to true>><<set $r to true>><<set $stranger to true>><<set $xamd to true>>
What kind of book are you looking for?
<button>[[Action/Adventure->A/A Book]]</button>
<button>[[Romance/Drama->Romance Book]]</button>
<button>[[Fantasy->Fantasy Book]]</button>
<button>[[Horror->Horror Book]]</button>
<button>[[Stand-alone Manga (Comic Book)->Manga]]</button>
<button>[[Got any favorites?->FavBooks]]</button>
<<set $spider to true>><<set $gods to true>><<set $devil to true>><<set $grove to true>><<set $wei to true>><<set $rabbit to true>><<set $tag to true>><<set $mandarins to true>><<set $shrine to true>><<set $toshishun to true>><<set $onions to true>><<set $legacy to true>><<set $sea to true>><<set $june to true>><<set $preference to true>><<set $moon to true>><<set $redbird to true>><<set $bamboo to true>><<set $candy to true>><<set $last to true>><<set $redcandle to true>><<set $goose to true>><<set $shoes to true>><<set $tstory to true>><<set $clothes to true>><<set $wizard to false>><<set $heronandduck to true>><<set $indreams to true>><<set $duckhunting to true>>
Are you interested in a long (5,000+ words) or short story today?
<button>[[Long]]</button>
<button>[[Short]]</button>
<button>[[Got any favorites?]]</button><<set $guardian to true>><<set $jinmanga to true>><<set $guardianmanga to true>><<set $dororo3 to true>><<set $search to true>><<set $bon to true>><<set $bambi to true>><<set $forty to true>><<set $swallows to true>><<set $fire to true>>
Are you interested in trying out a manga series, or would you prefer a novel series?
<button>[[I want to read a manga series]]</button>
<button>[[I want to read a novel series]]</button>
<<set $jinmanga to false>><<set $guardianmanga to false>><<set $search to false>><<set $bon to false>><<set $bambi to false>><<set $forty to false>><<set $swallows to false>>
What kind of novel series are you looking for?
<button>[[Action/Adventure->Action/Adventure Novel]]</button>
<button>[[Fantasy->Fantasy Novel]]</button>
<button>[[Horror->Horror Novel]]</button>
<button>[[What's your favorite?]]</button>
<<set $guardian to false>><<set $dororo3 to false>><<set $fire to false>>
What kind of manga series are you looking for?
<button>[[Action/Adventure]]</button>
<button>[[Romance/Drama]]</button>
<button>[[Fantasy]]</button>
<button>[[Horror]]</button>
<button>[[Do you have a favorite?]]</button><<set $search to false>><<set $bambi to false>><<set $forty to false>><<set $swallows to false>>
Are you sensitive to certain topics, themes or events?
<button>[[Keep things PG-13 for me, please]]</button>
<button>[[I don't like violence]]</button>
<button>[[I don't like explicit sexuality]]</button>
<button>[[Show me everything: sex, drugs, rock n' roll]]</button><<set $jinmanga to false>><<set $guardianmanga to false>><<set $jinmanga to false>><<set $guardianmanga to false>><<set $forty to false>><<set $swallows to false>>
Are you sensitive to certain topics, themes or events?
<button>[[Keep things PG-13 for me, please]]</button>
<button>[[I don't like violence]]</button>
<button>[[I don't like explicit sexuality]]</button>
<button>[[Show me everything: sex, drugs, rock n' roll]]</button>
<<set $forty to false>>
<<set $swallows to false>>
Are you sensitive to certain topics, themes or events?
<button>[[Keep things PG-13 for me, please]]</button>
<button>[[I don't like violence]]</button>
<button>[[I don't like explicit sexuality]]</button>
<button>[[Show me everything: sex, drugs, rock n' roll]]</button><<set $jinmanga to false>><<set $guardianmanga to false>><<set $search to false>><<set $bon to false>><<set $bambi to false>><<set $science to false>>
Are you sensitive to certain topics, themes or events?
<button>[[Keep things PG-13 for me, please]]</button>
<button>[[I don't like violence]]</button>
<button>[[I don't like explicit sexuality]]</button>
<button>[[Show me everything: sex, drugs, rock n' roll]]</button><<set $search to false>><<set $bambi to false>><<set $bon to false>><<set $swallows to false>><<set $forty to false>><<if $guardian is false and $jinmanga is false and $guardianmanga is false and $werefox is false and $dororo3 is false and $dororo2 is false and $dororo1 is false and $search is false and $bon is false and $adv is false and $bambi is false and $r is false and $forty is false and $swallows is false and $fire is false and $sorceress is false and $science is false and $stranger is false and $xamd is false and $spider is false and $gods is false and $devil is false and $grove is false and $wei is false and $rabbit is false and $tag is false and $mandarins is false and $shrine is false and $toshishun is false and $onions is false and $legacy is false and $sea is false and $june is false and $preference is false and $moon is false and $redbird is false and $bamboo is false and $candy is false and $last is false and $redcandle is false and $goose is false and $shoes is false and $tstory is false>><<set $allfalse to true>><</if>><<if $allfalse is false>>Great! Here are my recommendations for you.<</if>>
<<if $guardian is true>><hr><img src="Images/3.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/12/guardian-of-spirit-master-post.html">Guardian of the Spirit </a> is fantasy series by Uehashi Nahoko. Set in a world based on early medieval Japan, a woman warrior is placed at the heart of shifting political and magical powers when she dares to save a young prince from execution.
Best parts: Strong female character, detailed worldbuilding, differentiated cultures, interesting perspectives, a nature-based magic system, timeless setting and conflicts, exciting action
Pain points: One painfully slow romance (easily ignored), fade-to-black at critical story moments, a slightly unsettled (but entirely happy) ending, and a sense of disconnection from book to book. This is a series, but most of the books in it can be read as stand-alone novels.
Note: The first two novels in this series, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Moribito-Guardian-Spirit-Nahoko-Uehashi-ebook/dp/B00JWGOPZE?crid=3PM6VS8392B3K&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.2mge0v9d_zktcJBFc9lAYsEXNL-KoSAB49BbozHhndn7BF0CgcJnkbkTJqzshBb9eXy9ucfPPyOf-iplZqkysROxrlXQU2UtkCUcblux9i52S5bUFZgQ-KTo0k7rVSEI3uEL2PaOKopiFjfXoIaTx5K52YBFaMcLooUQj3TsBCs3oSXjewWwgHSz0hFypUDtz39ZR7taliILTBhtwfCWfkIQgPPrkNeqD4VPazItZYc.xAH6eyqJzZevFU5S6ZquekSDrwsqad5eoiao6tvGTYo&dib_tag=se&keywords=guardian+of+the+spirit&qid=1738939768&sprefix=guardian+of+the+spirit%2Caps%2C132&sr=8-1">Guardian of the Spirit</a> and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Moribito-Guardian-Darkness-Nahoko-Uehashi-ebook/dp/B00JWGOPUY?crid=1FO5RSHA2BNVQ&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.NB5dC98gl4DutrqJMNGSRQ.0PEfHB8Ug7t5JZsN4ajYUcnC_CgxxI1YT0xgpo6mZng&dib_tag=se&keywords=guardian+of+the+darkness+uehashi&qid=1738939868&sprefix=guardian+of+the+darkness+uehashi%2Caps%2C87&sr=8-1">Guardian of the Darkness</a>, have been officially licensed and published. I highly recommend you read those first! If you'd prefer to do all your reading here, though, you can read the manga versions of the first two novels on this blog.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/12/guardian-of-spirit-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $guardianmanga is true>><hr><img src="Images/GotS.jpg"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/11/guardian-of-spirit-manga-master-post.html">Guardian of the Spirit Manga </a> is based on the fantasy series by Uehashi Nahoko. Set in a world based on early medieval Japan, a woman warrior is placed at the heart of shifting political and magical powers when she dares to save a young prince from execution.
Best parts: Strong female character, detailed worldbuilding, differentiated cultures, interesting perspectives, a nature-based magic system, timeless setting and conflicts, exciting action
Pain points: One painfully slow romance (easily ignored), fade-to-black at critical story moments, a slightly unsettled (but entirely happy) ending, and a sense of disconnection from book to book. This is a series, but <i>Guardian of the Spirit</i> and <i>Guardian of the Darkness</i> are independent enough to be read as stand-alone manga.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/11/guardian-of-spirit-manga-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a>
If you've read these manga already, you can also read the rest of the series as novels <a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/12/guardian-of-spirit-master-post.html">here</a>.
<</if>><<if $jinmanga is true>><hr><img src="Images/18.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/guardian-of-spirit-manga-gaiden-jin.html">Guardian of the Spirit Manga Gaiden - Jin</a> is a spinoff prequel manga based on the fantasy series by Uehashi Nahoko. Set in a world based on early medieval Japan, the Mikado's Hunters must thwart dangerous assassins and attempts on their lives.
Best parts: Outsider perspective, exciting action, shows events outside of canon that still inform canon, examines corrupt systems of authority and power with some nuance, shows teenagers being very convincingly teenagers, brief vengeance quest
Pain points: Sad ending, women exist to be captured, rescued or scapegoated, and the world that emerges from these pages is even more alarmingly horrible and unfair than in the novels
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/guardian-of-spirit-manga-gaiden-jin.html"><button>Pick This Manga</button></a>
If you've read this manga already, you can also read the rest of the series as manga (for the first two books) and novels <a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/12/guardian-of-spirit-master-post.html">here</a>.
<</if>><<if $werefox is true>><hr><img src="Images/98.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/03/beyond-werefox-whistle-master-post.html">Beyond the Werefox Whistle</a> is a fantasy novel by Uehashi Nahoko set in a world of magic where magic users and spirit beasts face unfair persecution that they must overcome.
Best parts: Detailed worldbuilding, differentiated cultures, a compelling past world, timeless setting and conflicts, intense friendships
Pain points: Focuses a lot on the human characters, who are generally less interesting than the magical spirit beasts and the sorcerer that controls them.
This is a stand-alone fantasy novel.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/03/beyond-werefox-whistle-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $dororo3 is true>><hr><img src="Images/21.png"><br>The <a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/01/toriumi-jinzo-dororo-series-3-books.html">Dororo Series</a> is a 3-book series by Toriumi Jinzō based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. A baby boy abandoned at birth loses forty-eight pieces of his body to demons. He embarks on a quest to find his birth family for answers and eliminate the demons who want him dead. He's accompanied by a young sneak-thief, Dororo, as well as a colorful cast of other allies: a brilliant surgeon, a bomb-happy pirate, and a blind monk. Set in 1480s Japan at the start of the Warring States period.
Best parts: Psychologically comprehensible characters, an almost entirely happy ending, a solid setting based on real events and battles, realistic medicine for the period
Pain points: Intensely precise detail for medicine, bombs and battles (easily skipped), slow progression at the start (but it picks up and stays there).
Content Warnings: The body horror of surgery and the macabre abilities of demons to alter minds and bodies make this more psychological horror story than a gore-fest. There is some brief sexual content, mainly in the second book.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/01/toriumi-jinzo-dororo-series-3-books.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $dororo2 is true>><hr><img src="Images/19.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/01/nakamura-masaru-dororo-movie.html">The Dororo Movie Novelization</a> sparked a film of the same name (<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0780503/">Dororo</a>). It is based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. Hyakkimaru, the main character, is abandoned by his birth family with forty-eight body parts missing. A surgeon creates a new body for him out of the bodies of children who've been slain in war. He accompanies the thief Dororo on a journey of discovery when they are both adults.
Best parts: The friendship between Hyakkimaru and Dororo is skillfully developed and never turns romantic, which is refreshing. Anti-war and pro-individuality themes are explored in interesting ways.
Pain points: Villainous characters are given a lot of pages in an attempt to redeem them that falls flat. Some ideas are introduced and don't really go anywhere.
Content Warning: Body horror galore in this one, from missing eyes to genital organs re-growing in real time. If you're looking for something gory, violent, and post-apocalyptic with a strong focus on character development and progression, this is your story.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/01/nakamura-masaru-dororo-movie.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $dororo1 is true>><hr><img src="Images/24.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/12/dororo-novel-master-post.html">Dororo: A Novel</a> is based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. This was written specifically as a children's novel and focuses more on the adventuresome aspect of the story than most other adaptations. The plot follows Hyakkimaru, a paraplegic warrior missing most of his body, and Dororo, a young thief who wants to steal the swords out of his prosthetic arms. Hyakkimaru recovers pieces of his body from demons who stole them when he was born. Both Hyakkimaru and Dororo confront their pasts when family and old friends reappear on their adventures.
Best parts: The friendship between Hyakkimaru and Dororo is fun and silly, and ocassionally poignant. Hyakkimaru's brother has a brief and surprising star turn, and important events from the manga are dramatized in child-focused detail. The authorial voice has personality and verve.
Pain points: Villains aren't given a lot of development and the child-friendly format limits the effect that most of the bad guys can have. Setting this up as a children's story was probably a bit misguided to start with.
Content Warning: Some body horror (PG-rated). A woman and a man are brutally killed on-screen, though most of the violence is stylized.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/12/dororo-novel-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $search is true>><hr><img src="Images/46.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/search-and-destroy-master-post.html">Search and Destroy</a> is a 3-volume series by Kaneko Atsushi based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. The main characters are gender-swapped in this story, meaning the main character is female and Dororo is male. The world is a post-apocalypic hellscape run by corrupt politicians and half-human robots.
Best parts: More so than other adaptations, <i>Search and Destroy</i> is about what being human actually means, well beyond having human parts and pieces. The art style is stunningly beautiful and the ending is perfectly balanced between realistic and positive for all the main characters.
Pain points: Never heard of 'em. If you're here for a horror story and you like manga, then this is a feast.
Content Warning: Features explicit gore, surgeries and under-the-skin visceral body horror for both main characters.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/search-and-destroy-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $bon is true>><hr><img src="Images/49.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/dororo-bon-master-post.html">Dororo Bon</a> is a 4-volume series by Douke Daisuke based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. The main characters are all female in this story. The world setting is modern with magic and the story features a demonic cat as a sidekick character.
Best parts: The relationships are well-drawn, particularly in Volume 3 which is set in the distant past. The end is much more settled than the one Osamu Tezuka wrote for his Dororo manga.
Pain points: The story is obviously a confusing mess and it takes a long time to find its footing.
Content Warning: In addition to the body horror that's typical of <i>Dororo</i> adaptations in media, the series explores common ghost stories in Japan in some detail. It's not especially gory or frightening, but the setting has a very gothic feel.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/dororo-bon-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $adv is true>><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/08/dororo-adventure-novel-choose-your-own.html">Dororo: Choose Your Own Adventure</a> is a game version of Osamu Tezuka's <i>Dororo</i> manga. Play as Hyakkimaru or Dororo (depending on choices), discover more than a dozen unique endings (including the "true" ending), earn achievements, and rewrite the story in interesting ways.
Best parts: It is possible to play the story exactly according to the manga it's based on, but it's also possible to go completely off-script and discover interesting (and sometimes superior) sequences of events that lead to better outcomes. If you've never heard of <i>Dororo</i> before and are interested in seeing what it's all about, this is not a terrible place to start. The game respects personal choices and has real consequences. Curiosity and compassion are rewarded. Ruthless violence and ignorance are severely punished.
Pain points: It's not really a book, per se, but a game! And it's true that <i>Dororo</i> fans will get more out of it. If you've read and liked <i>Dororo</i> stuff before, you'll probably like this. However, it's welcoming and fun enough for newcomers to explore. Beating the game entirely takes 2-3 hours on average and there's limited replayability.
Content Warning: Some of the worst endings have characters slaughtering their own family or being devoured by monsters. It's PG-13 rated violence and gore for the most part. There is no sexually explicit material.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/08/dororo-adventure-novel-choose-your-own.html"><button>Pick This Game</button></a><</if>><<if $bambi is true>><hr><img src="Images/82.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/bambi-and-her-pink-gun-master-post.html">Bambi and Her Pink Gun</a> is a 7-volume manga series by Kaneko Atsushi. It centers on a sixteen-year-old girl named Bambi who has kidnapped a young boy from a crazy pop star and is taking him back to the 'Old Men'. The story is extremely violent, with every new scene taking on a different look and feel (Western, Latino, the 40s, traditional Japanese, etc.)
Best parts: Bambi's violent vegetarianism, inspired art styles, over-the-top crazy drug-fueld violence, it's a ride
Pain points: Very dark, violent and at times gratuitous, <i>Bambi</i> belongs to the genre of manga that is written for men but features a strong female protagonist.
Content Warning: Buckets of blood and copious nudity. Hide the kids for this one. Also some pointed social commentary, if you know where to look.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/bambi-and-her-pink-gun-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $forty is true>><hr><img src="Images/29.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/shijukara-starting-at-40-master-post.html">Starting at 40</a> is a 17-volume manga series by Sakai Eri. It follows Watanuki Shinobu, a 39-year-old woman and unsuccessful manga artist. She plans to give up her career, but after one of her old works becomes a hit online, she decides to create a new comic instead. In need of help, she looks for an assistant. The handsome 22-year-old man named Tachibana Chiaki applies to her ad, and Shinobu finds herself at a major turning point in her life.
Best parts: The director of the drama adaptation described <i>Starting at 40</i> as "an infidelity drama for people who don't like infidelity dramas," and that captures the feeling almost perfectly. Shinobu and Chiaki have wealth of individual experience; collectively, they use art to explain the human experience and overcome extreme personal traumas. I generally don't like romance, but loved this from start to (very happy) finish.
Pain points: Has some explicit sexuality, including sexual abuse. It is never gratuitous but is quite frank and painful. The characters' triumph at the end is more powerful for these traumatic experiences, which are never forgotten or swept under the rug.
Content Warning: Nudity, sexual abuse (including abuse of a child), physical abuse
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/shijukara-starting-at-40-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $r is true>><hr><img src="Images/99.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/05/r-original-kaneko-atsushi.html">R: The Original</a> is a collection of 9 wonderfully weird and violent short stories from the mind of Kaneko Atsushi.
Best parts: Variety. There's everything here from sci-fi, fantasy, aliens, violence, melon bread, lemon bread and more
Pain points: Not for the faint of heart and only for the very curious. The art is, at times, experimental and hard on the eyes.
Content Warning: Physical as well as psychological horror elements, plus Kaneko Atsushi's trademark over-the-top violence.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/05/r-original-kaneko-atsushi.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a><</if>><<if $swallows is true>><hr><img src="Images/Swallows.png"><br><a href=
"https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2025/01/the-swallows-will-not-return-sakai-eri.html">The Swallows Will Not Return</a> is a limited series manga based on the novel of the same name by Natsuo Kirino. It's about a young woman named Riki who lives in desperate poverty. She becomes a surrogate mother out of desperation and is bought by a wealthy infertile couple who want her because she resembles the wife.
Best parts: Heavy topics in happy packaging is very much Sakai Eri's style. The characters are fleshed out and their psychology is comprehensible even when they aren't entirely sympathetic.
Pain points: Depictions of the gulf between the ultra-rich and the severely impoverished are designed to provoke rage.
Content Warning: The manga discusses and depicts explicit sexual topics and is highly concerned with women's (and to a lesser extent, men's) bodily autonomy.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2025/01/the-swallows-will-not-return-sakai-eri.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $fire is true>><hr><img src="Images/93.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/04/fire-hunter-series-master-post.html">The Fire Hunter Series</a> is 5-book fantasy series by Hinata Rieko. Set in a post-apocalyptic world at war, two children uncover ancient secrets that put their families and society at risk.
Best parts: Detailed worldbuilding, differentiated cultures, magic is technology and technology is magic, dogs are a major thing in this world
Pain points: Stilted, stuffy style (meant to imitate older speech), weak and underdeveloped characters, slow-paced, tonally mixed, ethically problematic, many story elements are contradictory
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/04/fire-hunter-series-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $sorceress is true>><hr><img src="Images/26.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-sorceress-revolt-kobijis-story.html">The Sorceress' Revolt</a> is fantasy novel with an historical twist set in ancient China written by Toriumi Jinzō. A Buddhist monk gains mysterious powers in a sacred cave and must use them to save China from outside invasion and the threat of a powerful sorceress.
Best parts: Strong characters (both men and women) with realistic psychological progression. Fast-paced and grounded in historical fact, this novel explores universal human conflicts and desires: the conflict between corruption and righteousness and the desires for immortality and immunity from pain.
Pain points: Historical detail can be thick on the ground, pacing is more variable in the second part. Some content is violent and sexually explicit (between PG-13 and R on the MPAA rating scale).
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-sorceress-revolt-kobijis-story.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $science is true>><hr><img src="Images/97.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/04/science-ninja-team-gatchaman-master-post.html">Science Ninja Team Gatchaman</a> is science fiction/action-adventure novel set in the 1980s. Campy, silly and over-the-top fun, this is what would happen if Saturday morning cartoons became a novel.
Best parts: Strong characters (both men and women), fast-paced and action-heavy, detailed setting, cool art
Pain points: More dated than this author's other novels; the male gaze intrudes for some characters. The zany plot and concept have appeal for kids and teens, but the issues explored and plot progression is distinctly adult.
Content Warning: Violence, violence and more violence, most of it cartoony but some of it very intense.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/04/science-ninja-team-gatchaman-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $stranger is true>><hr><img src="Images/89.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/xamd-lost-memories-pilgrims-compass.html">The Sword of the Stranger</a> is a manga about a warrior and an outsider in Meiji era Japan (1860s). He finds his way of life shattered when a foreign faction captures a child to use in a nefarious sacrifice. Based on the anime film of the same name.
Best parts: Exciting action, some good character development, exaggerated but largely accurate historical detail
Pain points: Plot progression is generic to the action genre, and the manga doesn't add much value to the anime movie
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/12/sword-of-stranger-manga.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a><</if>><<if $xamd is true>><hr><img src="Images/90.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/xamd-lost-memories-pilgrims-compass.html">Xam'd Lost Memories: Pilgrim's Compass</a> is a world tour through a lost age. Teenagers embark on a sacred pilgrimage seeking lost magic and memories. Fun but generic. Based on the anime of the same name.
Best parts: Some positive character progression and bright but zany humor
Pain points: Doesn't offer much to differentiate it from all the other action anime out there, though past discoveries do lend the story some depth
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/xamd-lost-memories-pilgrims-compass.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a><</if>>
<<if $guardian is false and $jinmanga is false and $guardianmanga is false and $werefox is false and $dororo3 is false and $dororo2 is false and $dororo1 is false and $search is false and $bon is false and $adv is false and $bambi is false and $r is false and $forty is false and $swallows is false and $fire is false and $sorceress is false and $science is false and $stranger is false and $xamd is false and $spider is false and $gods is false and $devil is false and $grove is false and $wei is false and $rabbit is false and $tag is false and $mandarins is false and $shrine is false and $toshishun is false and $onions is false and $legacy is false and $sea is false and $june is false and $preference is false and $moon is false and $redbird is false and $bamboo is false and $candy is false and $last is false and $redcandle is false and $goose is false and $shoes is false and $tstory is false>>Sorry, I don't have any recommendations for you right now.
[[Try again->StoryInit]]<<set $allfalse to true>><</if>>
<<if $allfalse is false>>Not what you're looking for?
[[Try again->StoryInit]]<</if>>
<<set $guardianmanga to false>><<set $jinmanga to false>><<set $search to false>><<set $bon to false>><<set $bambi to false>><<if $guardian is false and $jinmanga is false and $guardianmanga is false and $werefox is false and $dororo3 is false and $dororo2 is false and $dororo1 is false and $search is false and $bon is false and $adv is false and $bambi is false and $r is false and $forty is false and $swallows is false and $fire is false and $sorceress is false and $science is false and $stranger is false and $xamd is false and $spider is false and $gods is false and $devil is false and $grove is false and $wei is false and $rabbit is false and $tag is false and $mandarins is false and $shrine is false and $toshishun is false and $onions is false and $legacy is false and $sea is false and $june is false and $preference is false and $moon is false and $redbird is false and $bamboo is false and $candy is false and $last is false and $redcandle is false and $goose is false and $shoes is false and $tstory is false>><<set $allfalse to true>><</if>><<if $allfalse is false>>Great! Here are my recommendations for you.<</if>>
<<if $guardian is true>><hr><img src="Images/3.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/12/guardian-of-spirit-master-post.html">Guardian of the Spirit </a> is fantasy series by Uehashi Nahoko. Set in a world based on early medieval Japan, a woman warrior is placed at the heart of shifting political and magical powers when she dares to save a young prince from execution.
Best parts: Strong female character, detailed worldbuilding, differentiated cultures, interesting perspectives, a nature-based magic system, timeless setting and conflicts, exciting action
Pain points: One painfully slow romance (easily ignored), fade-to-black at critical story moments, a slightly unsettled (but entirely happy) ending, and a sense of disconnection from book to book. This is a series, but most of the books in it can be read as stand-alone novels.
Note: The first two novels in this series, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Moribito-Guardian-Spirit-Nahoko-Uehashi-ebook/dp/B00JWGOPZE?crid=3PM6VS8392B3K&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.2mge0v9d_zktcJBFc9lAYsEXNL-KoSAB49BbozHhndn7BF0CgcJnkbkTJqzshBb9eXy9ucfPPyOf-iplZqkysROxrlXQU2UtkCUcblux9i52S5bUFZgQ-KTo0k7rVSEI3uEL2PaOKopiFjfXoIaTx5K52YBFaMcLooUQj3TsBCs3oSXjewWwgHSz0hFypUDtz39ZR7taliILTBhtwfCWfkIQgPPrkNeqD4VPazItZYc.xAH6eyqJzZevFU5S6ZquekSDrwsqad5eoiao6tvGTYo&dib_tag=se&keywords=guardian+of+the+spirit&qid=1738939768&sprefix=guardian+of+the+spirit%2Caps%2C132&sr=8-1">Guardian of the Spirit</a> and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Moribito-Guardian-Darkness-Nahoko-Uehashi-ebook/dp/B00JWGOPUY?crid=1FO5RSHA2BNVQ&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.NB5dC98gl4DutrqJMNGSRQ.0PEfHB8Ug7t5JZsN4ajYUcnC_CgxxI1YT0xgpo6mZng&dib_tag=se&keywords=guardian+of+the+darkness+uehashi&qid=1738939868&sprefix=guardian+of+the+darkness+uehashi%2Caps%2C87&sr=8-1">Guardian of the Darkness</a>, have been officially licensed and published. I highly recommend you read those first! If you'd prefer to do all your reading here, though, you can read the manga versions of the first two novels on this blog.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/12/guardian-of-spirit-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $guardianmanga is true>><hr><img src="Images/GotS.jpg"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/11/guardian-of-spirit-manga-master-post.html">Guardian of the Spirit Manga </a> is based on the fantasy series by Uehashi Nahoko. Set in a world based on early medieval Japan, a woman warrior is placed at the heart of shifting political and magical powers when she dares to save a young prince from execution.
Best parts: Strong female character, detailed worldbuilding, differentiated cultures, interesting perspectives, a nature-based magic system, timeless setting and conflicts, exciting action
Pain points: One painfully slow romance (easily ignored), fade-to-black at critical story moments, a slightly unsettled (but entirely happy) ending, and a sense of disconnection from book to book. This is a series, but <i>Guardian of the Spirit</i> and <i>Guardian of the Darkness</i> are independent enough to be read as stand-alone manga.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/11/guardian-of-spirit-manga-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a>
If you've read these manga already, you can also read the rest of the series as novels <a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/12/guardian-of-spirit-master-post.html">here</a>.
<</if>><<if $jinmanga is true>><hr><img src="Images/18.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/guardian-of-spirit-manga-gaiden-jin.html">Guardian of the Spirit Manga Gaiden - Jin</a> is a spinoff prequel manga based on the fantasy series by Uehashi Nahoko. Set in a world based on early medieval Japan, the Mikado's Hunters must thwart dangerous assassins and attempts on their lives.
Best parts: Outsider perspective, exciting action, shows events outside of canon that still inform canon, examines corrupt systems of authority and power with some nuance, shows teenagers being very convincingly teenagers, brief vengeance quest
Pain points: Sad ending, women exist to be captured, rescued or scapegoated, and the world that emerges from these pages is even more alarmingly horrible and unfair than in the novels
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/guardian-of-spirit-manga-gaiden-jin.html"><button>Pick This Manga</button></a>
If you've read this manga already, you can also read the rest of the series as manga (for the first two books) and novels <a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/12/guardian-of-spirit-master-post.html">here</a>.
<</if>><<if $werefox is true>><hr><img src="Images/98.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/03/beyond-werefox-whistle-master-post.html">Beyond the Werefox Whistle</a> is a fantasy novel by Uehashi Nahoko set in a world of magic where magic users and spirit beasts face unfair persecution that they must overcome.
Best parts: Detailed worldbuilding, differentiated cultures, a compelling past world, timeless setting and conflicts, intense friendships
Pain points: Focuses a lot on the human characters, who are generally less interesting than the magical spirit beasts and the sorcerer that controls them.
This is a stand-alone fantasy novel.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/03/beyond-werefox-whistle-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $dororo3 is true>><hr><img src="Images/21.png"><br>The <a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/01/toriumi-jinzo-dororo-series-3-books.html">Dororo Series</a> is a 3-book series by Toriumi Jinzō based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. A baby boy abandoned at birth loses forty-eight pieces of his body to demons. He embarks on a quest to find his birth family for answers and eliminate the demons who want him dead. He's accompanied by a young sneak-thief, Dororo, as well as a colorful cast of other allies: a brilliant surgeon, a bomb-happy pirate, and a blind monk. Set in 1480s Japan at the start of the Warring States period.
Best parts: Psychologically comprehensible characters, an almost entirely happy ending, a solid setting based on real events and battles, realistic medicine for the period
Pain points: Intensely precise detail for medicine, bombs and battles (easily skipped), slow progression at the start (but it picks up and stays there).
Content Warnings: The body horror of surgery and the macabre abilities of demons to alter minds and bodies make this more psychological horror story than a gore-fest. There is some brief sexual content, mainly in the second book.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/01/toriumi-jinzo-dororo-series-3-books.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $dororo2 is true>><hr><img src="Images/19.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/01/nakamura-masaru-dororo-movie.html">The Dororo Movie Novelization</a> sparked a film of the same name (<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0780503/">Dororo</a>). It is based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. Hyakkimaru, the main character, is abandoned by his birth family with forty-eight body parts missing. A surgeon creates a new body for him out of the bodies of children who've been slain in war. He accompanies the thief Dororo on a journey of discovery when they are both adults.
Best parts: The friendship between Hyakkimaru and Dororo is skillfully developed and never turns romantic, which is refreshing. Anti-war and pro-individuality themes are explored in interesting ways.
Pain points: Villainous characters are given a lot of pages in an attempt to redeem them that falls flat. Some ideas are introduced and don't really go anywhere.
Content Warning: Body horror galore in this one, from missing eyes to genital organs re-growing in real time. If you're looking for something gory, violent, and post-apocalyptic with a strong focus on character development and progression, this is your story.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/01/nakamura-masaru-dororo-movie.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $dororo1 is true>><hr><img src="Images/24.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/12/dororo-novel-master-post.html">Dororo: A Novel</a> is based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. This was written specifically as a children's novel and focuses more on the adventuresome aspect of the story than most other adaptations. The plot follows Hyakkimaru, a paraplegic warrior missing most of his body, and Dororo, a young thief who wants to steal the swords out of his prosthetic arms. Hyakkimaru recovers pieces of his body from demons who stole them when he was born. Both Hyakkimaru and Dororo confront their pasts when family and old friends reappear on their adventures.
Best parts: The friendship between Hyakkimaru and Dororo is fun and silly, and ocassionally poignant. Hyakkimaru's brother has a brief and surprising star turn, and important events from the manga are dramatized in child-focused detail. The authorial voice has personality and verve.
Pain points: Villains aren't given a lot of development and the child-friendly format limits the effect that most of the bad guys can have. Setting this up as a children's story was probably a bit misguided to start with.
Content Warning: Some body horror (PG-rated). A woman and a man are brutally killed on-screen, though most of the violence is stylized.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/12/dororo-novel-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $search is true>><hr><img src="Images/46.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/search-and-destroy-master-post.html">Search and Destroy</a> is a 3-volume series by Kaneko Atsushi based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. The main characters are gender-swapped in this story, meaning the main character is female and Dororo is male. The world is a post-apocalypic hellscape run by corrupt politicians and half-human robots.
Best parts: More so than other adaptations, <i>Search and Destroy</i> is about what being human actually means, well beyond having human parts and pieces. The art style is stunningly beautiful and the ending is perfectly balanced between realistic and positive for all the main characters.
Pain points: Never heard of 'em. If you're here for a horror story and you like manga, then this is a feast.
Content Warning: Features explicit gore, surgeries and under-the-skin visceral body horror for both main characters.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/search-and-destroy-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $bon is true>><hr><img src="Images/49.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/dororo-bon-master-post.html">Dororo Bon</a> is a 4-volume series by Douke Daisuke based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. The main characters are all female in this story. The world setting is modern with magic and the story features a demonic cat as a sidekick character.
Best parts: The relationships are well-drawn, particularly in Volume 3 which is set in the distant past. The end is much more settled than the one Osamu Tezuka wrote for his Dororo manga.
Pain points: The story is obviously a confusing mess and it takes a long time to find its footing.
Content Warning: In addition to the body horror that's typical of <i>Dororo</i> adaptations in media, the series explores common ghost stories in Japan in some detail. It's not especially gory or frightening, but the setting has a very gothic feel.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/dororo-bon-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $adv is true>><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/08/dororo-adventure-novel-choose-your-own.html">Dororo: Choose Your Own Adventure</a> is a game version of Osamu Tezuka's <i>Dororo</i> manga. Play as Hyakkimaru or Dororo (depending on choices), discover more than a dozen unique endings (including the "true" ending), earn achievements, and rewrite the story in interesting ways.
Best parts: It is possible to play the story exactly according to the manga it's based on, but it's also possible to go completely off-script and discover interesting (and sometimes superior) sequences of events that lead to better outcomes. If you've never heard of <i>Dororo</i> before and are interested in seeing what it's all about, this is not a terrible place to start. The game respects personal choices and has real consequences. Curiosity and compassion are rewarded. Ruthless violence and ignorance are severely punished.
Pain points: It's not really a book, per se, but a game! And it's true that <i>Dororo</i> fans will get more out of it. If you've read and liked <i>Dororo</i> stuff before, you'll probably like this. However, it's welcoming and fun enough for newcomers to explore. Beating the game entirely takes 2-3 hours on average and there's limited replayability.
Content Warning: Some of the worst endings have characters slaughtering their own family or being devoured by monsters. It's PG-13 rated violence and gore for the most part. There is no sexually explicit material.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/08/dororo-adventure-novel-choose-your-own.html"><button>Pick This Game</button></a><</if>><<if $bambi is true>><hr><img src="Images/82.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/bambi-and-her-pink-gun-master-post.html">Bambi and Her Pink Gun</a> is a 7-volume manga series by Kaneko Atsushi. It centers on a sixteen-year-old girl named Bambi who has kidnapped a young boy from a crazy pop star and is taking him back to the 'Old Men'. The story is extremely violent, with every new scene taking on a different look and feel (Western, Latino, the 40s, traditional Japanese, etc.)
Best parts: Bambi's violent vegetarianism, inspired art styles, over-the-top crazy drug-fueld violence, it's a ride
Pain points: Very dark, violent and at times gratuitous, <i>Bambi</i> belongs to the genre of manga that is written for men but features a strong female protagonist.
Content Warning: Buckets of blood and copious nudity. Hide the kids for this one. Also some pointed social commentary, if you know where to look.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/bambi-and-her-pink-gun-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $forty is true>><hr><img src="Images/29.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/shijukara-starting-at-40-master-post.html">Starting at 40</a> is a 17-volume manga series by Sakai Eri. It follows Watanuki Shinobu, a 39-year-old woman and unsuccessful manga artist. She plans to give up her career, but after one of her old works becomes a hit online, she decides to create a new comic instead. In need of help, she looks for an assistant. The handsome 22-year-old man named Tachibana Chiaki applies to her ad, and Shinobu finds herself at a major turning point in her life.
Best parts: The director of the drama adaptation described <i>Starting at 40</i> as "an infidelity drama for people who don't like infidelity dramas," and that captures the feeling almost perfectly. Shinobu and Chiaki have wealth of individual experience; collectively, they use art to explain the human experience and overcome extreme personal traumas. I generally don't like romance, but loved this from start to (very happy) finish.
Pain points: Has some explicit sexuality, including sexual abuse. It is never gratuitous but is quite frank and painful. The characters' triumph at the end is more powerful for these traumatic experiences, which are never forgotten or swept under the rug.
Content Warning: Nudity, sexual abuse (including abuse of a child), physical abuse
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/shijukara-starting-at-40-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $r is true>><hr><img src="Images/99.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/05/r-original-kaneko-atsushi.html">R: The Original</a> is a collection of 9 wonderfully weird and violent short stories from the mind of Kaneko Atsushi.
Best parts: Variety. There's everything here from sci-fi, fantasy, aliens, violence, melon bread, lemon bread and more
Pain points: Not for the faint of heart and only for the very curious. The art is, at times, experimental and hard on the eyes.
Content Warning: Physical as well as psychological horror elements, plus Kaneko Atsushi's trademark over-the-top violence.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/05/r-original-kaneko-atsushi.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a><</if>><<if $swallows is true>><hr><img src="Images/Swallows.png"><br><a href=
"https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2025/01/the-swallows-will-not-return-sakai-eri.html">The Swallows Will Not Return</a> is a limited series manga based on the novel of the same name by Natsuo Kirino. It's about a young woman named Riki who lives in desperate poverty. She becomes a surrogate mother out of desperation and is bought by a wealthy infertile couple who want her because she resembles the wife.
Best parts: Heavy topics in happy packaging is very much Sakai Eri's style. The characters are fleshed out and their psychology is comprehensible even when they aren't entirely sympathetic.
Pain points: Depictions of the gulf between the ultra-rich and the severely impoverished are designed to provoke rage.
Content Warning: The manga discusses and depicts explicit sexual topics and is highly concerned with women's (and to a lesser extent, men's) bodily autonomy.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2025/01/the-swallows-will-not-return-sakai-eri.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $fire is true>><hr><img src="Images/93.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/04/fire-hunter-series-master-post.html">The Fire Hunter Series</a> is 5-book fantasy series by Hinata Rieko. Set in a post-apocalyptic world at war, two children uncover ancient secrets that put their families and society at risk.
Best parts: Detailed worldbuilding, differentiated cultures, magic is technology and technology is magic, dogs are a major thing in this world
Pain points: Stilted, stuffy style (meant to imitate older speech), weak and underdeveloped characters, slow-paced, tonally mixed, ethically problematic, many story elements are contradictory
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/04/fire-hunter-series-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $sorceress is true>><hr><img src="Images/26.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-sorceress-revolt-kobijis-story.html">The Sorceress' Revolt</a> is fantasy novel with an historical twist set in ancient China written by Toriumi Jinzō. A Buddhist monk gains mysterious powers in a sacred cave and must use them to save China from outside invasion and the threat of a powerful sorceress.
Best parts: Strong characters (both men and women) with realistic psychological progression. Fast-paced and grounded in historical fact, this novel explores universal human conflicts and desires: the conflict between corruption and righteousness and the desires for immortality and immunity from pain.
Pain points: Historical detail can be thick on the ground, pacing is more variable in the second part. Some content is violent and sexually explicit (between PG-13 and R on the MPAA rating scale).
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-sorceress-revolt-kobijis-story.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $science is true>><hr><img src="Images/97.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/04/science-ninja-team-gatchaman-master-post.html">Science Ninja Team Gatchaman</a> is science fiction/action-adventure novel set in the 1980s. Campy, silly and over-the-top fun, this is what would happen if Saturday morning cartoons became a novel.
Best parts: Strong characters (both men and women), fast-paced and action-heavy, detailed setting, cool art
Pain points: More dated than this author's other novels; the male gaze intrudes for some characters. The zany plot and concept have appeal for kids and teens, but the issues explored and plot progression is distinctly adult.
Content Warning: Violence, violence and more violence, most of it cartoony but some of it very intense.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/04/science-ninja-team-gatchaman-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $stranger is true>><hr><img src="Images/89.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/xamd-lost-memories-pilgrims-compass.html">The Sword of the Stranger</a> is a manga about a warrior and an outsider in Meiji era Japan (1860s). He finds his way of life shattered when a foreign faction captures a child to use in a nefarious sacrifice. Based on the anime film of the same name.
Best parts: Exciting action, some good character development, exaggerated but largely accurate historical detail
Pain points: Plot progression is generic to the action genre, and the manga doesn't add much value to the anime movie
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/12/sword-of-stranger-manga.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a><</if>><<if $xamd is true>><hr><img src="Images/90.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/xamd-lost-memories-pilgrims-compass.html">Xam'd Lost Memories: Pilgrim's Compass</a> is a world tour through a lost age. Teenagers embark on a sacred pilgrimage seeking lost magic and memories. Fun but generic. Based on the anime of the same name.
Best parts: Some positive character progression and bright but zany humor
Pain points: Doesn't offer much to differentiate it from all the other action anime out there, though past discoveries do lend the story some depth
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/xamd-lost-memories-pilgrims-compass.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a><</if>>
<<if $guardian is false and $jinmanga is false and $guardianmanga is false and $werefox is false and $dororo3 is false and $dororo2 is false and $dororo1 is false and $search is false and $bon is false and $adv is false and $bambi is false and $r is false and $forty is false and $swallows is false and $fire is false and $sorceress is false and $science is false and $stranger is false and $xamd is false and $spider is false and $gods is false and $devil is false and $grove is false and $wei is false and $rabbit is false and $tag is false and $mandarins is false and $shrine is false and $toshishun is false and $onions is false and $legacy is false and $sea is false and $june is false and $preference is false and $moon is false and $redbird is false and $bamboo is false and $candy is false and $last is false and $redcandle is false and $goose is false and $shoes is false and $tstory is false>>Sorry, I don't have any recommendations for you right now.
[[Try again->StoryInit]]<<set $allfalse to true>><</if>>
<<if $allfalse is false>>Not what you're looking for?
[[Try again->StoryInit]]<</if>>
<<set $bambi to false>><<set $swallows to false>><<set $forty to false>>
<<if $guardian is false and $jinmanga is false and $guardianmanga is false and $werefox is false and $dororo3 is false and $dororo2 is false and $dororo1 is false and $search is false and $bon is false and $adv is false and $bambi is false and $r is false and $forty is false and $swallows is false and $fire is false and $sorceress is false and $science is false and $stranger is false and $xamd is false and $spider is false and $gods is false and $devil is false and $grove is false and $wei is false and $rabbit is false and $tag is false and $mandarins is false and $shrine is false and $toshishun is false and $onions is false and $legacy is false and $sea is false and $june is false and $preference is false and $moon is false and $redbird is false and $bamboo is false and $candy is false and $last is false and $redcandle is false and $goose is false and $shoes is false and $tstory is false>><<set $allfalse to true>><</if>><<if $allfalse is false>>Great! Here are my recommendations for you.<</if>>
<<if $guardian is true>><hr><img src="Images/3.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/12/guardian-of-spirit-master-post.html">Guardian of the Spirit </a> is fantasy series by Uehashi Nahoko. Set in a world based on early medieval Japan, a woman warrior is placed at the heart of shifting political and magical powers when she dares to save a young prince from execution.
Best parts: Strong female character, detailed worldbuilding, differentiated cultures, interesting perspectives, a nature-based magic system, timeless setting and conflicts, exciting action
Pain points: One painfully slow romance (easily ignored), fade-to-black at critical story moments, a slightly unsettled (but entirely happy) ending, and a sense of disconnection from book to book. This is a series, but most of the books in it can be read as stand-alone novels.
Note: The first two novels in this series, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Moribito-Guardian-Spirit-Nahoko-Uehashi-ebook/dp/B00JWGOPZE?crid=3PM6VS8392B3K&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.2mge0v9d_zktcJBFc9lAYsEXNL-KoSAB49BbozHhndn7BF0CgcJnkbkTJqzshBb9eXy9ucfPPyOf-iplZqkysROxrlXQU2UtkCUcblux9i52S5bUFZgQ-KTo0k7rVSEI3uEL2PaOKopiFjfXoIaTx5K52YBFaMcLooUQj3TsBCs3oSXjewWwgHSz0hFypUDtz39ZR7taliILTBhtwfCWfkIQgPPrkNeqD4VPazItZYc.xAH6eyqJzZevFU5S6ZquekSDrwsqad5eoiao6tvGTYo&dib_tag=se&keywords=guardian+of+the+spirit&qid=1738939768&sprefix=guardian+of+the+spirit%2Caps%2C132&sr=8-1">Guardian of the Spirit</a> and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Moribito-Guardian-Darkness-Nahoko-Uehashi-ebook/dp/B00JWGOPUY?crid=1FO5RSHA2BNVQ&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.NB5dC98gl4DutrqJMNGSRQ.0PEfHB8Ug7t5JZsN4ajYUcnC_CgxxI1YT0xgpo6mZng&dib_tag=se&keywords=guardian+of+the+darkness+uehashi&qid=1738939868&sprefix=guardian+of+the+darkness+uehashi%2Caps%2C87&sr=8-1">Guardian of the Darkness</a>, have been officially licensed and published. I highly recommend you read those first! If you'd prefer to do all your reading here, though, you can read the manga versions of the first two novels on this blog.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/12/guardian-of-spirit-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $guardianmanga is true>><hr><img src="Images/GotS.jpg"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/11/guardian-of-spirit-manga-master-post.html">Guardian of the Spirit Manga </a> is based on the fantasy series by Uehashi Nahoko. Set in a world based on early medieval Japan, a woman warrior is placed at the heart of shifting political and magical powers when she dares to save a young prince from execution.
Best parts: Strong female character, detailed worldbuilding, differentiated cultures, interesting perspectives, a nature-based magic system, timeless setting and conflicts, exciting action
Pain points: One painfully slow romance (easily ignored), fade-to-black at critical story moments, a slightly unsettled (but entirely happy) ending, and a sense of disconnection from book to book. This is a series, but <i>Guardian of the Spirit</i> and <i>Guardian of the Darkness</i> are independent enough to be read as stand-alone manga.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/11/guardian-of-spirit-manga-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a>
If you've read these manga already, you can also read the rest of the series as novels <a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/12/guardian-of-spirit-master-post.html">here</a>.
<</if>><<if $jinmanga is true>><hr><img src="Images/18.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/guardian-of-spirit-manga-gaiden-jin.html">Guardian of the Spirit Manga Gaiden - Jin</a> is a spinoff prequel manga based on the fantasy series by Uehashi Nahoko. Set in a world based on early medieval Japan, the Mikado's Hunters must thwart dangerous assassins and attempts on their lives.
Best parts: Outsider perspective, exciting action, shows events outside of canon that still inform canon, examines corrupt systems of authority and power with some nuance, shows teenagers being very convincingly teenagers, brief vengeance quest
Pain points: Sad ending, women exist to be captured, rescued or scapegoated, and the world that emerges from these pages is even more alarmingly horrible and unfair than in the novels
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/guardian-of-spirit-manga-gaiden-jin.html"><button>Pick This Manga</button></a>
If you've read this manga already, you can also read the rest of the series as manga (for the first two books) and novels <a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/12/guardian-of-spirit-master-post.html">here</a>.
<</if>><<if $werefox is true>><hr><img src="Images/98.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/03/beyond-werefox-whistle-master-post.html">Beyond the Werefox Whistle</a> is a fantasy novel by Uehashi Nahoko set in a world of magic where magic users and spirit beasts face unfair persecution that they must overcome.
Best parts: Detailed worldbuilding, differentiated cultures, a compelling past world, timeless setting and conflicts, intense friendships
Pain points: Focuses a lot on the human characters, who are generally less interesting than the magical spirit beasts and the sorcerer that controls them.
This is a stand-alone fantasy novel.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/03/beyond-werefox-whistle-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $dororo3 is true>><hr><img src="Images/21.png"><br>The <a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/01/toriumi-jinzo-dororo-series-3-books.html">Dororo Series</a> is a 3-book series by Toriumi Jinzō based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. A baby boy abandoned at birth loses forty-eight pieces of his body to demons. He embarks on a quest to find his birth family for answers and eliminate the demons who want him dead. He's accompanied by a young sneak-thief, Dororo, as well as a colorful cast of other allies: a brilliant surgeon, a bomb-happy pirate, and a blind monk. Set in 1480s Japan at the start of the Warring States period.
Best parts: Psychologically comprehensible characters, an almost entirely happy ending, a solid setting based on real events and battles, realistic medicine for the period
Pain points: Intensely precise detail for medicine, bombs and battles (easily skipped), slow progression at the start (but it picks up and stays there).
Content Warnings: The body horror of surgery and the macabre abilities of demons to alter minds and bodies make this more psychological horror story than a gore-fest. There is some brief sexual content, mainly in the second book.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/01/toriumi-jinzo-dororo-series-3-books.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $dororo2 is true>><hr><img src="Images/19.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/01/nakamura-masaru-dororo-movie.html">The Dororo Movie Novelization</a> sparked a film of the same name (<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0780503/">Dororo</a>). It is based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. Hyakkimaru, the main character, is abandoned by his birth family with forty-eight body parts missing. A surgeon creates a new body for him out of the bodies of children who've been slain in war. He accompanies the thief Dororo on a journey of discovery when they are both adults.
Best parts: The friendship between Hyakkimaru and Dororo is skillfully developed and never turns romantic, which is refreshing. Anti-war and pro-individuality themes are explored in interesting ways.
Pain points: Villainous characters are given a lot of pages in an attempt to redeem them that falls flat. Some ideas are introduced and don't really go anywhere.
Content Warning: Body horror galore in this one, from missing eyes to genital organs re-growing in real time. If you're looking for something gory, violent, and post-apocalyptic with a strong focus on character development and progression, this is your story.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/01/nakamura-masaru-dororo-movie.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $dororo1 is true>><hr><img src="Images/24.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/12/dororo-novel-master-post.html">Dororo: A Novel</a> is based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. This was written specifically as a children's novel and focuses more on the adventuresome aspect of the story than most other adaptations. The plot follows Hyakkimaru, a paraplegic warrior missing most of his body, and Dororo, a young thief who wants to steal the swords out of his prosthetic arms. Hyakkimaru recovers pieces of his body from demons who stole them when he was born. Both Hyakkimaru and Dororo confront their pasts when family and old friends reappear on their adventures.
Best parts: The friendship between Hyakkimaru and Dororo is fun and silly, and ocassionally poignant. Hyakkimaru's brother has a brief and surprising star turn, and important events from the manga are dramatized in child-focused detail. The authorial voice has personality and verve.
Pain points: Villains aren't given a lot of development and the child-friendly format limits the effect that most of the bad guys can have. Setting this up as a children's story was probably a bit misguided to start with.
Content Warning: Some body horror (PG-rated). A woman and a man are brutally killed on-screen, though most of the violence is stylized.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/12/dororo-novel-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $search is true>><hr><img src="Images/46.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/search-and-destroy-master-post.html">Search and Destroy</a> is a 3-volume series by Kaneko Atsushi based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. The main characters are gender-swapped in this story, meaning the main character is female and Dororo is male. The world is a post-apocalypic hellscape run by corrupt politicians and half-human robots.
Best parts: More so than other adaptations, <i>Search and Destroy</i> is about what being human actually means, well beyond having human parts and pieces. The art style is stunningly beautiful and the ending is perfectly balanced between realistic and positive for all the main characters.
Pain points: Never heard of 'em. If you're here for a horror story and you like manga, then this is a feast.
Content Warning: Features explicit gore, surgeries and under-the-skin visceral body horror for both main characters.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/search-and-destroy-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $bon is true>><hr><img src="Images/49.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/dororo-bon-master-post.html">Dororo Bon</a> is a 4-volume series by Douke Daisuke based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. The main characters are all female in this story. The world setting is modern with magic and the story features a demonic cat as a sidekick character.
Best parts: The relationships are well-drawn, particularly in Volume 3 which is set in the distant past. The end is much more settled than the one Osamu Tezuka wrote for his Dororo manga.
Pain points: The story is obviously a confusing mess and it takes a long time to find its footing.
Content Warning: In addition to the body horror that's typical of <i>Dororo</i> adaptations in media, the series explores common ghost stories in Japan in some detail. It's not especially gory or frightening, but the setting has a very gothic feel.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/dororo-bon-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $adv is true>><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/08/dororo-adventure-novel-choose-your-own.html">Dororo: Choose Your Own Adventure</a> is a game version of Osamu Tezuka's <i>Dororo</i> manga. Play as Hyakkimaru or Dororo (depending on choices), discover more than a dozen unique endings (including the "true" ending), earn achievements, and rewrite the story in interesting ways.
Best parts: It is possible to play the story exactly according to the manga it's based on, but it's also possible to go completely off-script and discover interesting (and sometimes superior) sequences of events that lead to better outcomes. If you've never heard of <i>Dororo</i> before and are interested in seeing what it's all about, this is not a terrible place to start. The game respects personal choices and has real consequences. Curiosity and compassion are rewarded. Ruthless violence and ignorance are severely punished.
Pain points: It's not really a book, per se, but a game! And it's true that <i>Dororo</i> fans will get more out of it. If you've read and liked <i>Dororo</i> stuff before, you'll probably like this. However, it's welcoming and fun enough for newcomers to explore. Beating the game entirely takes 2-3 hours on average and there's limited replayability.
Content Warning: Some of the worst endings have characters slaughtering their own family or being devoured by monsters. It's PG-13 rated violence and gore for the most part. There is no sexually explicit material.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/08/dororo-adventure-novel-choose-your-own.html"><button>Pick This Game</button></a><</if>><<if $bambi is true>><hr><img src="Images/82.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/bambi-and-her-pink-gun-master-post.html">Bambi and Her Pink Gun</a> is a 7-volume manga series by Kaneko Atsushi. It centers on a sixteen-year-old girl named Bambi who has kidnapped a young boy from a crazy pop star and is taking him back to the 'Old Men'. The story is extremely violent, with every new scene taking on a different look and feel (Western, Latino, the 40s, traditional Japanese, etc.)
Best parts: Bambi's violent vegetarianism, inspired art styles, over-the-top crazy drug-fueld violence, it's a ride
Pain points: Very dark, violent and at times gratuitous, <i>Bambi</i> belongs to the genre of manga that is written for men but features a strong female protagonist.
Content Warning: Buckets of blood and copious nudity. Hide the kids for this one. Also some pointed social commentary, if you know where to look.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/bambi-and-her-pink-gun-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $forty is true>><hr><img src="Images/29.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/shijukara-starting-at-40-master-post.html">Starting at 40</a> is a 17-volume manga series by Sakai Eri. It follows Watanuki Shinobu, a 39-year-old woman and unsuccessful manga artist. She plans to give up her career, but after one of her old works becomes a hit online, she decides to create a new comic instead. In need of help, she looks for an assistant. The handsome 22-year-old man named Tachibana Chiaki applies to her ad, and Shinobu finds herself at a major turning point in her life.
Best parts: The director of the drama adaptation described <i>Starting at 40</i> as "an infidelity drama for people who don't like infidelity dramas," and that captures the feeling almost perfectly. Shinobu and Chiaki have wealth of individual experience; collectively, they use art to explain the human experience and overcome extreme personal traumas. I generally don't like romance, but loved this from start to (very happy) finish.
Pain points: Has some explicit sexuality, including sexual abuse. It is never gratuitous but is quite frank and painful. The characters' triumph at the end is more powerful for these traumatic experiences, which are never forgotten or swept under the rug.
Content Warning: Nudity, sexual abuse (including abuse of a child), physical abuse
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/shijukara-starting-at-40-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $r is true>><hr><img src="Images/99.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/05/r-original-kaneko-atsushi.html">R: The Original</a> is a collection of 9 wonderfully weird and violent short stories from the mind of Kaneko Atsushi.
Best parts: Variety. There's everything here from sci-fi, fantasy, aliens, violence, melon bread, lemon bread and more
Pain points: Not for the faint of heart and only for the very curious. The art is, at times, experimental and hard on the eyes.
Content Warning: Physical as well as psychological horror elements, plus Kaneko Atsushi's trademark over-the-top violence.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/05/r-original-kaneko-atsushi.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a><</if>><<if $swallows is true>><hr><img src="Images/Swallows.png"><br><a href=
"https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2025/01/the-swallows-will-not-return-sakai-eri.html">The Swallows Will Not Return</a> is a limited series manga based on the novel of the same name by Natsuo Kirino. It's about a young woman named Riki who lives in desperate poverty. She becomes a surrogate mother out of desperation and is bought by a wealthy infertile couple who want her because she resembles the wife.
Best parts: Heavy topics in happy packaging is very much Sakai Eri's style. The characters are fleshed out and their psychology is comprehensible even when they aren't entirely sympathetic.
Pain points: Depictions of the gulf between the ultra-rich and the severely impoverished are designed to provoke rage.
Content Warning: The manga discusses and depicts explicit sexual topics and is highly concerned with women's (and to a lesser extent, men's) bodily autonomy.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2025/01/the-swallows-will-not-return-sakai-eri.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $fire is true>><hr><img src="Images/93.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/04/fire-hunter-series-master-post.html">The Fire Hunter Series</a> is 5-book fantasy series by Hinata Rieko. Set in a post-apocalyptic world at war, two children uncover ancient secrets that put their families and society at risk.
Best parts: Detailed worldbuilding, differentiated cultures, magic is technology and technology is magic, dogs are a major thing in this world
Pain points: Stilted, stuffy style (meant to imitate older speech), weak and underdeveloped characters, slow-paced, tonally mixed, ethically problematic, many story elements are contradictory
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/04/fire-hunter-series-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $sorceress is true>><hr><img src="Images/26.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-sorceress-revolt-kobijis-story.html">The Sorceress' Revolt</a> is fantasy novel with an historical twist set in ancient China written by Toriumi Jinzō. A Buddhist monk gains mysterious powers in a sacred cave and must use them to save China from outside invasion and the threat of a powerful sorceress.
Best parts: Strong characters (both men and women) with realistic psychological progression. Fast-paced and grounded in historical fact, this novel explores universal human conflicts and desires: the conflict between corruption and righteousness and the desires for immortality and immunity from pain.
Pain points: Historical detail can be thick on the ground, pacing is more variable in the second part. Some content is violent and sexually explicit (between PG-13 and R on the MPAA rating scale).
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-sorceress-revolt-kobijis-story.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $science is true>><hr><img src="Images/97.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/04/science-ninja-team-gatchaman-master-post.html">Science Ninja Team Gatchaman</a> is science fiction/action-adventure novel set in the 1980s. Campy, silly and over-the-top fun, this is what would happen if Saturday morning cartoons became a novel.
Best parts: Strong characters (both men and women), fast-paced and action-heavy, detailed setting, cool art
Pain points: More dated than this author's other novels; the male gaze intrudes for some characters. The zany plot and concept have appeal for kids and teens, but the issues explored and plot progression is distinctly adult.
Content Warning: Violence, violence and more violence, most of it cartoony but some of it very intense.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/04/science-ninja-team-gatchaman-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $stranger is true>><hr><img src="Images/89.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/xamd-lost-memories-pilgrims-compass.html">The Sword of the Stranger</a> is a manga about a warrior and an outsider in Meiji era Japan (1860s). He finds his way of life shattered when a foreign faction captures a child to use in a nefarious sacrifice. Based on the anime film of the same name.
Best parts: Exciting action, some good character development, exaggerated but largely accurate historical detail
Pain points: Plot progression is generic to the action genre, and the manga doesn't add much value to the anime movie
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/12/sword-of-stranger-manga.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a><</if>><<if $xamd is true>><hr><img src="Images/90.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/xamd-lost-memories-pilgrims-compass.html">Xam'd Lost Memories: Pilgrim's Compass</a> is a world tour through a lost age. Teenagers embark on a sacred pilgrimage seeking lost magic and memories. Fun but generic. Based on the anime of the same name.
Best parts: Some positive character progression and bright but zany humor
Pain points: Doesn't offer much to differentiate it from all the other action anime out there, though past discoveries do lend the story some depth
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/xamd-lost-memories-pilgrims-compass.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a><</if>>
<<if $guardian is false and $jinmanga is false and $guardianmanga is false and $werefox is false and $dororo3 is false and $dororo2 is false and $dororo1 is false and $search is false and $bon is false and $adv is false and $bambi is false and $r is false and $forty is false and $swallows is false and $fire is false and $sorceress is false and $science is false and $stranger is false and $xamd is false and $spider is false and $gods is false and $devil is false and $grove is false and $wei is false and $rabbit is false and $tag is false and $mandarins is false and $shrine is false and $toshishun is false and $onions is false and $legacy is false and $sea is false and $june is false and $preference is false and $moon is false and $redbird is false and $bamboo is false and $candy is false and $last is false and $redcandle is false and $goose is false and $shoes is false and $tstory is false>>Sorry, I don't have any recommendations for you right now.
[[Try again->StoryInit]]<<set $allfalse to true>><</if>>
<<if $allfalse is false>>Not what you're looking for?
[[Try again->StoryInit]]<</if>>
<<if $guardian is false and $jinmanga is false and $guardianmanga is false and $werefox is false and $dororo3 is false and $dororo2 is false and $dororo1 is false and $search is false and $bon is false and $adv is false and $bambi is false and $r is false and $forty is false and $swallows is false and $fire is false and $sorceress is false and $science is false and $stranger is false and $xamd is false and $spider is false and $gods is false and $devil is false and $grove is false and $wei is false and $rabbit is false and $tag is false and $mandarins is false and $shrine is false and $toshishun is false and $onions is false and $legacy is false and $sea is false and $june is false and $preference is false and $moon is false and $redbird is false and $bamboo is false and $candy is false and $last is false and $redcandle is false and $goose is false and $shoes is false and $tstory is false>><<set $allfalse to true>><</if>><<if $allfalse is false>>Great! Here are my recommendations for you.<</if>>
<<if $guardian is true>><hr><img src="Images/3.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/12/guardian-of-spirit-master-post.html">Guardian of the Spirit </a> is fantasy series by Uehashi Nahoko. Set in a world based on early medieval Japan, a woman warrior is placed at the heart of shifting political and magical powers when she dares to save a young prince from execution.
Best parts: Strong female character, detailed worldbuilding, differentiated cultures, interesting perspectives, a nature-based magic system, timeless setting and conflicts, exciting action
Pain points: One painfully slow romance (easily ignored), fade-to-black at critical story moments, a slightly unsettled (but entirely happy) ending, and a sense of disconnection from book to book. This is a series, but most of the books in it can be read as stand-alone novels.
Note: The first two novels in this series, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Moribito-Guardian-Spirit-Nahoko-Uehashi-ebook/dp/B00JWGOPZE?crid=3PM6VS8392B3K&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.2mge0v9d_zktcJBFc9lAYsEXNL-KoSAB49BbozHhndn7BF0CgcJnkbkTJqzshBb9eXy9ucfPPyOf-iplZqkysROxrlXQU2UtkCUcblux9i52S5bUFZgQ-KTo0k7rVSEI3uEL2PaOKopiFjfXoIaTx5K52YBFaMcLooUQj3TsBCs3oSXjewWwgHSz0hFypUDtz39ZR7taliILTBhtwfCWfkIQgPPrkNeqD4VPazItZYc.xAH6eyqJzZevFU5S6ZquekSDrwsqad5eoiao6tvGTYo&dib_tag=se&keywords=guardian+of+the+spirit&qid=1738939768&sprefix=guardian+of+the+spirit%2Caps%2C132&sr=8-1">Guardian of the Spirit</a> and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Moribito-Guardian-Darkness-Nahoko-Uehashi-ebook/dp/B00JWGOPUY?crid=1FO5RSHA2BNVQ&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.NB5dC98gl4DutrqJMNGSRQ.0PEfHB8Ug7t5JZsN4ajYUcnC_CgxxI1YT0xgpo6mZng&dib_tag=se&keywords=guardian+of+the+darkness+uehashi&qid=1738939868&sprefix=guardian+of+the+darkness+uehashi%2Caps%2C87&sr=8-1">Guardian of the Darkness</a>, have been officially licensed and published. I highly recommend you read those first! If you'd prefer to do all your reading here, though, you can read the manga versions of the first two novels on this blog.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/12/guardian-of-spirit-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $guardianmanga is true>><hr><img src="Images/GotS.jpg"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/11/guardian-of-spirit-manga-master-post.html">Guardian of the Spirit Manga </a> is based on the fantasy series by Uehashi Nahoko. Set in a world based on early medieval Japan, a woman warrior is placed at the heart of shifting political and magical powers when she dares to save a young prince from execution.
Best parts: Strong female character, detailed worldbuilding, differentiated cultures, interesting perspectives, a nature-based magic system, timeless setting and conflicts, exciting action
Pain points: One painfully slow romance (easily ignored), fade-to-black at critical story moments, a slightly unsettled (but entirely happy) ending, and a sense of disconnection from book to book. This is a series, but <i>Guardian of the Spirit</i> and <i>Guardian of the Darkness</i> are independent enough to be read as stand-alone manga.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/11/guardian-of-spirit-manga-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a>
If you've read these manga already, you can also read the rest of the series as novels <a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/12/guardian-of-spirit-master-post.html">here</a>.
<</if>><<if $jinmanga is true>><hr><img src="Images/18.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/guardian-of-spirit-manga-gaiden-jin.html">Guardian of the Spirit Manga Gaiden - Jin</a> is a spinoff prequel manga based on the fantasy series by Uehashi Nahoko. Set in a world based on early medieval Japan, the Mikado's Hunters must thwart dangerous assassins and attempts on their lives.
Best parts: Outsider perspective, exciting action, shows events outside of canon that still inform canon, examines corrupt systems of authority and power with some nuance, shows teenagers being very convincingly teenagers, brief vengeance quest
Pain points: Sad ending, women exist to be captured, rescued or scapegoated, and the world that emerges from these pages is even more alarmingly horrible and unfair than in the novels
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/guardian-of-spirit-manga-gaiden-jin.html"><button>Pick This Manga</button></a>
If you've read this manga already, you can also read the rest of the series as manga (for the first two books) and novels <a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/12/guardian-of-spirit-master-post.html">here</a>.
<</if>><<if $werefox is true>><hr><img src="Images/98.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/03/beyond-werefox-whistle-master-post.html">Beyond the Werefox Whistle</a> is a fantasy novel by Uehashi Nahoko set in a world of magic where magic users and spirit beasts face unfair persecution that they must overcome.
Best parts: Detailed worldbuilding, differentiated cultures, a compelling past world, timeless setting and conflicts, intense friendships
Pain points: Focuses a lot on the human characters, who are generally less interesting than the magical spirit beasts and the sorcerer that controls them.
This is a stand-alone fantasy novel.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/03/beyond-werefox-whistle-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $dororo3 is true>><hr><img src="Images/21.png"><br>The <a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/01/toriumi-jinzo-dororo-series-3-books.html">Dororo Series</a> is a 3-book series by Toriumi Jinzō based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. A baby boy abandoned at birth loses forty-eight pieces of his body to demons. He embarks on a quest to find his birth family for answers and eliminate the demons who want him dead. He's accompanied by a young sneak-thief, Dororo, as well as a colorful cast of other allies: a brilliant surgeon, a bomb-happy pirate, and a blind monk. Set in 1480s Japan at the start of the Warring States period.
Best parts: Psychologically comprehensible characters, an almost entirely happy ending, a solid setting based on real events and battles, realistic medicine for the period
Pain points: Intensely precise detail for medicine, bombs and battles (easily skipped), slow progression at the start (but it picks up and stays there).
Content Warnings: The body horror of surgery and the macabre abilities of demons to alter minds and bodies make this more psychological horror story than a gore-fest. There is some brief sexual content, mainly in the second book.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/01/toriumi-jinzo-dororo-series-3-books.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $dororo2 is true>><hr><img src="Images/19.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/01/nakamura-masaru-dororo-movie.html">The Dororo Movie Novelization</a> sparked a film of the same name (<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0780503/">Dororo</a>). It is based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. Hyakkimaru, the main character, is abandoned by his birth family with forty-eight body parts missing. A surgeon creates a new body for him out of the bodies of children who've been slain in war. He accompanies the thief Dororo on a journey of discovery when they are both adults.
Best parts: The friendship between Hyakkimaru and Dororo is skillfully developed and never turns romantic, which is refreshing. Anti-war and pro-individuality themes are explored in interesting ways.
Pain points: Villainous characters are given a lot of pages in an attempt to redeem them that falls flat. Some ideas are introduced and don't really go anywhere.
Content Warning: Body horror galore in this one, from missing eyes to genital organs re-growing in real time. If you're looking for something gory, violent, and post-apocalyptic with a strong focus on character development and progression, this is your story.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/01/nakamura-masaru-dororo-movie.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $dororo1 is true>><hr><img src="Images/24.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/12/dororo-novel-master-post.html">Dororo: A Novel</a> is based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. This was written specifically as a children's novel and focuses more on the adventuresome aspect of the story than most other adaptations. The plot follows Hyakkimaru, a paraplegic warrior missing most of his body, and Dororo, a young thief who wants to steal the swords out of his prosthetic arms. Hyakkimaru recovers pieces of his body from demons who stole them when he was born. Both Hyakkimaru and Dororo confront their pasts when family and old friends reappear on their adventures.
Best parts: The friendship between Hyakkimaru and Dororo is fun and silly, and ocassionally poignant. Hyakkimaru's brother has a brief and surprising star turn, and important events from the manga are dramatized in child-focused detail. The authorial voice has personality and verve.
Pain points: Villains aren't given a lot of development and the child-friendly format limits the effect that most of the bad guys can have. Setting this up as a children's story was probably a bit misguided to start with.
Content Warning: Some body horror (PG-rated). A woman and a man are brutally killed on-screen, though most of the violence is stylized.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/12/dororo-novel-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $search is true>><hr><img src="Images/46.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/search-and-destroy-master-post.html">Search and Destroy</a> is a 3-volume series by Kaneko Atsushi based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. The main characters are gender-swapped in this story, meaning the main character is female and Dororo is male. The world is a post-apocalypic hellscape run by corrupt politicians and half-human robots.
Best parts: More so than other adaptations, <i>Search and Destroy</i> is about what being human actually means, well beyond having human parts and pieces. The art style is stunningly beautiful and the ending is perfectly balanced between realistic and positive for all the main characters.
Pain points: Never heard of 'em. If you're here for a horror story and you like manga, then this is a feast.
Content Warning: Features explicit gore, surgeries and under-the-skin visceral body horror for both main characters.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/search-and-destroy-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $bon is true>><hr><img src="Images/49.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/dororo-bon-master-post.html">Dororo Bon</a> is a 4-volume series by Douke Daisuke based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. The main characters are all female in this story. The world setting is modern with magic and the story features a demonic cat as a sidekick character.
Best parts: The relationships are well-drawn, particularly in Volume 3 which is set in the distant past. The end is much more settled than the one Osamu Tezuka wrote for his Dororo manga.
Pain points: The story is obviously a confusing mess and it takes a long time to find its footing.
Content Warning: In addition to the body horror that's typical of <i>Dororo</i> adaptations in media, the series explores common ghost stories in Japan in some detail. It's not especially gory or frightening, but the setting has a very gothic feel.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/dororo-bon-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $adv is true>><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/08/dororo-adventure-novel-choose-your-own.html">Dororo: Choose Your Own Adventure</a> is a game version of Osamu Tezuka's <i>Dororo</i> manga. Play as Hyakkimaru or Dororo (depending on choices), discover more than a dozen unique endings (including the "true" ending), earn achievements, and rewrite the story in interesting ways.
Best parts: It is possible to play the story exactly according to the manga it's based on, but it's also possible to go completely off-script and discover interesting (and sometimes superior) sequences of events that lead to better outcomes. If you've never heard of <i>Dororo</i> before and are interested in seeing what it's all about, this is not a terrible place to start. The game respects personal choices and has real consequences. Curiosity and compassion are rewarded. Ruthless violence and ignorance are severely punished.
Pain points: It's not really a book, per se, but a game! And it's true that <i>Dororo</i> fans will get more out of it. If you've read and liked <i>Dororo</i> stuff before, you'll probably like this. However, it's welcoming and fun enough for newcomers to explore. Beating the game entirely takes 2-3 hours on average and there's limited replayability.
Content Warning: Some of the worst endings have characters slaughtering their own family or being devoured by monsters. It's PG-13 rated violence and gore for the most part. There is no sexually explicit material.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/08/dororo-adventure-novel-choose-your-own.html"><button>Pick This Game</button></a><</if>><<if $bambi is true>><hr><img src="Images/82.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/bambi-and-her-pink-gun-master-post.html">Bambi and Her Pink Gun</a> is a 7-volume manga series by Kaneko Atsushi. It centers on a sixteen-year-old girl named Bambi who has kidnapped a young boy from a crazy pop star and is taking him back to the 'Old Men'. The story is extremely violent, with every new scene taking on a different look and feel (Western, Latino, the 40s, traditional Japanese, etc.)
Best parts: Bambi's violent vegetarianism, inspired art styles, over-the-top crazy drug-fueld violence, it's a ride
Pain points: Very dark, violent and at times gratuitous, <i>Bambi</i> belongs to the genre of manga that is written for men but features a strong female protagonist.
Content Warning: Buckets of blood and copious nudity. Hide the kids for this one. Also some pointed social commentary, if you know where to look.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/bambi-and-her-pink-gun-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $forty is true>><hr><img src="Images/29.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/shijukara-starting-at-40-master-post.html">Starting at 40</a> is a 17-volume manga series by Sakai Eri. It follows Watanuki Shinobu, a 39-year-old woman and unsuccessful manga artist. She plans to give up her career, but after one of her old works becomes a hit online, she decides to create a new comic instead. In need of help, she looks for an assistant. The handsome 22-year-old man named Tachibana Chiaki applies to her ad, and Shinobu finds herself at a major turning point in her life.
Best parts: The director of the drama adaptation described <i>Starting at 40</i> as "an infidelity drama for people who don't like infidelity dramas," and that captures the feeling almost perfectly. Shinobu and Chiaki have wealth of individual experience; collectively, they use art to explain the human experience and overcome extreme personal traumas. I generally don't like romance, but loved this from start to (very happy) finish.
Pain points: Has some explicit sexuality, including sexual abuse. It is never gratuitous but is quite frank and painful. The characters' triumph at the end is more powerful for these traumatic experiences, which are never forgotten or swept under the rug.
Content Warning: Nudity, sexual abuse (including abuse of a child), physical abuse
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/shijukara-starting-at-40-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $r is true>><hr><img src="Images/99.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/05/r-original-kaneko-atsushi.html">R: The Original</a> is a collection of 9 wonderfully weird and violent short stories from the mind of Kaneko Atsushi.
Best parts: Variety. There's everything here from sci-fi, fantasy, aliens, violence, melon bread, lemon bread and more
Pain points: Not for the faint of heart and only for the very curious. The art is, at times, experimental and hard on the eyes.
Content Warning: Physical as well as psychological horror elements, plus Kaneko Atsushi's trademark over-the-top violence.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/05/r-original-kaneko-atsushi.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a><</if>><<if $swallows is true>><hr><img src="Images/Swallows.png"><br><a href=
"https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2025/01/the-swallows-will-not-return-sakai-eri.html">The Swallows Will Not Return</a> is a limited series manga based on the novel of the same name by Natsuo Kirino. It's about a young woman named Riki who lives in desperate poverty. She becomes a surrogate mother out of desperation and is bought by a wealthy infertile couple who want her because she resembles the wife.
Best parts: Heavy topics in happy packaging is very much Sakai Eri's style. The characters are fleshed out and their psychology is comprehensible even when they aren't entirely sympathetic.
Pain points: Depictions of the gulf between the ultra-rich and the severely impoverished are designed to provoke rage.
Content Warning: The manga discusses and depicts explicit sexual topics and is highly concerned with women's (and to a lesser extent, men's) bodily autonomy.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2025/01/the-swallows-will-not-return-sakai-eri.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $fire is true>><hr><img src="Images/93.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/04/fire-hunter-series-master-post.html">The Fire Hunter Series</a> is 5-book fantasy series by Hinata Rieko. Set in a post-apocalyptic world at war, two children uncover ancient secrets that put their families and society at risk.
Best parts: Detailed worldbuilding, differentiated cultures, magic is technology and technology is magic, dogs are a major thing in this world
Pain points: Stilted, stuffy style (meant to imitate older speech), weak and underdeveloped characters, slow-paced, tonally mixed, ethically problematic, many story elements are contradictory
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/04/fire-hunter-series-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $sorceress is true>><hr><img src="Images/26.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-sorceress-revolt-kobijis-story.html">The Sorceress' Revolt</a> is fantasy novel with an historical twist set in ancient China written by Toriumi Jinzō. A Buddhist monk gains mysterious powers in a sacred cave and must use them to save China from outside invasion and the threat of a powerful sorceress.
Best parts: Strong characters (both men and women) with realistic psychological progression. Fast-paced and grounded in historical fact, this novel explores universal human conflicts and desires: the conflict between corruption and righteousness and the desires for immortality and immunity from pain.
Pain points: Historical detail can be thick on the ground, pacing is more variable in the second part. Some content is violent and sexually explicit (between PG-13 and R on the MPAA rating scale).
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-sorceress-revolt-kobijis-story.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $science is true>><hr><img src="Images/97.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/04/science-ninja-team-gatchaman-master-post.html">Science Ninja Team Gatchaman</a> is science fiction/action-adventure novel set in the 1980s. Campy, silly and over-the-top fun, this is what would happen if Saturday morning cartoons became a novel.
Best parts: Strong characters (both men and women), fast-paced and action-heavy, detailed setting, cool art
Pain points: More dated than this author's other novels; the male gaze intrudes for some characters. The zany plot and concept have appeal for kids and teens, but the issues explored and plot progression is distinctly adult.
Content Warning: Violence, violence and more violence, most of it cartoony but some of it very intense.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/04/science-ninja-team-gatchaman-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $stranger is true>><hr><img src="Images/89.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/xamd-lost-memories-pilgrims-compass.html">The Sword of the Stranger</a> is a manga about a warrior and an outsider in Meiji era Japan (1860s). He finds his way of life shattered when a foreign faction captures a child to use in a nefarious sacrifice. Based on the anime film of the same name.
Best parts: Exciting action, some good character development, exaggerated but largely accurate historical detail
Pain points: Plot progression is generic to the action genre, and the manga doesn't add much value to the anime movie
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/12/sword-of-stranger-manga.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a><</if>><<if $xamd is true>><hr><img src="Images/90.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/xamd-lost-memories-pilgrims-compass.html">Xam'd Lost Memories: Pilgrim's Compass</a> is a world tour through a lost age. Teenagers embark on a sacred pilgrimage seeking lost magic and memories. Fun but generic. Based on the anime of the same name.
Best parts: Some positive character progression and bright but zany humor
Pain points: Doesn't offer much to differentiate it from all the other action anime out there, though past discoveries do lend the story some depth
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/xamd-lost-memories-pilgrims-compass.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a><</if>>
<<if $guardian is false and $jinmanga is false and $guardianmanga is false and $werefox is false and $dororo3 is false and $dororo2 is false and $dororo1 is false and $search is false and $bon is false and $adv is false and $bambi is false and $r is false and $forty is false and $swallows is false and $fire is false and $sorceress is false and $science is false and $stranger is false and $xamd is false and $spider is false and $gods is false and $devil is false and $grove is false and $wei is false and $rabbit is false and $tag is false and $mandarins is false and $shrine is false and $toshishun is false and $onions is false and $legacy is false and $sea is false and $june is false and $preference is false and $moon is false and $redbird is false and $bamboo is false and $candy is false and $last is false and $redcandle is false and $goose is false and $shoes is false and $tstory is false>>Sorry, I don't have any recommendations for you right now.
[[Try again->StoryInit]]<<set $allfalse to true>><</if>>
<<if $allfalse is false>>Not what you're looking for?
[[Try again->StoryInit]]<</if>>
Are you sensitive to certain topics, themes or events?
<button>[[Keep things PG-13 for me, please->PG-13 Novel]]</button>
<button>[[I don't like a lot of violence->No Violence Novel]]</button>
<button>[[I don't like explicit sexuality->No Sex Novel]]</button>
<button>[[Show me everything: sex, drugs, rock n' roll->Everything Novel]]</button>Are you sensitive to certain topics, themes or events?
<button>[[Keep things PG-13 for me, please->PG-13 Novel]]</button>
<button>[[I don't like a lot of violence->No Violence Novel]]</button>
<button>[[I don't like explicit sexuality->No Sex Novel]]</button>
<button>[[Show me everything: sex, drugs, rock n' roll->Everything Novel]]</button><<set $guardian to false>>
Are you sensitive to certain topics, themes or events?
<button>[[Keep things PG-13 for me, please->PG-13 Novel]]</button>
<button>[[I don't like a lot of violence->No Violence Novel]]</button>
<button>[[I don't like explicit sexuality->No Sex Novel]]</button>
<button>[[Show me everything: sex, drugs, rock n' roll->Everything Novel]]</button>
<<set $bambi to false>><<set $swallows to false>><<set $forty to false>><<set $dororo3 to false>><<set $dororo2 to false>>
<<if $guardian is false and $jinmanga is false and $guardianmanga is false and $werefox is false and $dororo3 is false and $dororo2 is false and $dororo1 is false and $search is false and $bon is false and $adv is false and $bambi is false and $r is false and $forty is false and $swallows is false and $fire is false and $sorceress is false and $science is false and $stranger is false and $xamd is false and $spider is false and $gods is false and $devil is false and $grove is false and $wei is false and $rabbit is false and $tag is false and $mandarins is false and $shrine is false and $toshishun is false and $onions is false and $legacy is false and $sea is false and $june is false and $preference is false and $moon is false and $redbird is false and $bamboo is false and $candy is false and $last is false and $redcandle is false and $goose is false and $shoes is false and $tstory is false>><<set $allfalse to true>><</if>><<if $allfalse is false>>Great! Here are my recommendations for you.<</if>>
<<if $guardian is true>><hr><img src="Images/3.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/12/guardian-of-spirit-master-post.html">Guardian of the Spirit </a> is fantasy series by Uehashi Nahoko. Set in a world based on early medieval Japan, a woman warrior is placed at the heart of shifting political and magical powers when she dares to save a young prince from execution.
Best parts: Strong female character, detailed worldbuilding, differentiated cultures, interesting perspectives, a nature-based magic system, timeless setting and conflicts, exciting action
Pain points: One painfully slow romance (easily ignored), fade-to-black at critical story moments, a slightly unsettled (but entirely happy) ending, and a sense of disconnection from book to book. This is a series, but most of the books in it can be read as stand-alone novels.
Note: The first two novels in this series, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Moribito-Guardian-Spirit-Nahoko-Uehashi-ebook/dp/B00JWGOPZE?crid=3PM6VS8392B3K&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.2mge0v9d_zktcJBFc9lAYsEXNL-KoSAB49BbozHhndn7BF0CgcJnkbkTJqzshBb9eXy9ucfPPyOf-iplZqkysROxrlXQU2UtkCUcblux9i52S5bUFZgQ-KTo0k7rVSEI3uEL2PaOKopiFjfXoIaTx5K52YBFaMcLooUQj3TsBCs3oSXjewWwgHSz0hFypUDtz39ZR7taliILTBhtwfCWfkIQgPPrkNeqD4VPazItZYc.xAH6eyqJzZevFU5S6ZquekSDrwsqad5eoiao6tvGTYo&dib_tag=se&keywords=guardian+of+the+spirit&qid=1738939768&sprefix=guardian+of+the+spirit%2Caps%2C132&sr=8-1">Guardian of the Spirit</a> and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Moribito-Guardian-Darkness-Nahoko-Uehashi-ebook/dp/B00JWGOPUY?crid=1FO5RSHA2BNVQ&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.NB5dC98gl4DutrqJMNGSRQ.0PEfHB8Ug7t5JZsN4ajYUcnC_CgxxI1YT0xgpo6mZng&dib_tag=se&keywords=guardian+of+the+darkness+uehashi&qid=1738939868&sprefix=guardian+of+the+darkness+uehashi%2Caps%2C87&sr=8-1">Guardian of the Darkness</a>, have been officially licensed and published. I highly recommend you read those first! If you'd prefer to do all your reading here, though, you can read the manga versions of the first two novels on this blog.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/12/guardian-of-spirit-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $guardianmanga is true>><hr><img src="Images/GotS.jpg"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/11/guardian-of-spirit-manga-master-post.html">Guardian of the Spirit Manga </a> is based on the fantasy series by Uehashi Nahoko. Set in a world based on early medieval Japan, a woman warrior is placed at the heart of shifting political and magical powers when she dares to save a young prince from execution.
Best parts: Strong female character, detailed worldbuilding, differentiated cultures, interesting perspectives, a nature-based magic system, timeless setting and conflicts, exciting action
Pain points: One painfully slow romance (easily ignored), fade-to-black at critical story moments, a slightly unsettled (but entirely happy) ending, and a sense of disconnection from book to book. This is a series, but <i>Guardian of the Spirit</i> and <i>Guardian of the Darkness</i> are independent enough to be read as stand-alone manga.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/11/guardian-of-spirit-manga-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a>
If you've read these manga already, you can also read the rest of the series as novels <a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/12/guardian-of-spirit-master-post.html">here</a>.
<</if>><<if $jinmanga is true>><hr><img src="Images/18.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/guardian-of-spirit-manga-gaiden-jin.html">Guardian of the Spirit Manga Gaiden - Jin</a> is a spinoff prequel manga based on the fantasy series by Uehashi Nahoko. Set in a world based on early medieval Japan, the Mikado's Hunters must thwart dangerous assassins and attempts on their lives.
Best parts: Outsider perspective, exciting action, shows events outside of canon that still inform canon, examines corrupt systems of authority and power with some nuance, shows teenagers being very convincingly teenagers, brief vengeance quest
Pain points: Sad ending, women exist to be captured, rescued or scapegoated, and the world that emerges from these pages is even more alarmingly horrible and unfair than in the novels
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/guardian-of-spirit-manga-gaiden-jin.html"><button>Pick This Manga</button></a>
If you've read this manga already, you can also read the rest of the series as manga (for the first two books) and novels <a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/12/guardian-of-spirit-master-post.html">here</a>.
<</if>><<if $werefox is true>><hr><img src="Images/98.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/03/beyond-werefox-whistle-master-post.html">Beyond the Werefox Whistle</a> is a fantasy novel by Uehashi Nahoko set in a world of magic where magic users and spirit beasts face unfair persecution that they must overcome.
Best parts: Detailed worldbuilding, differentiated cultures, a compelling past world, timeless setting and conflicts, intense friendships
Pain points: Focuses a lot on the human characters, who are generally less interesting than the magical spirit beasts and the sorcerer that controls them.
This is a stand-alone fantasy novel.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/03/beyond-werefox-whistle-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $dororo3 is true>><hr><img src="Images/21.png"><br>The <a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/01/toriumi-jinzo-dororo-series-3-books.html">Dororo Series</a> is a 3-book series by Toriumi Jinzō based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. A baby boy abandoned at birth loses forty-eight pieces of his body to demons. He embarks on a quest to find his birth family for answers and eliminate the demons who want him dead. He's accompanied by a young sneak-thief, Dororo, as well as a colorful cast of other allies: a brilliant surgeon, a bomb-happy pirate, and a blind monk. Set in 1480s Japan at the start of the Warring States period.
Best parts: Psychologically comprehensible characters, an almost entirely happy ending, a solid setting based on real events and battles, realistic medicine for the period
Pain points: Intensely precise detail for medicine, bombs and battles (easily skipped), slow progression at the start (but it picks up and stays there).
Content Warnings: The body horror of surgery and the macabre abilities of demons to alter minds and bodies make this more psychological horror story than a gore-fest. There is some brief sexual content, mainly in the second book.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/01/toriumi-jinzo-dororo-series-3-books.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $dororo2 is true>><hr><img src="Images/19.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/01/nakamura-masaru-dororo-movie.html">The Dororo Movie Novelization</a> sparked a film of the same name (<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0780503/">Dororo</a>). It is based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. Hyakkimaru, the main character, is abandoned by his birth family with forty-eight body parts missing. A surgeon creates a new body for him out of the bodies of children who've been slain in war. He accompanies the thief Dororo on a journey of discovery when they are both adults.
Best parts: The friendship between Hyakkimaru and Dororo is skillfully developed and never turns romantic, which is refreshing. Anti-war and pro-individuality themes are explored in interesting ways.
Pain points: Villainous characters are given a lot of pages in an attempt to redeem them that falls flat. Some ideas are introduced and don't really go anywhere.
Content Warning: Body horror galore in this one, from missing eyes to genital organs re-growing in real time. If you're looking for something gory, violent, and post-apocalyptic with a strong focus on character development and progression, this is your story.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/01/nakamura-masaru-dororo-movie.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $dororo1 is true>><hr><img src="Images/24.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/12/dororo-novel-master-post.html">Dororo: A Novel</a> is based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. This was written specifically as a children's novel and focuses more on the adventuresome aspect of the story than most other adaptations. The plot follows Hyakkimaru, a paraplegic warrior missing most of his body, and Dororo, a young thief who wants to steal the swords out of his prosthetic arms. Hyakkimaru recovers pieces of his body from demons who stole them when he was born. Both Hyakkimaru and Dororo confront their pasts when family and old friends reappear on their adventures.
Best parts: The friendship between Hyakkimaru and Dororo is fun and silly, and ocassionally poignant. Hyakkimaru's brother has a brief and surprising star turn, and important events from the manga are dramatized in child-focused detail. The authorial voice has personality and verve.
Pain points: Villains aren't given a lot of development and the child-friendly format limits the effect that most of the bad guys can have. Setting this up as a children's story was probably a bit misguided to start with.
Content Warning: Some body horror (PG-rated). A woman and a man are brutally killed on-screen, though most of the violence is stylized.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/12/dororo-novel-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $search is true>><hr><img src="Images/46.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/search-and-destroy-master-post.html">Search and Destroy</a> is a 3-volume series by Kaneko Atsushi based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. The main characters are gender-swapped in this story, meaning the main character is female and Dororo is male. The world is a post-apocalypic hellscape run by corrupt politicians and half-human robots.
Best parts: More so than other adaptations, <i>Search and Destroy</i> is about what being human actually means, well beyond having human parts and pieces. The art style is stunningly beautiful and the ending is perfectly balanced between realistic and positive for all the main characters.
Pain points: Never heard of 'em. If you're here for a horror story and you like manga, then this is a feast.
Content Warning: Features explicit gore, surgeries and under-the-skin visceral body horror for both main characters.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/search-and-destroy-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $bon is true>><hr><img src="Images/49.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/dororo-bon-master-post.html">Dororo Bon</a> is a 4-volume series by Douke Daisuke based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. The main characters are all female in this story. The world setting is modern with magic and the story features a demonic cat as a sidekick character.
Best parts: The relationships are well-drawn, particularly in Volume 3 which is set in the distant past. The end is much more settled than the one Osamu Tezuka wrote for his Dororo manga.
Pain points: The story is obviously a confusing mess and it takes a long time to find its footing.
Content Warning: In addition to the body horror that's typical of <i>Dororo</i> adaptations in media, the series explores common ghost stories in Japan in some detail. It's not especially gory or frightening, but the setting has a very gothic feel.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/dororo-bon-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $adv is true>><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/08/dororo-adventure-novel-choose-your-own.html">Dororo: Choose Your Own Adventure</a> is a game version of Osamu Tezuka's <i>Dororo</i> manga. Play as Hyakkimaru or Dororo (depending on choices), discover more than a dozen unique endings (including the "true" ending), earn achievements, and rewrite the story in interesting ways.
Best parts: It is possible to play the story exactly according to the manga it's based on, but it's also possible to go completely off-script and discover interesting (and sometimes superior) sequences of events that lead to better outcomes. If you've never heard of <i>Dororo</i> before and are interested in seeing what it's all about, this is not a terrible place to start. The game respects personal choices and has real consequences. Curiosity and compassion are rewarded. Ruthless violence and ignorance are severely punished.
Pain points: It's not really a book, per se, but a game! And it's true that <i>Dororo</i> fans will get more out of it. If you've read and liked <i>Dororo</i> stuff before, you'll probably like this. However, it's welcoming and fun enough for newcomers to explore. Beating the game entirely takes 2-3 hours on average and there's limited replayability.
Content Warning: Some of the worst endings have characters slaughtering their own family or being devoured by monsters. It's PG-13 rated violence and gore for the most part. There is no sexually explicit material.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/08/dororo-adventure-novel-choose-your-own.html"><button>Pick This Game</button></a><</if>><<if $bambi is true>><hr><img src="Images/82.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/bambi-and-her-pink-gun-master-post.html">Bambi and Her Pink Gun</a> is a 7-volume manga series by Kaneko Atsushi. It centers on a sixteen-year-old girl named Bambi who has kidnapped a young boy from a crazy pop star and is taking him back to the 'Old Men'. The story is extremely violent, with every new scene taking on a different look and feel (Western, Latino, the 40s, traditional Japanese, etc.)
Best parts: Bambi's violent vegetarianism, inspired art styles, over-the-top crazy drug-fueld violence, it's a ride
Pain points: Very dark, violent and at times gratuitous, <i>Bambi</i> belongs to the genre of manga that is written for men but features a strong female protagonist.
Content Warning: Buckets of blood and copious nudity. Hide the kids for this one. Also some pointed social commentary, if you know where to look.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/bambi-and-her-pink-gun-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $forty is true>><hr><img src="Images/29.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/shijukara-starting-at-40-master-post.html">Starting at 40</a> is a 17-volume manga series by Sakai Eri. It follows Watanuki Shinobu, a 39-year-old woman and unsuccessful manga artist. She plans to give up her career, but after one of her old works becomes a hit online, she decides to create a new comic instead. In need of help, she looks for an assistant. The handsome 22-year-old man named Tachibana Chiaki applies to her ad, and Shinobu finds herself at a major turning point in her life.
Best parts: The director of the drama adaptation described <i>Starting at 40</i> as "an infidelity drama for people who don't like infidelity dramas," and that captures the feeling almost perfectly. Shinobu and Chiaki have wealth of individual experience; collectively, they use art to explain the human experience and overcome extreme personal traumas. I generally don't like romance, but loved this from start to (very happy) finish.
Pain points: Has some explicit sexuality, including sexual abuse. It is never gratuitous but is quite frank and painful. The characters' triumph at the end is more powerful for these traumatic experiences, which are never forgotten or swept under the rug.
Content Warning: Nudity, sexual abuse (including abuse of a child), physical abuse
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/shijukara-starting-at-40-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $r is true>><hr><img src="Images/99.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/05/r-original-kaneko-atsushi.html">R: The Original</a> is a collection of 9 wonderfully weird and violent short stories from the mind of Kaneko Atsushi.
Best parts: Variety. There's everything here from sci-fi, fantasy, aliens, violence, melon bread, lemon bread and more
Pain points: Not for the faint of heart and only for the very curious. The art is, at times, experimental and hard on the eyes.
Content Warning: Physical as well as psychological horror elements, plus Kaneko Atsushi's trademark over-the-top violence.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/05/r-original-kaneko-atsushi.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a><</if>><<if $swallows is true>><hr><img src="Images/Swallows.png"><br><a href=
"https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2025/01/the-swallows-will-not-return-sakai-eri.html">The Swallows Will Not Return</a> is a limited series manga based on the novel of the same name by Natsuo Kirino. It's about a young woman named Riki who lives in desperate poverty. She becomes a surrogate mother out of desperation and is bought by a wealthy infertile couple who want her because she resembles the wife.
Best parts: Heavy topics in happy packaging is very much Sakai Eri's style. The characters are fleshed out and their psychology is comprehensible even when they aren't entirely sympathetic.
Pain points: Depictions of the gulf between the ultra-rich and the severely impoverished are designed to provoke rage.
Content Warning: The manga discusses and depicts explicit sexual topics and is highly concerned with women's (and to a lesser extent, men's) bodily autonomy.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2025/01/the-swallows-will-not-return-sakai-eri.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $fire is true>><hr><img src="Images/93.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/04/fire-hunter-series-master-post.html">The Fire Hunter Series</a> is 5-book fantasy series by Hinata Rieko. Set in a post-apocalyptic world at war, two children uncover ancient secrets that put their families and society at risk.
Best parts: Detailed worldbuilding, differentiated cultures, magic is technology and technology is magic, dogs are a major thing in this world
Pain points: Stilted, stuffy style (meant to imitate older speech), weak and underdeveloped characters, slow-paced, tonally mixed, ethically problematic, many story elements are contradictory
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/04/fire-hunter-series-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $sorceress is true>><hr><img src="Images/26.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-sorceress-revolt-kobijis-story.html">The Sorceress' Revolt</a> is fantasy novel with an historical twist set in ancient China written by Toriumi Jinzō. A Buddhist monk gains mysterious powers in a sacred cave and must use them to save China from outside invasion and the threat of a powerful sorceress.
Best parts: Strong characters (both men and women) with realistic psychological progression. Fast-paced and grounded in historical fact, this novel explores universal human conflicts and desires: the conflict between corruption and righteousness and the desires for immortality and immunity from pain.
Pain points: Historical detail can be thick on the ground, pacing is more variable in the second part. Some content is violent and sexually explicit (between PG-13 and R on the MPAA rating scale).
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-sorceress-revolt-kobijis-story.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $science is true>><hr><img src="Images/97.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/04/science-ninja-team-gatchaman-master-post.html">Science Ninja Team Gatchaman</a> is science fiction/action-adventure novel set in the 1980s. Campy, silly and over-the-top fun, this is what would happen if Saturday morning cartoons became a novel.
Best parts: Strong characters (both men and women), fast-paced and action-heavy, detailed setting, cool art
Pain points: More dated than this author's other novels; the male gaze intrudes for some characters. The zany plot and concept have appeal for kids and teens, but the issues explored and plot progression is distinctly adult.
Content Warning: Violence, violence and more violence, most of it cartoony but some of it very intense.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/04/science-ninja-team-gatchaman-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $stranger is true>><hr><img src="Images/89.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/xamd-lost-memories-pilgrims-compass.html">The Sword of the Stranger</a> is a manga about a warrior and an outsider in Meiji era Japan (1860s). He finds his way of life shattered when a foreign faction captures a child to use in a nefarious sacrifice. Based on the anime film of the same name.
Best parts: Exciting action, some good character development, exaggerated but largely accurate historical detail
Pain points: Plot progression is generic to the action genre, and the manga doesn't add much value to the anime movie
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/12/sword-of-stranger-manga.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a><</if>><<if $xamd is true>><hr><img src="Images/90.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/xamd-lost-memories-pilgrims-compass.html">Xam'd Lost Memories: Pilgrim's Compass</a> is a world tour through a lost age. Teenagers embark on a sacred pilgrimage seeking lost magic and memories. Fun but generic. Based on the anime of the same name.
Best parts: Some positive character progression and bright but zany humor
Pain points: Doesn't offer much to differentiate it from all the other action anime out there, though past discoveries do lend the story some depth
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/xamd-lost-memories-pilgrims-compass.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a><</if>>
<<if $guardian is false and $jinmanga is false and $guardianmanga is false and $werefox is false and $dororo3 is false and $dororo2 is false and $dororo1 is false and $search is false and $bon is false and $adv is false and $bambi is false and $r is false and $forty is false and $swallows is false and $fire is false and $sorceress is false and $science is false and $stranger is false and $xamd is false and $spider is false and $gods is false and $devil is false and $grove is false and $wei is false and $rabbit is false and $tag is false and $mandarins is false and $shrine is false and $toshishun is false and $onions is false and $legacy is false and $sea is false and $june is false and $preference is false and $moon is false and $redbird is false and $bamboo is false and $candy is false and $last is false and $redcandle is false and $goose is false and $shoes is false and $tstory is false>>Sorry, I don't have any recommendations for you right now.
[[Try again->StoryInit]]<<set $allfalse to true>><</if>>
<<if $allfalse is false>>Not what you're looking for?
[[Try again->StoryInit]]<</if>>
<<set $bambi to false>><<set $guardian to true>><<set $dororo3 to false>><<set $fire to false>><<if $guardian is false and $jinmanga is false and $guardianmanga is false and $werefox is false and $dororo3 is false and $dororo2 is false and $dororo1 is false and $search is false and $bon is false and $adv is false and $bambi is false and $r is false and $forty is false and $swallows is false and $fire is false and $sorceress is false and $science is false and $stranger is false and $xamd is false and $spider is false and $gods is false and $devil is false and $grove is false and $wei is false and $rabbit is false and $tag is false and $mandarins is false and $shrine is false and $toshishun is false and $onions is false and $legacy is false and $sea is false and $june is false and $preference is false and $moon is false and $redbird is false and $bamboo is false and $candy is false and $last is false and $redcandle is false and $goose is false and $shoes is false and $tstory is false>><<set $allfalse to true>><</if>><<if $allfalse is false>>Great! Here are my recommendations for you.<</if>>
<<if $guardian is true>><hr><img src="Images/3.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/12/guardian-of-spirit-master-post.html">Guardian of the Spirit </a> is fantasy series by Uehashi Nahoko. Set in a world based on early medieval Japan, a woman warrior is placed at the heart of shifting political and magical powers when she dares to save a young prince from execution.
Best parts: Strong female character, detailed worldbuilding, differentiated cultures, interesting perspectives, a nature-based magic system, timeless setting and conflicts, exciting action
Pain points: One painfully slow romance (easily ignored), fade-to-black at critical story moments, a slightly unsettled (but entirely happy) ending, and a sense of disconnection from book to book. This is a series, but most of the books in it can be read as stand-alone novels.
Note: The first two novels in this series, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Moribito-Guardian-Spirit-Nahoko-Uehashi-ebook/dp/B00JWGOPZE?crid=3PM6VS8392B3K&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.2mge0v9d_zktcJBFc9lAYsEXNL-KoSAB49BbozHhndn7BF0CgcJnkbkTJqzshBb9eXy9ucfPPyOf-iplZqkysROxrlXQU2UtkCUcblux9i52S5bUFZgQ-KTo0k7rVSEI3uEL2PaOKopiFjfXoIaTx5K52YBFaMcLooUQj3TsBCs3oSXjewWwgHSz0hFypUDtz39ZR7taliILTBhtwfCWfkIQgPPrkNeqD4VPazItZYc.xAH6eyqJzZevFU5S6ZquekSDrwsqad5eoiao6tvGTYo&dib_tag=se&keywords=guardian+of+the+spirit&qid=1738939768&sprefix=guardian+of+the+spirit%2Caps%2C132&sr=8-1">Guardian of the Spirit</a> and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Moribito-Guardian-Darkness-Nahoko-Uehashi-ebook/dp/B00JWGOPUY?crid=1FO5RSHA2BNVQ&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.NB5dC98gl4DutrqJMNGSRQ.0PEfHB8Ug7t5JZsN4ajYUcnC_CgxxI1YT0xgpo6mZng&dib_tag=se&keywords=guardian+of+the+darkness+uehashi&qid=1738939868&sprefix=guardian+of+the+darkness+uehashi%2Caps%2C87&sr=8-1">Guardian of the Darkness</a>, have been officially licensed and published. I highly recommend you read those first! If you'd prefer to do all your reading here, though, you can read the manga versions of the first two novels on this blog.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/12/guardian-of-spirit-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $guardianmanga is true>><hr><img src="Images/GotS.jpg"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/11/guardian-of-spirit-manga-master-post.html">Guardian of the Spirit Manga </a> is based on the fantasy series by Uehashi Nahoko. Set in a world based on early medieval Japan, a woman warrior is placed at the heart of shifting political and magical powers when she dares to save a young prince from execution.
Best parts: Strong female character, detailed worldbuilding, differentiated cultures, interesting perspectives, a nature-based magic system, timeless setting and conflicts, exciting action
Pain points: One painfully slow romance (easily ignored), fade-to-black at critical story moments, a slightly unsettled (but entirely happy) ending, and a sense of disconnection from book to book. This is a series, but <i>Guardian of the Spirit</i> and <i>Guardian of the Darkness</i> are independent enough to be read as stand-alone manga.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/11/guardian-of-spirit-manga-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a>
If you've read these manga already, you can also read the rest of the series as novels <a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/12/guardian-of-spirit-master-post.html">here</a>.
<</if>><<if $jinmanga is true>><hr><img src="Images/18.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/guardian-of-spirit-manga-gaiden-jin.html">Guardian of the Spirit Manga Gaiden - Jin</a> is a spinoff prequel manga based on the fantasy series by Uehashi Nahoko. Set in a world based on early medieval Japan, the Mikado's Hunters must thwart dangerous assassins and attempts on their lives.
Best parts: Outsider perspective, exciting action, shows events outside of canon that still inform canon, examines corrupt systems of authority and power with some nuance, shows teenagers being very convincingly teenagers, brief vengeance quest
Pain points: Sad ending, women exist to be captured, rescued or scapegoated, and the world that emerges from these pages is even more alarmingly horrible and unfair than in the novels
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/guardian-of-spirit-manga-gaiden-jin.html"><button>Pick This Manga</button></a>
If you've read this manga already, you can also read the rest of the series as manga (for the first two books) and novels <a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/12/guardian-of-spirit-master-post.html">here</a>.
<</if>><<if $werefox is true>><hr><img src="Images/98.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/03/beyond-werefox-whistle-master-post.html">Beyond the Werefox Whistle</a> is a fantasy novel by Uehashi Nahoko set in a world of magic where magic users and spirit beasts face unfair persecution that they must overcome.
Best parts: Detailed worldbuilding, differentiated cultures, a compelling past world, timeless setting and conflicts, intense friendships
Pain points: Focuses a lot on the human characters, who are generally less interesting than the magical spirit beasts and the sorcerer that controls them.
This is a stand-alone fantasy novel.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/03/beyond-werefox-whistle-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $dororo3 is true>><hr><img src="Images/21.png"><br>The <a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/01/toriumi-jinzo-dororo-series-3-books.html">Dororo Series</a> is a 3-book series by Toriumi Jinzō based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. A baby boy abandoned at birth loses forty-eight pieces of his body to demons. He embarks on a quest to find his birth family for answers and eliminate the demons who want him dead. He's accompanied by a young sneak-thief, Dororo, as well as a colorful cast of other allies: a brilliant surgeon, a bomb-happy pirate, and a blind monk. Set in 1480s Japan at the start of the Warring States period.
Best parts: Psychologically comprehensible characters, an almost entirely happy ending, a solid setting based on real events and battles, realistic medicine for the period
Pain points: Intensely precise detail for medicine, bombs and battles (easily skipped), slow progression at the start (but it picks up and stays there).
Content Warnings: The body horror of surgery and the macabre abilities of demons to alter minds and bodies make this more psychological horror story than a gore-fest. There is some brief sexual content, mainly in the second book.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/01/toriumi-jinzo-dororo-series-3-books.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $dororo2 is true>><hr><img src="Images/19.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/01/nakamura-masaru-dororo-movie.html">The Dororo Movie Novelization</a> sparked a film of the same name (<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0780503/">Dororo</a>). It is based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. Hyakkimaru, the main character, is abandoned by his birth family with forty-eight body parts missing. A surgeon creates a new body for him out of the bodies of children who've been slain in war. He accompanies the thief Dororo on a journey of discovery when they are both adults.
Best parts: The friendship between Hyakkimaru and Dororo is skillfully developed and never turns romantic, which is refreshing. Anti-war and pro-individuality themes are explored in interesting ways.
Pain points: Villainous characters are given a lot of pages in an attempt to redeem them that falls flat. Some ideas are introduced and don't really go anywhere.
Content Warning: Body horror galore in this one, from missing eyes to genital organs re-growing in real time. If you're looking for something gory, violent, and post-apocalyptic with a strong focus on character development and progression, this is your story.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/01/nakamura-masaru-dororo-movie.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $dororo1 is true>><hr><img src="Images/24.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/12/dororo-novel-master-post.html">Dororo: A Novel</a> is based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. This was written specifically as a children's novel and focuses more on the adventuresome aspect of the story than most other adaptations. The plot follows Hyakkimaru, a paraplegic warrior missing most of his body, and Dororo, a young thief who wants to steal the swords out of his prosthetic arms. Hyakkimaru recovers pieces of his body from demons who stole them when he was born. Both Hyakkimaru and Dororo confront their pasts when family and old friends reappear on their adventures.
Best parts: The friendship between Hyakkimaru and Dororo is fun and silly, and ocassionally poignant. Hyakkimaru's brother has a brief and surprising star turn, and important events from the manga are dramatized in child-focused detail. The authorial voice has personality and verve.
Pain points: Villains aren't given a lot of development and the child-friendly format limits the effect that most of the bad guys can have. Setting this up as a children's story was probably a bit misguided to start with.
Content Warning: Some body horror (PG-rated). A woman and a man are brutally killed on-screen, though most of the violence is stylized.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/12/dororo-novel-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $search is true>><hr><img src="Images/46.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/search-and-destroy-master-post.html">Search and Destroy</a> is a 3-volume series by Kaneko Atsushi based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. The main characters are gender-swapped in this story, meaning the main character is female and Dororo is male. The world is a post-apocalypic hellscape run by corrupt politicians and half-human robots.
Best parts: More so than other adaptations, <i>Search and Destroy</i> is about what being human actually means, well beyond having human parts and pieces. The art style is stunningly beautiful and the ending is perfectly balanced between realistic and positive for all the main characters.
Pain points: Never heard of 'em. If you're here for a horror story and you like manga, then this is a feast.
Content Warning: Features explicit gore, surgeries and under-the-skin visceral body horror for both main characters.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/search-and-destroy-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $bon is true>><hr><img src="Images/49.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/dororo-bon-master-post.html">Dororo Bon</a> is a 4-volume series by Douke Daisuke based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. The main characters are all female in this story. The world setting is modern with magic and the story features a demonic cat as a sidekick character.
Best parts: The relationships are well-drawn, particularly in Volume 3 which is set in the distant past. The end is much more settled than the one Osamu Tezuka wrote for his Dororo manga.
Pain points: The story is obviously a confusing mess and it takes a long time to find its footing.
Content Warning: In addition to the body horror that's typical of <i>Dororo</i> adaptations in media, the series explores common ghost stories in Japan in some detail. It's not especially gory or frightening, but the setting has a very gothic feel.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/dororo-bon-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $adv is true>><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/08/dororo-adventure-novel-choose-your-own.html">Dororo: Choose Your Own Adventure</a> is a game version of Osamu Tezuka's <i>Dororo</i> manga. Play as Hyakkimaru or Dororo (depending on choices), discover more than a dozen unique endings (including the "true" ending), earn achievements, and rewrite the story in interesting ways.
Best parts: It is possible to play the story exactly according to the manga it's based on, but it's also possible to go completely off-script and discover interesting (and sometimes superior) sequences of events that lead to better outcomes. If you've never heard of <i>Dororo</i> before and are interested in seeing what it's all about, this is not a terrible place to start. The game respects personal choices and has real consequences. Curiosity and compassion are rewarded. Ruthless violence and ignorance are severely punished.
Pain points: It's not really a book, per se, but a game! And it's true that <i>Dororo</i> fans will get more out of it. If you've read and liked <i>Dororo</i> stuff before, you'll probably like this. However, it's welcoming and fun enough for newcomers to explore. Beating the game entirely takes 2-3 hours on average and there's limited replayability.
Content Warning: Some of the worst endings have characters slaughtering their own family or being devoured by monsters. It's PG-13 rated violence and gore for the most part. There is no sexually explicit material.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/08/dororo-adventure-novel-choose-your-own.html"><button>Pick This Game</button></a><</if>><<if $bambi is true>><hr><img src="Images/82.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/bambi-and-her-pink-gun-master-post.html">Bambi and Her Pink Gun</a> is a 7-volume manga series by Kaneko Atsushi. It centers on a sixteen-year-old girl named Bambi who has kidnapped a young boy from a crazy pop star and is taking him back to the 'Old Men'. The story is extremely violent, with every new scene taking on a different look and feel (Western, Latino, the 40s, traditional Japanese, etc.)
Best parts: Bambi's violent vegetarianism, inspired art styles, over-the-top crazy drug-fueld violence, it's a ride
Pain points: Very dark, violent and at times gratuitous, <i>Bambi</i> belongs to the genre of manga that is written for men but features a strong female protagonist.
Content Warning: Buckets of blood and copious nudity. Hide the kids for this one. Also some pointed social commentary, if you know where to look.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/bambi-and-her-pink-gun-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $forty is true>><hr><img src="Images/29.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/shijukara-starting-at-40-master-post.html">Starting at 40</a> is a 17-volume manga series by Sakai Eri. It follows Watanuki Shinobu, a 39-year-old woman and unsuccessful manga artist. She plans to give up her career, but after one of her old works becomes a hit online, she decides to create a new comic instead. In need of help, she looks for an assistant. The handsome 22-year-old man named Tachibana Chiaki applies to her ad, and Shinobu finds herself at a major turning point in her life.
Best parts: The director of the drama adaptation described <i>Starting at 40</i> as "an infidelity drama for people who don't like infidelity dramas," and that captures the feeling almost perfectly. Shinobu and Chiaki have wealth of individual experience; collectively, they use art to explain the human experience and overcome extreme personal traumas. I generally don't like romance, but loved this from start to (very happy) finish.
Pain points: Has some explicit sexuality, including sexual abuse. It is never gratuitous but is quite frank and painful. The characters' triumph at the end is more powerful for these traumatic experiences, which are never forgotten or swept under the rug.
Content Warning: Nudity, sexual abuse (including abuse of a child), physical abuse
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/shijukara-starting-at-40-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $r is true>><hr><img src="Images/99.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/05/r-original-kaneko-atsushi.html">R: The Original</a> is a collection of 9 wonderfully weird and violent short stories from the mind of Kaneko Atsushi.
Best parts: Variety. There's everything here from sci-fi, fantasy, aliens, violence, melon bread, lemon bread and more
Pain points: Not for the faint of heart and only for the very curious. The art is, at times, experimental and hard on the eyes.
Content Warning: Physical as well as psychological horror elements, plus Kaneko Atsushi's trademark over-the-top violence.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/05/r-original-kaneko-atsushi.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a><</if>><<if $swallows is true>><hr><img src="Images/Swallows.png"><br><a href=
"https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2025/01/the-swallows-will-not-return-sakai-eri.html">The Swallows Will Not Return</a> is a limited series manga based on the novel of the same name by Natsuo Kirino. It's about a young woman named Riki who lives in desperate poverty. She becomes a surrogate mother out of desperation and is bought by a wealthy infertile couple who want her because she resembles the wife.
Best parts: Heavy topics in happy packaging is very much Sakai Eri's style. The characters are fleshed out and their psychology is comprehensible even when they aren't entirely sympathetic.
Pain points: Depictions of the gulf between the ultra-rich and the severely impoverished are designed to provoke rage.
Content Warning: The manga discusses and depicts explicit sexual topics and is highly concerned with women's (and to a lesser extent, men's) bodily autonomy.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2025/01/the-swallows-will-not-return-sakai-eri.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $fire is true>><hr><img src="Images/93.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/04/fire-hunter-series-master-post.html">The Fire Hunter Series</a> is 5-book fantasy series by Hinata Rieko. Set in a post-apocalyptic world at war, two children uncover ancient secrets that put their families and society at risk.
Best parts: Detailed worldbuilding, differentiated cultures, magic is technology and technology is magic, dogs are a major thing in this world
Pain points: Stilted, stuffy style (meant to imitate older speech), weak and underdeveloped characters, slow-paced, tonally mixed, ethically problematic, many story elements are contradictory
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/04/fire-hunter-series-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $sorceress is true>><hr><img src="Images/26.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-sorceress-revolt-kobijis-story.html">The Sorceress' Revolt</a> is fantasy novel with an historical twist set in ancient China written by Toriumi Jinzō. A Buddhist monk gains mysterious powers in a sacred cave and must use them to save China from outside invasion and the threat of a powerful sorceress.
Best parts: Strong characters (both men and women) with realistic psychological progression. Fast-paced and grounded in historical fact, this novel explores universal human conflicts and desires: the conflict between corruption and righteousness and the desires for immortality and immunity from pain.
Pain points: Historical detail can be thick on the ground, pacing is more variable in the second part. Some content is violent and sexually explicit (between PG-13 and R on the MPAA rating scale).
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-sorceress-revolt-kobijis-story.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $science is true>><hr><img src="Images/97.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/04/science-ninja-team-gatchaman-master-post.html">Science Ninja Team Gatchaman</a> is science fiction/action-adventure novel set in the 1980s. Campy, silly and over-the-top fun, this is what would happen if Saturday morning cartoons became a novel.
Best parts: Strong characters (both men and women), fast-paced and action-heavy, detailed setting, cool art
Pain points: More dated than this author's other novels; the male gaze intrudes for some characters. The zany plot and concept have appeal for kids and teens, but the issues explored and plot progression is distinctly adult.
Content Warning: Violence, violence and more violence, most of it cartoony but some of it very intense.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/04/science-ninja-team-gatchaman-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $stranger is true>><hr><img src="Images/89.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/xamd-lost-memories-pilgrims-compass.html">The Sword of the Stranger</a> is a manga about a warrior and an outsider in Meiji era Japan (1860s). He finds his way of life shattered when a foreign faction captures a child to use in a nefarious sacrifice. Based on the anime film of the same name.
Best parts: Exciting action, some good character development, exaggerated but largely accurate historical detail
Pain points: Plot progression is generic to the action genre, and the manga doesn't add much value to the anime movie
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/12/sword-of-stranger-manga.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a><</if>><<if $xamd is true>><hr><img src="Images/90.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/xamd-lost-memories-pilgrims-compass.html">Xam'd Lost Memories: Pilgrim's Compass</a> is a world tour through a lost age. Teenagers embark on a sacred pilgrimage seeking lost magic and memories. Fun but generic. Based on the anime of the same name.
Best parts: Some positive character progression and bright but zany humor
Pain points: Doesn't offer much to differentiate it from all the other action anime out there, though past discoveries do lend the story some depth
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/xamd-lost-memories-pilgrims-compass.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a><</if>>
<<if $guardian is false and $jinmanga is false and $guardianmanga is false and $werefox is false and $dororo3 is false and $dororo2 is false and $dororo1 is false and $search is false and $bon is false and $adv is false and $bambi is false and $r is false and $forty is false and $swallows is false and $fire is false and $sorceress is false and $science is false and $stranger is false and $xamd is false and $spider is false and $gods is false and $devil is false and $grove is false and $wei is false and $rabbit is false and $tag is false and $mandarins is false and $shrine is false and $toshishun is false and $onions is false and $legacy is false and $sea is false and $june is false and $preference is false and $moon is false and $redbird is false and $bamboo is false and $candy is false and $last is false and $redcandle is false and $goose is false and $shoes is false and $tstory is false>>Sorry, I don't have any recommendations for you right now.
[[Try again->StoryInit]]<<set $allfalse to true>><</if>>
<<if $allfalse is false>>Not what you're looking for?
[[Try again->StoryInit]]<</if>>
<<set $bambi to false>><<set $swallows to false>><<set $forty to false>><<set $sorceress to false>><<set $dororo3 to false>><<if $guardian is false and $jinmanga is false and $guardianmanga is false and $werefox is false and $dororo3 is false and $dororo2 is false and $dororo1 is false and $search is false and $bon is false and $adv is false and $bambi is false and $r is false and $forty is false and $swallows is false and $fire is false and $sorceress is false and $science is false and $stranger is false and $xamd is false and $spider is false and $gods is false and $devil is false and $grove is false and $wei is false and $rabbit is false and $tag is false and $mandarins is false and $shrine is false and $toshishun is false and $onions is false and $legacy is false and $sea is false and $june is false and $preference is false and $moon is false and $redbird is false and $bamboo is false and $candy is false and $last is false and $redcandle is false and $goose is false and $shoes is false and $tstory is false>><<set $allfalse to true>><</if>><<if $allfalse is false>>Great! Here are my recommendations for you.<</if>>
<<if $guardian is true>><hr><img src="Images/3.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/12/guardian-of-spirit-master-post.html">Guardian of the Spirit </a> is fantasy series by Uehashi Nahoko. Set in a world based on early medieval Japan, a woman warrior is placed at the heart of shifting political and magical powers when she dares to save a young prince from execution.
Best parts: Strong female character, detailed worldbuilding, differentiated cultures, interesting perspectives, a nature-based magic system, timeless setting and conflicts, exciting action
Pain points: One painfully slow romance (easily ignored), fade-to-black at critical story moments, a slightly unsettled (but entirely happy) ending, and a sense of disconnection from book to book. This is a series, but most of the books in it can be read as stand-alone novels.
Note: The first two novels in this series, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Moribito-Guardian-Spirit-Nahoko-Uehashi-ebook/dp/B00JWGOPZE?crid=3PM6VS8392B3K&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.2mge0v9d_zktcJBFc9lAYsEXNL-KoSAB49BbozHhndn7BF0CgcJnkbkTJqzshBb9eXy9ucfPPyOf-iplZqkysROxrlXQU2UtkCUcblux9i52S5bUFZgQ-KTo0k7rVSEI3uEL2PaOKopiFjfXoIaTx5K52YBFaMcLooUQj3TsBCs3oSXjewWwgHSz0hFypUDtz39ZR7taliILTBhtwfCWfkIQgPPrkNeqD4VPazItZYc.xAH6eyqJzZevFU5S6ZquekSDrwsqad5eoiao6tvGTYo&dib_tag=se&keywords=guardian+of+the+spirit&qid=1738939768&sprefix=guardian+of+the+spirit%2Caps%2C132&sr=8-1">Guardian of the Spirit</a> and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Moribito-Guardian-Darkness-Nahoko-Uehashi-ebook/dp/B00JWGOPUY?crid=1FO5RSHA2BNVQ&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.NB5dC98gl4DutrqJMNGSRQ.0PEfHB8Ug7t5JZsN4ajYUcnC_CgxxI1YT0xgpo6mZng&dib_tag=se&keywords=guardian+of+the+darkness+uehashi&qid=1738939868&sprefix=guardian+of+the+darkness+uehashi%2Caps%2C87&sr=8-1">Guardian of the Darkness</a>, have been officially licensed and published. I highly recommend you read those first! If you'd prefer to do all your reading here, though, you can read the manga versions of the first two novels on this blog.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/12/guardian-of-spirit-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $guardianmanga is true>><hr><img src="Images/GotS.jpg"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/11/guardian-of-spirit-manga-master-post.html">Guardian of the Spirit Manga </a> is based on the fantasy series by Uehashi Nahoko. Set in a world based on early medieval Japan, a woman warrior is placed at the heart of shifting political and magical powers when she dares to save a young prince from execution.
Best parts: Strong female character, detailed worldbuilding, differentiated cultures, interesting perspectives, a nature-based magic system, timeless setting and conflicts, exciting action
Pain points: One painfully slow romance (easily ignored), fade-to-black at critical story moments, a slightly unsettled (but entirely happy) ending, and a sense of disconnection from book to book. This is a series, but <i>Guardian of the Spirit</i> and <i>Guardian of the Darkness</i> are independent enough to be read as stand-alone manga.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/11/guardian-of-spirit-manga-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a>
If you've read these manga already, you can also read the rest of the series as novels <a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/12/guardian-of-spirit-master-post.html">here</a>.
<</if>><<if $jinmanga is true>><hr><img src="Images/18.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/guardian-of-spirit-manga-gaiden-jin.html">Guardian of the Spirit Manga Gaiden - Jin</a> is a spinoff prequel manga based on the fantasy series by Uehashi Nahoko. Set in a world based on early medieval Japan, the Mikado's Hunters must thwart dangerous assassins and attempts on their lives.
Best parts: Outsider perspective, exciting action, shows events outside of canon that still inform canon, examines corrupt systems of authority and power with some nuance, shows teenagers being very convincingly teenagers, brief vengeance quest
Pain points: Sad ending, women exist to be captured, rescued or scapegoated, and the world that emerges from these pages is even more alarmingly horrible and unfair than in the novels
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/guardian-of-spirit-manga-gaiden-jin.html"><button>Pick This Manga</button></a>
If you've read this manga already, you can also read the rest of the series as manga (for the first two books) and novels <a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/12/guardian-of-spirit-master-post.html">here</a>.
<</if>><<if $werefox is true>><hr><img src="Images/98.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/03/beyond-werefox-whistle-master-post.html">Beyond the Werefox Whistle</a> is a fantasy novel by Uehashi Nahoko set in a world of magic where magic users and spirit beasts face unfair persecution that they must overcome.
Best parts: Detailed worldbuilding, differentiated cultures, a compelling past world, timeless setting and conflicts, intense friendships
Pain points: Focuses a lot on the human characters, who are generally less interesting than the magical spirit beasts and the sorcerer that controls them.
This is a stand-alone fantasy novel.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/03/beyond-werefox-whistle-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $dororo3 is true>><hr><img src="Images/21.png"><br>The <a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/01/toriumi-jinzo-dororo-series-3-books.html">Dororo Series</a> is a 3-book series by Toriumi Jinzō based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. A baby boy abandoned at birth loses forty-eight pieces of his body to demons. He embarks on a quest to find his birth family for answers and eliminate the demons who want him dead. He's accompanied by a young sneak-thief, Dororo, as well as a colorful cast of other allies: a brilliant surgeon, a bomb-happy pirate, and a blind monk. Set in 1480s Japan at the start of the Warring States period.
Best parts: Psychologically comprehensible characters, an almost entirely happy ending, a solid setting based on real events and battles, realistic medicine for the period
Pain points: Intensely precise detail for medicine, bombs and battles (easily skipped), slow progression at the start (but it picks up and stays there).
Content Warnings: The body horror of surgery and the macabre abilities of demons to alter minds and bodies make this more psychological horror story than a gore-fest. There is some brief sexual content, mainly in the second book.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/01/toriumi-jinzo-dororo-series-3-books.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $dororo2 is true>><hr><img src="Images/19.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/01/nakamura-masaru-dororo-movie.html">The Dororo Movie Novelization</a> sparked a film of the same name (<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0780503/">Dororo</a>). It is based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. Hyakkimaru, the main character, is abandoned by his birth family with forty-eight body parts missing. A surgeon creates a new body for him out of the bodies of children who've been slain in war. He accompanies the thief Dororo on a journey of discovery when they are both adults.
Best parts: The friendship between Hyakkimaru and Dororo is skillfully developed and never turns romantic, which is refreshing. Anti-war and pro-individuality themes are explored in interesting ways.
Pain points: Villainous characters are given a lot of pages in an attempt to redeem them that falls flat. Some ideas are introduced and don't really go anywhere.
Content Warning: Body horror galore in this one, from missing eyes to genital organs re-growing in real time. If you're looking for something gory, violent, and post-apocalyptic with a strong focus on character development and progression, this is your story.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/01/nakamura-masaru-dororo-movie.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $dororo1 is true>><hr><img src="Images/24.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/12/dororo-novel-master-post.html">Dororo: A Novel</a> is based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. This was written specifically as a children's novel and focuses more on the adventuresome aspect of the story than most other adaptations. The plot follows Hyakkimaru, a paraplegic warrior missing most of his body, and Dororo, a young thief who wants to steal the swords out of his prosthetic arms. Hyakkimaru recovers pieces of his body from demons who stole them when he was born. Both Hyakkimaru and Dororo confront their pasts when family and old friends reappear on their adventures.
Best parts: The friendship between Hyakkimaru and Dororo is fun and silly, and ocassionally poignant. Hyakkimaru's brother has a brief and surprising star turn, and important events from the manga are dramatized in child-focused detail. The authorial voice has personality and verve.
Pain points: Villains aren't given a lot of development and the child-friendly format limits the effect that most of the bad guys can have. Setting this up as a children's story was probably a bit misguided to start with.
Content Warning: Some body horror (PG-rated). A woman and a man are brutally killed on-screen, though most of the violence is stylized.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/12/dororo-novel-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $search is true>><hr><img src="Images/46.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/search-and-destroy-master-post.html">Search and Destroy</a> is a 3-volume series by Kaneko Atsushi based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. The main characters are gender-swapped in this story, meaning the main character is female and Dororo is male. The world is a post-apocalypic hellscape run by corrupt politicians and half-human robots.
Best parts: More so than other adaptations, <i>Search and Destroy</i> is about what being human actually means, well beyond having human parts and pieces. The art style is stunningly beautiful and the ending is perfectly balanced between realistic and positive for all the main characters.
Pain points: Never heard of 'em. If you're here for a horror story and you like manga, then this is a feast.
Content Warning: Features explicit gore, surgeries and under-the-skin visceral body horror for both main characters.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/search-and-destroy-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $bon is true>><hr><img src="Images/49.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/dororo-bon-master-post.html">Dororo Bon</a> is a 4-volume series by Douke Daisuke based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. The main characters are all female in this story. The world setting is modern with magic and the story features a demonic cat as a sidekick character.
Best parts: The relationships are well-drawn, particularly in Volume 3 which is set in the distant past. The end is much more settled than the one Osamu Tezuka wrote for his Dororo manga.
Pain points: The story is obviously a confusing mess and it takes a long time to find its footing.
Content Warning: In addition to the body horror that's typical of <i>Dororo</i> adaptations in media, the series explores common ghost stories in Japan in some detail. It's not especially gory or frightening, but the setting has a very gothic feel.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/dororo-bon-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $adv is true>><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/08/dororo-adventure-novel-choose-your-own.html">Dororo: Choose Your Own Adventure</a> is a game version of Osamu Tezuka's <i>Dororo</i> manga. Play as Hyakkimaru or Dororo (depending on choices), discover more than a dozen unique endings (including the "true" ending), earn achievements, and rewrite the story in interesting ways.
Best parts: It is possible to play the story exactly according to the manga it's based on, but it's also possible to go completely off-script and discover interesting (and sometimes superior) sequences of events that lead to better outcomes. If you've never heard of <i>Dororo</i> before and are interested in seeing what it's all about, this is not a terrible place to start. The game respects personal choices and has real consequences. Curiosity and compassion are rewarded. Ruthless violence and ignorance are severely punished.
Pain points: It's not really a book, per se, but a game! And it's true that <i>Dororo</i> fans will get more out of it. If you've read and liked <i>Dororo</i> stuff before, you'll probably like this. However, it's welcoming and fun enough for newcomers to explore. Beating the game entirely takes 2-3 hours on average and there's limited replayability.
Content Warning: Some of the worst endings have characters slaughtering their own family or being devoured by monsters. It's PG-13 rated violence and gore for the most part. There is no sexually explicit material.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/08/dororo-adventure-novel-choose-your-own.html"><button>Pick This Game</button></a><</if>><<if $bambi is true>><hr><img src="Images/82.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/bambi-and-her-pink-gun-master-post.html">Bambi and Her Pink Gun</a> is a 7-volume manga series by Kaneko Atsushi. It centers on a sixteen-year-old girl named Bambi who has kidnapped a young boy from a crazy pop star and is taking him back to the 'Old Men'. The story is extremely violent, with every new scene taking on a different look and feel (Western, Latino, the 40s, traditional Japanese, etc.)
Best parts: Bambi's violent vegetarianism, inspired art styles, over-the-top crazy drug-fueld violence, it's a ride
Pain points: Very dark, violent and at times gratuitous, <i>Bambi</i> belongs to the genre of manga that is written for men but features a strong female protagonist.
Content Warning: Buckets of blood and copious nudity. Hide the kids for this one. Also some pointed social commentary, if you know where to look.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/bambi-and-her-pink-gun-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $forty is true>><hr><img src="Images/29.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/shijukara-starting-at-40-master-post.html">Starting at 40</a> is a 17-volume manga series by Sakai Eri. It follows Watanuki Shinobu, a 39-year-old woman and unsuccessful manga artist. She plans to give up her career, but after one of her old works becomes a hit online, she decides to create a new comic instead. In need of help, she looks for an assistant. The handsome 22-year-old man named Tachibana Chiaki applies to her ad, and Shinobu finds herself at a major turning point in her life.
Best parts: The director of the drama adaptation described <i>Starting at 40</i> as "an infidelity drama for people who don't like infidelity dramas," and that captures the feeling almost perfectly. Shinobu and Chiaki have wealth of individual experience; collectively, they use art to explain the human experience and overcome extreme personal traumas. I generally don't like romance, but loved this from start to (very happy) finish.
Pain points: Has some explicit sexuality, including sexual abuse. It is never gratuitous but is quite frank and painful. The characters' triumph at the end is more powerful for these traumatic experiences, which are never forgotten or swept under the rug.
Content Warning: Nudity, sexual abuse (including abuse of a child), physical abuse
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/shijukara-starting-at-40-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $r is true>><hr><img src="Images/99.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/05/r-original-kaneko-atsushi.html">R: The Original</a> is a collection of 9 wonderfully weird and violent short stories from the mind of Kaneko Atsushi.
Best parts: Variety. There's everything here from sci-fi, fantasy, aliens, violence, melon bread, lemon bread and more
Pain points: Not for the faint of heart and only for the very curious. The art is, at times, experimental and hard on the eyes.
Content Warning: Physical as well as psychological horror elements, plus Kaneko Atsushi's trademark over-the-top violence.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/05/r-original-kaneko-atsushi.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a><</if>><<if $swallows is true>><hr><img src="Images/Swallows.png"><br><a href=
"https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2025/01/the-swallows-will-not-return-sakai-eri.html">The Swallows Will Not Return</a> is a limited series manga based on the novel of the same name by Natsuo Kirino. It's about a young woman named Riki who lives in desperate poverty. She becomes a surrogate mother out of desperation and is bought by a wealthy infertile couple who want her because she resembles the wife.
Best parts: Heavy topics in happy packaging is very much Sakai Eri's style. The characters are fleshed out and their psychology is comprehensible even when they aren't entirely sympathetic.
Pain points: Depictions of the gulf between the ultra-rich and the severely impoverished are designed to provoke rage.
Content Warning: The manga discusses and depicts explicit sexual topics and is highly concerned with women's (and to a lesser extent, men's) bodily autonomy.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2025/01/the-swallows-will-not-return-sakai-eri.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $fire is true>><hr><img src="Images/93.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/04/fire-hunter-series-master-post.html">The Fire Hunter Series</a> is 5-book fantasy series by Hinata Rieko. Set in a post-apocalyptic world at war, two children uncover ancient secrets that put their families and society at risk.
Best parts: Detailed worldbuilding, differentiated cultures, magic is technology and technology is magic, dogs are a major thing in this world
Pain points: Stilted, stuffy style (meant to imitate older speech), weak and underdeveloped characters, slow-paced, tonally mixed, ethically problematic, many story elements are contradictory
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/04/fire-hunter-series-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $sorceress is true>><hr><img src="Images/26.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-sorceress-revolt-kobijis-story.html">The Sorceress' Revolt</a> is fantasy novel with an historical twist set in ancient China written by Toriumi Jinzō. A Buddhist monk gains mysterious powers in a sacred cave and must use them to save China from outside invasion and the threat of a powerful sorceress.
Best parts: Strong characters (both men and women) with realistic psychological progression. Fast-paced and grounded in historical fact, this novel explores universal human conflicts and desires: the conflict between corruption and righteousness and the desires for immortality and immunity from pain.
Pain points: Historical detail can be thick on the ground, pacing is more variable in the second part. Some content is violent and sexually explicit (between PG-13 and R on the MPAA rating scale).
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-sorceress-revolt-kobijis-story.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $science is true>><hr><img src="Images/97.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/04/science-ninja-team-gatchaman-master-post.html">Science Ninja Team Gatchaman</a> is science fiction/action-adventure novel set in the 1980s. Campy, silly and over-the-top fun, this is what would happen if Saturday morning cartoons became a novel.
Best parts: Strong characters (both men and women), fast-paced and action-heavy, detailed setting, cool art
Pain points: More dated than this author's other novels; the male gaze intrudes for some characters. The zany plot and concept have appeal for kids and teens, but the issues explored and plot progression is distinctly adult.
Content Warning: Violence, violence and more violence, most of it cartoony but some of it very intense.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/04/science-ninja-team-gatchaman-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $stranger is true>><hr><img src="Images/89.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/xamd-lost-memories-pilgrims-compass.html">The Sword of the Stranger</a> is a manga about a warrior and an outsider in Meiji era Japan (1860s). He finds his way of life shattered when a foreign faction captures a child to use in a nefarious sacrifice. Based on the anime film of the same name.
Best parts: Exciting action, some good character development, exaggerated but largely accurate historical detail
Pain points: Plot progression is generic to the action genre, and the manga doesn't add much value to the anime movie
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/12/sword-of-stranger-manga.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a><</if>><<if $xamd is true>><hr><img src="Images/90.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/xamd-lost-memories-pilgrims-compass.html">Xam'd Lost Memories: Pilgrim's Compass</a> is a world tour through a lost age. Teenagers embark on a sacred pilgrimage seeking lost magic and memories. Fun but generic. Based on the anime of the same name.
Best parts: Some positive character progression and bright but zany humor
Pain points: Doesn't offer much to differentiate it from all the other action anime out there, though past discoveries do lend the story some depth
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/xamd-lost-memories-pilgrims-compass.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a><</if>>
<<if $guardian is false and $jinmanga is false and $guardianmanga is false and $werefox is false and $dororo3 is false and $dororo2 is false and $dororo1 is false and $search is false and $bon is false and $adv is false and $bambi is false and $r is false and $forty is false and $swallows is false and $fire is false and $sorceress is false and $science is false and $stranger is false and $xamd is false and $spider is false and $gods is false and $devil is false and $grove is false and $wei is false and $rabbit is false and $tag is false and $mandarins is false and $shrine is false and $toshishun is false and $onions is false and $legacy is false and $sea is false and $june is false and $preference is false and $moon is false and $redbird is false and $bamboo is false and $candy is false and $last is false and $redcandle is false and $goose is false and $shoes is false and $tstory is false>>Sorry, I don't have any recommendations for you right now.
[[Try again->StoryInit]]<<set $allfalse to true>><</if>>
<<if $allfalse is false>>Not what you're looking for?
[[Try again->StoryInit]]<</if>>
<<if $guardian is false and $jinmanga is false and $guardianmanga is false and $werefox is false and $dororo3 is false and $dororo2 is false and $dororo1 is false and $search is false and $bon is false and $adv is false and $bambi is false and $r is false and $forty is false and $swallows is false and $fire is false and $sorceress is false and $science is false and $stranger is false and $xamd is false and $spider is false and $gods is false and $devil is false and $grove is false and $wei is false and $rabbit is false and $tag is false and $mandarins is false and $shrine is false and $toshishun is false and $onions is false and $legacy is false and $sea is false and $june is false and $preference is false and $moon is false and $redbird is false and $bamboo is false and $candy is false and $last is false and $redcandle is false and $goose is false and $shoes is false and $tstory is false>><<set $allfalse to true>><</if>><<if $allfalse is false>>Great! Here are my recommendations for you.<</if>>
<<if $guardian is true>><hr><img src="Images/3.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/12/guardian-of-spirit-master-post.html">Guardian of the Spirit </a> is fantasy series by Uehashi Nahoko. Set in a world based on early medieval Japan, a woman warrior is placed at the heart of shifting political and magical powers when she dares to save a young prince from execution.
Best parts: Strong female character, detailed worldbuilding, differentiated cultures, interesting perspectives, a nature-based magic system, timeless setting and conflicts, exciting action
Pain points: One painfully slow romance (easily ignored), fade-to-black at critical story moments, a slightly unsettled (but entirely happy) ending, and a sense of disconnection from book to book. This is a series, but most of the books in it can be read as stand-alone novels.
Note: The first two novels in this series, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Moribito-Guardian-Spirit-Nahoko-Uehashi-ebook/dp/B00JWGOPZE?crid=3PM6VS8392B3K&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.2mge0v9d_zktcJBFc9lAYsEXNL-KoSAB49BbozHhndn7BF0CgcJnkbkTJqzshBb9eXy9ucfPPyOf-iplZqkysROxrlXQU2UtkCUcblux9i52S5bUFZgQ-KTo0k7rVSEI3uEL2PaOKopiFjfXoIaTx5K52YBFaMcLooUQj3TsBCs3oSXjewWwgHSz0hFypUDtz39ZR7taliILTBhtwfCWfkIQgPPrkNeqD4VPazItZYc.xAH6eyqJzZevFU5S6ZquekSDrwsqad5eoiao6tvGTYo&dib_tag=se&keywords=guardian+of+the+spirit&qid=1738939768&sprefix=guardian+of+the+spirit%2Caps%2C132&sr=8-1">Guardian of the Spirit</a> and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Moribito-Guardian-Darkness-Nahoko-Uehashi-ebook/dp/B00JWGOPUY?crid=1FO5RSHA2BNVQ&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.NB5dC98gl4DutrqJMNGSRQ.0PEfHB8Ug7t5JZsN4ajYUcnC_CgxxI1YT0xgpo6mZng&dib_tag=se&keywords=guardian+of+the+darkness+uehashi&qid=1738939868&sprefix=guardian+of+the+darkness+uehashi%2Caps%2C87&sr=8-1">Guardian of the Darkness</a>, have been officially licensed and published. I highly recommend you read those first! If you'd prefer to do all your reading here, though, you can read the manga versions of the first two novels on this blog.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/12/guardian-of-spirit-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $guardianmanga is true>><hr><img src="Images/GotS.jpg"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/11/guardian-of-spirit-manga-master-post.html">Guardian of the Spirit Manga </a> is based on the fantasy series by Uehashi Nahoko. Set in a world based on early medieval Japan, a woman warrior is placed at the heart of shifting political and magical powers when she dares to save a young prince from execution.
Best parts: Strong female character, detailed worldbuilding, differentiated cultures, interesting perspectives, a nature-based magic system, timeless setting and conflicts, exciting action
Pain points: One painfully slow romance (easily ignored), fade-to-black at critical story moments, a slightly unsettled (but entirely happy) ending, and a sense of disconnection from book to book. This is a series, but <i>Guardian of the Spirit</i> and <i>Guardian of the Darkness</i> are independent enough to be read as stand-alone manga.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/11/guardian-of-spirit-manga-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a>
If you've read these manga already, you can also read the rest of the series as novels <a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/12/guardian-of-spirit-master-post.html">here</a>.
<</if>><<if $jinmanga is true>><hr><img src="Images/18.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/guardian-of-spirit-manga-gaiden-jin.html">Guardian of the Spirit Manga Gaiden - Jin</a> is a spinoff prequel manga based on the fantasy series by Uehashi Nahoko. Set in a world based on early medieval Japan, the Mikado's Hunters must thwart dangerous assassins and attempts on their lives.
Best parts: Outsider perspective, exciting action, shows events outside of canon that still inform canon, examines corrupt systems of authority and power with some nuance, shows teenagers being very convincingly teenagers, brief vengeance quest
Pain points: Sad ending, women exist to be captured, rescued or scapegoated, and the world that emerges from these pages is even more alarmingly horrible and unfair than in the novels
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/guardian-of-spirit-manga-gaiden-jin.html"><button>Pick This Manga</button></a>
If you've read this manga already, you can also read the rest of the series as manga (for the first two books) and novels <a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/12/guardian-of-spirit-master-post.html">here</a>.
<</if>><<if $werefox is true>><hr><img src="Images/98.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/03/beyond-werefox-whistle-master-post.html">Beyond the Werefox Whistle</a> is a fantasy novel by Uehashi Nahoko set in a world of magic where magic users and spirit beasts face unfair persecution that they must overcome.
Best parts: Detailed worldbuilding, differentiated cultures, a compelling past world, timeless setting and conflicts, intense friendships
Pain points: Focuses a lot on the human characters, who are generally less interesting than the magical spirit beasts and the sorcerer that controls them.
This is a stand-alone fantasy novel.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/03/beyond-werefox-whistle-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $dororo3 is true>><hr><img src="Images/21.png"><br>The <a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/01/toriumi-jinzo-dororo-series-3-books.html">Dororo Series</a> is a 3-book series by Toriumi Jinzō based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. A baby boy abandoned at birth loses forty-eight pieces of his body to demons. He embarks on a quest to find his birth family for answers and eliminate the demons who want him dead. He's accompanied by a young sneak-thief, Dororo, as well as a colorful cast of other allies: a brilliant surgeon, a bomb-happy pirate, and a blind monk. Set in 1480s Japan at the start of the Warring States period.
Best parts: Psychologically comprehensible characters, an almost entirely happy ending, a solid setting based on real events and battles, realistic medicine for the period
Pain points: Intensely precise detail for medicine, bombs and battles (easily skipped), slow progression at the start (but it picks up and stays there).
Content Warnings: The body horror of surgery and the macabre abilities of demons to alter minds and bodies make this more psychological horror story than a gore-fest. There is some brief sexual content, mainly in the second book.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/01/toriumi-jinzo-dororo-series-3-books.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $dororo2 is true>><hr><img src="Images/19.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/01/nakamura-masaru-dororo-movie.html">The Dororo Movie Novelization</a> sparked a film of the same name (<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0780503/">Dororo</a>). It is based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. Hyakkimaru, the main character, is abandoned by his birth family with forty-eight body parts missing. A surgeon creates a new body for him out of the bodies of children who've been slain in war. He accompanies the thief Dororo on a journey of discovery when they are both adults.
Best parts: The friendship between Hyakkimaru and Dororo is skillfully developed and never turns romantic, which is refreshing. Anti-war and pro-individuality themes are explored in interesting ways.
Pain points: Villainous characters are given a lot of pages in an attempt to redeem them that falls flat. Some ideas are introduced and don't really go anywhere.
Content Warning: Body horror galore in this one, from missing eyes to genital organs re-growing in real time. If you're looking for something gory, violent, and post-apocalyptic with a strong focus on character development and progression, this is your story.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/01/nakamura-masaru-dororo-movie.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $dororo1 is true>><hr><img src="Images/24.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/12/dororo-novel-master-post.html">Dororo: A Novel</a> is based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. This was written specifically as a children's novel and focuses more on the adventuresome aspect of the story than most other adaptations. The plot follows Hyakkimaru, a paraplegic warrior missing most of his body, and Dororo, a young thief who wants to steal the swords out of his prosthetic arms. Hyakkimaru recovers pieces of his body from demons who stole them when he was born. Both Hyakkimaru and Dororo confront their pasts when family and old friends reappear on their adventures.
Best parts: The friendship between Hyakkimaru and Dororo is fun and silly, and ocassionally poignant. Hyakkimaru's brother has a brief and surprising star turn, and important events from the manga are dramatized in child-focused detail. The authorial voice has personality and verve.
Pain points: Villains aren't given a lot of development and the child-friendly format limits the effect that most of the bad guys can have. Setting this up as a children's story was probably a bit misguided to start with.
Content Warning: Some body horror (PG-rated). A woman and a man are brutally killed on-screen, though most of the violence is stylized.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/12/dororo-novel-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $search is true>><hr><img src="Images/46.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/search-and-destroy-master-post.html">Search and Destroy</a> is a 3-volume series by Kaneko Atsushi based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. The main characters are gender-swapped in this story, meaning the main character is female and Dororo is male. The world is a post-apocalypic hellscape run by corrupt politicians and half-human robots.
Best parts: More so than other adaptations, <i>Search and Destroy</i> is about what being human actually means, well beyond having human parts and pieces. The art style is stunningly beautiful and the ending is perfectly balanced between realistic and positive for all the main characters.
Pain points: Never heard of 'em. If you're here for a horror story and you like manga, then this is a feast.
Content Warning: Features explicit gore, surgeries and under-the-skin visceral body horror for both main characters.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/search-and-destroy-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $bon is true>><hr><img src="Images/49.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/dororo-bon-master-post.html">Dororo Bon</a> is a 4-volume series by Douke Daisuke based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. The main characters are all female in this story. The world setting is modern with magic and the story features a demonic cat as a sidekick character.
Best parts: The relationships are well-drawn, particularly in Volume 3 which is set in the distant past. The end is much more settled than the one Osamu Tezuka wrote for his Dororo manga.
Pain points: The story is obviously a confusing mess and it takes a long time to find its footing.
Content Warning: In addition to the body horror that's typical of <i>Dororo</i> adaptations in media, the series explores common ghost stories in Japan in some detail. It's not especially gory or frightening, but the setting has a very gothic feel.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/dororo-bon-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $adv is true>><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/08/dororo-adventure-novel-choose-your-own.html">Dororo: Choose Your Own Adventure</a> is a game version of Osamu Tezuka's <i>Dororo</i> manga. Play as Hyakkimaru or Dororo (depending on choices), discover more than a dozen unique endings (including the "true" ending), earn achievements, and rewrite the story in interesting ways.
Best parts: It is possible to play the story exactly according to the manga it's based on, but it's also possible to go completely off-script and discover interesting (and sometimes superior) sequences of events that lead to better outcomes. If you've never heard of <i>Dororo</i> before and are interested in seeing what it's all about, this is not a terrible place to start. The game respects personal choices and has real consequences. Curiosity and compassion are rewarded. Ruthless violence and ignorance are severely punished.
Pain points: It's not really a book, per se, but a game! And it's true that <i>Dororo</i> fans will get more out of it. If you've read and liked <i>Dororo</i> stuff before, you'll probably like this. However, it's welcoming and fun enough for newcomers to explore. Beating the game entirely takes 2-3 hours on average and there's limited replayability.
Content Warning: Some of the worst endings have characters slaughtering their own family or being devoured by monsters. It's PG-13 rated violence and gore for the most part. There is no sexually explicit material.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/08/dororo-adventure-novel-choose-your-own.html"><button>Pick This Game</button></a><</if>><<if $bambi is true>><hr><img src="Images/82.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/bambi-and-her-pink-gun-master-post.html">Bambi and Her Pink Gun</a> is a 7-volume manga series by Kaneko Atsushi. It centers on a sixteen-year-old girl named Bambi who has kidnapped a young boy from a crazy pop star and is taking him back to the 'Old Men'. The story is extremely violent, with every new scene taking on a different look and feel (Western, Latino, the 40s, traditional Japanese, etc.)
Best parts: Bambi's violent vegetarianism, inspired art styles, over-the-top crazy drug-fueld violence, it's a ride
Pain points: Very dark, violent and at times gratuitous, <i>Bambi</i> belongs to the genre of manga that is written for men but features a strong female protagonist.
Content Warning: Buckets of blood and copious nudity. Hide the kids for this one. Also some pointed social commentary, if you know where to look.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/bambi-and-her-pink-gun-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $forty is true>><hr><img src="Images/29.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/shijukara-starting-at-40-master-post.html">Starting at 40</a> is a 17-volume manga series by Sakai Eri. It follows Watanuki Shinobu, a 39-year-old woman and unsuccessful manga artist. She plans to give up her career, but after one of her old works becomes a hit online, she decides to create a new comic instead. In need of help, she looks for an assistant. The handsome 22-year-old man named Tachibana Chiaki applies to her ad, and Shinobu finds herself at a major turning point in her life.
Best parts: The director of the drama adaptation described <i>Starting at 40</i> as "an infidelity drama for people who don't like infidelity dramas," and that captures the feeling almost perfectly. Shinobu and Chiaki have wealth of individual experience; collectively, they use art to explain the human experience and overcome extreme personal traumas. I generally don't like romance, but loved this from start to (very happy) finish.
Pain points: Has some explicit sexuality, including sexual abuse. It is never gratuitous but is quite frank and painful. The characters' triumph at the end is more powerful for these traumatic experiences, which are never forgotten or swept under the rug.
Content Warning: Nudity, sexual abuse (including abuse of a child), physical abuse
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/shijukara-starting-at-40-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $r is true>><hr><img src="Images/99.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/05/r-original-kaneko-atsushi.html">R: The Original</a> is a collection of 9 wonderfully weird and violent short stories from the mind of Kaneko Atsushi.
Best parts: Variety. There's everything here from sci-fi, fantasy, aliens, violence, melon bread, lemon bread and more
Pain points: Not for the faint of heart and only for the very curious. The art is, at times, experimental and hard on the eyes.
Content Warning: Physical as well as psychological horror elements, plus Kaneko Atsushi's trademark over-the-top violence.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/05/r-original-kaneko-atsushi.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a><</if>><<if $swallows is true>><hr><img src="Images/Swallows.png"><br><a href=
"https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2025/01/the-swallows-will-not-return-sakai-eri.html">The Swallows Will Not Return</a> is a limited series manga based on the novel of the same name by Natsuo Kirino. It's about a young woman named Riki who lives in desperate poverty. She becomes a surrogate mother out of desperation and is bought by a wealthy infertile couple who want her because she resembles the wife.
Best parts: Heavy topics in happy packaging is very much Sakai Eri's style. The characters are fleshed out and their psychology is comprehensible even when they aren't entirely sympathetic.
Pain points: Depictions of the gulf between the ultra-rich and the severely impoverished are designed to provoke rage.
Content Warning: The manga discusses and depicts explicit sexual topics and is highly concerned with women's (and to a lesser extent, men's) bodily autonomy.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2025/01/the-swallows-will-not-return-sakai-eri.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $fire is true>><hr><img src="Images/93.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/04/fire-hunter-series-master-post.html">The Fire Hunter Series</a> is 5-book fantasy series by Hinata Rieko. Set in a post-apocalyptic world at war, two children uncover ancient secrets that put their families and society at risk.
Best parts: Detailed worldbuilding, differentiated cultures, magic is technology and technology is magic, dogs are a major thing in this world
Pain points: Stilted, stuffy style (meant to imitate older speech), weak and underdeveloped characters, slow-paced, tonally mixed, ethically problematic, many story elements are contradictory
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/04/fire-hunter-series-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $sorceress is true>><hr><img src="Images/26.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-sorceress-revolt-kobijis-story.html">The Sorceress' Revolt</a> is fantasy novel with an historical twist set in ancient China written by Toriumi Jinzō. A Buddhist monk gains mysterious powers in a sacred cave and must use them to save China from outside invasion and the threat of a powerful sorceress.
Best parts: Strong characters (both men and women) with realistic psychological progression. Fast-paced and grounded in historical fact, this novel explores universal human conflicts and desires: the conflict between corruption and righteousness and the desires for immortality and immunity from pain.
Pain points: Historical detail can be thick on the ground, pacing is more variable in the second part. Some content is violent and sexually explicit (between PG-13 and R on the MPAA rating scale).
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-sorceress-revolt-kobijis-story.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $science is true>><hr><img src="Images/97.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/04/science-ninja-team-gatchaman-master-post.html">Science Ninja Team Gatchaman</a> is science fiction/action-adventure novel set in the 1980s. Campy, silly and over-the-top fun, this is what would happen if Saturday morning cartoons became a novel.
Best parts: Strong characters (both men and women), fast-paced and action-heavy, detailed setting, cool art
Pain points: More dated than this author's other novels; the male gaze intrudes for some characters. The zany plot and concept have appeal for kids and teens, but the issues explored and plot progression is distinctly adult.
Content Warning: Violence, violence and more violence, most of it cartoony but some of it very intense.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/04/science-ninja-team-gatchaman-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $stranger is true>><hr><img src="Images/89.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/xamd-lost-memories-pilgrims-compass.html">The Sword of the Stranger</a> is a manga about a warrior and an outsider in Meiji era Japan (1860s). He finds his way of life shattered when a foreign faction captures a child to use in a nefarious sacrifice. Based on the anime film of the same name.
Best parts: Exciting action, some good character development, exaggerated but largely accurate historical detail
Pain points: Plot progression is generic to the action genre, and the manga doesn't add much value to the anime movie
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/12/sword-of-stranger-manga.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a><</if>><<if $xamd is true>><hr><img src="Images/90.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/xamd-lost-memories-pilgrims-compass.html">Xam'd Lost Memories: Pilgrim's Compass</a> is a world tour through a lost age. Teenagers embark on a sacred pilgrimage seeking lost magic and memories. Fun but generic. Based on the anime of the same name.
Best parts: Some positive character progression and bright but zany humor
Pain points: Doesn't offer much to differentiate it from all the other action anime out there, though past discoveries do lend the story some depth
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/xamd-lost-memories-pilgrims-compass.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a><</if>>
<<if $guardian is false and $jinmanga is false and $guardianmanga is false and $werefox is false and $dororo3 is false and $dororo2 is false and $dororo1 is false and $search is false and $bon is false and $adv is false and $bambi is false and $r is false and $forty is false and $swallows is false and $fire is false and $sorceress is false and $science is false and $stranger is false and $xamd is false and $spider is false and $gods is false and $devil is false and $grove is false and $wei is false and $rabbit is false and $tag is false and $mandarins is false and $shrine is false and $toshishun is false and $onions is false and $legacy is false and $sea is false and $june is false and $preference is false and $moon is false and $redbird is false and $bamboo is false and $candy is false and $last is false and $redcandle is false and $goose is false and $shoes is false and $tstory is false>>Sorry, I don't have any recommendations for you right now.
[[Try again->StoryInit]]<<set $allfalse to true>><</if>>
<<if $allfalse is false>>Not what you're looking for?
[[Try again->StoryInit]]<</if>>
<<set $spider to false>><<set $grove to false>><<set $wei to false>><<set $rabbit to false>><<set $tag to false>><<set $mandarins to false>><<set $shrine to false>><<set $tstory to false>><<set $legacy to false>><<set $clothes to false>><<set $wizard to false>><<set $heronandduck to false>><<set $indreams to false>><<set $duckhunting to false>> <<set $sea to false>><<set $june to false>><<set $preference to false>><<set $moon to false>><<set $redbird to false>><<set $bamboo to false>><<set $candy to false>><<set $last to false>><<set $redcandle to false>><<set $goose to false>><<set $shoes to false>><<if $guardian is false and $jinmanga is false and $guardianmanga is false and $werefox is false and $dororo3 is false and $dororo2 is false and $dororo1 is false and $search is false and $bon is false and $adv is false and $bambi is false and $r is false and $forty is false and $swallows is false and $fire is false and $sorceress is false and $science is false and $stranger is false and $xamd is false and $spider is false and $gods is false and $devil is false and $grove is false and $wei is false and $rabbit is false and $tag is false and $mandarins is false and $shrine is false and $toshishun is false and $onions is false and $legacy is false and $sea is false and $june is false and $preference is false and $moon is false and $redbird is false and $bamboo is false and $candy is false and $last is false and $redcandle is false and $goose is false and $shoes is false and $tstory is false and $clothes is false and $heronandduck is false and $wizard is false and $indreams is false and $duckhunting is false>><<set $allfalse to true>>I'm sorry, I don't have any stories to recommend to you right now. Why not <a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/12/in-progress-projects.html#more">request</a> one from the archivist?
[[Or you can try again...->StoryInit]]<</if>><<if $allfalse is false>>Here are some long stories to read!<</if>>
<<if $spider is true>><hr><img src="Images/53.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/02/the-spider-thread-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html">The Spider's Thread</a> is a story that most Japanese schoolchildren read. It's about the salvation of an evil man, Kandata, from eternal torment, and teaches valuable lessons about compassion and suffering. The draw, as with many Akutagawa stories, is in the imagery, which is vivid and intense.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/02/the-spider-thread-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/akutagawa-ryunosuke-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $gods is true>><hr><img src="Images/55.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/02/the-gods-smile-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html">The Gods Smile</a> is a story about a priest in Japan on the brink of losing his faith until he learns to redefine it. Rich with Japanese folklore and religion along with Christian imagery, this story teaches as much as it entertains.
"The Devil" is the short sequel to this story, and shows the priest encountering an actual devil in a church.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/02/the-gods-smile-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/akutagawa-ryunosuke-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><br><<if $devil is true>><hr><img src="Images/61.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-devil-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html">The Devil</a> is the sequel to "The Gods Smile" by the same author. A priest encounters a sympathetic devil in a church.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-devil-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/akutagawa-ryunosuke-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $grove is true>><hr><img src="Images/57.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/in-grove-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html">In a Grove</a> is the story that the Kurosawa film <i>Rashomon</i> is based on. There's been a murder, and there are six witnesses--but they don't agree on what happened. So what did? Perspective is reality.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/in-grove-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/akutagawa-ryunosuke-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $wei is true>><hr><img src="Images/58.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/wei-sheng-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html">Wei Sheng</a> is a short tale based on Chinese myth. A man's lover promised to meet him under a bridge, but she never arrives, and he waits there for her until his death. A story about fidelity, or foolishness. The author certainly sees it both ways.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/wei-sheng-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/akutagawa-ryunosuke-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $rabbit is true>><hr><img src="Images/60.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-rabbit-and-raccoon-dog-kachikachi.html">The Rabbit and the Racoon Dog</a> is an animal fable similar to Aesop's. A white rabbit and dark racoon meet on a beach and fight about the nature of reality. Lyrical, melancholy and very short.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-rabbit-and-raccoon-dog-kachikachi.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/akutagawa-ryunosuke-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $tag is true>><hr><img src="Images/59.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/akutagawa-ryunosuke-playing-tag.html">Playing Tag</a> is a short, very cute romance about a timid boy and a bold girl who meet again in adulthood.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/akutagawa-ryunosuke-playing-tag.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/akutagawa-ryunosuke-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $mandarins is true>><hr><img src="Images/63.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/mandarins-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html">Mandarins</a> is a story about how mundane experiences turn extraordinary with a bit of observation. The author complains about a dirty and poorly educated woman sitting across from him in the train. A surprise appearance by her brothers makes him re-evaluate her as a heroine and the savior of her family. A good short read for people having a bad day.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/mandarins-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/akutagawa-ryunosuke-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $shrine is true>><hr><img src="Images/62.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/shrine-maidens-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html">Shrine Maidens</a> is a flash fiction story (only a few hundred words) with cultural interest. The author observes shrine maidens in different places and at different times of life, and uses these observations to draw tentative conclusions about faith.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/shrine-maidens-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/akutagawa-ryunosuke-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $toshishun is true>><hr><img src="Images/64.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/toshishun-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html#more">Toshishun</a> is a moral fable about a man who gains riches, but loses them all again because of the greed of others. Despite the many dark plot turns in the story (Toshishun encounters his deceased parents in Hell), the ending is surprisingly hopeful. A story about a man who loses hope in humanity, but eventually finds it again.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/toshishun-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/green-onions-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $onions is true>><hr><img src="Images/65.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/green-onions-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html">Green Onions</a> is a comic tale of a young woman in poverty who must make a desperate choice: food, or dating? The answer doesn't come as a surprise to any woman. This story stands above the rest for a few reasons, not least being the intrusive narrator who gradually falls in love with the young woman over the course of the story. It was written in an evening to meet a deadline; this pressure winds up informing the plot and the details. Popular in its own time, <i>Green Onions</i> is a feel-good timeless classic for when you really want to smile for awhile.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/green-onions-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/akutagawa-ryunosuke-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $legacy is true>><hr><img src="Images/54.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/legacy-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html">Legacy</a> is not a story, but a short essay about works that stand the test of time. Reading it is a big reason why I started translating public domain stories from Japanese.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/legacy-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/akutagawa-ryunosuke-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $heronandduck is true>><hr><img src="Images/104.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/akutagawa-ryunosuke-heron-and-mandarin.html#more">The Heron and the Mandarin Duck</a> Short, funny, and I've had a very similar experience on a hot summer day. The author encounters two beautiful women... who might not be as picture-perfect as they appear.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/akutagawa-ryunosuke-heron-and-mandarin.html#more"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/akutagawa-ryunosuke-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $wizard is true>><hr><img src="Images/103.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/akutagawa-ryunosuke-wizard.html#more">The Wizard</a> is an amusing little tale often collected inside children's storybooks. A man takes a bad deal, but is rewarded for being honest and loyal.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/akutagawa-ryunosuke-wizard.html#more"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/akutagawa-ryunosuke-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $duckhunting is true>><hr><img src="Images/101.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/akutagawa-ryunosuke-duck-hunting.html#more">Duck Hunting</a> is an odd kind of memorial tribute to a man who seemed rather unpleasant. Funny to me was how much the author hates both the hunting and the company even though he never directly says so. Japanese vagueness to prevent rudeness is practically weaponized here.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/akutagawa-ryunosuke-duck-hunting.html#more"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/akutagawa-ryunosuke-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $indreams is true>><hr><img src="Images/102.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/akutagawa-ryunosuke-in-dreams.html#more">In Dreams</a> provides a glimpse into a neurodivergent dreamscape full of color. I found the little aside about being a genius inside a dream and a hack outside it both relatable and hilarious.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/akutagawa-ryunosuke-in-dreams.html#more"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/akutagawa-ryunosuke-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $clothes is true>><hr><img src="Images/100.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/akutagawa-ryunosuke-clothes.html#more">Clothes</a> shows that fashion is befuddling and diverse in every language.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/akutagawa-ryunosuke-clothes.html#more"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/akutagawa-ryunosuke-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $sea is true>><hr><img src="Images/80.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/dazai-osamu-sea.html">The Sea</a> is short essay by Dazai Osamu about an experience he had while relocating his family after World War II. Excited about the sea, his wife and young daughter can't muster any energy to share the view with him.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/dazai-osamu-sea.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/dazai-osamu-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $june is true>><hr><img src="Images/79.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/june-19-dazai-osamu.html">June 19</a> is short essay by Dazai Osamu about sharing a birthday with others and the complexities of childhood alienation.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/june-19-dazai-osamu.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/dazai-osamu-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $preference is true>><hr><img src="Images/81.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/no-preference-dazai-osamu.html">No Preference</a> is short essay by Dazai Osamu the ephemerality of physical living spaces, which he finds (in his quintessentially Japanese way) pointless and vaguely pretentious.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/no-preference-dazai-osamu.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/dazai-osamu-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $moon is true>><hr><img src="Images/77.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/the-moon-and-glasses-ogawa-mimei.html">The Moon and the Glasses</a> is short story by Ogawa Mimei about a magical evening under the moonlight. A blind old woman encounters a mysterious peddler who gives her glasses to help her see again; she then helps a young girl who might also be the butterfly in her backyard. Treads very close to magical realism. Lyrical and easy-going, this is a pleasant bedtime story.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/the-moon-and-glasses-ogawa-mimei.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/ogawa-mimei-master-post.htmll"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $redbird is true>><hr><img src="Images/78.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/the-moon-and-glasses-ogawa-mimei.html">The Red Bird</a> is short poem by Ogawa Mimei about a rapidly industrializing Japan and how the effects of pollution affect the world.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/the-red-bird-ogawa-mimei.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/ogawa-mimei-master-post.htmll"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $bamboo is true>><hr><img src="Images/71.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/the-bamboo-shoot-niimi-nankichi.html">The Bamboo Shoot</a> is a flash fiction (only a few hundred words) story about a bamboo shoot that seeks a unique path from its brothers and sisters. Like most Niimi Nankichi stories, there's more than one way to read it. Finding an individualistic tale for children in a largely collectivist culture is something of a pleasant surprise.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/the-bamboo-shoot-niimi-nankichi.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/niimi-nankichi-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $candy is true>><hr><img src="Images/70.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/02/candy-niimi-nankichi.html">Candy</a> is a short little crowd pleaser: a woman and her children share a terrifying, and then heartwarming, boat ride with an exhausted and patient samurai.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/02/candy-niimi-nankichi.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/niimi-nankichi-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $last is true>><hr><img src="Images/76.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/last-years-tree-niimi-nankichi.html">Last Year's Tree</a> is a flash fiction story (only a few hundred words) about the friendship between a bird and a tree that is tragically cut short.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/last-years-tree-niimi-nankichi.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/niimi-nankichi-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $redcandle is true>><hr><img src="Images/73.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/niimi-nankichi-red-candle.html">The Red Candle</a> is a flash fiction story (only a few hundred words) whose message interrogates another story by the same author, "The Goose's Birthday." This story focuses on cooperation and curiosity as postive traits. A few animals find a candle and try to make it work.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/niimi-nankichi-red-candle.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/niimi-nankichi-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $goose is true>><hr><img src="Images/74.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-gooses-birthday-niimi-nankichi.html">The Goose's Birthday</a> is a flash fiction story (only a few hundred words) about a birthday party and an uninvited guest. Inadvertently reveals Japan's obsessive desire for conformity and shows how those who don't conform are excluded or punished.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-gooses-birthday-niimi-nankichi.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/niimi-nankichi-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $shoes is true>><hr><img src="Images/75.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-shoes-that-were-sold-niimi-nankichi.html">The Shoes that Were Sold</a> is a flash fiction story (only a few hundred words) about a new cobbler who sells his first pair of shoes and irritates a customer by showing them how to properly care for the shoes. A parable about art and craftsmanship.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-shoes-that-were-sold-niimi-nankichi.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/niimi-nankichi-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $tstory is true>><hr><img src="Images/76.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-trumpet-niimi-nankichi.html">The Trumpet</a> is a flash fiction story (only a few hundred words) about a man who is going deaf and his son who keeps telling him that he loves him. Short and sweet.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-trumpet-niimi-nankichi.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/niimi-nankichi-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>>
Not what you're looking for?
[[Try again->StoryInit]]<<set $wizard to true>><<set $heronandduck to true>><<set $indreams to true>><<set $duckhunting to true>><<set $clothes to true>><<set $gods to false>><<set $devil to false>><<set $toshishun to false>><<set $onions to false>><<if $guardian is false and $jinmanga is false and $guardianmanga is false and $werefox is false and $dororo3 is false and $dororo2 is false and $dororo1 is false and $search is false and $bon is false and $adv is false and $bambi is false and $r is false and $forty is false and $swallows is false and $fire is false and $sorceress is false and $science is false and $stranger is false and $xamd is false and $spider is false and $gods is false and $devil is false and $grove is false and $wei is false and $rabbit is false and $tag is false and $mandarins is false and $shrine is false and $toshishun is false and $onions is false and $legacy is false and $sea is false and $june is false and $preference is false and $moon is false and $redbird is false and $bamboo is false and $candy is false and $last is false and $redcandle is false and $goose is false and $shoes is false and $tstory is false and $clothes is false and $heronandduck is false and $wizard is false and $indreams is false and $duckhunting is false>><<set $allfalse to true>>I'm sorry, I don't have any stories to recommend to you right now. Why not <a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/12/in-progress-projects.html#more">request</a> one from the archivist?
[[Or you can try again...->StoryInit]]<</if>><<if $allfalse is false>>Here are some short stories to read!<</if>>
<<if $spider is true>><hr><img src="Images/53.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/02/the-spider-thread-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html">The Spider's Thread</a> is a story that most Japanese schoolchildren read. It's about the salvation of an evil man, Kandata, from eternal torment, and teaches valuable lessons about compassion and suffering. The draw, as with many Akutagawa stories, is in the imagery, which is vivid and intense.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/02/the-spider-thread-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/akutagawa-ryunosuke-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $gods is true>><hr><img src="Images/55.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/02/the-gods-smile-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html">The Gods Smile</a> is a story about a priest in Japan on the brink of losing his faith until he learns to redefine it. Rich with Japanese folklore and religion along with Christian imagery, this story teaches as much as it entertains.
"The Devil" is the short sequel to this story, and shows the priest encountering an actual devil in a church.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/02/the-gods-smile-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/akutagawa-ryunosuke-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><br><<if $devil is true>><hr><img src="Images/61.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-devil-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html">The Devil</a> is the sequel to "The Gods Smile" by the same author. A priest encounters a sympathetic devil in a church.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-devil-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/akutagawa-ryunosuke-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $grove is true>><hr><img src="Images/57.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/in-grove-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html">In a Grove</a> is the story that the Kurosawa film <i>Rashomon</i> is based on. There's been a murder, and there are six witnesses--but they don't agree on what happened. So what did? Perspective is reality.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/in-grove-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/akutagawa-ryunosuke-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $wei is true>><hr><img src="Images/58.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/wei-sheng-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html">Wei Sheng</a> is a short tale based on Chinese myth. A man's lover promised to meet him under a bridge, but she never arrives, and he waits there for her until his death. A story about fidelity, or foolishness. The author certainly sees it both ways.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/wei-sheng-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/akutagawa-ryunosuke-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $rabbit is true>><hr><img src="Images/60.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-rabbit-and-raccoon-dog-kachikachi.html">The Rabbit and the Racoon Dog</a> is an animal fable similar to Aesop's. A white rabbit and dark racoon meet on a beach and fight about the nature of reality. Lyrical, melancholy and very short.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-rabbit-and-raccoon-dog-kachikachi.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/akutagawa-ryunosuke-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $tag is true>><hr><img src="Images/59.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/akutagawa-ryunosuke-playing-tag.html">Playing Tag</a> is a short, very cute romance about a timid boy and a bold girl who meet again in adulthood.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/akutagawa-ryunosuke-playing-tag.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/akutagawa-ryunosuke-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $mandarins is true>><hr><img src="Images/63.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/mandarins-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html">Mandarins</a> is a story about how mundane experiences turn extraordinary with a bit of observation. The author complains about a dirty and poorly educated woman sitting across from him in the train. A surprise appearance by her brothers makes him re-evaluate her as a heroine and the savior of her family. A good short read for people having a bad day.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/mandarins-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/akutagawa-ryunosuke-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $shrine is true>><hr><img src="Images/62.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/shrine-maidens-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html">Shrine Maidens</a> is a flash fiction story (only a few hundred words) with cultural interest. The author observes shrine maidens in different places and at different times of life, and uses these observations to draw tentative conclusions about faith.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/shrine-maidens-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/akutagawa-ryunosuke-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $toshishun is true>><hr><img src="Images/64.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/toshishun-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html#more">Toshishun</a> is a moral fable about a man who gains riches, but loses them all again because of the greed of others. Despite the many dark plot turns in the story (Toshishun encounters his deceased parents in Hell), the ending is surprisingly hopeful. A story about a man who loses hope in humanity, but eventually finds it again.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/toshishun-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/green-onions-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $onions is true>><hr><img src="Images/65.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/green-onions-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html">Green Onions</a> is a comic tale of a young woman in poverty who must make a desperate choice: food, or dating? The answer doesn't come as a surprise to any woman. This story stands above the rest for a few reasons, not least being the intrusive narrator who gradually falls in love with the young woman over the course of the story. It was written in an evening to meet a deadline; this pressure winds up informing the plot and the details. Popular in its own time, <i>Green Onions</i> is a feel-good timeless classic for when you really want to smile for awhile.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/green-onions-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/akutagawa-ryunosuke-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $legacy is true>><hr><img src="Images/54.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/legacy-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html">Legacy</a> is not a story, but a short essay about works that stand the test of time. Reading it is a big reason why I started translating public domain stories from Japanese.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/legacy-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/akutagawa-ryunosuke-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $heronandduck is true>><hr><img src="Images/104.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/akutagawa-ryunosuke-heron-and-mandarin.html#more">The Heron and the Mandarin Duck</a> is a short, funny, little story. I've had a very similar experience on a hot summer day. The author encounters two beautiful women... who might not be as picture-perfect as they appear.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/akutagawa-ryunosuke-heron-and-mandarin.html#more"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/akutagawa-ryunosuke-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $wizard is true>><hr><img src="Images/103.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/akutagawa-ryunosuke-wizard.html#more">The Wizard</a> is an amusing little tale often collected inside children's storybooks. A man takes a bad deal, but is rewarded for being honest and loyal.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/akutagawa-ryunosuke-wizard.html#more"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/akutagawa-ryunosuke-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $duckhunting is true>><hr><img src="Images/101.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/akutagawa-ryunosuke-duck-hunting.html#more">Duck Hunting</a> is an odd kind of memorial tribute to a man who seemed rather unpleasant. Funny to me was how much the author hates both the hunting and the company even though he never directly says so. Japanese vagueness to prevent rudeness is practically weaponized here.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/akutagawa-ryunosuke-duck-hunting.html#more"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/akutagawa-ryunosuke-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $indreams is true>><hr><img src="Images/102.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/akutagawa-ryunosuke-in-dreams.html#more">In Dreams</a> provides a glimpse into a neurodivergent dreamscape full of color. I found the little aside about being a genius inside a dream and a hack outside it both relatable and hilarious.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/akutagawa-ryunosuke-in-dreams.html#more"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/akutagawa-ryunosuke-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $clothes is true>><hr><img src="Images/100.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/akutagawa-ryunosuke-clothes.html#more">Clothes</a> shows that fashion is befuddling and diverse in every language.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/akutagawa-ryunosuke-clothes.html#more"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/akutagawa-ryunosuke-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $sea is true>><hr><img src="Images/80.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/dazai-osamu-sea.html">The Sea</a> is short essay by Dazai Osamu about an experience he had while relocating his family after World War II. Excited about the sea, his wife and young daughter can't muster any energy to share the view with him.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/dazai-osamu-sea.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/dazai-osamu-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $june is true>><hr><img src="Images/79.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/june-19-dazai-osamu.html">June 19</a> is short essay by Dazai Osamu about sharing a birthday with others and the complexities of childhood alienation.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/june-19-dazai-osamu.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/dazai-osamu-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $preference is true>><hr><img src="Images/81.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/no-preference-dazai-osamu.html">No Preference</a> is short essay by Dazai Osamu the ephemerality of physical living spaces, which he finds (in his quintessentially Japanese way) pointless and vaguely pretentious.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/no-preference-dazai-osamu.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/dazai-osamu-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $moon is true>><hr><img src="Images/77.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/the-moon-and-glasses-ogawa-mimei.html">The Moon and the Glasses</a> is short story by Ogawa Mimei about a magical evening under the moonlight. A blind old woman encounters a mysterious peddler who gives her glasses to help her see again; she then helps a young girl who might also be the butterfly in her backyard. Treads very close to magical realism. Lyrical and easy-going, this is a pleasant bedtime story.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/the-moon-and-glasses-ogawa-mimei.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/ogawa-mimei-master-post.htmll"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $redbird is true>><hr><img src="Images/78.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/the-moon-and-glasses-ogawa-mimei.html">The Red Bird</a> is short poem by Ogawa Mimei about a rapidly industrializing Japan and how the effects of pollution affect the world.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/the-red-bird-ogawa-mimei.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/ogawa-mimei-master-post.htmll"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $bamboo is true>><hr><img src="Images/71.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/the-bamboo-shoot-niimi-nankichi.html">The Bamboo Shoot</a> is a flash fiction (only a few hundred words) story about a bamboo shoot that seeks a unique path from its brothers and sisters. Like most Niimi Nankichi stories, there's more than one way to read it. Finding an individualistic tale for children in a largely collectivist culture is something of a pleasant surprise.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/the-bamboo-shoot-niimi-nankichi.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/niimi-nankichi-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $candy is true>><hr><img src="Images/70.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/02/candy-niimi-nankichi.html">Candy</a> is a short little crowd pleaser: a woman and her children share a terrifying, and then heartwarming, boat ride with an exhausted and patient samurai.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/02/candy-niimi-nankichi.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/niimi-nankichi-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $last is true>><hr><img src="Images/76.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/last-years-tree-niimi-nankichi.html">Last Year's Tree</a> is a flash fiction story (only a few hundred words) about the friendship between a bird and a tree that is tragically cut short.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/last-years-tree-niimi-nankichi.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/niimi-nankichi-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $redcandle is true>><hr><img src="Images/73.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/niimi-nankichi-red-candle.html">The Red Candle</a> is a flash fiction story (only a few hundred words) whose message interrogates another story by the same author, "The Goose's Birthday." This story focuses on cooperation and curiosity as postive traits. A few animals find a candle and try to make it work.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/niimi-nankichi-red-candle.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/niimi-nankichi-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $goose is true>><hr><img src="Images/74.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-gooses-birthday-niimi-nankichi.html">The Goose's Birthday</a> is a flash fiction story (only a few hundred words) about a birthday party and an uninvited guest. Inadvertently reveals Japan's obsessive desire for conformity and shows how those who don't conform are excluded or punished.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-gooses-birthday-niimi-nankichi.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/niimi-nankichi-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $shoes is true>><hr><img src="Images/75.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-shoes-that-were-sold-niimi-nankichi.html">The Shoes that Were Sold</a> is a flash fiction story (only a few hundred words) about a new cobbler who sells his first pair of shoes and irritates a customer by showing them how to properly care for the shoes. A parable about art and craftsmanship.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-shoes-that-were-sold-niimi-nankichi.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/niimi-nankichi-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $tstory is true>><hr><img src="Images/72.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-trumpet-niimi-nankichi.html">The Trumpet</a> is a flash fiction story (only a few hundred words) about a man who is going deaf and his son who keeps telling him that he loves him. Short and sweet.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-trumpet-niimi-nankichi.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/niimi-nankichi-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>>
Not what you're looking for?
[[Try again->StoryInit]]<<set $clothes to false>><<set $wizard to true>><<set $heronandduck to true>><<set $indreams to false>><<set $duckhunting to false>> <<set $spider to false>><<set $gods to false>><<set $devil to false>><<set $grove to false>><<set $wei to false>><<set $rabbit to false>><<set $shrine to false>><<set $toshishun to false>><<set $legacy to false>><<set $june to false>><<set $preference to false>><<set $redbird to false>><<set $last to false>>
<<if $guardian is false and $jinmanga is false and $guardianmanga is false and $werefox is false and $dororo3 is false and $dororo2 is false and $dororo1 is false and $search is false and $bon is false and $adv is false and $bambi is false and $r is false and $forty is false and $swallows is false and $fire is false and $sorceress is false and $science is false and $stranger is false and $xamd is false and $spider is false and $gods is false and $devil is false and $grove is false and $wei is false and $rabbit is false and $tag is false and $mandarins is false and $shrine is false and $toshishun is false and $onions is false and $legacy is false and $sea is false and $june is false and $preference is false and $moon is false and $redbird is false and $bamboo is false and $candy is false and $last is false and $redcandle is false and $goose is false and $shoes is false and $tstory is false and $clothes is false and $heronandduck is false and $wizard is false and $indreams is false and $duckhunting is false>><<set $allfalse to true>>I'm sorry, I don't have any stories to recommend to you right now. Why not <a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/12/in-progress-projects.html#more">request</a> one from the archivist?
[[Or you can try again...->StoryInit]<</if>><<if $allfalse is false>>Here are some cute stories to read!<</if>>
<<if $spider is true>><hr><img src="Images/53.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/02/the-spider-thread-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html">The Spider's Thread</a> is a story that most Japanese schoolchildren read. It's about the salvation of an evil man, Kandata, from eternal torment, and teaches valuable lessons about compassion and suffering. The draw, as with many Akutagawa stories, is in the imagery, which is vivid and intense.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/02/the-spider-thread-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/akutagawa-ryunosuke-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $gods is true>><hr><img src="Images/55.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/02/the-gods-smile-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html">The Gods Smile</a> is a story about a priest in Japan on the brink of losing his faith until he learns to redefine it. Rich with Japanese folklore and religion along with Christian imagery, this story teaches as much as it entertains.
"The Devil" is the short sequel to this story, and shows the priest encountering an actual devil in a church.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/02/the-gods-smile-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/akutagawa-ryunosuke-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><br><<if $devil is true>><hr><img src="Images/61.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-devil-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html">The Devil</a> is the sequel to "The Gods Smile" by the same author. A priest encounters a sympathetic devil in a church.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-devil-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/akutagawa-ryunosuke-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $grove is true>><hr><img src="Images/57.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/in-grove-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html">In a Grove</a> is the story that the Kurosawa film <i>Rashomon</i> is based on. There's been a murder, and there are six witnesses--but they don't agree on what happened. So what did? Perspective is reality.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/in-grove-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/akutagawa-ryunosuke-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $wei is true>><hr><img src="Images/58.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/wei-sheng-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html">Wei Sheng</a> is a short tale based on Chinese myth. A man's lover promised to meet him under a bridge, but she never arrives, and he waits there for her until his death. A story about fidelity, or foolishness. The author certainly sees it both ways.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/wei-sheng-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/akutagawa-ryunosuke-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $rabbit is true>><hr><img src="Images/60.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-rabbit-and-raccoon-dog-kachikachi.html">The Rabbit and the Racoon Dog</a> is an animal fable similar to Aesop's. A white rabbit and dark racoon meet on a beach and fight about the nature of reality. Lyrical, melancholy and very short.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-rabbit-and-raccoon-dog-kachikachi.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/akutagawa-ryunosuke-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $tag is true>><hr><img src="Images/59.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/akutagawa-ryunosuke-playing-tag.html">Playing Tag</a> is a short, very cute romance about a timid boy and a bold girl who meet again in adulthood.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/akutagawa-ryunosuke-playing-tag.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/akutagawa-ryunosuke-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $mandarins is true>><hr><img src="Images/63.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/mandarins-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html">Mandarins</a> is a story about how mundane experiences turn extraordinary with a bit of observation. The author complains about a dirty and poorly educated woman sitting across from him in the train. A surprise appearance by her brothers makes him re-evaluate her as a heroine and the savior of her family. A good short read for people having a bad day.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/mandarins-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/akutagawa-ryunosuke-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $shrine is true>><hr><img src="Images/62.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/shrine-maidens-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html">Shrine Maidens</a> is a flash fiction story (only a few hundred words) with cultural interest. The author observes shrine maidens in different places and at different times of life, and uses these observations to draw tentative conclusions about faith.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/shrine-maidens-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/akutagawa-ryunosuke-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $toshishun is true>><hr><img src="Images/64.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/toshishun-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html#more">Toshishun</a> is a moral fable about a man who gains riches, but loses them all again because of the greed of others. Despite the many dark plot turns in the story (Toshishun encounters his deceased parents in Hell), the ending is surprisingly hopeful. A story about a man who loses hope in humanity, but eventually finds it again.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/toshishun-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/green-onions-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $onions is true>><hr><img src="Images/65.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/green-onions-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html">Green Onions</a> is a comic tale of a young woman in poverty who must make a desperate choice: food, or dating? The answer doesn't come as a surprise to any woman. This story stands above the rest for a few reasons, not least being the intrusive narrator who gradually falls in love with the young woman over the course of the story. It was written in an evening to meet a deadline; this pressure winds up informing the plot and the details. Popular in its own time, <i>Green Onions</i> is a feel-good timeless classic for when you really want to smile for awhile.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/green-onions-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/akutagawa-ryunosuke-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $legacy is true>><hr><img src="Images/54.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/legacy-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html">Legacy</a> is not a story, but a short essay about works that stand the test of time. Reading it is a big reason why I started translating public domain stories from Japanese.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/legacy-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/akutagawa-ryunosuke-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $heronandduck is true>><hr><img src="Images/104.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/akutagawa-ryunosuke-heron-and-mandarin.html#more">The Heron and the Mandarin Duck</a> is a short, funny, little story. I've had a very similar experience on a hot summer day. The author encounters two beautiful women... who might not be as picture-perfect as they appear.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/akutagawa-ryunosuke-heron-and-mandarin.html#more"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/akutagawa-ryunosuke-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $wizard is true>><hr><img src="Images/103.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/akutagawa-ryunosuke-wizard.html#more">The Wizard</a> is an amusing little tale often collected inside children's storybooks. A man takes a bad deal, but is rewarded for being honest and loyal.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/akutagawa-ryunosuke-wizard.html#more"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/akutagawa-ryunosuke-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $duckhunting is true>><hr><img src="Images/101.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/akutagawa-ryunosuke-duck-hunting.html#more">Duck Hunting</a> is an odd kind of memorial tribute to a man who seemed rather unpleasant. Funny to me was how much the author hates both the hunting and the company even though he never directly says so. Japanese vagueness to prevent rudeness is practically weaponized here.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/akutagawa-ryunosuke-duck-hunting.html#more"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/akutagawa-ryunosuke-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $indreams is true>><hr><img src="Images/102.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/akutagawa-ryunosuke-in-dreams.html#more">In Dreams</a> provides a glimpse into a neurodivergent dreamscape full of color. I found the little aside about being a genius inside a dream and a hack outside it both relatable and hilarious.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/akutagawa-ryunosuke-in-dreams.html#more"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/akutagawa-ryunosuke-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $clothes is true>><hr><img src="Images/100.png"><br><"https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/akutagawa-ryunosuke-clothes.html#more">Clothes</a> shows that fashion is befuddling and diverse in every language.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/akutagawa-ryunosuke-clothes.html#more"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/akutagawa-ryunosuke-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $sea is true>><hr><img src="Images/80.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/dazai-osamu-sea.html">The Sea</a> is short essay by Dazai Osamu about an experience he had while relocating his family after World War II. Excited about the sea, his wife and young daughter can't muster any energy to share the view with him.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/dazai-osamu-sea.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/dazai-osamu-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $june is true>><hr><img src="Images/79.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/june-19-dazai-osamu.html">June 19</a> is short essay by Dazai Osamu about sharing a birthday with others and the complexities of childhood alienation.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/june-19-dazai-osamu.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/dazai-osamu-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $preference is true>><hr><img src="Images/81.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/no-preference-dazai-osamu.html">No Preference</a> is short essay by Dazai Osamu the ephemerality of physical living spaces, which he finds (in his quintessentially Japanese way) pointless and vaguely pretentious.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/no-preference-dazai-osamu.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/dazai-osamu-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $moon is true>><hr><img src="Images/77.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/the-moon-and-glasses-ogawa-mimei.html">The Moon and the Glasses</a> is short story by Ogawa Mimei about a magical evening under the moonlight. A blind old woman encounters a mysterious peddler who gives her glasses to help her see again; she then helps a young girl who might also be the butterfly in her backyard. Treads very close to magical realism. Lyrical and easy-going, this is a pleasant bedtime story.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/the-moon-and-glasses-ogawa-mimei.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/ogawa-mimei-master-post.htmll"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $redbird is true>><hr><img src="Images/78.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/the-moon-and-glasses-ogawa-mimei.html">The Red Bird</a> is short poem by Ogawa Mimei about a rapidly industrializing Japan and how the effects of pollution affect the world.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/the-red-bird-ogawa-mimei.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/ogawa-mimei-master-post.htmll"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $bamboo is true>><hr><img src="Images/71.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/the-bamboo-shoot-niimi-nankichi.html">The Bamboo Shoot</a> is a flash fiction (only a few hundred words) story about a bamboo shoot that seeks a unique path from its brothers and sisters. Like most Niimi Nankichi stories, there's more than one way to read it. Finding an individualistic tale for children in a largely collectivist culture is something of a pleasant surprise.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/the-bamboo-shoot-niimi-nankichi.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/niimi-nankichi-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $candy is true>><hr><img src="Images/70.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/02/candy-niimi-nankichi.html">Candy</a> is a short little crowd pleaser: a woman and her children share a terrifying, and then heartwarming, boat ride with an exhausted and patient samurai.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/02/candy-niimi-nankichi.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/niimi-nankichi-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $last is true>><hr><img src="Images/76.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/last-years-tree-niimi-nankichi.html">Last Year's Tree</a> is a flash fiction story (only a few hundred words) about the friendship between a bird and a tree that is tragically cut short.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/last-years-tree-niimi-nankichi.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/niimi-nankichi-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $redcandle is true>><hr><img src="Images/73.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/niimi-nankichi-red-candle.html">The Red Candle</a> is a flash fiction story (only a few hundred words) whose message interrogates another story by the same author, "The Goose's Birthday." This story focuses on cooperation and curiosity as postive traits. A few animals find a candle and try to make it work.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/niimi-nankichi-red-candle.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/niimi-nankichi-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $goose is true>><hr><img src="Images/74.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-gooses-birthday-niimi-nankichi.html">The Goose's Birthday</a> is a flash fiction story (only a few hundred words) about a birthday party and an uninvited guest. Inadvertently reveals Japan's obsessive desire for conformity and shows how those who don't conform are excluded or punished.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-gooses-birthday-niimi-nankichi.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/niimi-nankichi-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $shoes is true>><hr><img src="Images/75.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-shoes-that-were-sold-niimi-nankichi.html">The Shoes that Were Sold</a> is a flash fiction story (only a few hundred words) about a new cobbler who sells his first pair of shoes and irritates a customer by showing them how to properly care for the shoes. A parable about art and craftsmanship.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-shoes-that-were-sold-niimi-nankichi.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/niimi-nankichi-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $tstory is true>><hr><img src="Images/72.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-trumpet-niimi-nankichi.html">The Trumpet</a> is a flash fiction story (only a few hundred words) about a man who is going deaf and his son who keeps telling him that he loves him. Short and sweet.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-trumpet-niimi-nankichi.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/niimi-nankichi-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>>
Not what you're looking for?
[[Try again->StoryInit]]<<set $spider to true>><<set $gods to true>><<set $devil to true>><<set $grove to true>><<set $wei to true>><<set $rabbit to false>><<set $tag to false>><<set $mandarins to true>><<set $shrine to false>><<set $toshishun to true>><<set $onions to true>><<set $legacy to true>><<set $sea to false>><<set $june to false>><<set $preference to false>><<set $moon to true>><<set $redbird to false>><<set $bamboo to true>><<set $candy to true>><<set $last to false>><<set $redcandle to false>><<set $goose to false>><<set $shoes to true>><<set $clothes to false>><<set $wizard to true>><<set $heronandduck to true>><<set $indreams to true>><<set $duckhunting to false>>
Of course I do! What did you have in mind?
<button>[[Something cute]]</button>
<button>[[Something thoughtful/cerebral]]</button>
<<set $tag to false>><<set $bamboo to false>><<set $candy to false>><<set $redcandle to false>><<set $goose to false>><<set $shoes to false>><<set $tstory to false>><<set $clothes to false>><<set $wizard to false>>
<<if $guardian is false and $jinmanga is false and $guardianmanga is false and $werefox is false and $dororo3 is false and $dororo2 is false and $dororo1 is false and $search is false and $bon is false and $adv is false and $bambi is false and $r is false and $forty is false and $swallows is false and $fire is false and $sorceress is false and $science is false and $stranger is false and $xamd is false and $spider is false and $gods is false and $devil is false and $grove is false and $wei is false and $rabbit is false and $tag is false and $mandarins is false and $shrine is false and $toshishun is false and $onions is false and $legacy is false and $sea is false and $june is false and $preference is false and $moon is false and $redbird is false and $bamboo is false and $candy is false and $last is false and $redcandle is false and $goose is false and $shoes is false and $tstory is false and $clothes is false and $heronandduck is false and $wizard is false and $indreams is false and $duckhunting is false>><<set $allfalse to true>>I'm sorry, I don't have any stories to recommend to you right now. Why not <a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/12/in-progress-projects.html#more">request</a> one from the archivist?
[[Or you can try again...->StoryInit]]<</if>><<if $allfalse is false>>Here are some cerebral stories to read!<</if>>
<<if $spider is true>><hr><img src="Images/53.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/02/the-spider-thread-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html">The Spider's Thread</a> is a story that most Japanese schoolchildren read. It's about the salvation of an evil man, Kandata, from eternal torment, and teaches valuable lessons about compassion and suffering. The draw, as with many Akutagawa stories, is in the imagery, which is vivid and intense.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/02/the-spider-thread-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/akutagawa-ryunosuke-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $gods is true>><hr><img src="Images/55.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/02/the-gods-smile-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html">The Gods Smile</a> is a story about a priest in Japan on the brink of losing his faith until he learns to redefine it. Rich with Japanese folklore and religion along with Christian imagery, this story teaches as much as it entertains.
"The Devil" is the short sequel to this story, and shows the priest encountering an actual devil in a church.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/02/the-gods-smile-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/akutagawa-ryunosuke-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><br><<if $devil is true>><hr><img src="Images/61.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-devil-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html">The Devil</a> is the sequel to "The Gods Smile" by the same author. A priest encounters a sympathetic devil in a church.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-devil-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/akutagawa-ryunosuke-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $grove is true>><hr><img src="Images/57.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/in-grove-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html">In a Grove</a> is the story that the Kurosawa film <i>Rashomon</i> is based on. There's been a murder, and there are six witnesses--but they don't agree on what happened. So what did? Perspective is reality.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/in-grove-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/akutagawa-ryunosuke-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $wei is true>><hr><img src="Images/58.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/wei-sheng-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html">Wei Sheng</a> is a short tale based on Chinese myth. A man's lover promised to meet him under a bridge, but she never arrives, and he waits there for her until his death. A story about fidelity, or foolishness. The author certainly sees it both ways.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/wei-sheng-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/akutagawa-ryunosuke-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $rabbit is true>><hr><img src="Images/60.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-rabbit-and-raccoon-dog-kachikachi.html">The Rabbit and the Racoon Dog</a> is an animal fable similar to Aesop's. A white rabbit and dark racoon meet on a beach and fight about the nature of reality. Lyrical, melancholy and very short.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-rabbit-and-raccoon-dog-kachikachi.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/akutagawa-ryunosuke-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $tag is true>><hr><img src="Images/59.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/akutagawa-ryunosuke-playing-tag.html">Playing Tag</a> is a short, very cute romance about a timid boy and a bold girl who meet again in adulthood.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/akutagawa-ryunosuke-playing-tag.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/akutagawa-ryunosuke-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $mandarins is true>><hr><img src="Images/63.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/mandarins-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html">Mandarins</a> is a story about how mundane experiences turn extraordinary with a bit of observation. The author complains about a dirty and poorly educated woman sitting across from him in the train. A surprise appearance by her brothers makes him re-evaluate her as a heroine and the savior of her family. A good short read for people having a bad day.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/mandarins-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/akutagawa-ryunosuke-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $shrine is true>><hr><img src="Images/62.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/shrine-maidens-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html">Shrine Maidens</a> is a flash fiction story (only a few hundred words) with cultural interest. The author observes shrine maidens in different places and at different times of life, and uses these observations to draw tentative conclusions about faith.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/shrine-maidens-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/akutagawa-ryunosuke-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $toshishun is true>><hr><img src="Images/64.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/toshishun-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html#more">Toshishun</a> is a moral fable about a man who gains riches, but loses them all again because of the greed of others. Despite the many dark plot turns in the story (Toshishun encounters his deceased parents in Hell), the ending is surprisingly hopeful. A story about a man who loses hope in humanity, but eventually finds it again.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/toshishun-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/green-onions-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $onions is true>><hr><img src="Images/65.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/green-onions-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html">Green Onions</a> is a comic tale of a young woman in poverty who must make a desperate choice: food, or dating? The answer doesn't come as a surprise to any woman. This story stands above the rest for a few reasons, not least being the intrusive narrator who gradually falls in love with the young woman over the course of the story. It was written in an evening to meet a deadline; this pressure winds up informing the plot and the details. Popular in its own time, <i>Green Onions</i> is a feel-good timeless classic for when you really want to smile for awhile.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/green-onions-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/akutagawa-ryunosuke-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $legacy is true>><hr><img src="Images/54.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/legacy-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html">Legacy</a> is not a story, but a short essay about works that stand the test of time. Reading it is a big reason why I started translating public domain stories from Japanese.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/legacy-akutagawa-ryunosuke.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/akutagawa-ryunosuke-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $heronandduck is true>><hr><img src="Images/104.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/akutagawa-ryunosuke-heron-and-mandarin.html#more">The Heron and the Mandarin Duck</a> is a short, funny, little story. I've had a very similar experience on a hot summer day. The author encounters two beautiful women... who might not be as picture-perfect as they appear.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/akutagawa-ryunosuke-heron-and-mandarin.html#more"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/akutagawa-ryunosuke-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $wizard is true>><hr><img src="Images/103.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/akutagawa-ryunosuke-wizard.html#more">The Wizard</a> is an amusing little tale often collected inside children's storybooks. A man takes a bad deal, but is rewarded for being honest and loyal.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/akutagawa-ryunosuke-wizard.html#more"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/akutagawa-ryunosuke-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $duckhunting is true>><hr><img src="Images/101.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/akutagawa-ryunosuke-duck-hunting.html#more">Duck Hunting</a> is an odd kind of memorial tribute to a man who seemed rather unpleasant. Funny to me was how much the author hates both the hunting and the company even though he never directly says so. Japanese vagueness to prevent rudeness is practically weaponized here.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/akutagawa-ryunosuke-duck-hunting.html#more"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/akutagawa-ryunosuke-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $indreams is true>><hr><img src="Images/102.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/akutagawa-ryunosuke-in-dreams.html#more">In Dreams</a> provides a glimpse into a neurodivergent dreamscape full of color. I found the little aside about being a genius inside a dream and a hack outside it both relatable and hilarious.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/akutagawa-ryunosuke-in-dreams.html#more"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/akutagawa-ryunosuke-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $clothes is true>><hr><img src="Images/100.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/akutagawa-ryunosuke-clothes.html#more">Clothes</a> shows that fashion is befuddling and diverse in every language.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/akutagawa-ryunosuke-clothes.html#more"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/akutagawa-ryunosuke-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $sea is true>><hr><img src="Images/80.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/dazai-osamu-sea.html">The Sea</a> is short essay by Dazai Osamu about an experience he had while relocating his family after World War II. Excited about the sea, his wife and young daughter can't muster any energy to share the view with him.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/dazai-osamu-sea.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/dazai-osamu-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $june is true>><hr><img src="Images/79.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/june-19-dazai-osamu.html">June 19</a> is short essay by Dazai Osamu about sharing a birthday with others and the complexities of childhood alienation.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/june-19-dazai-osamu.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/dazai-osamu-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $preference is true>><hr><img src="Images/81.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/no-preference-dazai-osamu.html">No Preference</a> is short essay by Dazai Osamu the ephemerality of physical living spaces, which he finds (in his quintessentially Japanese way) pointless and vaguely pretentious.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/no-preference-dazai-osamu.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/dazai-osamu-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $moon is true>><hr><img src="Images/77.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/the-moon-and-glasses-ogawa-mimei.html">The Moon and the Glasses</a> is short story by Ogawa Mimei about a magical evening under the moonlight. A blind old woman encounters a mysterious peddler who gives her glasses to help her see again; she then helps a young girl who might also be the butterfly in her backyard. Treads very close to magical realism. Lyrical and easy-going, this is a pleasant bedtime story.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/the-moon-and-glasses-ogawa-mimei.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/ogawa-mimei-master-post.htmll"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $redbird is true>><hr><img src="Images/78.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/the-moon-and-glasses-ogawa-mimei.html">The Red Bird</a> is short poem by Ogawa Mimei about a rapidly industrializing Japan and how the effects of pollution affect the world.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/the-red-bird-ogawa-mimei.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/ogawa-mimei-master-post.htmll"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $bamboo is true>><hr><img src="Images/71.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/the-bamboo-shoot-niimi-nankichi.html">The Bamboo Shoot</a> is a flash fiction (only a few hundred words) story about a bamboo shoot that seeks a unique path from its brothers and sisters. Like most Niimi Nankichi stories, there's more than one way to read it. Finding an individualistic tale for children in a largely collectivist culture is something of a pleasant surprise.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/the-bamboo-shoot-niimi-nankichi.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/niimi-nankichi-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $candy is true>><hr><img src="Images/70.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/02/candy-niimi-nankichi.html">Candy</a> is a short little crowd pleaser: a woman and her children share a terrifying, and then heartwarming, boat ride with an exhausted and patient samurai.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/02/candy-niimi-nankichi.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/niimi-nankichi-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $last is true>><hr><img src="Images/76.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/last-years-tree-niimi-nankichi.html">Last Year's Tree</a> is a flash fiction story (only a few hundred words) about the friendship between a bird and a tree that is tragically cut short.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/last-years-tree-niimi-nankichi.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/niimi-nankichi-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $redcandle is true>><hr><img src="Images/73.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/niimi-nankichi-red-candle.html">The Red Candle</a> is a flash fiction story (only a few hundred words) whose message interrogates another story by the same author, "The Goose's Birthday." This story focuses on cooperation and curiosity as postive traits. A few animals find a candle and try to make it work.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/niimi-nankichi-red-candle.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/niimi-nankichi-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $goose is true>><hr><img src="Images/74.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-gooses-birthday-niimi-nankichi.html">The Goose's Birthday</a> is a flash fiction story (only a few hundred words) about a birthday party and an uninvited guest. Inadvertently reveals Japan's obsessive desire for conformity and shows how those who don't conform are excluded or punished.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-gooses-birthday-niimi-nankichi.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/niimi-nankichi-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $shoes is true>><hr><img src="Images/75.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-shoes-that-were-sold-niimi-nankichi.html">The Shoes that Were Sold</a> is a flash fiction story (only a few hundred words) about a new cobbler who sells his first pair of shoes and irritates a customer by showing them how to properly care for the shoes. A parable about art and craftsmanship.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-shoes-that-were-sold-niimi-nankichi.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/niimi-nankichi-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>><<if $tstory is true>><hr><img src="Images/72.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-trumpet-niimi-nankichi.html">The Trumpet</a> is a flash fiction story (only a few hundred words) about a man who is going deaf and his son who keeps telling him that he loves him. Short and sweet.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-trumpet-niimi-nankichi.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a>
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/niimi-nankichi-master-post.html"><button>Read Other Stories By This Author</button></a><</if>>
Not what you're looking for?
[[Try again->StoryInit]]<<set $r to false>><<set $stranger to false>><<set $xamd to false>>
Are you sensitive to certain topics, themes or events?
<button>[[Keep things PG-13 for me, please->PG-13 Book]]</button>
<button>[[I don't like a lot of violence->No Violence Book]]</button>
<button>[[I don't like explicit sexuality->No Sex Book]]</button>
<button>[[Show me everything: sex, drugs, rock n' roll->Everything Book]]</button><<set $dororo3 to false>><<set $dororo2 to false>><<set $dororo1 to false>><<set $r to false>><<set $stranger to false>><<set $xamd to false>><<set $science to false>>
Are you sensitive to certain topics, themes or events?
<button>[[Keep things PG-13 for me, please->PG-13 Book]]</button>
<button>[[I don't like a lot of violence->No Violence Book]]</button>
<button>[[I don't like explicit sexuality->No Sex Book]]</button>
<button>[[Show me everything: sex, drugs, rock n' roll->Everything Book]]</button><<set $science to false>><<set $r to false>><<set $stranger to false>><<set $xamd to false>>
Are you sensitive to certain topics, themes or events?
<button>[[Keep things PG-13 for me, please->PG-13 Book]]</button>
<button>[[I don't like a lot of violence->No Violence Book]]</button>
<button>[[I don't like explicit sexuality->No Sex Book]]</button>
<button>[[Show me everything: sex, drugs, rock n' roll->Everything Book]]</button><<set $werefox to false>><<set $sorceress to false>><<set $science to false>><<set $r to false>><<set $stranger to false>><<set $xamd to false>>
Are you sensitive to certain topics, themes or events?
<button>[[Keep things PG-13 for me, please->PG-13 Book]]</button>
<button>[[I don't like a lot of violence->No Violence Book]]</button>
<button>[[I don't like explicit sexuality->No Sex Book]]</button>
<button>[[Show me everything: sex, drugs, rock n' roll->Everything Book]]</button><<set $dororo3 to false>><<set $dororo2 to false>><<set $dororo1 to false>><<set $sorceress to false>><<set $science to false>><<set $r to false>>
<<set $bambi to false>><<set $swallows to false>><<set $forty to false>>
<<if $guardian is false and $jinmanga is false and $guardianmanga is false and $werefox is false and $dororo3 is false and $dororo2 is false and $dororo1 is false and $search is false and $bon is false and $adv is false and $bambi is false and $r is false and $forty is false and $swallows is false and $fire is false and $sorceress is false and $science is false and $stranger is false and $xamd is false and $spider is false and $gods is false and $devil is false and $grove is false and $wei is false and $rabbit is false and $tag is false and $mandarins is false and $shrine is false and $toshishun is false and $onions is false and $legacy is false and $sea is false and $june is false and $preference is false and $moon is false and $redbird is false and $bamboo is false and $candy is false and $last is false and $redcandle is false and $goose is false and $shoes is false and $tstory is false>><<set $allfalse to true>><</if>><<if $allfalse is false>>Great! Here are my recommendations for you.<</if>>
<<if $guardian is true>><hr><img src="Images/3.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/12/guardian-of-spirit-master-post.html">Guardian of the Spirit </a> is fantasy series by Uehashi Nahoko. Set in a world based on early medieval Japan, a woman warrior is placed at the heart of shifting political and magical powers when she dares to save a young prince from execution.
Best parts: Strong female character, detailed worldbuilding, differentiated cultures, interesting perspectives, a nature-based magic system, timeless setting and conflicts, exciting action
Pain points: One painfully slow romance (easily ignored), fade-to-black at critical story moments, a slightly unsettled (but entirely happy) ending, and a sense of disconnection from book to book. This is a series, but most of the books in it can be read as stand-alone novels.
Note: The first two novels in this series, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Moribito-Guardian-Spirit-Nahoko-Uehashi-ebook/dp/B00JWGOPZE?crid=3PM6VS8392B3K&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.2mge0v9d_zktcJBFc9lAYsEXNL-KoSAB49BbozHhndn7BF0CgcJnkbkTJqzshBb9eXy9ucfPPyOf-iplZqkysROxrlXQU2UtkCUcblux9i52S5bUFZgQ-KTo0k7rVSEI3uEL2PaOKopiFjfXoIaTx5K52YBFaMcLooUQj3TsBCs3oSXjewWwgHSz0hFypUDtz39ZR7taliILTBhtwfCWfkIQgPPrkNeqD4VPazItZYc.xAH6eyqJzZevFU5S6ZquekSDrwsqad5eoiao6tvGTYo&dib_tag=se&keywords=guardian+of+the+spirit&qid=1738939768&sprefix=guardian+of+the+spirit%2Caps%2C132&sr=8-1">Guardian of the Spirit</a> and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Moribito-Guardian-Darkness-Nahoko-Uehashi-ebook/dp/B00JWGOPUY?crid=1FO5RSHA2BNVQ&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.NB5dC98gl4DutrqJMNGSRQ.0PEfHB8Ug7t5JZsN4ajYUcnC_CgxxI1YT0xgpo6mZng&dib_tag=se&keywords=guardian+of+the+darkness+uehashi&qid=1738939868&sprefix=guardian+of+the+darkness+uehashi%2Caps%2C87&sr=8-1">Guardian of the Darkness</a>, have been officially licensed and published. I highly recommend you read those first! If you'd prefer to do all your reading here, though, you can read the manga versions of the first two novels on this blog.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/12/guardian-of-spirit-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $guardianmanga is true>><hr><img src="Images/GotS.jpg"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/11/guardian-of-spirit-manga-master-post.html">Guardian of the Spirit Manga </a> is based on the fantasy series by Uehashi Nahoko. Set in a world based on early medieval Japan, a woman warrior is placed at the heart of shifting political and magical powers when she dares to save a young prince from execution.
Best parts: Strong female character, detailed worldbuilding, differentiated cultures, interesting perspectives, a nature-based magic system, timeless setting and conflicts, exciting action
Pain points: One painfully slow romance (easily ignored), fade-to-black at critical story moments, a slightly unsettled (but entirely happy) ending, and a sense of disconnection from book to book. This is a series, but <i>Guardian of the Spirit</i> and <i>Guardian of the Darkness</i> are independent enough to be read as stand-alone manga.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/11/guardian-of-spirit-manga-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a>
If you've read these manga already, you can also read the rest of the series as novels <a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/12/guardian-of-spirit-master-post.html">here</a>.
<</if>><<if $jinmanga is true>><hr><img src="Images/18.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/guardian-of-spirit-manga-gaiden-jin.html">Guardian of the Spirit Manga Gaiden - Jin</a> is a spinoff prequel manga based on the fantasy series by Uehashi Nahoko. Set in a world based on early medieval Japan, the Mikado's Hunters must thwart dangerous assassins and attempts on their lives.
Best parts: Outsider perspective, exciting action, shows events outside of canon that still inform canon, examines corrupt systems of authority and power with some nuance, shows teenagers being very convincingly teenagers, brief vengeance quest
Pain points: Sad ending, women exist to be captured, rescued or scapegoated, and the world that emerges from these pages is even more alarmingly horrible and unfair than in the novels
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/guardian-of-spirit-manga-gaiden-jin.html"><button>Pick This Manga</button></a>
If you've read this manga already, you can also read the rest of the series as manga (for the first two books) and novels <a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/12/guardian-of-spirit-master-post.html">here</a>.
<</if>><<if $werefox is true>><hr><img src="Images/98.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/03/beyond-werefox-whistle-master-post.html">Beyond the Werefox Whistle</a> is a fantasy novel by Uehashi Nahoko set in a world of magic where magic users and spirit beasts face unfair persecution that they must overcome.
Best parts: Detailed worldbuilding, differentiated cultures, a compelling past world, timeless setting and conflicts, intense friendships
Pain points: Focuses a lot on the human characters, who are generally less interesting than the magical spirit beasts and the sorcerer that controls them.
This is a stand-alone fantasy novel.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/03/beyond-werefox-whistle-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $dororo3 is true>><hr><img src="Images/21.png"><br>The <a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/01/toriumi-jinzo-dororo-series-3-books.html">Dororo Series</a> is a 3-book series by Toriumi Jinzō based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. A baby boy abandoned at birth loses forty-eight pieces of his body to demons. He embarks on a quest to find his birth family for answers and eliminate the demons who want him dead. He's accompanied by a young sneak-thief, Dororo, as well as a colorful cast of other allies: a brilliant surgeon, a bomb-happy pirate, and a blind monk. Set in 1480s Japan at the start of the Warring States period.
Best parts: Psychologically comprehensible characters, an almost entirely happy ending, a solid setting based on real events and battles, realistic medicine for the period
Pain points: Intensely precise detail for medicine, bombs and battles (easily skipped), slow progression at the start (but it picks up and stays there).
Content Warnings: The body horror of surgery and the macabre abilities of demons to alter minds and bodies make this more psychological horror story than a gore-fest. There is some brief sexual content, mainly in the second book.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/01/toriumi-jinzo-dororo-series-3-books.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $dororo2 is true>><hr><img src="Images/19.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/01/nakamura-masaru-dororo-movie.html">The Dororo Movie Novelization</a> sparked a film of the same name (<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0780503/">Dororo</a>). It is based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. Hyakkimaru, the main character, is abandoned by his birth family with forty-eight body parts missing. A surgeon creates a new body for him out of the bodies of children who've been slain in war. He accompanies the thief Dororo on a journey of discovery when they are both adults.
Best parts: The friendship between Hyakkimaru and Dororo is skillfully developed and never turns romantic, which is refreshing. Anti-war and pro-individuality themes are explored in interesting ways.
Pain points: Villainous characters are given a lot of pages in an attempt to redeem them that falls flat. Some ideas are introduced and don't really go anywhere.
Content Warning: Body horror galore in this one, from missing eyes to genital organs re-growing in real time. If you're looking for something gory, violent, and post-apocalyptic with a strong focus on character development and progression, this is your story.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/01/nakamura-masaru-dororo-movie.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $dororo1 is true>><hr><img src="Images/24.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/12/dororo-novel-master-post.html">Dororo: A Novel</a> is based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. This was written specifically as a children's novel and focuses more on the adventuresome aspect of the story than most other adaptations. The plot follows Hyakkimaru, a paraplegic warrior missing most of his body, and Dororo, a young thief who wants to steal the swords out of his prosthetic arms. Hyakkimaru recovers pieces of his body from demons who stole them when he was born. Both Hyakkimaru and Dororo confront their pasts when family and old friends reappear on their adventures.
Best parts: The friendship between Hyakkimaru and Dororo is fun and silly, and ocassionally poignant. Hyakkimaru's brother has a brief and surprising star turn, and important events from the manga are dramatized in child-focused detail. The authorial voice has personality and verve.
Pain points: Villains aren't given a lot of development and the child-friendly format limits the effect that most of the bad guys can have. Setting this up as a children's story was probably a bit misguided to start with.
Content Warning: Some body horror (PG-rated). A woman and a man are brutally killed on-screen, though most of the violence is stylized.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/12/dororo-novel-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $search is true>><hr><img src="Images/46.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/search-and-destroy-master-post.html">Search and Destroy</a> is a 3-volume series by Kaneko Atsushi based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. The main characters are gender-swapped in this story, meaning the main character is female and Dororo is male. The world is a post-apocalypic hellscape run by corrupt politicians and half-human robots.
Best parts: More so than other adaptations, <i>Search and Destroy</i> is about what being human actually means, well beyond having human parts and pieces. The art style is stunningly beautiful and the ending is perfectly balanced between realistic and positive for all the main characters.
Pain points: Never heard of 'em. If you're here for a horror story and you like manga, then this is a feast.
Content Warning: Features explicit gore, surgeries and under-the-skin visceral body horror for both main characters.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/search-and-destroy-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $bon is true>><hr><img src="Images/49.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/dororo-bon-master-post.html">Dororo Bon</a> is a 4-volume series by Douke Daisuke based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. The main characters are all female in this story. The world setting is modern with magic and the story features a demonic cat as a sidekick character.
Best parts: The relationships are well-drawn, particularly in Volume 3 which is set in the distant past. The end is much more settled than the one Osamu Tezuka wrote for his Dororo manga.
Pain points: The story is obviously a confusing mess and it takes a long time to find its footing.
Content Warning: In addition to the body horror that's typical of <i>Dororo</i> adaptations in media, the series explores common ghost stories in Japan in some detail. It's not especially gory or frightening, but the setting has a very gothic feel.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/dororo-bon-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $adv is true>><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/08/dororo-adventure-novel-choose-your-own.html">Dororo: Choose Your Own Adventure</a> is a game version of Osamu Tezuka's <i>Dororo</i> manga. Play as Hyakkimaru or Dororo (depending on choices), discover more than a dozen unique endings (including the "true" ending), earn achievements, and rewrite the story in interesting ways.
Best parts: It is possible to play the story exactly according to the manga it's based on, but it's also possible to go completely off-script and discover interesting (and sometimes superior) sequences of events that lead to better outcomes. If you've never heard of <i>Dororo</i> before and are interested in seeing what it's all about, this is not a terrible place to start. The game respects personal choices and has real consequences. Curiosity and compassion are rewarded. Ruthless violence and ignorance are severely punished.
Pain points: It's not really a book, per se, but a game! And it's true that <i>Dororo</i> fans will get more out of it. If you've read and liked <i>Dororo</i> stuff before, you'll probably like this. However, it's welcoming and fun enough for newcomers to explore. Beating the game entirely takes 2-3 hours on average and there's limited replayability.
Content Warning: Some of the worst endings have characters slaughtering their own family or being devoured by monsters. It's PG-13 rated violence and gore for the most part. There is no sexually explicit material.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/08/dororo-adventure-novel-choose-your-own.html"><button>Pick This Game</button></a><</if>><<if $bambi is true>><hr><img src="Images/82.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/bambi-and-her-pink-gun-master-post.html">Bambi and Her Pink Gun</a> is a 7-volume manga series by Kaneko Atsushi. It centers on a sixteen-year-old girl named Bambi who has kidnapped a young boy from a crazy pop star and is taking him back to the 'Old Men'. The story is extremely violent, with every new scene taking on a different look and feel (Western, Latino, the 40s, traditional Japanese, etc.)
Best parts: Bambi's violent vegetarianism, inspired art styles, over-the-top crazy drug-fueld violence, it's a ride
Pain points: Very dark, violent and at times gratuitous, <i>Bambi</i> belongs to the genre of manga that is written for men but features a strong female protagonist.
Content Warning: Buckets of blood and copious nudity. Hide the kids for this one. Also some pointed social commentary, if you know where to look.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/bambi-and-her-pink-gun-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $forty is true>><hr><img src="Images/29.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/shijukara-starting-at-40-master-post.html">Starting at 40</a> is a 17-volume manga series by Sakai Eri. It follows Watanuki Shinobu, a 39-year-old woman and unsuccessful manga artist. She plans to give up her career, but after one of her old works becomes a hit online, she decides to create a new comic instead. In need of help, she looks for an assistant. The handsome 22-year-old man named Tachibana Chiaki applies to her ad, and Shinobu finds herself at a major turning point in her life.
Best parts: The director of the drama adaptation described <i>Starting at 40</i> as "an infidelity drama for people who don't like infidelity dramas," and that captures the feeling almost perfectly. Shinobu and Chiaki have wealth of individual experience; collectively, they use art to explain the human experience and overcome extreme personal traumas. I generally don't like romance, but loved this from start to (very happy) finish.
Pain points: Has some explicit sexuality, including sexual abuse. It is never gratuitous but is quite frank and painful. The characters' triumph at the end is more powerful for these traumatic experiences, which are never forgotten or swept under the rug.
Content Warning: Nudity, sexual abuse (including abuse of a child), physical abuse
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/shijukara-starting-at-40-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $r is true>><hr><img src="Images/99.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/05/r-original-kaneko-atsushi.html">R: The Original</a> is a collection of 9 wonderfully weird and violent short stories from the mind of Kaneko Atsushi.
Best parts: Variety. There's everything here from sci-fi, fantasy, aliens, violence, melon bread, lemon bread and more
Pain points: Not for the faint of heart and only for the very curious. The art is, at times, experimental and hard on the eyes.
Content Warning: Physical as well as psychological horror elements, plus Kaneko Atsushi's trademark over-the-top violence.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/05/r-original-kaneko-atsushi.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a><</if>><<if $swallows is true>><hr><img src="Images/Swallows.png"><br><a href=
"https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2025/01/the-swallows-will-not-return-sakai-eri.html">The Swallows Will Not Return</a> is a limited series manga based on the novel of the same name by Natsuo Kirino. It's about a young woman named Riki who lives in desperate poverty. She becomes a surrogate mother out of desperation and is bought by a wealthy infertile couple who want her because she resembles the wife.
Best parts: Heavy topics in happy packaging is very much Sakai Eri's style. The characters are fleshed out and their psychology is comprehensible even when they aren't entirely sympathetic.
Pain points: Depictions of the gulf between the ultra-rich and the severely impoverished are designed to provoke rage.
Content Warning: The manga discusses and depicts explicit sexual topics and is highly concerned with women's (and to a lesser extent, men's) bodily autonomy.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2025/01/the-swallows-will-not-return-sakai-eri.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $fire is true>><hr><img src="Images/93.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/04/fire-hunter-series-master-post.html">The Fire Hunter Series</a> is 5-book fantasy series by Hinata Rieko. Set in a post-apocalyptic world at war, two children uncover ancient secrets that put their families and society at risk.
Best parts: Detailed worldbuilding, differentiated cultures, magic is technology and technology is magic, dogs are a major thing in this world
Pain points: Stilted, stuffy style (meant to imitate older speech), weak and underdeveloped characters, slow-paced, tonally mixed, ethically problematic, many story elements are contradictory
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/04/fire-hunter-series-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $sorceress is true>><hr><img src="Images/26.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-sorceress-revolt-kobijis-story.html">The Sorceress' Revolt</a> is fantasy novel with an historical twist set in ancient China written by Toriumi Jinzō. A Buddhist monk gains mysterious powers in a sacred cave and must use them to save China from outside invasion and the threat of a powerful sorceress.
Best parts: Strong characters (both men and women) with realistic psychological progression. Fast-paced and grounded in historical fact, this novel explores universal human conflicts and desires: the conflict between corruption and righteousness and the desires for immortality and immunity from pain.
Pain points: Historical detail can be thick on the ground, pacing is more variable in the second part. Some content is violent and sexually explicit (between PG-13 and R on the MPAA rating scale).
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-sorceress-revolt-kobijis-story.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $science is true>><hr><img src="Images/97.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/04/science-ninja-team-gatchaman-master-post.html">Science Ninja Team Gatchaman</a> is science fiction/action-adventure novel set in the 1980s. Campy, silly and over-the-top fun, this is what would happen if Saturday morning cartoons became a novel.
Best parts: Strong characters (both men and women), fast-paced and action-heavy, detailed setting, cool art
Pain points: More dated than this author's other novels; the male gaze intrudes for some characters. The zany plot and concept have appeal for kids and teens, but the issues explored and plot progression is distinctly adult.
Content Warning: Violence, violence and more violence, most of it cartoony but some of it very intense.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/04/science-ninja-team-gatchaman-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $stranger is true>><hr><img src="Images/89.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/xamd-lost-memories-pilgrims-compass.html">The Sword of the Stranger</a> is a manga about a warrior and an outsider in Meiji era Japan (1860s). He finds his way of life shattered when a foreign faction captures a child to use in a nefarious sacrifice. Based on the anime film of the same name.
Best parts: Exciting action, some good character development, exaggerated but largely accurate historical detail
Pain points: Plot progression is generic to the action genre, and the manga doesn't add much value to the anime movie
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/12/sword-of-stranger-manga.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a><</if>><<if $xamd is true>><hr><img src="Images/90.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/xamd-lost-memories-pilgrims-compass.html">Xam'd Lost Memories: Pilgrim's Compass</a> is a world tour through a lost age. Teenagers embark on a sacred pilgrimage seeking lost magic and memories. Fun but generic. Based on the anime of the same name.
Best parts: Some positive character progression and bright but zany humor
Pain points: Doesn't offer much to differentiate it from all the other action anime out there, though past discoveries do lend the story some depth
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/xamd-lost-memories-pilgrims-compass.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a><</if>>
<<if $guardian is false and $jinmanga is false and $guardianmanga is false and $werefox is false and $dororo3 is false and $dororo2 is false and $dororo1 is false and $search is false and $bon is false and $adv is false and $bambi is false and $r is false and $forty is false and $swallows is false and $fire is false and $sorceress is false and $science is false and $stranger is false and $xamd is false and $spider is false and $gods is false and $devil is false and $grove is false and $wei is false and $rabbit is false and $tag is false and $mandarins is false and $shrine is false and $toshishun is false and $onions is false and $legacy is false and $sea is false and $june is false and $preference is false and $moon is false and $redbird is false and $bamboo is false and $candy is false and $last is false and $redcandle is false and $goose is false and $shoes is false and $tstory is false>>Sorry, I don't have any recommendations for you right now.
[[Try again->StoryInit]]<<set $allfalse to true>><</if>>
<<if $allfalse is false>>Not what you're looking for?
[[Try again->StoryInit]]<</if>>
<<set $dororo3 to false>><<set $dororo2 to false>><<set $sorceress to false>><<set $science to false>><<set $r to false>>
<<if $guardian is false and $jinmanga is false and $guardianmanga is false and $werefox is false and $dororo3 is false and $dororo2 is false and $dororo1 is false and $search is false and $bon is false and $adv is false and $bambi is false and $r is false and $forty is false and $swallows is false and $fire is false and $sorceress is false and $science is false and $stranger is false and $xamd is false and $spider is false and $gods is false and $devil is false and $grove is false and $wei is false and $rabbit is false and $tag is false and $mandarins is false and $shrine is false and $toshishun is false and $onions is false and $legacy is false and $sea is false and $june is false and $preference is false and $moon is false and $redbird is false and $bamboo is false and $candy is false and $last is false and $redcandle is false and $goose is false and $shoes is false and $tstory is false>><<set $allfalse to true>><</if>><<if $allfalse is false>>Great! Here are my recommendations for you.<</if>>
<<if $guardian is true>><hr><img src="Images/3.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/12/guardian-of-spirit-master-post.html">Guardian of the Spirit </a> is fantasy series by Uehashi Nahoko. Set in a world based on early medieval Japan, a woman warrior is placed at the heart of shifting political and magical powers when she dares to save a young prince from execution.
Best parts: Strong female character, detailed worldbuilding, differentiated cultures, interesting perspectives, a nature-based magic system, timeless setting and conflicts, exciting action
Pain points: One painfully slow romance (easily ignored), fade-to-black at critical story moments, a slightly unsettled (but entirely happy) ending, and a sense of disconnection from book to book. This is a series, but most of the books in it can be read as stand-alone novels.
Note: The first two novels in this series, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Moribito-Guardian-Spirit-Nahoko-Uehashi-ebook/dp/B00JWGOPZE?crid=3PM6VS8392B3K&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.2mge0v9d_zktcJBFc9lAYsEXNL-KoSAB49BbozHhndn7BF0CgcJnkbkTJqzshBb9eXy9ucfPPyOf-iplZqkysROxrlXQU2UtkCUcblux9i52S5bUFZgQ-KTo0k7rVSEI3uEL2PaOKopiFjfXoIaTx5K52YBFaMcLooUQj3TsBCs3oSXjewWwgHSz0hFypUDtz39ZR7taliILTBhtwfCWfkIQgPPrkNeqD4VPazItZYc.xAH6eyqJzZevFU5S6ZquekSDrwsqad5eoiao6tvGTYo&dib_tag=se&keywords=guardian+of+the+spirit&qid=1738939768&sprefix=guardian+of+the+spirit%2Caps%2C132&sr=8-1">Guardian of the Spirit</a> and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Moribito-Guardian-Darkness-Nahoko-Uehashi-ebook/dp/B00JWGOPUY?crid=1FO5RSHA2BNVQ&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.NB5dC98gl4DutrqJMNGSRQ.0PEfHB8Ug7t5JZsN4ajYUcnC_CgxxI1YT0xgpo6mZng&dib_tag=se&keywords=guardian+of+the+darkness+uehashi&qid=1738939868&sprefix=guardian+of+the+darkness+uehashi%2Caps%2C87&sr=8-1">Guardian of the Darkness</a>, have been officially licensed and published. I highly recommend you read those first! If you'd prefer to do all your reading here, though, you can read the manga versions of the first two novels on this blog.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/12/guardian-of-spirit-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $guardianmanga is true>><hr><img src="Images/GotS.jpg"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/11/guardian-of-spirit-manga-master-post.html">Guardian of the Spirit Manga </a> is based on the fantasy series by Uehashi Nahoko. Set in a world based on early medieval Japan, a woman warrior is placed at the heart of shifting political and magical powers when she dares to save a young prince from execution.
Best parts: Strong female character, detailed worldbuilding, differentiated cultures, interesting perspectives, a nature-based magic system, timeless setting and conflicts, exciting action
Pain points: One painfully slow romance (easily ignored), fade-to-black at critical story moments, a slightly unsettled (but entirely happy) ending, and a sense of disconnection from book to book. This is a series, but <i>Guardian of the Spirit</i> and <i>Guardian of the Darkness</i> are independent enough to be read as stand-alone manga.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/11/guardian-of-spirit-manga-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a>
If you've read these manga already, you can also read the rest of the series as novels <a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/12/guardian-of-spirit-master-post.html">here</a>.
<</if>><<if $jinmanga is true>><hr><img src="Images/18.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/guardian-of-spirit-manga-gaiden-jin.html">Guardian of the Spirit Manga Gaiden - Jin</a> is a spinoff prequel manga based on the fantasy series by Uehashi Nahoko. Set in a world based on early medieval Japan, the Mikado's Hunters must thwart dangerous assassins and attempts on their lives.
Best parts: Outsider perspective, exciting action, shows events outside of canon that still inform canon, examines corrupt systems of authority and power with some nuance, shows teenagers being very convincingly teenagers, brief vengeance quest
Pain points: Sad ending, women exist to be captured, rescued or scapegoated, and the world that emerges from these pages is even more alarmingly horrible and unfair than in the novels
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/guardian-of-spirit-manga-gaiden-jin.html"><button>Pick This Manga</button></a>
If you've read this manga already, you can also read the rest of the series as manga (for the first two books) and novels <a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/12/guardian-of-spirit-master-post.html">here</a>.
<</if>><<if $werefox is true>><hr><img src="Images/98.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/03/beyond-werefox-whistle-master-post.html">Beyond the Werefox Whistle</a> is a fantasy novel by Uehashi Nahoko set in a world of magic where magic users and spirit beasts face unfair persecution that they must overcome.
Best parts: Detailed worldbuilding, differentiated cultures, a compelling past world, timeless setting and conflicts, intense friendships
Pain points: Focuses a lot on the human characters, who are generally less interesting than the magical spirit beasts and the sorcerer that controls them.
This is a stand-alone fantasy novel.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/03/beyond-werefox-whistle-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $dororo3 is true>><hr><img src="Images/21.png"><br>The <a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/01/toriumi-jinzo-dororo-series-3-books.html">Dororo Series</a> is a 3-book series by Toriumi Jinzō based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. A baby boy abandoned at birth loses forty-eight pieces of his body to demons. He embarks on a quest to find his birth family for answers and eliminate the demons who want him dead. He's accompanied by a young sneak-thief, Dororo, as well as a colorful cast of other allies: a brilliant surgeon, a bomb-happy pirate, and a blind monk. Set in 1480s Japan at the start of the Warring States period.
Best parts: Psychologically comprehensible characters, an almost entirely happy ending, a solid setting based on real events and battles, realistic medicine for the period
Pain points: Intensely precise detail for medicine, bombs and battles (easily skipped), slow progression at the start (but it picks up and stays there).
Content Warnings: The body horror of surgery and the macabre abilities of demons to alter minds and bodies make this more psychological horror story than a gore-fest. There is some brief sexual content, mainly in the second book.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/01/toriumi-jinzo-dororo-series-3-books.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $dororo2 is true>><hr><img src="Images/19.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/01/nakamura-masaru-dororo-movie.html">The Dororo Movie Novelization</a> sparked a film of the same name (<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0780503/">Dororo</a>). It is based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. Hyakkimaru, the main character, is abandoned by his birth family with forty-eight body parts missing. A surgeon creates a new body for him out of the bodies of children who've been slain in war. He accompanies the thief Dororo on a journey of discovery when they are both adults.
Best parts: The friendship between Hyakkimaru and Dororo is skillfully developed and never turns romantic, which is refreshing. Anti-war and pro-individuality themes are explored in interesting ways.
Pain points: Villainous characters are given a lot of pages in an attempt to redeem them that falls flat. Some ideas are introduced and don't really go anywhere.
Content Warning: Body horror galore in this one, from missing eyes to genital organs re-growing in real time. If you're looking for something gory, violent, and post-apocalyptic with a strong focus on character development and progression, this is your story.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/01/nakamura-masaru-dororo-movie.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $dororo1 is true>><hr><img src="Images/24.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/12/dororo-novel-master-post.html">Dororo: A Novel</a> is based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. This was written specifically as a children's novel and focuses more on the adventuresome aspect of the story than most other adaptations. The plot follows Hyakkimaru, a paraplegic warrior missing most of his body, and Dororo, a young thief who wants to steal the swords out of his prosthetic arms. Hyakkimaru recovers pieces of his body from demons who stole them when he was born. Both Hyakkimaru and Dororo confront their pasts when family and old friends reappear on their adventures.
Best parts: The friendship between Hyakkimaru and Dororo is fun and silly, and ocassionally poignant. Hyakkimaru's brother has a brief and surprising star turn, and important events from the manga are dramatized in child-focused detail. The authorial voice has personality and verve.
Pain points: Villains aren't given a lot of development and the child-friendly format limits the effect that most of the bad guys can have. Setting this up as a children's story was probably a bit misguided to start with.
Content Warning: Some body horror (PG-rated). A woman and a man are brutally killed on-screen, though most of the violence is stylized.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/12/dororo-novel-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $search is true>><hr><img src="Images/46.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/search-and-destroy-master-post.html">Search and Destroy</a> is a 3-volume series by Kaneko Atsushi based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. The main characters are gender-swapped in this story, meaning the main character is female and Dororo is male. The world is a post-apocalypic hellscape run by corrupt politicians and half-human robots.
Best parts: More so than other adaptations, <i>Search and Destroy</i> is about what being human actually means, well beyond having human parts and pieces. The art style is stunningly beautiful and the ending is perfectly balanced between realistic and positive for all the main characters.
Pain points: Never heard of 'em. If you're here for a horror story and you like manga, then this is a feast.
Content Warning: Features explicit gore, surgeries and under-the-skin visceral body horror for both main characters.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/search-and-destroy-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $bon is true>><hr><img src="Images/49.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/dororo-bon-master-post.html">Dororo Bon</a> is a 4-volume series by Douke Daisuke based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. The main characters are all female in this story. The world setting is modern with magic and the story features a demonic cat as a sidekick character.
Best parts: The relationships are well-drawn, particularly in Volume 3 which is set in the distant past. The end is much more settled than the one Osamu Tezuka wrote for his Dororo manga.
Pain points: The story is obviously a confusing mess and it takes a long time to find its footing.
Content Warning: In addition to the body horror that's typical of <i>Dororo</i> adaptations in media, the series explores common ghost stories in Japan in some detail. It's not especially gory or frightening, but the setting has a very gothic feel.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/dororo-bon-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $adv is true>><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/08/dororo-adventure-novel-choose-your-own.html">Dororo: Choose Your Own Adventure</a> is a game version of Osamu Tezuka's <i>Dororo</i> manga. Play as Hyakkimaru or Dororo (depending on choices), discover more than a dozen unique endings (including the "true" ending), earn achievements, and rewrite the story in interesting ways.
Best parts: It is possible to play the story exactly according to the manga it's based on, but it's also possible to go completely off-script and discover interesting (and sometimes superior) sequences of events that lead to better outcomes. If you've never heard of <i>Dororo</i> before and are interested in seeing what it's all about, this is not a terrible place to start. The game respects personal choices and has real consequences. Curiosity and compassion are rewarded. Ruthless violence and ignorance are severely punished.
Pain points: It's not really a book, per se, but a game! And it's true that <i>Dororo</i> fans will get more out of it. If you've read and liked <i>Dororo</i> stuff before, you'll probably like this. However, it's welcoming and fun enough for newcomers to explore. Beating the game entirely takes 2-3 hours on average and there's limited replayability.
Content Warning: Some of the worst endings have characters slaughtering their own family or being devoured by monsters. It's PG-13 rated violence and gore for the most part. There is no sexually explicit material.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/08/dororo-adventure-novel-choose-your-own.html"><button>Pick This Game</button></a><</if>><<if $bambi is true>><hr><img src="Images/82.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/bambi-and-her-pink-gun-master-post.html">Bambi and Her Pink Gun</a> is a 7-volume manga series by Kaneko Atsushi. It centers on a sixteen-year-old girl named Bambi who has kidnapped a young boy from a crazy pop star and is taking him back to the 'Old Men'. The story is extremely violent, with every new scene taking on a different look and feel (Western, Latino, the 40s, traditional Japanese, etc.)
Best parts: Bambi's violent vegetarianism, inspired art styles, over-the-top crazy drug-fueld violence, it's a ride
Pain points: Very dark, violent and at times gratuitous, <i>Bambi</i> belongs to the genre of manga that is written for men but features a strong female protagonist.
Content Warning: Buckets of blood and copious nudity. Hide the kids for this one. Also some pointed social commentary, if you know where to look.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/bambi-and-her-pink-gun-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $forty is true>><hr><img src="Images/29.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/shijukara-starting-at-40-master-post.html">Starting at 40</a> is a 17-volume manga series by Sakai Eri. It follows Watanuki Shinobu, a 39-year-old woman and unsuccessful manga artist. She plans to give up her career, but after one of her old works becomes a hit online, she decides to create a new comic instead. In need of help, she looks for an assistant. The handsome 22-year-old man named Tachibana Chiaki applies to her ad, and Shinobu finds herself at a major turning point in her life.
Best parts: The director of the drama adaptation described <i>Starting at 40</i> as "an infidelity drama for people who don't like infidelity dramas," and that captures the feeling almost perfectly. Shinobu and Chiaki have wealth of individual experience; collectively, they use art to explain the human experience and overcome extreme personal traumas. I generally don't like romance, but loved this from start to (very happy) finish.
Pain points: Has some explicit sexuality, including sexual abuse. It is never gratuitous but is quite frank and painful. The characters' triumph at the end is more powerful for these traumatic experiences, which are never forgotten or swept under the rug.
Content Warning: Nudity, sexual abuse (including abuse of a child), physical abuse
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/shijukara-starting-at-40-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $r is true>><hr><img src="Images/99.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/05/r-original-kaneko-atsushi.html">R: The Original</a> is a collection of 9 wonderfully weird and violent short stories from the mind of Kaneko Atsushi.
Best parts: Variety. There's everything here from sci-fi, fantasy, aliens, violence, melon bread, lemon bread and more
Pain points: Not for the faint of heart and only for the very curious. The art is, at times, experimental and hard on the eyes.
Content Warning: Physical as well as psychological horror elements, plus Kaneko Atsushi's trademark over-the-top violence.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/05/r-original-kaneko-atsushi.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a><</if>><<if $swallows is true>><hr><img src="Images/Swallows.png"><br><a href=
"https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2025/01/the-swallows-will-not-return-sakai-eri.html">The Swallows Will Not Return</a> is a limited series manga based on the novel of the same name by Natsuo Kirino. It's about a young woman named Riki who lives in desperate poverty. She becomes a surrogate mother out of desperation and is bought by a wealthy infertile couple who want her because she resembles the wife.
Best parts: Heavy topics in happy packaging is very much Sakai Eri's style. The characters are fleshed out and their psychology is comprehensible even when they aren't entirely sympathetic.
Pain points: Depictions of the gulf between the ultra-rich and the severely impoverished are designed to provoke rage.
Content Warning: The manga discusses and depicts explicit sexual topics and is highly concerned with women's (and to a lesser extent, men's) bodily autonomy.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2025/01/the-swallows-will-not-return-sakai-eri.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $fire is true>><hr><img src="Images/93.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/04/fire-hunter-series-master-post.html">The Fire Hunter Series</a> is 5-book fantasy series by Hinata Rieko. Set in a post-apocalyptic world at war, two children uncover ancient secrets that put their families and society at risk.
Best parts: Detailed worldbuilding, differentiated cultures, magic is technology and technology is magic, dogs are a major thing in this world
Pain points: Stilted, stuffy style (meant to imitate older speech), weak and underdeveloped characters, slow-paced, tonally mixed, ethically problematic, many story elements are contradictory
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/04/fire-hunter-series-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $sorceress is true>><hr><img src="Images/26.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-sorceress-revolt-kobijis-story.html">The Sorceress' Revolt</a> is fantasy novel with an historical twist set in ancient China written by Toriumi Jinzō. A Buddhist monk gains mysterious powers in a sacred cave and must use them to save China from outside invasion and the threat of a powerful sorceress.
Best parts: Strong characters (both men and women) with realistic psychological progression. Fast-paced and grounded in historical fact, this novel explores universal human conflicts and desires: the conflict between corruption and righteousness and the desires for immortality and immunity from pain.
Pain points: Historical detail can be thick on the ground, pacing is more variable in the second part. Some content is violent and sexually explicit (between PG-13 and R on the MPAA rating scale).
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-sorceress-revolt-kobijis-story.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $science is true>><hr><img src="Images/97.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/04/science-ninja-team-gatchaman-master-post.html">Science Ninja Team Gatchaman</a> is science fiction/action-adventure novel set in the 1980s. Campy, silly and over-the-top fun, this is what would happen if Saturday morning cartoons became a novel.
Best parts: Strong characters (both men and women), fast-paced and action-heavy, detailed setting, cool art
Pain points: More dated than this author's other novels; the male gaze intrudes for some characters. The zany plot and concept have appeal for kids and teens, but the issues explored and plot progression is distinctly adult.
Content Warning: Violence, violence and more violence, most of it cartoony but some of it very intense.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/04/science-ninja-team-gatchaman-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $stranger is true>><hr><img src="Images/89.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/xamd-lost-memories-pilgrims-compass.html">The Sword of the Stranger</a> is a manga about a warrior and an outsider in Meiji era Japan (1860s). He finds his way of life shattered when a foreign faction captures a child to use in a nefarious sacrifice. Based on the anime film of the same name.
Best parts: Exciting action, some good character development, exaggerated but largely accurate historical detail
Pain points: Plot progression is generic to the action genre, and the manga doesn't add much value to the anime movie
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/12/sword-of-stranger-manga.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a><</if>><<if $xamd is true>><hr><img src="Images/90.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/xamd-lost-memories-pilgrims-compass.html">Xam'd Lost Memories: Pilgrim's Compass</a> is a world tour through a lost age. Teenagers embark on a sacred pilgrimage seeking lost magic and memories. Fun but generic. Based on the anime of the same name.
Best parts: Some positive character progression and bright but zany humor
Pain points: Doesn't offer much to differentiate it from all the other action anime out there, though past discoveries do lend the story some depth
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/xamd-lost-memories-pilgrims-compass.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a><</if>>
<<if $guardian is false and $jinmanga is false and $guardianmanga is false and $werefox is false and $dororo3 is false and $dororo2 is false and $dororo1 is false and $search is false and $bon is false and $adv is false and $bambi is false and $r is false and $forty is false and $swallows is false and $fire is false and $sorceress is false and $science is false and $stranger is false and $xamd is false and $spider is false and $gods is false and $devil is false and $grove is false and $wei is false and $rabbit is false and $tag is false and $mandarins is false and $shrine is false and $toshishun is false and $onions is false and $legacy is false and $sea is false and $june is false and $preference is false and $moon is false and $redbird is false and $bamboo is false and $candy is false and $last is false and $redcandle is false and $goose is false and $shoes is false and $tstory is false>>Sorry, I don't have any recommendations for you right now.
[[Try again->StoryInit]]<<set $allfalse to true>><</if>>
<<if $allfalse is false>>Not what you're looking for?
[[Try again->StoryInit]]<</if>>
<<if $guardian is false and $jinmanga is false and $guardianmanga is false and $werefox is false and $dororo3 is false and $dororo2 is false and $dororo1 is false and $search is false and $bon is false and $adv is false and $bambi is false and $r is false and $forty is false and $swallows is false and $fire is false and $sorceress is false and $science is false and $stranger is false and $xamd is false and $spider is false and $gods is false and $devil is false and $grove is false and $wei is false and $rabbit is false and $tag is false and $mandarins is false and $shrine is false and $toshishun is false and $onions is false and $legacy is false and $sea is false and $june is false and $preference is false and $moon is false and $redbird is false and $bamboo is false and $candy is false and $last is false and $redcandle is false and $goose is false and $shoes is false and $tstory is false>><<set $allfalse to true>><</if>><<if $allfalse is false>>Great! Here are my recommendations for you.<</if>>
<<if $guardian is true>><hr><img src="Images/3.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/12/guardian-of-spirit-master-post.html">Guardian of the Spirit </a> is fantasy series by Uehashi Nahoko. Set in a world based on early medieval Japan, a woman warrior is placed at the heart of shifting political and magical powers when she dares to save a young prince from execution.
Best parts: Strong female character, detailed worldbuilding, differentiated cultures, interesting perspectives, a nature-based magic system, timeless setting and conflicts, exciting action
Pain points: One painfully slow romance (easily ignored), fade-to-black at critical story moments, a slightly unsettled (but entirely happy) ending, and a sense of disconnection from book to book. This is a series, but most of the books in it can be read as stand-alone novels.
Note: The first two novels in this series, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Moribito-Guardian-Spirit-Nahoko-Uehashi-ebook/dp/B00JWGOPZE?crid=3PM6VS8392B3K&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.2mge0v9d_zktcJBFc9lAYsEXNL-KoSAB49BbozHhndn7BF0CgcJnkbkTJqzshBb9eXy9ucfPPyOf-iplZqkysROxrlXQU2UtkCUcblux9i52S5bUFZgQ-KTo0k7rVSEI3uEL2PaOKopiFjfXoIaTx5K52YBFaMcLooUQj3TsBCs3oSXjewWwgHSz0hFypUDtz39ZR7taliILTBhtwfCWfkIQgPPrkNeqD4VPazItZYc.xAH6eyqJzZevFU5S6ZquekSDrwsqad5eoiao6tvGTYo&dib_tag=se&keywords=guardian+of+the+spirit&qid=1738939768&sprefix=guardian+of+the+spirit%2Caps%2C132&sr=8-1">Guardian of the Spirit</a> and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Moribito-Guardian-Darkness-Nahoko-Uehashi-ebook/dp/B00JWGOPUY?crid=1FO5RSHA2BNVQ&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.NB5dC98gl4DutrqJMNGSRQ.0PEfHB8Ug7t5JZsN4ajYUcnC_CgxxI1YT0xgpo6mZng&dib_tag=se&keywords=guardian+of+the+darkness+uehashi&qid=1738939868&sprefix=guardian+of+the+darkness+uehashi%2Caps%2C87&sr=8-1">Guardian of the Darkness</a>, have been officially licensed and published. I highly recommend you read those first! If you'd prefer to do all your reading here, though, you can read the manga versions of the first two novels on this blog.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/12/guardian-of-spirit-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $guardianmanga is true>><hr><img src="Images/GotS.jpg"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/11/guardian-of-spirit-manga-master-post.html">Guardian of the Spirit Manga </a> is based on the fantasy series by Uehashi Nahoko. Set in a world based on early medieval Japan, a woman warrior is placed at the heart of shifting political and magical powers when she dares to save a young prince from execution.
Best parts: Strong female character, detailed worldbuilding, differentiated cultures, interesting perspectives, a nature-based magic system, timeless setting and conflicts, exciting action
Pain points: One painfully slow romance (easily ignored), fade-to-black at critical story moments, a slightly unsettled (but entirely happy) ending, and a sense of disconnection from book to book. This is a series, but <i>Guardian of the Spirit</i> and <i>Guardian of the Darkness</i> are independent enough to be read as stand-alone manga.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/11/guardian-of-spirit-manga-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a>
If you've read these manga already, you can also read the rest of the series as novels <a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/12/guardian-of-spirit-master-post.html">here</a>.
<</if>><<if $jinmanga is true>><hr><img src="Images/18.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/guardian-of-spirit-manga-gaiden-jin.html">Guardian of the Spirit Manga Gaiden - Jin</a> is a spinoff prequel manga based on the fantasy series by Uehashi Nahoko. Set in a world based on early medieval Japan, the Mikado's Hunters must thwart dangerous assassins and attempts on their lives.
Best parts: Outsider perspective, exciting action, shows events outside of canon that still inform canon, examines corrupt systems of authority and power with some nuance, shows teenagers being very convincingly teenagers, brief vengeance quest
Pain points: Sad ending, women exist to be captured, rescued or scapegoated, and the world that emerges from these pages is even more alarmingly horrible and unfair than in the novels
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/guardian-of-spirit-manga-gaiden-jin.html"><button>Pick This Manga</button></a>
If you've read this manga already, you can also read the rest of the series as manga (for the first two books) and novels <a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/12/guardian-of-spirit-master-post.html">here</a>.
<</if>><<if $werefox is true>><hr><img src="Images/98.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/03/beyond-werefox-whistle-master-post.html">Beyond the Werefox Whistle</a> is a fantasy novel by Uehashi Nahoko set in a world of magic where magic users and spirit beasts face unfair persecution that they must overcome.
Best parts: Detailed worldbuilding, differentiated cultures, a compelling past world, timeless setting and conflicts, intense friendships
Pain points: Focuses a lot on the human characters, who are generally less interesting than the magical spirit beasts and the sorcerer that controls them.
This is a stand-alone fantasy novel.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/03/beyond-werefox-whistle-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $dororo3 is true>><hr><img src="Images/21.png"><br>The <a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/01/toriumi-jinzo-dororo-series-3-books.html">Dororo Series</a> is a 3-book series by Toriumi Jinzō based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. A baby boy abandoned at birth loses forty-eight pieces of his body to demons. He embarks on a quest to find his birth family for answers and eliminate the demons who want him dead. He's accompanied by a young sneak-thief, Dororo, as well as a colorful cast of other allies: a brilliant surgeon, a bomb-happy pirate, and a blind monk. Set in 1480s Japan at the start of the Warring States period.
Best parts: Psychologically comprehensible characters, an almost entirely happy ending, a solid setting based on real events and battles, realistic medicine for the period
Pain points: Intensely precise detail for medicine, bombs and battles (easily skipped), slow progression at the start (but it picks up and stays there).
Content Warnings: The body horror of surgery and the macabre abilities of demons to alter minds and bodies make this more psychological horror story than a gore-fest. There is some brief sexual content, mainly in the second book.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/01/toriumi-jinzo-dororo-series-3-books.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $dororo2 is true>><hr><img src="Images/19.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/01/nakamura-masaru-dororo-movie.html">The Dororo Movie Novelization</a> sparked a film of the same name (<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0780503/">Dororo</a>). It is based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. Hyakkimaru, the main character, is abandoned by his birth family with forty-eight body parts missing. A surgeon creates a new body for him out of the bodies of children who've been slain in war. He accompanies the thief Dororo on a journey of discovery when they are both adults.
Best parts: The friendship between Hyakkimaru and Dororo is skillfully developed and never turns romantic, which is refreshing. Anti-war and pro-individuality themes are explored in interesting ways.
Pain points: Villainous characters are given a lot of pages in an attempt to redeem them that falls flat. Some ideas are introduced and don't really go anywhere.
Content Warning: Body horror galore in this one, from missing eyes to genital organs re-growing in real time. If you're looking for something gory, violent, and post-apocalyptic with a strong focus on character development and progression, this is your story.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/01/nakamura-masaru-dororo-movie.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $dororo1 is true>><hr><img src="Images/24.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/12/dororo-novel-master-post.html">Dororo: A Novel</a> is based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. This was written specifically as a children's novel and focuses more on the adventuresome aspect of the story than most other adaptations. The plot follows Hyakkimaru, a paraplegic warrior missing most of his body, and Dororo, a young thief who wants to steal the swords out of his prosthetic arms. Hyakkimaru recovers pieces of his body from demons who stole them when he was born. Both Hyakkimaru and Dororo confront their pasts when family and old friends reappear on their adventures.
Best parts: The friendship between Hyakkimaru and Dororo is fun and silly, and ocassionally poignant. Hyakkimaru's brother has a brief and surprising star turn, and important events from the manga are dramatized in child-focused detail. The authorial voice has personality and verve.
Pain points: Villains aren't given a lot of development and the child-friendly format limits the effect that most of the bad guys can have. Setting this up as a children's story was probably a bit misguided to start with.
Content Warning: Some body horror (PG-rated). A woman and a man are brutally killed on-screen, though most of the violence is stylized.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/12/dororo-novel-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $search is true>><hr><img src="Images/46.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/search-and-destroy-master-post.html">Search and Destroy</a> is a 3-volume series by Kaneko Atsushi based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. The main characters are gender-swapped in this story, meaning the main character is female and Dororo is male. The world is a post-apocalypic hellscape run by corrupt politicians and half-human robots.
Best parts: More so than other adaptations, <i>Search and Destroy</i> is about what being human actually means, well beyond having human parts and pieces. The art style is stunningly beautiful and the ending is perfectly balanced between realistic and positive for all the main characters.
Pain points: Never heard of 'em. If you're here for a horror story and you like manga, then this is a feast.
Content Warning: Features explicit gore, surgeries and under-the-skin visceral body horror for both main characters.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/search-and-destroy-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $bon is true>><hr><img src="Images/49.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/dororo-bon-master-post.html">Dororo Bon</a> is a 4-volume series by Douke Daisuke based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. The main characters are all female in this story. The world setting is modern with magic and the story features a demonic cat as a sidekick character.
Best parts: The relationships are well-drawn, particularly in Volume 3 which is set in the distant past. The end is much more settled than the one Osamu Tezuka wrote for his Dororo manga.
Pain points: The story is obviously a confusing mess and it takes a long time to find its footing.
Content Warning: In addition to the body horror that's typical of <i>Dororo</i> adaptations in media, the series explores common ghost stories in Japan in some detail. It's not especially gory or frightening, but the setting has a very gothic feel.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/dororo-bon-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $adv is true>><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/08/dororo-adventure-novel-choose-your-own.html">Dororo: Choose Your Own Adventure</a> is a game version of Osamu Tezuka's <i>Dororo</i> manga. Play as Hyakkimaru or Dororo (depending on choices), discover more than a dozen unique endings (including the "true" ending), earn achievements, and rewrite the story in interesting ways.
Best parts: It is possible to play the story exactly according to the manga it's based on, but it's also possible to go completely off-script and discover interesting (and sometimes superior) sequences of events that lead to better outcomes. If you've never heard of <i>Dororo</i> before and are interested in seeing what it's all about, this is not a terrible place to start. The game respects personal choices and has real consequences. Curiosity and compassion are rewarded. Ruthless violence and ignorance are severely punished.
Pain points: It's not really a book, per se, but a game! And it's true that <i>Dororo</i> fans will get more out of it. If you've read and liked <i>Dororo</i> stuff before, you'll probably like this. However, it's welcoming and fun enough for newcomers to explore. Beating the game entirely takes 2-3 hours on average and there's limited replayability.
Content Warning: Some of the worst endings have characters slaughtering their own family or being devoured by monsters. It's PG-13 rated violence and gore for the most part. There is no sexually explicit material.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/08/dororo-adventure-novel-choose-your-own.html"><button>Pick This Game</button></a><</if>><<if $bambi is true>><hr><img src="Images/82.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/bambi-and-her-pink-gun-master-post.html">Bambi and Her Pink Gun</a> is a 7-volume manga series by Kaneko Atsushi. It centers on a sixteen-year-old girl named Bambi who has kidnapped a young boy from a crazy pop star and is taking him back to the 'Old Men'. The story is extremely violent, with every new scene taking on a different look and feel (Western, Latino, the 40s, traditional Japanese, etc.)
Best parts: Bambi's violent vegetarianism, inspired art styles, over-the-top crazy drug-fueld violence, it's a ride
Pain points: Very dark, violent and at times gratuitous, <i>Bambi</i> belongs to the genre of manga that is written for men but features a strong female protagonist.
Content Warning: Buckets of blood and copious nudity. Hide the kids for this one. Also some pointed social commentary, if you know where to look.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/bambi-and-her-pink-gun-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $forty is true>><hr><img src="Images/29.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/shijukara-starting-at-40-master-post.html">Starting at 40</a> is a 17-volume manga series by Sakai Eri. It follows Watanuki Shinobu, a 39-year-old woman and unsuccessful manga artist. She plans to give up her career, but after one of her old works becomes a hit online, she decides to create a new comic instead. In need of help, she looks for an assistant. The handsome 22-year-old man named Tachibana Chiaki applies to her ad, and Shinobu finds herself at a major turning point in her life.
Best parts: The director of the drama adaptation described <i>Starting at 40</i> as "an infidelity drama for people who don't like infidelity dramas," and that captures the feeling almost perfectly. Shinobu and Chiaki have wealth of individual experience; collectively, they use art to explain the human experience and overcome extreme personal traumas. I generally don't like romance, but loved this from start to (very happy) finish.
Pain points: Has some explicit sexuality, including sexual abuse. It is never gratuitous but is quite frank and painful. The characters' triumph at the end is more powerful for these traumatic experiences, which are never forgotten or swept under the rug.
Content Warning: Nudity, sexual abuse (including abuse of a child), physical abuse
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/shijukara-starting-at-40-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $r is true>><hr><img src="Images/99.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/05/r-original-kaneko-atsushi.html">R: The Original</a> is a collection of 9 wonderfully weird and violent short stories from the mind of Kaneko Atsushi.
Best parts: Variety. There's everything here from sci-fi, fantasy, aliens, violence, melon bread, lemon bread and more
Pain points: Not for the faint of heart and only for the very curious. The art is, at times, experimental and hard on the eyes.
Content Warning: Physical as well as psychological horror elements, plus Kaneko Atsushi's trademark over-the-top violence.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/05/r-original-kaneko-atsushi.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a><</if>><<if $swallows is true>><hr><img src="Images/Swallows.png"><br><a href=
"https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2025/01/the-swallows-will-not-return-sakai-eri.html">The Swallows Will Not Return</a> is a limited series manga based on the novel of the same name by Natsuo Kirino. It's about a young woman named Riki who lives in desperate poverty. She becomes a surrogate mother out of desperation and is bought by a wealthy infertile couple who want her because she resembles the wife.
Best parts: Heavy topics in happy packaging is very much Sakai Eri's style. The characters are fleshed out and their psychology is comprehensible even when they aren't entirely sympathetic.
Pain points: Depictions of the gulf between the ultra-rich and the severely impoverished are designed to provoke rage.
Content Warning: The manga discusses and depicts explicit sexual topics and is highly concerned with women's (and to a lesser extent, men's) bodily autonomy.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2025/01/the-swallows-will-not-return-sakai-eri.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $fire is true>><hr><img src="Images/93.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/04/fire-hunter-series-master-post.html">The Fire Hunter Series</a> is 5-book fantasy series by Hinata Rieko. Set in a post-apocalyptic world at war, two children uncover ancient secrets that put their families and society at risk.
Best parts: Detailed worldbuilding, differentiated cultures, magic is technology and technology is magic, dogs are a major thing in this world
Pain points: Stilted, stuffy style (meant to imitate older speech), weak and underdeveloped characters, slow-paced, tonally mixed, ethically problematic, many story elements are contradictory
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/04/fire-hunter-series-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $sorceress is true>><hr><img src="Images/26.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-sorceress-revolt-kobijis-story.html">The Sorceress' Revolt</a> is fantasy novel with an historical twist set in ancient China written by Toriumi Jinzō. A Buddhist monk gains mysterious powers in a sacred cave and must use them to save China from outside invasion and the threat of a powerful sorceress.
Best parts: Strong characters (both men and women) with realistic psychological progression. Fast-paced and grounded in historical fact, this novel explores universal human conflicts and desires: the conflict between corruption and righteousness and the desires for immortality and immunity from pain.
Pain points: Historical detail can be thick on the ground, pacing is more variable in the second part. Some content is violent and sexually explicit (between PG-13 and R on the MPAA rating scale).
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-sorceress-revolt-kobijis-story.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $science is true>><hr><img src="Images/97.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/04/science-ninja-team-gatchaman-master-post.html">Science Ninja Team Gatchaman</a> is science fiction/action-adventure novel set in the 1980s. Campy, silly and over-the-top fun, this is what would happen if Saturday morning cartoons became a novel.
Best parts: Strong characters (both men and women), fast-paced and action-heavy, detailed setting, cool art
Pain points: More dated than this author's other novels; the male gaze intrudes for some characters. The zany plot and concept have appeal for kids and teens, but the issues explored and plot progression is distinctly adult.
Content Warning: Violence, violence and more violence, most of it cartoony but some of it very intense.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/04/science-ninja-team-gatchaman-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $stranger is true>><hr><img src="Images/89.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/xamd-lost-memories-pilgrims-compass.html">The Sword of the Stranger</a> is a manga about a warrior and an outsider in Meiji era Japan (1860s). He finds his way of life shattered when a foreign faction captures a child to use in a nefarious sacrifice. Based on the anime film of the same name.
Best parts: Exciting action, some good character development, exaggerated but largely accurate historical detail
Pain points: Plot progression is generic to the action genre, and the manga doesn't add much value to the anime movie
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/12/sword-of-stranger-manga.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a><</if>><<if $xamd is true>><hr><img src="Images/90.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/xamd-lost-memories-pilgrims-compass.html">Xam'd Lost Memories: Pilgrim's Compass</a> is a world tour through a lost age. Teenagers embark on a sacred pilgrimage seeking lost magic and memories. Fun but generic. Based on the anime of the same name.
Best parts: Some positive character progression and bright but zany humor
Pain points: Doesn't offer much to differentiate it from all the other action anime out there, though past discoveries do lend the story some depth
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/xamd-lost-memories-pilgrims-compass.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a><</if>>
<<if $guardian is false and $jinmanga is false and $guardianmanga is false and $werefox is false and $dororo3 is false and $dororo2 is false and $dororo1 is false and $search is false and $bon is false and $adv is false and $bambi is false and $r is false and $forty is false and $swallows is false and $fire is false and $sorceress is false and $science is false and $stranger is false and $xamd is false and $spider is false and $gods is false and $devil is false and $grove is false and $wei is false and $rabbit is false and $tag is false and $mandarins is false and $shrine is false and $toshishun is false and $onions is false and $legacy is false and $sea is false and $june is false and $preference is false and $moon is false and $redbird is false and $bamboo is false and $candy is false and $last is false and $redcandle is false and $goose is false and $shoes is false and $tstory is false>>Sorry, I don't have any recommendations for you right now.
[[Try again->StoryInit]]<<set $allfalse to true>><</if>>
<<if $allfalse is false>>Not what you're looking for?
[[Try again->StoryInit]]<</if>>
<<set $werefox to false>><<set $dororo3 to false>><<set $dororo2 to false>><<set $dororo1 to false>><<set $sorceress to false>><<set $science to false>>Are you sensitive to certain topics, themes or events?
<button>[[Keep things PG-13 for me, please->PG-13 Manga]]</button>
<button>[[I don't like a lot of violence->No Violence Manga]]</button>
<button>[[I don't like explicit sexuality->No Sex Manga]]</button>
<button>[[Show me everything: sex, drugs, rock n' roll->Everything Manga]]</button><<set $dororo3 to false>><<set $dororo2 to false>><<set $dororo1 to false>><<set $sorceress to false>><<set $science to false>><<set $r to false>><<set $bambi to false>><<set $swallows to false>><<set $forty to false>>
<<if $guardian is false and $jinmanga is false and $guardianmanga is false and $werefox is false and $dororo3 is false and $dororo2 is false and $dororo1 is false and $search is false and $bon is false and $adv is false and $bambi is false and $r is false and $forty is false and $swallows is false and $fire is false and $sorceress is false and $science is false and $stranger is false and $xamd is false and $spider is false and $gods is false and $devil is false and $grove is false and $wei is false and $rabbit is false and $tag is false and $mandarins is false and $shrine is false and $toshishun is false and $onions is false and $legacy is false and $sea is false and $june is false and $preference is false and $moon is false and $redbird is false and $bamboo is false and $candy is false and $last is false and $redcandle is false and $goose is false and $shoes is false and $tstory is false>><<set $allfalse to true>><</if>><<if $allfalse is false>>Great! Here are my recommendations for you.<</if>>
<<if $guardian is true>><hr><img src="Images/3.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/12/guardian-of-spirit-master-post.html">Guardian of the Spirit </a> is fantasy series by Uehashi Nahoko. Set in a world based on early medieval Japan, a woman warrior is placed at the heart of shifting political and magical powers when she dares to save a young prince from execution.
Best parts: Strong female character, detailed worldbuilding, differentiated cultures, interesting perspectives, a nature-based magic system, timeless setting and conflicts, exciting action
Pain points: One painfully slow romance (easily ignored), fade-to-black at critical story moments, a slightly unsettled (but entirely happy) ending, and a sense of disconnection from book to book. This is a series, but most of the books in it can be read as stand-alone novels.
Note: The first two novels in this series, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Moribito-Guardian-Spirit-Nahoko-Uehashi-ebook/dp/B00JWGOPZE?crid=3PM6VS8392B3K&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.2mge0v9d_zktcJBFc9lAYsEXNL-KoSAB49BbozHhndn7BF0CgcJnkbkTJqzshBb9eXy9ucfPPyOf-iplZqkysROxrlXQU2UtkCUcblux9i52S5bUFZgQ-KTo0k7rVSEI3uEL2PaOKopiFjfXoIaTx5K52YBFaMcLooUQj3TsBCs3oSXjewWwgHSz0hFypUDtz39ZR7taliILTBhtwfCWfkIQgPPrkNeqD4VPazItZYc.xAH6eyqJzZevFU5S6ZquekSDrwsqad5eoiao6tvGTYo&dib_tag=se&keywords=guardian+of+the+spirit&qid=1738939768&sprefix=guardian+of+the+spirit%2Caps%2C132&sr=8-1">Guardian of the Spirit</a> and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Moribito-Guardian-Darkness-Nahoko-Uehashi-ebook/dp/B00JWGOPUY?crid=1FO5RSHA2BNVQ&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.NB5dC98gl4DutrqJMNGSRQ.0PEfHB8Ug7t5JZsN4ajYUcnC_CgxxI1YT0xgpo6mZng&dib_tag=se&keywords=guardian+of+the+darkness+uehashi&qid=1738939868&sprefix=guardian+of+the+darkness+uehashi%2Caps%2C87&sr=8-1">Guardian of the Darkness</a>, have been officially licensed and published. I highly recommend you read those first! If you'd prefer to do all your reading here, though, you can read the manga versions of the first two novels on this blog.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/12/guardian-of-spirit-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $guardianmanga is true>><hr><img src="Images/GotS.jpg"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/11/guardian-of-spirit-manga-master-post.html">Guardian of the Spirit Manga </a> is based on the fantasy series by Uehashi Nahoko. Set in a world based on early medieval Japan, a woman warrior is placed at the heart of shifting political and magical powers when she dares to save a young prince from execution.
Best parts: Strong female character, detailed worldbuilding, differentiated cultures, interesting perspectives, a nature-based magic system, timeless setting and conflicts, exciting action
Pain points: One painfully slow romance (easily ignored), fade-to-black at critical story moments, a slightly unsettled (but entirely happy) ending, and a sense of disconnection from book to book. This is a series, but <i>Guardian of the Spirit</i> and <i>Guardian of the Darkness</i> are independent enough to be read as stand-alone manga.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/11/guardian-of-spirit-manga-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a>
If you've read these manga already, you can also read the rest of the series as novels <a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/12/guardian-of-spirit-master-post.html">here</a>.
<</if>><<if $jinmanga is true>><hr><img src="Images/18.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/guardian-of-spirit-manga-gaiden-jin.html">Guardian of the Spirit Manga Gaiden - Jin</a> is a spinoff prequel manga based on the fantasy series by Uehashi Nahoko. Set in a world based on early medieval Japan, the Mikado's Hunters must thwart dangerous assassins and attempts on their lives.
Best parts: Outsider perspective, exciting action, shows events outside of canon that still inform canon, examines corrupt systems of authority and power with some nuance, shows teenagers being very convincingly teenagers, brief vengeance quest
Pain points: Sad ending, women exist to be captured, rescued or scapegoated, and the world that emerges from these pages is even more alarmingly horrible and unfair than in the novels
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/guardian-of-spirit-manga-gaiden-jin.html"><button>Pick This Manga</button></a>
If you've read this manga already, you can also read the rest of the series as manga (for the first two books) and novels <a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/12/guardian-of-spirit-master-post.html">here</a>.
<</if>><<if $werefox is true>><hr><img src="Images/98.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/03/beyond-werefox-whistle-master-post.html">Beyond the Werefox Whistle</a> is a fantasy novel by Uehashi Nahoko set in a world of magic where magic users and spirit beasts face unfair persecution that they must overcome.
Best parts: Detailed worldbuilding, differentiated cultures, a compelling past world, timeless setting and conflicts, intense friendships
Pain points: Focuses a lot on the human characters, who are generally less interesting than the magical spirit beasts and the sorcerer that controls them.
This is a stand-alone fantasy novel.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/03/beyond-werefox-whistle-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $dororo3 is true>><hr><img src="Images/21.png"><br>The <a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/01/toriumi-jinzo-dororo-series-3-books.html">Dororo Series</a> is a 3-book series by Toriumi Jinzō based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. A baby boy abandoned at birth loses forty-eight pieces of his body to demons. He embarks on a quest to find his birth family for answers and eliminate the demons who want him dead. He's accompanied by a young sneak-thief, Dororo, as well as a colorful cast of other allies: a brilliant surgeon, a bomb-happy pirate, and a blind monk. Set in 1480s Japan at the start of the Warring States period.
Best parts: Psychologically comprehensible characters, an almost entirely happy ending, a solid setting based on real events and battles, realistic medicine for the period
Pain points: Intensely precise detail for medicine, bombs and battles (easily skipped), slow progression at the start (but it picks up and stays there).
Content Warnings: The body horror of surgery and the macabre abilities of demons to alter minds and bodies make this more psychological horror story than a gore-fest. There is some brief sexual content, mainly in the second book.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/01/toriumi-jinzo-dororo-series-3-books.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $dororo2 is true>><hr><img src="Images/19.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/01/nakamura-masaru-dororo-movie.html">The Dororo Movie Novelization</a> sparked a film of the same name (<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0780503/">Dororo</a>). It is based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. Hyakkimaru, the main character, is abandoned by his birth family with forty-eight body parts missing. A surgeon creates a new body for him out of the bodies of children who've been slain in war. He accompanies the thief Dororo on a journey of discovery when they are both adults.
Best parts: The friendship between Hyakkimaru and Dororo is skillfully developed and never turns romantic, which is refreshing. Anti-war and pro-individuality themes are explored in interesting ways.
Pain points: Villainous characters are given a lot of pages in an attempt to redeem them that falls flat. Some ideas are introduced and don't really go anywhere.
Content Warning: Body horror galore in this one, from missing eyes to genital organs re-growing in real time. If you're looking for something gory, violent, and post-apocalyptic with a strong focus on character development and progression, this is your story.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/01/nakamura-masaru-dororo-movie.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $dororo1 is true>><hr><img src="Images/24.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/12/dororo-novel-master-post.html">Dororo: A Novel</a> is based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. This was written specifically as a children's novel and focuses more on the adventuresome aspect of the story than most other adaptations. The plot follows Hyakkimaru, a paraplegic warrior missing most of his body, and Dororo, a young thief who wants to steal the swords out of his prosthetic arms. Hyakkimaru recovers pieces of his body from demons who stole them when he was born. Both Hyakkimaru and Dororo confront their pasts when family and old friends reappear on their adventures.
Best parts: The friendship between Hyakkimaru and Dororo is fun and silly, and ocassionally poignant. Hyakkimaru's brother has a brief and surprising star turn, and important events from the manga are dramatized in child-focused detail. The authorial voice has personality and verve.
Pain points: Villains aren't given a lot of development and the child-friendly format limits the effect that most of the bad guys can have. Setting this up as a children's story was probably a bit misguided to start with.
Content Warning: Some body horror (PG-rated). A woman and a man are brutally killed on-screen, though most of the violence is stylized.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/12/dororo-novel-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $search is true>><hr><img src="Images/46.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/search-and-destroy-master-post.html">Search and Destroy</a> is a 3-volume series by Kaneko Atsushi based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. The main characters are gender-swapped in this story, meaning the main character is female and Dororo is male. The world is a post-apocalypic hellscape run by corrupt politicians and half-human robots.
Best parts: More so than other adaptations, <i>Search and Destroy</i> is about what being human actually means, well beyond having human parts and pieces. The art style is stunningly beautiful and the ending is perfectly balanced between realistic and positive for all the main characters.
Pain points: Never heard of 'em. If you're here for a horror story and you like manga, then this is a feast.
Content Warning: Features explicit gore, surgeries and under-the-skin visceral body horror for both main characters.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/search-and-destroy-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $bon is true>><hr><img src="Images/49.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/dororo-bon-master-post.html">Dororo Bon</a> is a 4-volume series by Douke Daisuke based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. The main characters are all female in this story. The world setting is modern with magic and the story features a demonic cat as a sidekick character.
Best parts: The relationships are well-drawn, particularly in Volume 3 which is set in the distant past. The end is much more settled than the one Osamu Tezuka wrote for his Dororo manga.
Pain points: The story is obviously a confusing mess and it takes a long time to find its footing.
Content Warning: In addition to the body horror that's typical of <i>Dororo</i> adaptations in media, the series explores common ghost stories in Japan in some detail. It's not especially gory or frightening, but the setting has a very gothic feel.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/dororo-bon-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $adv is true>><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/08/dororo-adventure-novel-choose-your-own.html">Dororo: Choose Your Own Adventure</a> is a game version of Osamu Tezuka's <i>Dororo</i> manga. Play as Hyakkimaru or Dororo (depending on choices), discover more than a dozen unique endings (including the "true" ending), earn achievements, and rewrite the story in interesting ways.
Best parts: It is possible to play the story exactly according to the manga it's based on, but it's also possible to go completely off-script and discover interesting (and sometimes superior) sequences of events that lead to better outcomes. If you've never heard of <i>Dororo</i> before and are interested in seeing what it's all about, this is not a terrible place to start. The game respects personal choices and has real consequences. Curiosity and compassion are rewarded. Ruthless violence and ignorance are severely punished.
Pain points: It's not really a book, per se, but a game! And it's true that <i>Dororo</i> fans will get more out of it. If you've read and liked <i>Dororo</i> stuff before, you'll probably like this. However, it's welcoming and fun enough for newcomers to explore. Beating the game entirely takes 2-3 hours on average and there's limited replayability.
Content Warning: Some of the worst endings have characters slaughtering their own family or being devoured by monsters. It's PG-13 rated violence and gore for the most part. There is no sexually explicit material.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/08/dororo-adventure-novel-choose-your-own.html"><button>Pick This Game</button></a><</if>><<if $bambi is true>><hr><img src="Images/82.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/bambi-and-her-pink-gun-master-post.html">Bambi and Her Pink Gun</a> is a 7-volume manga series by Kaneko Atsushi. It centers on a sixteen-year-old girl named Bambi who has kidnapped a young boy from a crazy pop star and is taking him back to the 'Old Men'. The story is extremely violent, with every new scene taking on a different look and feel (Western, Latino, the 40s, traditional Japanese, etc.)
Best parts: Bambi's violent vegetarianism, inspired art styles, over-the-top crazy drug-fueld violence, it's a ride
Pain points: Very dark, violent and at times gratuitous, <i>Bambi</i> belongs to the genre of manga that is written for men but features a strong female protagonist.
Content Warning: Buckets of blood and copious nudity. Hide the kids for this one. Also some pointed social commentary, if you know where to look.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/bambi-and-her-pink-gun-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $forty is true>><hr><img src="Images/29.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/shijukara-starting-at-40-master-post.html">Starting at 40</a> is a 17-volume manga series by Sakai Eri. It follows Watanuki Shinobu, a 39-year-old woman and unsuccessful manga artist. She plans to give up her career, but after one of her old works becomes a hit online, she decides to create a new comic instead. In need of help, she looks for an assistant. The handsome 22-year-old man named Tachibana Chiaki applies to her ad, and Shinobu finds herself at a major turning point in her life.
Best parts: The director of the drama adaptation described <i>Starting at 40</i> as "an infidelity drama for people who don't like infidelity dramas," and that captures the feeling almost perfectly. Shinobu and Chiaki have wealth of individual experience; collectively, they use art to explain the human experience and overcome extreme personal traumas. I generally don't like romance, but loved this from start to (very happy) finish.
Pain points: Has some explicit sexuality, including sexual abuse. It is never gratuitous but is quite frank and painful. The characters' triumph at the end is more powerful for these traumatic experiences, which are never forgotten or swept under the rug.
Content Warning: Nudity, sexual abuse (including abuse of a child), physical abuse
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/shijukara-starting-at-40-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $r is true>><hr><img src="Images/99.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/05/r-original-kaneko-atsushi.html">R: The Original</a> is a collection of 9 wonderfully weird and violent short stories from the mind of Kaneko Atsushi.
Best parts: Variety. There's everything here from sci-fi, fantasy, aliens, violence, melon bread, lemon bread and more
Pain points: Not for the faint of heart and only for the very curious. The art is, at times, experimental and hard on the eyes.
Content Warning: Physical as well as psychological horror elements, plus Kaneko Atsushi's trademark over-the-top violence.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/05/r-original-kaneko-atsushi.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a><</if>><<if $swallows is true>><hr><img src="Images/Swallows.png"><br><a href=
"https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2025/01/the-swallows-will-not-return-sakai-eri.html">The Swallows Will Not Return</a> is a limited series manga based on the novel of the same name by Natsuo Kirino. It's about a young woman named Riki who lives in desperate poverty. She becomes a surrogate mother out of desperation and is bought by a wealthy infertile couple who want her because she resembles the wife.
Best parts: Heavy topics in happy packaging is very much Sakai Eri's style. The characters are fleshed out and their psychology is comprehensible even when they aren't entirely sympathetic.
Pain points: Depictions of the gulf between the ultra-rich and the severely impoverished are designed to provoke rage.
Content Warning: The manga discusses and depicts explicit sexual topics and is highly concerned with women's (and to a lesser extent, men's) bodily autonomy.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2025/01/the-swallows-will-not-return-sakai-eri.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $fire is true>><hr><img src="Images/93.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/04/fire-hunter-series-master-post.html">The Fire Hunter Series</a> is 5-book fantasy series by Hinata Rieko. Set in a post-apocalyptic world at war, two children uncover ancient secrets that put their families and society at risk.
Best parts: Detailed worldbuilding, differentiated cultures, magic is technology and technology is magic, dogs are a major thing in this world
Pain points: Stilted, stuffy style (meant to imitate older speech), weak and underdeveloped characters, slow-paced, tonally mixed, ethically problematic, many story elements are contradictory
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/04/fire-hunter-series-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $sorceress is true>><hr><img src="Images/26.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-sorceress-revolt-kobijis-story.html">The Sorceress' Revolt</a> is fantasy novel with an historical twist set in ancient China written by Toriumi Jinzō. A Buddhist monk gains mysterious powers in a sacred cave and must use them to save China from outside invasion and the threat of a powerful sorceress.
Best parts: Strong characters (both men and women) with realistic psychological progression. Fast-paced and grounded in historical fact, this novel explores universal human conflicts and desires: the conflict between corruption and righteousness and the desires for immortality and immunity from pain.
Pain points: Historical detail can be thick on the ground, pacing is more variable in the second part. Some content is violent and sexually explicit (between PG-13 and R on the MPAA rating scale).
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-sorceress-revolt-kobijis-story.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $science is true>><hr><img src="Images/97.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/04/science-ninja-team-gatchaman-master-post.html">Science Ninja Team Gatchaman</a> is science fiction/action-adventure novel set in the 1980s. Campy, silly and over-the-top fun, this is what would happen if Saturday morning cartoons became a novel.
Best parts: Strong characters (both men and women), fast-paced and action-heavy, detailed setting, cool art
Pain points: More dated than this author's other novels; the male gaze intrudes for some characters. The zany plot and concept have appeal for kids and teens, but the issues explored and plot progression is distinctly adult.
Content Warning: Violence, violence and more violence, most of it cartoony but some of it very intense.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/04/science-ninja-team-gatchaman-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $stranger is true>><hr><img src="Images/89.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/xamd-lost-memories-pilgrims-compass.html">The Sword of the Stranger</a> is a manga about a warrior and an outsider in Meiji era Japan (1860s). He finds his way of life shattered when a foreign faction captures a child to use in a nefarious sacrifice. Based on the anime film of the same name.
Best parts: Exciting action, some good character development, exaggerated but largely accurate historical detail
Pain points: Plot progression is generic to the action genre, and the manga doesn't add much value to the anime movie
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/12/sword-of-stranger-manga.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a><</if>><<if $xamd is true>><hr><img src="Images/90.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/xamd-lost-memories-pilgrims-compass.html">Xam'd Lost Memories: Pilgrim's Compass</a> is a world tour through a lost age. Teenagers embark on a sacred pilgrimage seeking lost magic and memories. Fun but generic. Based on the anime of the same name.
Best parts: Some positive character progression and bright but zany humor
Pain points: Doesn't offer much to differentiate it from all the other action anime out there, though past discoveries do lend the story some depth
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/xamd-lost-memories-pilgrims-compass.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a><</if>>
<<if $guardian is false and $jinmanga is false and $guardianmanga is false and $werefox is false and $dororo3 is false and $dororo2 is false and $dororo1 is false and $search is false and $bon is false and $adv is false and $bambi is false and $r is false and $forty is false and $swallows is false and $fire is false and $sorceress is false and $science is false and $stranger is false and $xamd is false and $spider is false and $gods is false and $devil is false and $grove is false and $wei is false and $rabbit is false and $tag is false and $mandarins is false and $shrine is false and $toshishun is false and $onions is false and $legacy is false and $sea is false and $june is false and $preference is false and $moon is false and $redbird is false and $bamboo is false and $candy is false and $last is false and $redcandle is false and $goose is false and $shoes is false and $tstory is false>>Sorry, I don't have any recommendations for you right now.
[[Try again->StoryInit]]<<set $allfalse to true>><</if>>
<<if $allfalse is false>>Not what you're looking for?
[[Try again->StoryInit]]<</if>>
<<set $r to false>><<set $xamd to false>><<set $stranger to false>><<if $guardian is false and $jinmanga is false and $guardianmanga is false and $werefox is false and $dororo3 is false and $dororo2 is false and $dororo1 is false and $search is false and $bon is false and $adv is false and $bambi is false and $r is false and $forty is false and $swallows is false and $fire is false and $sorceress is false and $science is false and $stranger is false and $xamd is false and $spider is false and $gods is false and $devil is false and $grove is false and $wei is false and $rabbit is false and $tag is false and $mandarins is false and $shrine is false and $toshishun is false and $onions is false and $legacy is false and $sea is false and $june is false and $preference is false and $moon is false and $redbird is false and $bamboo is false and $candy is false and $last is false and $redcandle is false and $goose is false and $shoes is false and $tstory is false>><<set $allfalse to true>><</if>><<if $allfalse is false>>Great! Here are my recommendations for you.<</if>>
<<if $guardian is true>><hr><img src="Images/3.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/12/guardian-of-spirit-master-post.html">Guardian of the Spirit </a> is fantasy series by Uehashi Nahoko. Set in a world based on early medieval Japan, a woman warrior is placed at the heart of shifting political and magical powers when she dares to save a young prince from execution.
Best parts: Strong female character, detailed worldbuilding, differentiated cultures, interesting perspectives, a nature-based magic system, timeless setting and conflicts, exciting action
Pain points: One painfully slow romance (easily ignored), fade-to-black at critical story moments, a slightly unsettled (but entirely happy) ending, and a sense of disconnection from book to book. This is a series, but most of the books in it can be read as stand-alone novels.
Note: The first two novels in this series, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Moribito-Guardian-Spirit-Nahoko-Uehashi-ebook/dp/B00JWGOPZE?crid=3PM6VS8392B3K&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.2mge0v9d_zktcJBFc9lAYsEXNL-KoSAB49BbozHhndn7BF0CgcJnkbkTJqzshBb9eXy9ucfPPyOf-iplZqkysROxrlXQU2UtkCUcblux9i52S5bUFZgQ-KTo0k7rVSEI3uEL2PaOKopiFjfXoIaTx5K52YBFaMcLooUQj3TsBCs3oSXjewWwgHSz0hFypUDtz39ZR7taliILTBhtwfCWfkIQgPPrkNeqD4VPazItZYc.xAH6eyqJzZevFU5S6ZquekSDrwsqad5eoiao6tvGTYo&dib_tag=se&keywords=guardian+of+the+spirit&qid=1738939768&sprefix=guardian+of+the+spirit%2Caps%2C132&sr=8-1">Guardian of the Spirit</a> and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Moribito-Guardian-Darkness-Nahoko-Uehashi-ebook/dp/B00JWGOPUY?crid=1FO5RSHA2BNVQ&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.NB5dC98gl4DutrqJMNGSRQ.0PEfHB8Ug7t5JZsN4ajYUcnC_CgxxI1YT0xgpo6mZng&dib_tag=se&keywords=guardian+of+the+darkness+uehashi&qid=1738939868&sprefix=guardian+of+the+darkness+uehashi%2Caps%2C87&sr=8-1">Guardian of the Darkness</a>, have been officially licensed and published. I highly recommend you read those first! If you'd prefer to do all your reading here, though, you can read the manga versions of the first two novels on this blog.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/12/guardian-of-spirit-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $guardianmanga is true>><hr><img src="Images/GotS.jpg"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/11/guardian-of-spirit-manga-master-post.html">Guardian of the Spirit Manga </a> is based on the fantasy series by Uehashi Nahoko. Set in a world based on early medieval Japan, a woman warrior is placed at the heart of shifting political and magical powers when she dares to save a young prince from execution.
Best parts: Strong female character, detailed worldbuilding, differentiated cultures, interesting perspectives, a nature-based magic system, timeless setting and conflicts, exciting action
Pain points: One painfully slow romance (easily ignored), fade-to-black at critical story moments, a slightly unsettled (but entirely happy) ending, and a sense of disconnection from book to book. This is a series, but <i>Guardian of the Spirit</i> and <i>Guardian of the Darkness</i> are independent enough to be read as stand-alone manga.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/11/guardian-of-spirit-manga-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a>
If you've read these manga already, you can also read the rest of the series as novels <a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/12/guardian-of-spirit-master-post.html">here</a>.
<</if>><<if $jinmanga is true>><hr><img src="Images/18.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/guardian-of-spirit-manga-gaiden-jin.html">Guardian of the Spirit Manga Gaiden - Jin</a> is a spinoff prequel manga based on the fantasy series by Uehashi Nahoko. Set in a world based on early medieval Japan, the Mikado's Hunters must thwart dangerous assassins and attempts on their lives.
Best parts: Outsider perspective, exciting action, shows events outside of canon that still inform canon, examines corrupt systems of authority and power with some nuance, shows teenagers being very convincingly teenagers, brief vengeance quest
Pain points: Sad ending, women exist to be captured, rescued or scapegoated, and the world that emerges from these pages is even more alarmingly horrible and unfair than in the novels
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/guardian-of-spirit-manga-gaiden-jin.html"><button>Pick This Manga</button></a>
If you've read this manga already, you can also read the rest of the series as manga (for the first two books) and novels <a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/12/guardian-of-spirit-master-post.html">here</a>.
<</if>><<if $werefox is true>><hr><img src="Images/98.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/03/beyond-werefox-whistle-master-post.html">Beyond the Werefox Whistle</a> is a fantasy novel by Uehashi Nahoko set in a world of magic where magic users and spirit beasts face unfair persecution that they must overcome.
Best parts: Detailed worldbuilding, differentiated cultures, a compelling past world, timeless setting and conflicts, intense friendships
Pain points: Focuses a lot on the human characters, who are generally less interesting than the magical spirit beasts and the sorcerer that controls them.
This is a stand-alone fantasy novel.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/03/beyond-werefox-whistle-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $dororo3 is true>><hr><img src="Images/21.png"><br>The <a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/01/toriumi-jinzo-dororo-series-3-books.html">Dororo Series</a> is a 3-book series by Toriumi Jinzō based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. A baby boy abandoned at birth loses forty-eight pieces of his body to demons. He embarks on a quest to find his birth family for answers and eliminate the demons who want him dead. He's accompanied by a young sneak-thief, Dororo, as well as a colorful cast of other allies: a brilliant surgeon, a bomb-happy pirate, and a blind monk. Set in 1480s Japan at the start of the Warring States period.
Best parts: Psychologically comprehensible characters, an almost entirely happy ending, a solid setting based on real events and battles, realistic medicine for the period
Pain points: Intensely precise detail for medicine, bombs and battles (easily skipped), slow progression at the start (but it picks up and stays there).
Content Warnings: The body horror of surgery and the macabre abilities of demons to alter minds and bodies make this more psychological horror story than a gore-fest. There is some brief sexual content, mainly in the second book.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/01/toriumi-jinzo-dororo-series-3-books.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $dororo2 is true>><hr><img src="Images/19.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/01/nakamura-masaru-dororo-movie.html">The Dororo Movie Novelization</a> sparked a film of the same name (<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0780503/">Dororo</a>). It is based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. Hyakkimaru, the main character, is abandoned by his birth family with forty-eight body parts missing. A surgeon creates a new body for him out of the bodies of children who've been slain in war. He accompanies the thief Dororo on a journey of discovery when they are both adults.
Best parts: The friendship between Hyakkimaru and Dororo is skillfully developed and never turns romantic, which is refreshing. Anti-war and pro-individuality themes are explored in interesting ways.
Pain points: Villainous characters are given a lot of pages in an attempt to redeem them that falls flat. Some ideas are introduced and don't really go anywhere.
Content Warning: Body horror galore in this one, from missing eyes to genital organs re-growing in real time. If you're looking for something gory, violent, and post-apocalyptic with a strong focus on character development and progression, this is your story.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/01/nakamura-masaru-dororo-movie.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $dororo1 is true>><hr><img src="Images/24.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/12/dororo-novel-master-post.html">Dororo: A Novel</a> is based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. This was written specifically as a children's novel and focuses more on the adventuresome aspect of the story than most other adaptations. The plot follows Hyakkimaru, a paraplegic warrior missing most of his body, and Dororo, a young thief who wants to steal the swords out of his prosthetic arms. Hyakkimaru recovers pieces of his body from demons who stole them when he was born. Both Hyakkimaru and Dororo confront their pasts when family and old friends reappear on their adventures.
Best parts: The friendship between Hyakkimaru and Dororo is fun and silly, and ocassionally poignant. Hyakkimaru's brother has a brief and surprising star turn, and important events from the manga are dramatized in child-focused detail. The authorial voice has personality and verve.
Pain points: Villains aren't given a lot of development and the child-friendly format limits the effect that most of the bad guys can have. Setting this up as a children's story was probably a bit misguided to start with.
Content Warning: Some body horror (PG-rated). A woman and a man are brutally killed on-screen, though most of the violence is stylized.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/12/dororo-novel-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $search is true>><hr><img src="Images/46.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/search-and-destroy-master-post.html">Search and Destroy</a> is a 3-volume series by Kaneko Atsushi based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. The main characters are gender-swapped in this story, meaning the main character is female and Dororo is male. The world is a post-apocalypic hellscape run by corrupt politicians and half-human robots.
Best parts: More so than other adaptations, <i>Search and Destroy</i> is about what being human actually means, well beyond having human parts and pieces. The art style is stunningly beautiful and the ending is perfectly balanced between realistic and positive for all the main characters.
Pain points: Never heard of 'em. If you're here for a horror story and you like manga, then this is a feast.
Content Warning: Features explicit gore, surgeries and under-the-skin visceral body horror for both main characters.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/search-and-destroy-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $bon is true>><hr><img src="Images/49.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/dororo-bon-master-post.html">Dororo Bon</a> is a 4-volume series by Douke Daisuke based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. The main characters are all female in this story. The world setting is modern with magic and the story features a demonic cat as a sidekick character.
Best parts: The relationships are well-drawn, particularly in Volume 3 which is set in the distant past. The end is much more settled than the one Osamu Tezuka wrote for his Dororo manga.
Pain points: The story is obviously a confusing mess and it takes a long time to find its footing.
Content Warning: In addition to the body horror that's typical of <i>Dororo</i> adaptations in media, the series explores common ghost stories in Japan in some detail. It's not especially gory or frightening, but the setting has a very gothic feel.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/dororo-bon-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $adv is true>><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/08/dororo-adventure-novel-choose-your-own.html">Dororo: Choose Your Own Adventure</a> is a game version of Osamu Tezuka's <i>Dororo</i> manga. Play as Hyakkimaru or Dororo (depending on choices), discover more than a dozen unique endings (including the "true" ending), earn achievements, and rewrite the story in interesting ways.
Best parts: It is possible to play the story exactly according to the manga it's based on, but it's also possible to go completely off-script and discover interesting (and sometimes superior) sequences of events that lead to better outcomes. If you've never heard of <i>Dororo</i> before and are interested in seeing what it's all about, this is not a terrible place to start. The game respects personal choices and has real consequences. Curiosity and compassion are rewarded. Ruthless violence and ignorance are severely punished.
Pain points: It's not really a book, per se, but a game! And it's true that <i>Dororo</i> fans will get more out of it. If you've read and liked <i>Dororo</i> stuff before, you'll probably like this. However, it's welcoming and fun enough for newcomers to explore. Beating the game entirely takes 2-3 hours on average and there's limited replayability.
Content Warning: Some of the worst endings have characters slaughtering their own family or being devoured by monsters. It's PG-13 rated violence and gore for the most part. There is no sexually explicit material.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/08/dororo-adventure-novel-choose-your-own.html"><button>Pick This Game</button></a><</if>><<if $bambi is true>><hr><img src="Images/82.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/bambi-and-her-pink-gun-master-post.html">Bambi and Her Pink Gun</a> is a 7-volume manga series by Kaneko Atsushi. It centers on a sixteen-year-old girl named Bambi who has kidnapped a young boy from a crazy pop star and is taking him back to the 'Old Men'. The story is extremely violent, with every new scene taking on a different look and feel (Western, Latino, the 40s, traditional Japanese, etc.)
Best parts: Bambi's violent vegetarianism, inspired art styles, over-the-top crazy drug-fueld violence, it's a ride
Pain points: Very dark, violent and at times gratuitous, <i>Bambi</i> belongs to the genre of manga that is written for men but features a strong female protagonist.
Content Warning: Buckets of blood and copious nudity. Hide the kids for this one. Also some pointed social commentary, if you know where to look.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/bambi-and-her-pink-gun-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $forty is true>><hr><img src="Images/29.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/shijukara-starting-at-40-master-post.html">Starting at 40</a> is a 17-volume manga series by Sakai Eri. It follows Watanuki Shinobu, a 39-year-old woman and unsuccessful manga artist. She plans to give up her career, but after one of her old works becomes a hit online, she decides to create a new comic instead. In need of help, she looks for an assistant. The handsome 22-year-old man named Tachibana Chiaki applies to her ad, and Shinobu finds herself at a major turning point in her life.
Best parts: The director of the drama adaptation described <i>Starting at 40</i> as "an infidelity drama for people who don't like infidelity dramas," and that captures the feeling almost perfectly. Shinobu and Chiaki have wealth of individual experience; collectively, they use art to explain the human experience and overcome extreme personal traumas. I generally don't like romance, but loved this from start to (very happy) finish.
Pain points: Has some explicit sexuality, including sexual abuse. It is never gratuitous but is quite frank and painful. The characters' triumph at the end is more powerful for these traumatic experiences, which are never forgotten or swept under the rug.
Content Warning: Nudity, sexual abuse (including abuse of a child), physical abuse
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/shijukara-starting-at-40-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $r is true>><hr><img src="Images/99.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/05/r-original-kaneko-atsushi.html">R: The Original</a> is a collection of 9 wonderfully weird and violent short stories from the mind of Kaneko Atsushi.
Best parts: Variety. There's everything here from sci-fi, fantasy, aliens, violence, melon bread, lemon bread and more
Pain points: Not for the faint of heart and only for the very curious. The art is, at times, experimental and hard on the eyes.
Content Warning: Physical as well as psychological horror elements, plus Kaneko Atsushi's trademark over-the-top violence.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/05/r-original-kaneko-atsushi.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a><</if>><<if $swallows is true>><hr><img src="Images/Swallows.png"><br><a href=
"https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2025/01/the-swallows-will-not-return-sakai-eri.html">The Swallows Will Not Return</a> is a limited series manga based on the novel of the same name by Natsuo Kirino. It's about a young woman named Riki who lives in desperate poverty. She becomes a surrogate mother out of desperation and is bought by a wealthy infertile couple who want her because she resembles the wife.
Best parts: Heavy topics in happy packaging is very much Sakai Eri's style. The characters are fleshed out and their psychology is comprehensible even when they aren't entirely sympathetic.
Pain points: Depictions of the gulf between the ultra-rich and the severely impoverished are designed to provoke rage.
Content Warning: The manga discusses and depicts explicit sexual topics and is highly concerned with women's (and to a lesser extent, men's) bodily autonomy.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2025/01/the-swallows-will-not-return-sakai-eri.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $fire is true>><hr><img src="Images/93.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/04/fire-hunter-series-master-post.html">The Fire Hunter Series</a> is 5-book fantasy series by Hinata Rieko. Set in a post-apocalyptic world at war, two children uncover ancient secrets that put their families and society at risk.
Best parts: Detailed worldbuilding, differentiated cultures, magic is technology and technology is magic, dogs are a major thing in this world
Pain points: Stilted, stuffy style (meant to imitate older speech), weak and underdeveloped characters, slow-paced, tonally mixed, ethically problematic, many story elements are contradictory
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/04/fire-hunter-series-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $sorceress is true>><hr><img src="Images/26.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-sorceress-revolt-kobijis-story.html">The Sorceress' Revolt</a> is fantasy novel with an historical twist set in ancient China written by Toriumi Jinzō. A Buddhist monk gains mysterious powers in a sacred cave and must use them to save China from outside invasion and the threat of a powerful sorceress.
Best parts: Strong characters (both men and women) with realistic psychological progression. Fast-paced and grounded in historical fact, this novel explores universal human conflicts and desires: the conflict between corruption and righteousness and the desires for immortality and immunity from pain.
Pain points: Historical detail can be thick on the ground, pacing is more variable in the second part. Some content is violent and sexually explicit (between PG-13 and R on the MPAA rating scale).
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-sorceress-revolt-kobijis-story.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $science is true>><hr><img src="Images/97.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/04/science-ninja-team-gatchaman-master-post.html">Science Ninja Team Gatchaman</a> is science fiction/action-adventure novel set in the 1980s. Campy, silly and over-the-top fun, this is what would happen if Saturday morning cartoons became a novel.
Best parts: Strong characters (both men and women), fast-paced and action-heavy, detailed setting, cool art
Pain points: More dated than this author's other novels; the male gaze intrudes for some characters. The zany plot and concept have appeal for kids and teens, but the issues explored and plot progression is distinctly adult.
Content Warning: Violence, violence and more violence, most of it cartoony but some of it very intense.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/04/science-ninja-team-gatchaman-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $stranger is true>><hr><img src="Images/89.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/xamd-lost-memories-pilgrims-compass.html">The Sword of the Stranger</a> is a manga about a warrior and an outsider in Meiji era Japan (1860s). He finds his way of life shattered when a foreign faction captures a child to use in a nefarious sacrifice. Based on the anime film of the same name.
Best parts: Exciting action, some good character development, exaggerated but largely accurate historical detail
Pain points: Plot progression is generic to the action genre, and the manga doesn't add much value to the anime movie
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/12/sword-of-stranger-manga.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a><</if>><<if $xamd is true>><hr><img src="Images/90.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/xamd-lost-memories-pilgrims-compass.html">Xam'd Lost Memories: Pilgrim's Compass</a> is a world tour through a lost age. Teenagers embark on a sacred pilgrimage seeking lost magic and memories. Fun but generic. Based on the anime of the same name.
Best parts: Some positive character progression and bright but zany humor
Pain points: Doesn't offer much to differentiate it from all the other action anime out there, though past discoveries do lend the story some depth
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/xamd-lost-memories-pilgrims-compass.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a><</if>>
<<if $guardian is false and $jinmanga is false and $guardianmanga is false and $werefox is false and $dororo3 is false and $dororo2 is false and $dororo1 is false and $search is false and $bon is false and $adv is false and $bambi is false and $r is false and $forty is false and $swallows is false and $fire is false and $sorceress is false and $science is false and $stranger is false and $xamd is false and $spider is false and $gods is false and $devil is false and $grove is false and $wei is false and $rabbit is false and $tag is false and $mandarins is false and $shrine is false and $toshishun is false and $onions is false and $legacy is false and $sea is false and $june is false and $preference is false and $moon is false and $redbird is false and $bamboo is false and $candy is false and $last is false and $redcandle is false and $goose is false and $shoes is false and $tstory is false>>Sorry, I don't have any recommendations for you right now.
[[Try again->StoryInit]]<<set $allfalse to true>><</if>>
<<if $allfalse is false>>Not what you're looking for?
[[Try again->StoryInit]]<</if>>
<<set $r to false>><<if $guardian is false and $jinmanga is false and $guardianmanga is false and $werefox is false and $dororo3 is false and $dororo2 is false and $dororo1 is false and $search is false and $bon is false and $adv is false and $bambi is false and $r is false and $forty is false and $swallows is false and $fire is false and $sorceress is false and $science is false and $stranger is false and $xamd is false and $spider is false and $gods is false and $devil is false and $grove is false and $wei is false and $rabbit is false and $tag is false and $mandarins is false and $shrine is false and $toshishun is false and $onions is false and $legacy is false and $sea is false and $june is false and $preference is false and $moon is false and $redbird is false and $bamboo is false and $candy is false and $last is false and $redcandle is false and $goose is false and $shoes is false and $tstory is false>><<set $allfalse to true>><</if>><<if $allfalse is false>>Great! Here are my recommendations for you.<</if>>
<<if $guardian is true>><hr><img src="Images/3.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/12/guardian-of-spirit-master-post.html">Guardian of the Spirit </a> is fantasy series by Uehashi Nahoko. Set in a world based on early medieval Japan, a woman warrior is placed at the heart of shifting political and magical powers when she dares to save a young prince from execution.
Best parts: Strong female character, detailed worldbuilding, differentiated cultures, interesting perspectives, a nature-based magic system, timeless setting and conflicts, exciting action
Pain points: One painfully slow romance (easily ignored), fade-to-black at critical story moments, a slightly unsettled (but entirely happy) ending, and a sense of disconnection from book to book. This is a series, but most of the books in it can be read as stand-alone novels.
Note: The first two novels in this series, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Moribito-Guardian-Spirit-Nahoko-Uehashi-ebook/dp/B00JWGOPZE?crid=3PM6VS8392B3K&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.2mge0v9d_zktcJBFc9lAYsEXNL-KoSAB49BbozHhndn7BF0CgcJnkbkTJqzshBb9eXy9ucfPPyOf-iplZqkysROxrlXQU2UtkCUcblux9i52S5bUFZgQ-KTo0k7rVSEI3uEL2PaOKopiFjfXoIaTx5K52YBFaMcLooUQj3TsBCs3oSXjewWwgHSz0hFypUDtz39ZR7taliILTBhtwfCWfkIQgPPrkNeqD4VPazItZYc.xAH6eyqJzZevFU5S6ZquekSDrwsqad5eoiao6tvGTYo&dib_tag=se&keywords=guardian+of+the+spirit&qid=1738939768&sprefix=guardian+of+the+spirit%2Caps%2C132&sr=8-1">Guardian of the Spirit</a> and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Moribito-Guardian-Darkness-Nahoko-Uehashi-ebook/dp/B00JWGOPUY?crid=1FO5RSHA2BNVQ&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.NB5dC98gl4DutrqJMNGSRQ.0PEfHB8Ug7t5JZsN4ajYUcnC_CgxxI1YT0xgpo6mZng&dib_tag=se&keywords=guardian+of+the+darkness+uehashi&qid=1738939868&sprefix=guardian+of+the+darkness+uehashi%2Caps%2C87&sr=8-1">Guardian of the Darkness</a>, have been officially licensed and published. I highly recommend you read those first! If you'd prefer to do all your reading here, though, you can read the manga versions of the first two novels on this blog.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/12/guardian-of-spirit-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $guardianmanga is true>><hr><img src="Images/GotS.jpg"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/11/guardian-of-spirit-manga-master-post.html">Guardian of the Spirit Manga </a> is based on the fantasy series by Uehashi Nahoko. Set in a world based on early medieval Japan, a woman warrior is placed at the heart of shifting political and magical powers when she dares to save a young prince from execution.
Best parts: Strong female character, detailed worldbuilding, differentiated cultures, interesting perspectives, a nature-based magic system, timeless setting and conflicts, exciting action
Pain points: One painfully slow romance (easily ignored), fade-to-black at critical story moments, a slightly unsettled (but entirely happy) ending, and a sense of disconnection from book to book. This is a series, but <i>Guardian of the Spirit</i> and <i>Guardian of the Darkness</i> are independent enough to be read as stand-alone manga.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/11/guardian-of-spirit-manga-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a>
If you've read these manga already, you can also read the rest of the series as novels <a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/12/guardian-of-spirit-master-post.html">here</a>.
<</if>><<if $jinmanga is true>><hr><img src="Images/18.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/guardian-of-spirit-manga-gaiden-jin.html">Guardian of the Spirit Manga Gaiden - Jin</a> is a spinoff prequel manga based on the fantasy series by Uehashi Nahoko. Set in a world based on early medieval Japan, the Mikado's Hunters must thwart dangerous assassins and attempts on their lives.
Best parts: Outsider perspective, exciting action, shows events outside of canon that still inform canon, examines corrupt systems of authority and power with some nuance, shows teenagers being very convincingly teenagers, brief vengeance quest
Pain points: Sad ending, women exist to be captured, rescued or scapegoated, and the world that emerges from these pages is even more alarmingly horrible and unfair than in the novels
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/guardian-of-spirit-manga-gaiden-jin.html"><button>Pick This Manga</button></a>
If you've read this manga already, you can also read the rest of the series as manga (for the first two books) and novels <a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/12/guardian-of-spirit-master-post.html">here</a>.
<</if>><<if $werefox is true>><hr><img src="Images/98.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/03/beyond-werefox-whistle-master-post.html">Beyond the Werefox Whistle</a> is a fantasy novel by Uehashi Nahoko set in a world of magic where magic users and spirit beasts face unfair persecution that they must overcome.
Best parts: Detailed worldbuilding, differentiated cultures, a compelling past world, timeless setting and conflicts, intense friendships
Pain points: Focuses a lot on the human characters, who are generally less interesting than the magical spirit beasts and the sorcerer that controls them.
This is a stand-alone fantasy novel.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/03/beyond-werefox-whistle-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $dororo3 is true>><hr><img src="Images/21.png"><br>The <a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/01/toriumi-jinzo-dororo-series-3-books.html">Dororo Series</a> is a 3-book series by Toriumi Jinzō based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. A baby boy abandoned at birth loses forty-eight pieces of his body to demons. He embarks on a quest to find his birth family for answers and eliminate the demons who want him dead. He's accompanied by a young sneak-thief, Dororo, as well as a colorful cast of other allies: a brilliant surgeon, a bomb-happy pirate, and a blind monk. Set in 1480s Japan at the start of the Warring States period.
Best parts: Psychologically comprehensible characters, an almost entirely happy ending, a solid setting based on real events and battles, realistic medicine for the period
Pain points: Intensely precise detail for medicine, bombs and battles (easily skipped), slow progression at the start (but it picks up and stays there).
Content Warnings: The body horror of surgery and the macabre abilities of demons to alter minds and bodies make this more psychological horror story than a gore-fest. There is some brief sexual content, mainly in the second book.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/01/toriumi-jinzo-dororo-series-3-books.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $dororo2 is true>><hr><img src="Images/19.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/01/nakamura-masaru-dororo-movie.html">The Dororo Movie Novelization</a> sparked a film of the same name (<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0780503/">Dororo</a>). It is based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. Hyakkimaru, the main character, is abandoned by his birth family with forty-eight body parts missing. A surgeon creates a new body for him out of the bodies of children who've been slain in war. He accompanies the thief Dororo on a journey of discovery when they are both adults.
Best parts: The friendship between Hyakkimaru and Dororo is skillfully developed and never turns romantic, which is refreshing. Anti-war and pro-individuality themes are explored in interesting ways.
Pain points: Villainous characters are given a lot of pages in an attempt to redeem them that falls flat. Some ideas are introduced and don't really go anywhere.
Content Warning: Body horror galore in this one, from missing eyes to genital organs re-growing in real time. If you're looking for something gory, violent, and post-apocalyptic with a strong focus on character development and progression, this is your story.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/01/nakamura-masaru-dororo-movie.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $dororo1 is true>><hr><img src="Images/24.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/12/dororo-novel-master-post.html">Dororo: A Novel</a> is based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. This was written specifically as a children's novel and focuses more on the adventuresome aspect of the story than most other adaptations. The plot follows Hyakkimaru, a paraplegic warrior missing most of his body, and Dororo, a young thief who wants to steal the swords out of his prosthetic arms. Hyakkimaru recovers pieces of his body from demons who stole them when he was born. Both Hyakkimaru and Dororo confront their pasts when family and old friends reappear on their adventures.
Best parts: The friendship between Hyakkimaru and Dororo is fun and silly, and ocassionally poignant. Hyakkimaru's brother has a brief and surprising star turn, and important events from the manga are dramatized in child-focused detail. The authorial voice has personality and verve.
Pain points: Villains aren't given a lot of development and the child-friendly format limits the effect that most of the bad guys can have. Setting this up as a children's story was probably a bit misguided to start with.
Content Warning: Some body horror (PG-rated). A woman and a man are brutally killed on-screen, though most of the violence is stylized.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/12/dororo-novel-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $search is true>><hr><img src="Images/46.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/search-and-destroy-master-post.html">Search and Destroy</a> is a 3-volume series by Kaneko Atsushi based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. The main characters are gender-swapped in this story, meaning the main character is female and Dororo is male. The world is a post-apocalypic hellscape run by corrupt politicians and half-human robots.
Best parts: More so than other adaptations, <i>Search and Destroy</i> is about what being human actually means, well beyond having human parts and pieces. The art style is stunningly beautiful and the ending is perfectly balanced between realistic and positive for all the main characters.
Pain points: Never heard of 'em. If you're here for a horror story and you like manga, then this is a feast.
Content Warning: Features explicit gore, surgeries and under-the-skin visceral body horror for both main characters.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/search-and-destroy-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $bon is true>><hr><img src="Images/49.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/dororo-bon-master-post.html">Dororo Bon</a> is a 4-volume series by Douke Daisuke based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. The main characters are all female in this story. The world setting is modern with magic and the story features a demonic cat as a sidekick character.
Best parts: The relationships are well-drawn, particularly in Volume 3 which is set in the distant past. The end is much more settled than the one Osamu Tezuka wrote for his Dororo manga.
Pain points: The story is obviously a confusing mess and it takes a long time to find its footing.
Content Warning: In addition to the body horror that's typical of <i>Dororo</i> adaptations in media, the series explores common ghost stories in Japan in some detail. It's not especially gory or frightening, but the setting has a very gothic feel.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/dororo-bon-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $adv is true>><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/08/dororo-adventure-novel-choose-your-own.html">Dororo: Choose Your Own Adventure</a> is a game version of Osamu Tezuka's <i>Dororo</i> manga. Play as Hyakkimaru or Dororo (depending on choices), discover more than a dozen unique endings (including the "true" ending), earn achievements, and rewrite the story in interesting ways.
Best parts: It is possible to play the story exactly according to the manga it's based on, but it's also possible to go completely off-script and discover interesting (and sometimes superior) sequences of events that lead to better outcomes. If you've never heard of <i>Dororo</i> before and are interested in seeing what it's all about, this is not a terrible place to start. The game respects personal choices and has real consequences. Curiosity and compassion are rewarded. Ruthless violence and ignorance are severely punished.
Pain points: It's not really a book, per se, but a game! And it's true that <i>Dororo</i> fans will get more out of it. If you've read and liked <i>Dororo</i> stuff before, you'll probably like this. However, it's welcoming and fun enough for newcomers to explore. Beating the game entirely takes 2-3 hours on average and there's limited replayability.
Content Warning: Some of the worst endings have characters slaughtering their own family or being devoured by monsters. It's PG-13 rated violence and gore for the most part. There is no sexually explicit material.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/08/dororo-adventure-novel-choose-your-own.html"><button>Pick This Game</button></a><</if>><<if $bambi is true>><hr><img src="Images/82.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/bambi-and-her-pink-gun-master-post.html">Bambi and Her Pink Gun</a> is a 7-volume manga series by Kaneko Atsushi. It centers on a sixteen-year-old girl named Bambi who has kidnapped a young boy from a crazy pop star and is taking him back to the 'Old Men'. The story is extremely violent, with every new scene taking on a different look and feel (Western, Latino, the 40s, traditional Japanese, etc.)
Best parts: Bambi's violent vegetarianism, inspired art styles, over-the-top crazy drug-fueld violence, it's a ride
Pain points: Very dark, violent and at times gratuitous, <i>Bambi</i> belongs to the genre of manga that is written for men but features a strong female protagonist.
Content Warning: Buckets of blood and copious nudity. Hide the kids for this one. Also some pointed social commentary, if you know where to look.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/bambi-and-her-pink-gun-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $forty is true>><hr><img src="Images/29.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/shijukara-starting-at-40-master-post.html">Starting at 40</a> is a 17-volume manga series by Sakai Eri. It follows Watanuki Shinobu, a 39-year-old woman and unsuccessful manga artist. She plans to give up her career, but after one of her old works becomes a hit online, she decides to create a new comic instead. In need of help, she looks for an assistant. The handsome 22-year-old man named Tachibana Chiaki applies to her ad, and Shinobu finds herself at a major turning point in her life.
Best parts: The director of the drama adaptation described <i>Starting at 40</i> as "an infidelity drama for people who don't like infidelity dramas," and that captures the feeling almost perfectly. Shinobu and Chiaki have wealth of individual experience; collectively, they use art to explain the human experience and overcome extreme personal traumas. I generally don't like romance, but loved this from start to (very happy) finish.
Pain points: Has some explicit sexuality, including sexual abuse. It is never gratuitous but is quite frank and painful. The characters' triumph at the end is more powerful for these traumatic experiences, which are never forgotten or swept under the rug.
Content Warning: Nudity, sexual abuse (including abuse of a child), physical abuse
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/shijukara-starting-at-40-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $r is true>><hr><img src="Images/99.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/05/r-original-kaneko-atsushi.html">R: The Original</a> is a collection of 9 wonderfully weird and violent short stories from the mind of Kaneko Atsushi.
Best parts: Variety. There's everything here from sci-fi, fantasy, aliens, violence, melon bread, lemon bread and more
Pain points: Not for the faint of heart and only for the very curious. The art is, at times, experimental and hard on the eyes.
Content Warning: Physical as well as psychological horror elements, plus Kaneko Atsushi's trademark over-the-top violence.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/05/r-original-kaneko-atsushi.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a><</if>><<if $swallows is true>><hr><img src="Images/Swallows.png"><br><a href=
"https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2025/01/the-swallows-will-not-return-sakai-eri.html">The Swallows Will Not Return</a> is a limited series manga based on the novel of the same name by Natsuo Kirino. It's about a young woman named Riki who lives in desperate poverty. She becomes a surrogate mother out of desperation and is bought by a wealthy infertile couple who want her because she resembles the wife.
Best parts: Heavy topics in happy packaging is very much Sakai Eri's style. The characters are fleshed out and their psychology is comprehensible even when they aren't entirely sympathetic.
Pain points: Depictions of the gulf between the ultra-rich and the severely impoverished are designed to provoke rage.
Content Warning: The manga discusses and depicts explicit sexual topics and is highly concerned with women's (and to a lesser extent, men's) bodily autonomy.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2025/01/the-swallows-will-not-return-sakai-eri.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $fire is true>><hr><img src="Images/93.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/04/fire-hunter-series-master-post.html">The Fire Hunter Series</a> is 5-book fantasy series by Hinata Rieko. Set in a post-apocalyptic world at war, two children uncover ancient secrets that put their families and society at risk.
Best parts: Detailed worldbuilding, differentiated cultures, magic is technology and technology is magic, dogs are a major thing in this world
Pain points: Stilted, stuffy style (meant to imitate older speech), weak and underdeveloped characters, slow-paced, tonally mixed, ethically problematic, many story elements are contradictory
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/04/fire-hunter-series-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $sorceress is true>><hr><img src="Images/26.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-sorceress-revolt-kobijis-story.html">The Sorceress' Revolt</a> is fantasy novel with an historical twist set in ancient China written by Toriumi Jinzō. A Buddhist monk gains mysterious powers in a sacred cave and must use them to save China from outside invasion and the threat of a powerful sorceress.
Best parts: Strong characters (both men and women) with realistic psychological progression. Fast-paced and grounded in historical fact, this novel explores universal human conflicts and desires: the conflict between corruption and righteousness and the desires for immortality and immunity from pain.
Pain points: Historical detail can be thick on the ground, pacing is more variable in the second part. Some content is violent and sexually explicit (between PG-13 and R on the MPAA rating scale).
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-sorceress-revolt-kobijis-story.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $science is true>><hr><img src="Images/97.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/04/science-ninja-team-gatchaman-master-post.html">Science Ninja Team Gatchaman</a> is science fiction/action-adventure novel set in the 1980s. Campy, silly and over-the-top fun, this is what would happen if Saturday morning cartoons became a novel.
Best parts: Strong characters (both men and women), fast-paced and action-heavy, detailed setting, cool art
Pain points: More dated than this author's other novels; the male gaze intrudes for some characters. The zany plot and concept have appeal for kids and teens, but the issues explored and plot progression is distinctly adult.
Content Warning: Violence, violence and more violence, most of it cartoony but some of it very intense.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/04/science-ninja-team-gatchaman-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $stranger is true>><hr><img src="Images/89.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/xamd-lost-memories-pilgrims-compass.html">The Sword of the Stranger</a> is a manga about a warrior and an outsider in Meiji era Japan (1860s). He finds his way of life shattered when a foreign faction captures a child to use in a nefarious sacrifice. Based on the anime film of the same name.
Best parts: Exciting action, some good character development, exaggerated but largely accurate historical detail
Pain points: Plot progression is generic to the action genre, and the manga doesn't add much value to the anime movie
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/12/sword-of-stranger-manga.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a><</if>><<if $xamd is true>><hr><img src="Images/90.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/xamd-lost-memories-pilgrims-compass.html">Xam'd Lost Memories: Pilgrim's Compass</a> is a world tour through a lost age. Teenagers embark on a sacred pilgrimage seeking lost magic and memories. Fun but generic. Based on the anime of the same name.
Best parts: Some positive character progression and bright but zany humor
Pain points: Doesn't offer much to differentiate it from all the other action anime out there, though past discoveries do lend the story some depth
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/xamd-lost-memories-pilgrims-compass.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a><</if>>
<<if $guardian is false and $jinmanga is false and $guardianmanga is false and $werefox is false and $dororo3 is false and $dororo2 is false and $dororo1 is false and $search is false and $bon is false and $adv is false and $bambi is false and $r is false and $forty is false and $swallows is false and $fire is false and $sorceress is false and $science is false and $stranger is false and $xamd is false and $spider is false and $gods is false and $devil is false and $grove is false and $wei is false and $rabbit is false and $tag is false and $mandarins is false and $shrine is false and $toshishun is false and $onions is false and $legacy is false and $sea is false and $june is false and $preference is false and $moon is false and $redbird is false and $bamboo is false and $candy is false and $last is false and $redcandle is false and $goose is false and $shoes is false and $tstory is false>>Sorry, I don't have any recommendations for you right now.
[[Try again->StoryInit]]<<set $allfalse to true>><</if>>
<<if $allfalse is false>>Not what you're looking for?
[[Try again->StoryInit]]<</if>>
<<if $guardian is false and $jinmanga is false and $guardianmanga is false and $werefox is false and $dororo3 is false and $dororo2 is false and $dororo1 is false and $search is false and $bon is false and $adv is false and $bambi is false and $r is false and $forty is false and $swallows is false and $fire is false and $sorceress is false and $science is false and $stranger is false and $xamd is false and $spider is false and $gods is false and $devil is false and $grove is false and $wei is false and $rabbit is false and $tag is false and $mandarins is false and $shrine is false and $toshishun is false and $onions is false and $legacy is false and $sea is false and $june is false and $preference is false and $moon is false and $redbird is false and $bamboo is false and $candy is false and $last is false and $redcandle is false and $goose is false and $shoes is false and $tstory is false>><<set $allfalse to true>><</if>><<if $allfalse is false>>Great! Here are my recommendations for you.<</if>>
<<if $guardian is true>><hr><img src="Images/3.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/12/guardian-of-spirit-master-post.html">Guardian of the Spirit </a> is fantasy series by Uehashi Nahoko. Set in a world based on early medieval Japan, a woman warrior is placed at the heart of shifting political and magical powers when she dares to save a young prince from execution.
Best parts: Strong female character, detailed worldbuilding, differentiated cultures, interesting perspectives, a nature-based magic system, timeless setting and conflicts, exciting action
Pain points: One painfully slow romance (easily ignored), fade-to-black at critical story moments, a slightly unsettled (but entirely happy) ending, and a sense of disconnection from book to book. This is a series, but most of the books in it can be read as stand-alone novels.
Note: The first two novels in this series, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Moribito-Guardian-Spirit-Nahoko-Uehashi-ebook/dp/B00JWGOPZE?crid=3PM6VS8392B3K&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.2mge0v9d_zktcJBFc9lAYsEXNL-KoSAB49BbozHhndn7BF0CgcJnkbkTJqzshBb9eXy9ucfPPyOf-iplZqkysROxrlXQU2UtkCUcblux9i52S5bUFZgQ-KTo0k7rVSEI3uEL2PaOKopiFjfXoIaTx5K52YBFaMcLooUQj3TsBCs3oSXjewWwgHSz0hFypUDtz39ZR7taliILTBhtwfCWfkIQgPPrkNeqD4VPazItZYc.xAH6eyqJzZevFU5S6ZquekSDrwsqad5eoiao6tvGTYo&dib_tag=se&keywords=guardian+of+the+spirit&qid=1738939768&sprefix=guardian+of+the+spirit%2Caps%2C132&sr=8-1">Guardian of the Spirit</a> and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Moribito-Guardian-Darkness-Nahoko-Uehashi-ebook/dp/B00JWGOPUY?crid=1FO5RSHA2BNVQ&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.NB5dC98gl4DutrqJMNGSRQ.0PEfHB8Ug7t5JZsN4ajYUcnC_CgxxI1YT0xgpo6mZng&dib_tag=se&keywords=guardian+of+the+darkness+uehashi&qid=1738939868&sprefix=guardian+of+the+darkness+uehashi%2Caps%2C87&sr=8-1">Guardian of the Darkness</a>, have been officially licensed and published. I highly recommend you read those first! If you'd prefer to do all your reading here, though, you can read the manga versions of the first two novels on this blog.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/12/guardian-of-spirit-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $guardianmanga is true>><hr><img src="Images/GotS.jpg"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/11/guardian-of-spirit-manga-master-post.html">Guardian of the Spirit Manga </a> is based on the fantasy series by Uehashi Nahoko. Set in a world based on early medieval Japan, a woman warrior is placed at the heart of shifting political and magical powers when she dares to save a young prince from execution.
Best parts: Strong female character, detailed worldbuilding, differentiated cultures, interesting perspectives, a nature-based magic system, timeless setting and conflicts, exciting action
Pain points: One painfully slow romance (easily ignored), fade-to-black at critical story moments, a slightly unsettled (but entirely happy) ending, and a sense of disconnection from book to book. This is a series, but <i>Guardian of the Spirit</i> and <i>Guardian of the Darkness</i> are independent enough to be read as stand-alone manga.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/11/guardian-of-spirit-manga-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a>
If you've read these manga already, you can also read the rest of the series as novels <a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/12/guardian-of-spirit-master-post.html">here</a>.
<</if>><<if $jinmanga is true>><hr><img src="Images/18.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/guardian-of-spirit-manga-gaiden-jin.html">Guardian of the Spirit Manga Gaiden - Jin</a> is a spinoff prequel manga based on the fantasy series by Uehashi Nahoko. Set in a world based on early medieval Japan, the Mikado's Hunters must thwart dangerous assassins and attempts on their lives.
Best parts: Outsider perspective, exciting action, shows events outside of canon that still inform canon, examines corrupt systems of authority and power with some nuance, shows teenagers being very convincingly teenagers, brief vengeance quest
Pain points: Sad ending, women exist to be captured, rescued or scapegoated, and the world that emerges from these pages is even more alarmingly horrible and unfair than in the novels
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/guardian-of-spirit-manga-gaiden-jin.html"><button>Pick This Manga</button></a>
If you've read this manga already, you can also read the rest of the series as manga (for the first two books) and novels <a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/12/guardian-of-spirit-master-post.html">here</a>.
<</if>><<if $werefox is true>><hr><img src="Images/98.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/03/beyond-werefox-whistle-master-post.html">Beyond the Werefox Whistle</a> is a fantasy novel by Uehashi Nahoko set in a world of magic where magic users and spirit beasts face unfair persecution that they must overcome.
Best parts: Detailed worldbuilding, differentiated cultures, a compelling past world, timeless setting and conflicts, intense friendships
Pain points: Focuses a lot on the human characters, who are generally less interesting than the magical spirit beasts and the sorcerer that controls them.
This is a stand-alone fantasy novel.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/03/beyond-werefox-whistle-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $dororo3 is true>><hr><img src="Images/21.png"><br>The <a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/01/toriumi-jinzo-dororo-series-3-books.html">Dororo Series</a> is a 3-book series by Toriumi Jinzō based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. A baby boy abandoned at birth loses forty-eight pieces of his body to demons. He embarks on a quest to find his birth family for answers and eliminate the demons who want him dead. He's accompanied by a young sneak-thief, Dororo, as well as a colorful cast of other allies: a brilliant surgeon, a bomb-happy pirate, and a blind monk. Set in 1480s Japan at the start of the Warring States period.
Best parts: Psychologically comprehensible characters, an almost entirely happy ending, a solid setting based on real events and battles, realistic medicine for the period
Pain points: Intensely precise detail for medicine, bombs and battles (easily skipped), slow progression at the start (but it picks up and stays there).
Content Warnings: The body horror of surgery and the macabre abilities of demons to alter minds and bodies make this more psychological horror story than a gore-fest. There is some brief sexual content, mainly in the second book.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/01/toriumi-jinzo-dororo-series-3-books.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $dororo2 is true>><hr><img src="Images/19.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/01/nakamura-masaru-dororo-movie.html">The Dororo Movie Novelization</a> sparked a film of the same name (<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0780503/">Dororo</a>). It is based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. Hyakkimaru, the main character, is abandoned by his birth family with forty-eight body parts missing. A surgeon creates a new body for him out of the bodies of children who've been slain in war. He accompanies the thief Dororo on a journey of discovery when they are both adults.
Best parts: The friendship between Hyakkimaru and Dororo is skillfully developed and never turns romantic, which is refreshing. Anti-war and pro-individuality themes are explored in interesting ways.
Pain points: Villainous characters are given a lot of pages in an attempt to redeem them that falls flat. Some ideas are introduced and don't really go anywhere.
Content Warning: Body horror galore in this one, from missing eyes to genital organs re-growing in real time. If you're looking for something gory, violent, and post-apocalyptic with a strong focus on character development and progression, this is your story.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/01/nakamura-masaru-dororo-movie.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $dororo1 is true>><hr><img src="Images/24.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/12/dororo-novel-master-post.html">Dororo: A Novel</a> is based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. This was written specifically as a children's novel and focuses more on the adventuresome aspect of the story than most other adaptations. The plot follows Hyakkimaru, a paraplegic warrior missing most of his body, and Dororo, a young thief who wants to steal the swords out of his prosthetic arms. Hyakkimaru recovers pieces of his body from demons who stole them when he was born. Both Hyakkimaru and Dororo confront their pasts when family and old friends reappear on their adventures.
Best parts: The friendship between Hyakkimaru and Dororo is fun and silly, and ocassionally poignant. Hyakkimaru's brother has a brief and surprising star turn, and important events from the manga are dramatized in child-focused detail. The authorial voice has personality and verve.
Pain points: Villains aren't given a lot of development and the child-friendly format limits the effect that most of the bad guys can have. Setting this up as a children's story was probably a bit misguided to start with.
Content Warning: Some body horror (PG-rated). A woman and a man are brutally killed on-screen, though most of the violence is stylized.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/12/dororo-novel-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $search is true>><hr><img src="Images/46.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/search-and-destroy-master-post.html">Search and Destroy</a> is a 3-volume series by Kaneko Atsushi based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. The main characters are gender-swapped in this story, meaning the main character is female and Dororo is male. The world is a post-apocalypic hellscape run by corrupt politicians and half-human robots.
Best parts: More so than other adaptations, <i>Search and Destroy</i> is about what being human actually means, well beyond having human parts and pieces. The art style is stunningly beautiful and the ending is perfectly balanced between realistic and positive for all the main characters.
Pain points: Never heard of 'em. If you're here for a horror story and you like manga, then this is a feast.
Content Warning: Features explicit gore, surgeries and under-the-skin visceral body horror for both main characters.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/search-and-destroy-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $bon is true>><hr><img src="Images/49.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/dororo-bon-master-post.html">Dororo Bon</a> is a 4-volume series by Douke Daisuke based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. The main characters are all female in this story. The world setting is modern with magic and the story features a demonic cat as a sidekick character.
Best parts: The relationships are well-drawn, particularly in Volume 3 which is set in the distant past. The end is much more settled than the one Osamu Tezuka wrote for his Dororo manga.
Pain points: The story is obviously a confusing mess and it takes a long time to find its footing.
Content Warning: In addition to the body horror that's typical of <i>Dororo</i> adaptations in media, the series explores common ghost stories in Japan in some detail. It's not especially gory or frightening, but the setting has a very gothic feel.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/dororo-bon-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $adv is true>><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/08/dororo-adventure-novel-choose-your-own.html">Dororo: Choose Your Own Adventure</a> is a game version of Osamu Tezuka's <i>Dororo</i> manga. Play as Hyakkimaru or Dororo (depending on choices), discover more than a dozen unique endings (including the "true" ending), earn achievements, and rewrite the story in interesting ways.
Best parts: It is possible to play the story exactly according to the manga it's based on, but it's also possible to go completely off-script and discover interesting (and sometimes superior) sequences of events that lead to better outcomes. If you've never heard of <i>Dororo</i> before and are interested in seeing what it's all about, this is not a terrible place to start. The game respects personal choices and has real consequences. Curiosity and compassion are rewarded. Ruthless violence and ignorance are severely punished.
Pain points: It's not really a book, per se, but a game! And it's true that <i>Dororo</i> fans will get more out of it. If you've read and liked <i>Dororo</i> stuff before, you'll probably like this. However, it's welcoming and fun enough for newcomers to explore. Beating the game entirely takes 2-3 hours on average and there's limited replayability.
Content Warning: Some of the worst endings have characters slaughtering their own family or being devoured by monsters. It's PG-13 rated violence and gore for the most part. There is no sexually explicit material.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/08/dororo-adventure-novel-choose-your-own.html"><button>Pick This Game</button></a><</if>><<if $bambi is true>><hr><img src="Images/82.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/bambi-and-her-pink-gun-master-post.html">Bambi and Her Pink Gun</a> is a 7-volume manga series by Kaneko Atsushi. It centers on a sixteen-year-old girl named Bambi who has kidnapped a young boy from a crazy pop star and is taking him back to the 'Old Men'. The story is extremely violent, with every new scene taking on a different look and feel (Western, Latino, the 40s, traditional Japanese, etc.)
Best parts: Bambi's violent vegetarianism, inspired art styles, over-the-top crazy drug-fueld violence, it's a ride
Pain points: Very dark, violent and at times gratuitous, <i>Bambi</i> belongs to the genre of manga that is written for men but features a strong female protagonist.
Content Warning: Buckets of blood and copious nudity. Hide the kids for this one. Also some pointed social commentary, if you know where to look.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/bambi-and-her-pink-gun-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $forty is true>><hr><img src="Images/29.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/shijukara-starting-at-40-master-post.html">Starting at 40</a> is a 17-volume manga series by Sakai Eri. It follows Watanuki Shinobu, a 39-year-old woman and unsuccessful manga artist. She plans to give up her career, but after one of her old works becomes a hit online, she decides to create a new comic instead. In need of help, she looks for an assistant. The handsome 22-year-old man named Tachibana Chiaki applies to her ad, and Shinobu finds herself at a major turning point in her life.
Best parts: The director of the drama adaptation described <i>Starting at 40</i> as "an infidelity drama for people who don't like infidelity dramas," and that captures the feeling almost perfectly. Shinobu and Chiaki have wealth of individual experience; collectively, they use art to explain the human experience and overcome extreme personal traumas. I generally don't like romance, but loved this from start to (very happy) finish.
Pain points: Has some explicit sexuality, including sexual abuse. It is never gratuitous but is quite frank and painful. The characters' triumph at the end is more powerful for these traumatic experiences, which are never forgotten or swept under the rug.
Content Warning: Nudity, sexual abuse (including abuse of a child), physical abuse
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/shijukara-starting-at-40-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $r is true>><hr><img src="Images/99.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/05/r-original-kaneko-atsushi.html">R: The Original</a> is a collection of 9 wonderfully weird and violent short stories from the mind of Kaneko Atsushi.
Best parts: Variety. There's everything here from sci-fi, fantasy, aliens, violence, melon bread, lemon bread and more
Pain points: Not for the faint of heart and only for the very curious. The art is, at times, experimental and hard on the eyes.
Content Warning: Physical as well as psychological horror elements, plus Kaneko Atsushi's trademark over-the-top violence.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/05/r-original-kaneko-atsushi.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a><</if>><<if $swallows is true>><hr><img src="Images/Swallows.png"><br><a href=
"https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2025/01/the-swallows-will-not-return-sakai-eri.html">The Swallows Will Not Return</a> is a limited series manga based on the novel of the same name by Natsuo Kirino. It's about a young woman named Riki who lives in desperate poverty. She becomes a surrogate mother out of desperation and is bought by a wealthy infertile couple who want her because she resembles the wife.
Best parts: Heavy topics in happy packaging is very much Sakai Eri's style. The characters are fleshed out and their psychology is comprehensible even when they aren't entirely sympathetic.
Pain points: Depictions of the gulf between the ultra-rich and the severely impoverished are designed to provoke rage.
Content Warning: The manga discusses and depicts explicit sexual topics and is highly concerned with women's (and to a lesser extent, men's) bodily autonomy.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2025/01/the-swallows-will-not-return-sakai-eri.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $fire is true>><hr><img src="Images/93.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/04/fire-hunter-series-master-post.html">The Fire Hunter Series</a> is 5-book fantasy series by Hinata Rieko. Set in a post-apocalyptic world at war, two children uncover ancient secrets that put their families and society at risk.
Best parts: Detailed worldbuilding, differentiated cultures, magic is technology and technology is magic, dogs are a major thing in this world
Pain points: Stilted, stuffy style (meant to imitate older speech), weak and underdeveloped characters, slow-paced, tonally mixed, ethically problematic, many story elements are contradictory
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/04/fire-hunter-series-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $sorceress is true>><hr><img src="Images/26.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-sorceress-revolt-kobijis-story.html">The Sorceress' Revolt</a> is fantasy novel with an historical twist set in ancient China written by Toriumi Jinzō. A Buddhist monk gains mysterious powers in a sacred cave and must use them to save China from outside invasion and the threat of a powerful sorceress.
Best parts: Strong characters (both men and women) with realistic psychological progression. Fast-paced and grounded in historical fact, this novel explores universal human conflicts and desires: the conflict between corruption and righteousness and the desires for immortality and immunity from pain.
Pain points: Historical detail can be thick on the ground, pacing is more variable in the second part. Some content is violent and sexually explicit (between PG-13 and R on the MPAA rating scale).
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-sorceress-revolt-kobijis-story.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $science is true>><hr><img src="Images/97.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/04/science-ninja-team-gatchaman-master-post.html">Science Ninja Team Gatchaman</a> is science fiction/action-adventure novel set in the 1980s. Campy, silly and over-the-top fun, this is what would happen if Saturday morning cartoons became a novel.
Best parts: Strong characters (both men and women), fast-paced and action-heavy, detailed setting, cool art
Pain points: More dated than this author's other novels; the male gaze intrudes for some characters. The zany plot and concept have appeal for kids and teens, but the issues explored and plot progression is distinctly adult.
Content Warning: Violence, violence and more violence, most of it cartoony but some of it very intense.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/04/science-ninja-team-gatchaman-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $stranger is true>><hr><img src="Images/89.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/xamd-lost-memories-pilgrims-compass.html">The Sword of the Stranger</a> is a manga about a warrior and an outsider in Meiji era Japan (1860s). He finds his way of life shattered when a foreign faction captures a child to use in a nefarious sacrifice. Based on the anime film of the same name.
Best parts: Exciting action, some good character development, exaggerated but largely accurate historical detail
Pain points: Plot progression is generic to the action genre, and the manga doesn't add much value to the anime movie
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/12/sword-of-stranger-manga.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a><</if>><<if $xamd is true>><hr><img src="Images/90.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/xamd-lost-memories-pilgrims-compass.html">Xam'd Lost Memories: Pilgrim's Compass</a> is a world tour through a lost age. Teenagers embark on a sacred pilgrimage seeking lost magic and memories. Fun but generic. Based on the anime of the same name.
Best parts: Some positive character progression and bright but zany humor
Pain points: Doesn't offer much to differentiate it from all the other action anime out there, though past discoveries do lend the story some depth
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/xamd-lost-memories-pilgrims-compass.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a><</if>>
<<if $guardian is false and $jinmanga is false and $guardianmanga is false and $werefox is false and $dororo3 is false and $dororo2 is false and $dororo1 is false and $search is false and $bon is false and $adv is false and $bambi is false and $r is false and $forty is false and $swallows is false and $fire is false and $sorceress is false and $science is false and $stranger is false and $xamd is false and $spider is false and $gods is false and $devil is false and $grove is false and $wei is false and $rabbit is false and $tag is false and $mandarins is false and $shrine is false and $toshishun is false and $onions is false and $legacy is false and $sea is false and $june is false and $preference is false and $moon is false and $redbird is false and $bamboo is false and $candy is false and $last is false and $redcandle is false and $goose is false and $shoes is false and $tstory is false>>Sorry, I don't have any recommendations for you right now.
[[Try again->StoryInit]]<<set $allfalse to true>><</if>>
<<if $allfalse is false>>Not what you're looking for?
[[Try again->StoryInit]]<</if>>
<<if $guardian is false and $jinmanga is false and $guardianmanga is false and $werefox is false and $dororo3 is false and $dororo2 is false and $dororo1 is false and $search is false and $bon is false and $adv is false and $bambi is false and $r is false and $forty is false and $swallows is false and $fire is false and $sorceress is false and $science is false and $stranger is false and $xamd is false and $spider is false and $gods is false and $devil is false and $grove is false and $wei is false and $rabbit is false and $tag is false and $mandarins is false and $shrine is false and $toshishun is false and $onions is false and $legacy is false and $sea is false and $june is false and $preference is false and $moon is false and $redbird is false and $bamboo is false and $candy is false and $last is false and $redcandle is false and $goose is false and $shoes is false and $tstory is false>><<set $allfalse to true>><</if>><<if $allfalse is false>>Great! Here are my recommendations for you.<</if>>
<<if $guardian is true>><hr><img src="Images/3.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/12/guardian-of-spirit-master-post.html">Guardian of the Spirit </a> is fantasy series by Uehashi Nahoko. Set in a world based on early medieval Japan, a woman warrior is placed at the heart of shifting political and magical powers when she dares to save a young prince from execution.
Best parts: Strong female character, detailed worldbuilding, differentiated cultures, interesting perspectives, a nature-based magic system, timeless setting and conflicts, exciting action
Pain points: One painfully slow romance (easily ignored), fade-to-black at critical story moments, a slightly unsettled (but entirely happy) ending, and a sense of disconnection from book to book. This is a series, but most of the books in it can be read as stand-alone novels.
Note: The first two novels in this series, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Moribito-Guardian-Spirit-Nahoko-Uehashi-ebook/dp/B00JWGOPZE?crid=3PM6VS8392B3K&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.2mge0v9d_zktcJBFc9lAYsEXNL-KoSAB49BbozHhndn7BF0CgcJnkbkTJqzshBb9eXy9ucfPPyOf-iplZqkysROxrlXQU2UtkCUcblux9i52S5bUFZgQ-KTo0k7rVSEI3uEL2PaOKopiFjfXoIaTx5K52YBFaMcLooUQj3TsBCs3oSXjewWwgHSz0hFypUDtz39ZR7taliILTBhtwfCWfkIQgPPrkNeqD4VPazItZYc.xAH6eyqJzZevFU5S6ZquekSDrwsqad5eoiao6tvGTYo&dib_tag=se&keywords=guardian+of+the+spirit&qid=1738939768&sprefix=guardian+of+the+spirit%2Caps%2C132&sr=8-1">Guardian of the Spirit</a> and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Moribito-Guardian-Darkness-Nahoko-Uehashi-ebook/dp/B00JWGOPUY?crid=1FO5RSHA2BNVQ&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.NB5dC98gl4DutrqJMNGSRQ.0PEfHB8Ug7t5JZsN4ajYUcnC_CgxxI1YT0xgpo6mZng&dib_tag=se&keywords=guardian+of+the+darkness+uehashi&qid=1738939868&sprefix=guardian+of+the+darkness+uehashi%2Caps%2C87&sr=8-1">Guardian of the Darkness</a>, have been officially licensed and published. I highly recommend you read those first! If you'd prefer to do all your reading here, though, you can read the manga versions of the first two novels on this blog.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/12/guardian-of-spirit-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $guardianmanga is true>><hr><img src="Images/GotS.jpg"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/11/guardian-of-spirit-manga-master-post.html">Guardian of the Spirit Manga </a> is based on the fantasy series by Uehashi Nahoko. Set in a world based on early medieval Japan, a woman warrior is placed at the heart of shifting political and magical powers when she dares to save a young prince from execution.
Best parts: Strong female character, detailed worldbuilding, differentiated cultures, interesting perspectives, a nature-based magic system, timeless setting and conflicts, exciting action
Pain points: One painfully slow romance (easily ignored), fade-to-black at critical story moments, a slightly unsettled (but entirely happy) ending, and a sense of disconnection from book to book. This is a series, but <i>Guardian of the Spirit</i> and <i>Guardian of the Darkness</i> are independent enough to be read as stand-alone manga.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/11/guardian-of-spirit-manga-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a>
If you've read these manga already, you can also read the rest of the series as novels <a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/12/guardian-of-spirit-master-post.html">here</a>.
<</if>><<if $jinmanga is true>><hr><img src="Images/18.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/guardian-of-spirit-manga-gaiden-jin.html">Guardian of the Spirit Manga Gaiden - Jin</a> is a spinoff prequel manga based on the fantasy series by Uehashi Nahoko. Set in a world based on early medieval Japan, the Mikado's Hunters must thwart dangerous assassins and attempts on their lives.
Best parts: Outsider perspective, exciting action, shows events outside of canon that still inform canon, examines corrupt systems of authority and power with some nuance, shows teenagers being very convincingly teenagers, brief vengeance quest
Pain points: Sad ending, women exist to be captured, rescued or scapegoated, and the world that emerges from these pages is even more alarmingly horrible and unfair than in the novels
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/guardian-of-spirit-manga-gaiden-jin.html"><button>Pick This Manga</button></a>
If you've read this manga already, you can also read the rest of the series as manga (for the first two books) and novels <a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/12/guardian-of-spirit-master-post.html">here</a>.
<</if>><<if $werefox is true>><hr><img src="Images/98.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/03/beyond-werefox-whistle-master-post.html">Beyond the Werefox Whistle</a> is a fantasy novel by Uehashi Nahoko set in a world of magic where magic users and spirit beasts face unfair persecution that they must overcome.
Best parts: Detailed worldbuilding, differentiated cultures, a compelling past world, timeless setting and conflicts, intense friendships
Pain points: Focuses a lot on the human characters, who are generally less interesting than the magical spirit beasts and the sorcerer that controls them.
This is a stand-alone fantasy novel.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/03/beyond-werefox-whistle-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $dororo3 is true>><hr><img src="Images/21.png"><br>The <a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/01/toriumi-jinzo-dororo-series-3-books.html">Dororo Series</a> is a 3-book series by Toriumi Jinzō based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. A baby boy abandoned at birth loses forty-eight pieces of his body to demons. He embarks on a quest to find his birth family for answers and eliminate the demons who want him dead. He's accompanied by a young sneak-thief, Dororo, as well as a colorful cast of other allies: a brilliant surgeon, a bomb-happy pirate, and a blind monk. Set in 1480s Japan at the start of the Warring States period.
Best parts: Psychologically comprehensible characters, an almost entirely happy ending, a solid setting based on real events and battles, realistic medicine for the period
Pain points: Intensely precise detail for medicine, bombs and battles (easily skipped), slow progression at the start (but it picks up and stays there).
Content Warnings: The body horror of surgery and the macabre abilities of demons to alter minds and bodies make this more psychological horror story than a gore-fest. There is some brief sexual content, mainly in the second book.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/01/toriumi-jinzo-dororo-series-3-books.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $dororo2 is true>><hr><img src="Images/19.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/01/nakamura-masaru-dororo-movie.html">The Dororo Movie Novelization</a> sparked a film of the same name (<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0780503/">Dororo</a>). It is based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. Hyakkimaru, the main character, is abandoned by his birth family with forty-eight body parts missing. A surgeon creates a new body for him out of the bodies of children who've been slain in war. He accompanies the thief Dororo on a journey of discovery when they are both adults.
Best parts: The friendship between Hyakkimaru and Dororo is skillfully developed and never turns romantic, which is refreshing. Anti-war and pro-individuality themes are explored in interesting ways.
Pain points: Villainous characters are given a lot of pages in an attempt to redeem them that falls flat. Some ideas are introduced and don't really go anywhere.
Content Warning: Body horror galore in this one, from missing eyes to genital organs re-growing in real time. If you're looking for something gory, violent, and post-apocalyptic with a strong focus on character development and progression, this is your story.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/01/nakamura-masaru-dororo-movie.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $dororo1 is true>><hr><img src="Images/24.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/12/dororo-novel-master-post.html">Dororo: A Novel</a> is based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. This was written specifically as a children's novel and focuses more on the adventuresome aspect of the story than most other adaptations. The plot follows Hyakkimaru, a paraplegic warrior missing most of his body, and Dororo, a young thief who wants to steal the swords out of his prosthetic arms. Hyakkimaru recovers pieces of his body from demons who stole them when he was born. Both Hyakkimaru and Dororo confront their pasts when family and old friends reappear on their adventures.
Best parts: The friendship between Hyakkimaru and Dororo is fun and silly, and ocassionally poignant. Hyakkimaru's brother has a brief and surprising star turn, and important events from the manga are dramatized in child-focused detail. The authorial voice has personality and verve.
Pain points: Villains aren't given a lot of development and the child-friendly format limits the effect that most of the bad guys can have. Setting this up as a children's story was probably a bit misguided to start with.
Content Warning: Some body horror (PG-rated). A woman and a man are brutally killed on-screen, though most of the violence is stylized.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/12/dororo-novel-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $search is true>><hr><img src="Images/46.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/search-and-destroy-master-post.html">Search and Destroy</a> is a 3-volume series by Kaneko Atsushi based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. The main characters are gender-swapped in this story, meaning the main character is female and Dororo is male. The world is a post-apocalypic hellscape run by corrupt politicians and half-human robots.
Best parts: More so than other adaptations, <i>Search and Destroy</i> is about what being human actually means, well beyond having human parts and pieces. The art style is stunningly beautiful and the ending is perfectly balanced between realistic and positive for all the main characters.
Pain points: Never heard of 'em. If you're here for a horror story and you like manga, then this is a feast.
Content Warning: Features explicit gore, surgeries and under-the-skin visceral body horror for both main characters.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/search-and-destroy-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $bon is true>><hr><img src="Images/49.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/dororo-bon-master-post.html">Dororo Bon</a> is a 4-volume series by Douke Daisuke based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. The main characters are all female in this story. The world setting is modern with magic and the story features a demonic cat as a sidekick character.
Best parts: The relationships are well-drawn, particularly in Volume 3 which is set in the distant past. The end is much more settled than the one Osamu Tezuka wrote for his Dororo manga.
Pain points: The story is obviously a confusing mess and it takes a long time to find its footing.
Content Warning: In addition to the body horror that's typical of <i>Dororo</i> adaptations in media, the series explores common ghost stories in Japan in some detail. It's not especially gory or frightening, but the setting has a very gothic feel.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/dororo-bon-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $adv is true>><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/08/dororo-adventure-novel-choose-your-own.html">Dororo: Choose Your Own Adventure</a> is a game version of Osamu Tezuka's <i>Dororo</i> manga. Play as Hyakkimaru or Dororo (depending on choices), discover more than a dozen unique endings (including the "true" ending), earn achievements, and rewrite the story in interesting ways.
Best parts: It is possible to play the story exactly according to the manga it's based on, but it's also possible to go completely off-script and discover interesting (and sometimes superior) sequences of events that lead to better outcomes. If you've never heard of <i>Dororo</i> before and are interested in seeing what it's all about, this is not a terrible place to start. The game respects personal choices and has real consequences. Curiosity and compassion are rewarded. Ruthless violence and ignorance are severely punished.
Pain points: It's not really a book, per se, but a game! And it's true that <i>Dororo</i> fans will get more out of it. If you've read and liked <i>Dororo</i> stuff before, you'll probably like this. However, it's welcoming and fun enough for newcomers to explore. Beating the game entirely takes 2-3 hours on average and there's limited replayability.
Content Warning: Some of the worst endings have characters slaughtering their own family or being devoured by monsters. It's PG-13 rated violence and gore for the most part. There is no sexually explicit material.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/08/dororo-adventure-novel-choose-your-own.html"><button>Pick This Game</button></a><</if>><<if $bambi is true>><hr><img src="Images/82.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/bambi-and-her-pink-gun-master-post.html">Bambi and Her Pink Gun</a> is a 7-volume manga series by Kaneko Atsushi. It centers on a sixteen-year-old girl named Bambi who has kidnapped a young boy from a crazy pop star and is taking him back to the 'Old Men'. The story is extremely violent, with every new scene taking on a different look and feel (Western, Latino, the 40s, traditional Japanese, etc.)
Best parts: Bambi's violent vegetarianism, inspired art styles, over-the-top crazy drug-fueld violence, it's a ride
Pain points: Very dark, violent and at times gratuitous, <i>Bambi</i> belongs to the genre of manga that is written for men but features a strong female protagonist.
Content Warning: Buckets of blood and copious nudity. Hide the kids for this one. Also some pointed social commentary, if you know where to look.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/bambi-and-her-pink-gun-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $forty is true>><hr><img src="Images/29.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/shijukara-starting-at-40-master-post.html">Starting at 40</a> is a 17-volume manga series by Sakai Eri. It follows Watanuki Shinobu, a 39-year-old woman and unsuccessful manga artist. She plans to give up her career, but after one of her old works becomes a hit online, she decides to create a new comic instead. In need of help, she looks for an assistant. The handsome 22-year-old man named Tachibana Chiaki applies to her ad, and Shinobu finds herself at a major turning point in her life.
Best parts: The director of the drama adaptation described <i>Starting at 40</i> as "an infidelity drama for people who don't like infidelity dramas," and that captures the feeling almost perfectly. Shinobu and Chiaki have wealth of individual experience; collectively, they use art to explain the human experience and overcome extreme personal traumas. I generally don't like romance, but loved this from start to (very happy) finish.
Pain points: Has some explicit sexuality, including sexual abuse. It is never gratuitous but is quite frank and painful. The characters' triumph at the end is more powerful for these traumatic experiences, which are never forgotten or swept under the rug.
Content Warning: Nudity, sexual abuse (including abuse of a child), physical abuse
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/shijukara-starting-at-40-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $r is true>><hr><img src="Images/99.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/05/r-original-kaneko-atsushi.html">R: The Original</a> is a collection of 9 wonderfully weird and violent short stories from the mind of Kaneko Atsushi.
Best parts: Variety. There's everything here from sci-fi, fantasy, aliens, violence, melon bread, lemon bread and more
Pain points: Not for the faint of heart and only for the very curious. The art is, at times, experimental and hard on the eyes.
Content Warning: Physical as well as psychological horror elements, plus Kaneko Atsushi's trademark over-the-top violence.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/05/r-original-kaneko-atsushi.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a><</if>><<if $swallows is true>><hr><img src="Images/Swallows.png"><br><a href=
"https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2025/01/the-swallows-will-not-return-sakai-eri.html">The Swallows Will Not Return</a> is a limited series manga based on the novel of the same name by Natsuo Kirino. It's about a young woman named Riki who lives in desperate poverty. She becomes a surrogate mother out of desperation and is bought by a wealthy infertile couple who want her because she resembles the wife.
Best parts: Heavy topics in happy packaging is very much Sakai Eri's style. The characters are fleshed out and their psychology is comprehensible even when they aren't entirely sympathetic.
Pain points: Depictions of the gulf between the ultra-rich and the severely impoverished are designed to provoke rage.
Content Warning: The manga discusses and depicts explicit sexual topics and is highly concerned with women's (and to a lesser extent, men's) bodily autonomy.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2025/01/the-swallows-will-not-return-sakai-eri.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $fire is true>><hr><img src="Images/93.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/04/fire-hunter-series-master-post.html">The Fire Hunter Series</a> is 5-book fantasy series by Hinata Rieko. Set in a post-apocalyptic world at war, two children uncover ancient secrets that put their families and society at risk.
Best parts: Detailed worldbuilding, differentiated cultures, magic is technology and technology is magic, dogs are a major thing in this world
Pain points: Stilted, stuffy style (meant to imitate older speech), weak and underdeveloped characters, slow-paced, tonally mixed, ethically problematic, many story elements are contradictory
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/04/fire-hunter-series-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $sorceress is true>><hr><img src="Images/26.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-sorceress-revolt-kobijis-story.html">The Sorceress' Revolt</a> is fantasy novel with an historical twist set in ancient China written by Toriumi Jinzō. A Buddhist monk gains mysterious powers in a sacred cave and must use them to save China from outside invasion and the threat of a powerful sorceress.
Best parts: Strong characters (both men and women) with realistic psychological progression. Fast-paced and grounded in historical fact, this novel explores universal human conflicts and desires: the conflict between corruption and righteousness and the desires for immortality and immunity from pain.
Pain points: Historical detail can be thick on the ground, pacing is more variable in the second part. Some content is violent and sexually explicit (between PG-13 and R on the MPAA rating scale).
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-sorceress-revolt-kobijis-story.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $science is true>><hr><img src="Images/97.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/04/science-ninja-team-gatchaman-master-post.html">Science Ninja Team Gatchaman</a> is science fiction/action-adventure novel set in the 1980s. Campy, silly and over-the-top fun, this is what would happen if Saturday morning cartoons became a novel.
Best parts: Strong characters (both men and women), fast-paced and action-heavy, detailed setting, cool art
Pain points: More dated than this author's other novels; the male gaze intrudes for some characters. The zany plot and concept have appeal for kids and teens, but the issues explored and plot progression is distinctly adult.
Content Warning: Violence, violence and more violence, most of it cartoony but some of it very intense.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/04/science-ninja-team-gatchaman-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $stranger is true>><hr><img src="Images/89.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/xamd-lost-memories-pilgrims-compass.html">The Sword of the Stranger</a> is a manga about a warrior and an outsider in Meiji era Japan (1860s). He finds his way of life shattered when a foreign faction captures a child to use in a nefarious sacrifice. Based on the anime film of the same name.
Best parts: Exciting action, some good character development, exaggerated but largely accurate historical detail
Pain points: Plot progression is generic to the action genre, and the manga doesn't add much value to the anime movie
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/12/sword-of-stranger-manga.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a><</if>><<if $xamd is true>><hr><img src="Images/90.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/xamd-lost-memories-pilgrims-compass.html">Xam'd Lost Memories: Pilgrim's Compass</a> is a world tour through a lost age. Teenagers embark on a sacred pilgrimage seeking lost magic and memories. Fun but generic. Based on the anime of the same name.
Best parts: Some positive character progression and bright but zany humor
Pain points: Doesn't offer much to differentiate it from all the other action anime out there, though past discoveries do lend the story some depth
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/xamd-lost-memories-pilgrims-compass.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a><</if>>
<<if $guardian is false and $jinmanga is false and $guardianmanga is false and $werefox is false and $dororo3 is false and $dororo2 is false and $dororo1 is false and $search is false and $bon is false and $adv is false and $bambi is false and $r is false and $forty is false and $swallows is false and $fire is false and $sorceress is false and $science is false and $stranger is false and $xamd is false and $spider is false and $gods is false and $devil is false and $grove is false and $wei is false and $rabbit is false and $tag is false and $mandarins is false and $shrine is false and $toshishun is false and $onions is false and $legacy is false and $sea is false and $june is false and $preference is false and $moon is false and $redbird is false and $bamboo is false and $candy is false and $last is false and $redcandle is false and $goose is false and $shoes is false and $tstory is false>>Sorry, I don't have any recommendations for you right now.
[[Try again->StoryInit]]<<set $allfalse to true>><</if>>
<<if $allfalse is false>>Not what you're looking for?
[[Try again->StoryInit]]<</if>>
<<set $werefox to false>><<set $dororo3 to false>><<set $dororo2 to true>><<set $dororo1 to false>><<set $sorceress to true>><<set $science to true>><<set $r to false>><<set $stranger to false>><<set $xamd to false>><<if $guardian is false and $jinmanga is false and $guardianmanga is false and $werefox is false and $dororo3 is false and $dororo2 is false and $dororo1 is false and $search is false and $bon is false and $adv is false and $bambi is false and $r is false and $forty is false and $swallows is false and $fire is false and $sorceress is false and $science is false and $stranger is false and $xamd is false and $spider is false and $gods is false and $devil is false and $grove is false and $wei is false and $rabbit is false and $tag is false and $mandarins is false and $shrine is false and $toshishun is false and $onions is false and $legacy is false and $sea is false and $june is false and $preference is false and $moon is false and $redbird is false and $bamboo is false and $candy is false and $last is false and $redcandle is false and $goose is false and $shoes is false and $tstory is false>><<set $allfalse to true>><</if>><<if $allfalse is false>>Great! Here are my recommendations for you.<</if>>
<<if $guardian is true>><hr><img src="Images/3.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/12/guardian-of-spirit-master-post.html">Guardian of the Spirit </a> is fantasy series by Uehashi Nahoko. Set in a world based on early medieval Japan, a woman warrior is placed at the heart of shifting political and magical powers when she dares to save a young prince from execution.
Best parts: Strong female character, detailed worldbuilding, differentiated cultures, interesting perspectives, a nature-based magic system, timeless setting and conflicts, exciting action
Pain points: One painfully slow romance (easily ignored), fade-to-black at critical story moments, a slightly unsettled (but entirely happy) ending, and a sense of disconnection from book to book. This is a series, but most of the books in it can be read as stand-alone novels.
Note: The first two novels in this series, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Moribito-Guardian-Spirit-Nahoko-Uehashi-ebook/dp/B00JWGOPZE?crid=3PM6VS8392B3K&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.2mge0v9d_zktcJBFc9lAYsEXNL-KoSAB49BbozHhndn7BF0CgcJnkbkTJqzshBb9eXy9ucfPPyOf-iplZqkysROxrlXQU2UtkCUcblux9i52S5bUFZgQ-KTo0k7rVSEI3uEL2PaOKopiFjfXoIaTx5K52YBFaMcLooUQj3TsBCs3oSXjewWwgHSz0hFypUDtz39ZR7taliILTBhtwfCWfkIQgPPrkNeqD4VPazItZYc.xAH6eyqJzZevFU5S6ZquekSDrwsqad5eoiao6tvGTYo&dib_tag=se&keywords=guardian+of+the+spirit&qid=1738939768&sprefix=guardian+of+the+spirit%2Caps%2C132&sr=8-1">Guardian of the Spirit</a> and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Moribito-Guardian-Darkness-Nahoko-Uehashi-ebook/dp/B00JWGOPUY?crid=1FO5RSHA2BNVQ&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.NB5dC98gl4DutrqJMNGSRQ.0PEfHB8Ug7t5JZsN4ajYUcnC_CgxxI1YT0xgpo6mZng&dib_tag=se&keywords=guardian+of+the+darkness+uehashi&qid=1738939868&sprefix=guardian+of+the+darkness+uehashi%2Caps%2C87&sr=8-1">Guardian of the Darkness</a>, have been officially licensed and published. I highly recommend you read those first! If you'd prefer to do all your reading here, though, you can read the manga versions of the first two novels on this blog.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/12/guardian-of-spirit-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $guardianmanga is true>><hr><img src="Images/GotS.jpg"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/11/guardian-of-spirit-manga-master-post.html">Guardian of the Spirit Manga </a> is based on the fantasy series by Uehashi Nahoko. Set in a world based on early medieval Japan, a woman warrior is placed at the heart of shifting political and magical powers when she dares to save a young prince from execution.
Best parts: Strong female character, detailed worldbuilding, differentiated cultures, interesting perspectives, a nature-based magic system, timeless setting and conflicts, exciting action
Pain points: One painfully slow romance (easily ignored), fade-to-black at critical story moments, a slightly unsettled (but entirely happy) ending, and a sense of disconnection from book to book. This is a series, but <i>Guardian of the Spirit</i> and <i>Guardian of the Darkness</i> are independent enough to be read as stand-alone manga.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/11/guardian-of-spirit-manga-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a>
If you've read these manga already, you can also read the rest of the series as novels <a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/12/guardian-of-spirit-master-post.html">here</a>.
<</if>><<if $jinmanga is true>><hr><img src="Images/18.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/guardian-of-spirit-manga-gaiden-jin.html">Guardian of the Spirit Manga Gaiden - Jin</a> is a spinoff prequel manga based on the fantasy series by Uehashi Nahoko. Set in a world based on early medieval Japan, the Mikado's Hunters must thwart dangerous assassins and attempts on their lives.
Best parts: Outsider perspective, exciting action, shows events outside of canon that still inform canon, examines corrupt systems of authority and power with some nuance, shows teenagers being very convincingly teenagers, brief vengeance quest
Pain points: Sad ending, women exist to be captured, rescued or scapegoated, and the world that emerges from these pages is even more alarmingly horrible and unfair than in the novels
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/guardian-of-spirit-manga-gaiden-jin.html"><button>Pick This Manga</button></a>
If you've read this manga already, you can also read the rest of the series as manga (for the first two books) and novels <a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/12/guardian-of-spirit-master-post.html">here</a>.
<</if>><<if $werefox is true>><hr><img src="Images/98.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/03/beyond-werefox-whistle-master-post.html">Beyond the Werefox Whistle</a> is a fantasy novel by Uehashi Nahoko set in a world of magic where magic users and spirit beasts face unfair persecution that they must overcome.
Best parts: Detailed worldbuilding, differentiated cultures, a compelling past world, timeless setting and conflicts, intense friendships
Pain points: Focuses a lot on the human characters, who are generally less interesting than the magical spirit beasts and the sorcerer that controls them.
This is a stand-alone fantasy novel.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/03/beyond-werefox-whistle-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $dororo3 is true>><hr><img src="Images/21.png"><br>The <a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/01/toriumi-jinzo-dororo-series-3-books.html">Dororo Series</a> is a 3-book series by Toriumi Jinzō based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. A baby boy abandoned at birth loses forty-eight pieces of his body to demons. He embarks on a quest to find his birth family for answers and eliminate the demons who want him dead. He's accompanied by a young sneak-thief, Dororo, as well as a colorful cast of other allies: a brilliant surgeon, a bomb-happy pirate, and a blind monk. Set in 1480s Japan at the start of the Warring States period.
Best parts: Psychologically comprehensible characters, an almost entirely happy ending, a solid setting based on real events and battles, realistic medicine for the period
Pain points: Intensely precise detail for medicine, bombs and battles (easily skipped), slow progression at the start (but it picks up and stays there).
Content Warnings: The body horror of surgery and the macabre abilities of demons to alter minds and bodies make this more psychological horror story than a gore-fest. There is some brief sexual content, mainly in the second book.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/01/toriumi-jinzo-dororo-series-3-books.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $dororo2 is true>><hr><img src="Images/19.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/01/nakamura-masaru-dororo-movie.html">The Dororo Movie Novelization</a> sparked a film of the same name (<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0780503/">Dororo</a>). It is based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. Hyakkimaru, the main character, is abandoned by his birth family with forty-eight body parts missing. A surgeon creates a new body for him out of the bodies of children who've been slain in war. He accompanies the thief Dororo on a journey of discovery when they are both adults.
Best parts: The friendship between Hyakkimaru and Dororo is skillfully developed and never turns romantic, which is refreshing. Anti-war and pro-individuality themes are explored in interesting ways.
Pain points: Villainous characters are given a lot of pages in an attempt to redeem them that falls flat. Some ideas are introduced and don't really go anywhere.
Content Warning: Body horror galore in this one, from missing eyes to genital organs re-growing in real time. If you're looking for something gory, violent, and post-apocalyptic with a strong focus on character development and progression, this is your story.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/01/nakamura-masaru-dororo-movie.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $dororo1 is true>><hr><img src="Images/24.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/12/dororo-novel-master-post.html">Dororo: A Novel</a> is based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. This was written specifically as a children's novel and focuses more on the adventuresome aspect of the story than most other adaptations. The plot follows Hyakkimaru, a paraplegic warrior missing most of his body, and Dororo, a young thief who wants to steal the swords out of his prosthetic arms. Hyakkimaru recovers pieces of his body from demons who stole them when he was born. Both Hyakkimaru and Dororo confront their pasts when family and old friends reappear on their adventures.
Best parts: The friendship between Hyakkimaru and Dororo is fun and silly, and ocassionally poignant. Hyakkimaru's brother has a brief and surprising star turn, and important events from the manga are dramatized in child-focused detail. The authorial voice has personality and verve.
Pain points: Villains aren't given a lot of development and the child-friendly format limits the effect that most of the bad guys can have. Setting this up as a children's story was probably a bit misguided to start with.
Content Warning: Some body horror (PG-rated). A woman and a man are brutally killed on-screen, though most of the violence is stylized.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/12/dororo-novel-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $search is true>><hr><img src="Images/46.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/search-and-destroy-master-post.html">Search and Destroy</a> is a 3-volume series by Kaneko Atsushi based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. The main characters are gender-swapped in this story, meaning the main character is female and Dororo is male. The world is a post-apocalypic hellscape run by corrupt politicians and half-human robots.
Best parts: More so than other adaptations, <i>Search and Destroy</i> is about what being human actually means, well beyond having human parts and pieces. The art style is stunningly beautiful and the ending is perfectly balanced between realistic and positive for all the main characters.
Pain points: Never heard of 'em. If you're here for a horror story and you like manga, then this is a feast.
Content Warning: Features explicit gore, surgeries and under-the-skin visceral body horror for both main characters.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/search-and-destroy-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $bon is true>><hr><img src="Images/49.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/dororo-bon-master-post.html">Dororo Bon</a> is a 4-volume series by Douke Daisuke based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. The main characters are all female in this story. The world setting is modern with magic and the story features a demonic cat as a sidekick character.
Best parts: The relationships are well-drawn, particularly in Volume 3 which is set in the distant past. The end is much more settled than the one Osamu Tezuka wrote for his Dororo manga.
Pain points: The story is obviously a confusing mess and it takes a long time to find its footing.
Content Warning: In addition to the body horror that's typical of <i>Dororo</i> adaptations in media, the series explores common ghost stories in Japan in some detail. It's not especially gory or frightening, but the setting has a very gothic feel.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/dororo-bon-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $adv is true>><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/08/dororo-adventure-novel-choose-your-own.html">Dororo: Choose Your Own Adventure</a> is a game version of Osamu Tezuka's <i>Dororo</i> manga. Play as Hyakkimaru or Dororo (depending on choices), discover more than a dozen unique endings (including the "true" ending), earn achievements, and rewrite the story in interesting ways.
Best parts: It is possible to play the story exactly according to the manga it's based on, but it's also possible to go completely off-script and discover interesting (and sometimes superior) sequences of events that lead to better outcomes. If you've never heard of <i>Dororo</i> before and are interested in seeing what it's all about, this is not a terrible place to start. The game respects personal choices and has real consequences. Curiosity and compassion are rewarded. Ruthless violence and ignorance are severely punished.
Pain points: It's not really a book, per se, but a game! And it's true that <i>Dororo</i> fans will get more out of it. If you've read and liked <i>Dororo</i> stuff before, you'll probably like this. However, it's welcoming and fun enough for newcomers to explore. Beating the game entirely takes 2-3 hours on average and there's limited replayability.
Content Warning: Some of the worst endings have characters slaughtering their own family or being devoured by monsters. It's PG-13 rated violence and gore for the most part. There is no sexually explicit material.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/08/dororo-adventure-novel-choose-your-own.html"><button>Pick This Game</button></a><</if>><<if $bambi is true>><hr><img src="Images/82.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/bambi-and-her-pink-gun-master-post.html">Bambi and Her Pink Gun</a> is a 7-volume manga series by Kaneko Atsushi. It centers on a sixteen-year-old girl named Bambi who has kidnapped a young boy from a crazy pop star and is taking him back to the 'Old Men'. The story is extremely violent, with every new scene taking on a different look and feel (Western, Latino, the 40s, traditional Japanese, etc.)
Best parts: Bambi's violent vegetarianism, inspired art styles, over-the-top crazy drug-fueld violence, it's a ride
Pain points: Very dark, violent and at times gratuitous, <i>Bambi</i> belongs to the genre of manga that is written for men but features a strong female protagonist.
Content Warning: Buckets of blood and copious nudity. Hide the kids for this one. Also some pointed social commentary, if you know where to look.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/bambi-and-her-pink-gun-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $forty is true>><hr><img src="Images/29.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/shijukara-starting-at-40-master-post.html">Starting at 40</a> is a 17-volume manga series by Sakai Eri. It follows Watanuki Shinobu, a 39-year-old woman and unsuccessful manga artist. She plans to give up her career, but after one of her old works becomes a hit online, she decides to create a new comic instead. In need of help, she looks for an assistant. The handsome 22-year-old man named Tachibana Chiaki applies to her ad, and Shinobu finds herself at a major turning point in her life.
Best parts: The director of the drama adaptation described <i>Starting at 40</i> as "an infidelity drama for people who don't like infidelity dramas," and that captures the feeling almost perfectly. Shinobu and Chiaki have wealth of individual experience; collectively, they use art to explain the human experience and overcome extreme personal traumas. I generally don't like romance, but loved this from start to (very happy) finish.
Pain points: Has some explicit sexuality, including sexual abuse. It is never gratuitous but is quite frank and painful. The characters' triumph at the end is more powerful for these traumatic experiences, which are never forgotten or swept under the rug.
Content Warning: Nudity, sexual abuse (including abuse of a child), physical abuse
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/shijukara-starting-at-40-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $r is true>><hr><img src="Images/99.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/05/r-original-kaneko-atsushi.html">R: The Original</a> is a collection of 9 wonderfully weird and violent short stories from the mind of Kaneko Atsushi.
Best parts: Variety. There's everything here from sci-fi, fantasy, aliens, violence, melon bread, lemon bread and more
Pain points: Not for the faint of heart and only for the very curious. The art is, at times, experimental and hard on the eyes.
Content Warning: Physical as well as psychological horror elements, plus Kaneko Atsushi's trademark over-the-top violence.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/05/r-original-kaneko-atsushi.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a><</if>><<if $swallows is true>><hr><img src="Images/Swallows.png"><br><a href=
"https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2025/01/the-swallows-will-not-return-sakai-eri.html">The Swallows Will Not Return</a> is a limited series manga based on the novel of the same name by Natsuo Kirino. It's about a young woman named Riki who lives in desperate poverty. She becomes a surrogate mother out of desperation and is bought by a wealthy infertile couple who want her because she resembles the wife.
Best parts: Heavy topics in happy packaging is very much Sakai Eri's style. The characters are fleshed out and their psychology is comprehensible even when they aren't entirely sympathetic.
Pain points: Depictions of the gulf between the ultra-rich and the severely impoverished are designed to provoke rage.
Content Warning: The manga discusses and depicts explicit sexual topics and is highly concerned with women's (and to a lesser extent, men's) bodily autonomy.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2025/01/the-swallows-will-not-return-sakai-eri.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $fire is true>><hr><img src="Images/93.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/04/fire-hunter-series-master-post.html">The Fire Hunter Series</a> is 5-book fantasy series by Hinata Rieko. Set in a post-apocalyptic world at war, two children uncover ancient secrets that put their families and society at risk.
Best parts: Detailed worldbuilding, differentiated cultures, magic is technology and technology is magic, dogs are a major thing in this world
Pain points: Stilted, stuffy style (meant to imitate older speech), weak and underdeveloped characters, slow-paced, tonally mixed, ethically problematic, many story elements are contradictory
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/04/fire-hunter-series-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $sorceress is true>><hr><img src="Images/26.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-sorceress-revolt-kobijis-story.html">The Sorceress' Revolt</a> is fantasy novel with an historical twist set in ancient China written by Toriumi Jinzō. A Buddhist monk gains mysterious powers in a sacred cave and must use them to save China from outside invasion and the threat of a powerful sorceress.
Best parts: Strong characters (both men and women) with realistic psychological progression. Fast-paced and grounded in historical fact, this novel explores universal human conflicts and desires: the conflict between corruption and righteousness and the desires for immortality and immunity from pain.
Pain points: Historical detail can be thick on the ground, pacing is more variable in the second part. Some content is violent and sexually explicit (between PG-13 and R on the MPAA rating scale).
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-sorceress-revolt-kobijis-story.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $science is true>><hr><img src="Images/97.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/04/science-ninja-team-gatchaman-master-post.html">Science Ninja Team Gatchaman</a> is science fiction/action-adventure novel set in the 1980s. Campy, silly and over-the-top fun, this is what would happen if Saturday morning cartoons became a novel.
Best parts: Strong characters (both men and women), fast-paced and action-heavy, detailed setting, cool art
Pain points: More dated than this author's other novels; the male gaze intrudes for some characters. The zany plot and concept have appeal for kids and teens, but the issues explored and plot progression is distinctly adult.
Content Warning: Violence, violence and more violence, most of it cartoony but some of it very intense.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/04/science-ninja-team-gatchaman-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $stranger is true>><hr><img src="Images/89.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/xamd-lost-memories-pilgrims-compass.html">The Sword of the Stranger</a> is a manga about a warrior and an outsider in Meiji era Japan (1860s). He finds his way of life shattered when a foreign faction captures a child to use in a nefarious sacrifice. Based on the anime film of the same name.
Best parts: Exciting action, some good character development, exaggerated but largely accurate historical detail
Pain points: Plot progression is generic to the action genre, and the manga doesn't add much value to the anime movie
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/12/sword-of-stranger-manga.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a><</if>><<if $xamd is true>><hr><img src="Images/90.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/xamd-lost-memories-pilgrims-compass.html">Xam'd Lost Memories: Pilgrim's Compass</a> is a world tour through a lost age. Teenagers embark on a sacred pilgrimage seeking lost magic and memories. Fun but generic. Based on the anime of the same name.
Best parts: Some positive character progression and bright but zany humor
Pain points: Doesn't offer much to differentiate it from all the other action anime out there, though past discoveries do lend the story some depth
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/xamd-lost-memories-pilgrims-compass.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a><</if>>
<<if $guardian is false and $jinmanga is false and $guardianmanga is false and $werefox is false and $dororo3 is false and $dororo2 is false and $dororo1 is false and $search is false and $bon is false and $adv is false and $bambi is false and $r is false and $forty is false and $swallows is false and $fire is false and $sorceress is false and $science is false and $stranger is false and $xamd is false and $spider is false and $gods is false and $devil is false and $grove is false and $wei is false and $rabbit is false and $tag is false and $mandarins is false and $shrine is false and $toshishun is false and $onions is false and $legacy is false and $sea is false and $june is false and $preference is false and $moon is false and $redbird is false and $bamboo is false and $candy is false and $last is false and $redcandle is false and $goose is false and $shoes is false and $tstory is false>>Sorry, I don't have any recommendations for you right now.
[[Try again->StoryInit]]<<set $allfalse to true>><</if>>
<<if $allfalse is false>>Not what you're looking for?
[[Try again->StoryInit]]<</if>>
<<set $guardian to true>><<set $dororo3 to true>><<set $fire to false>><<if $guardian is false and $jinmanga is false and $guardianmanga is false and $werefox is false and $dororo3 is false and $dororo2 is false and $dororo1 is false and $search is false and $bon is false and $adv is false and $bambi is false and $r is false and $forty is false and $swallows is false and $fire is false and $sorceress is false and $science is false and $stranger is false and $xamd is false and $spider is false and $gods is false and $devil is false and $grove is false and $wei is false and $rabbit is false and $tag is false and $mandarins is false and $shrine is false and $toshishun is false and $onions is false and $legacy is false and $sea is false and $june is false and $preference is false and $moon is false and $redbird is false and $bamboo is false and $candy is false and $last is false and $redcandle is false and $goose is false and $shoes is false and $tstory is false>><<set $allfalse to true>><</if>><<if $allfalse is false>>Great! Here are my recommendations for you.<</if>>
<<if $guardian is true>><hr><img src="Images/3.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/12/guardian-of-spirit-master-post.html">Guardian of the Spirit </a> is fantasy series by Uehashi Nahoko. Set in a world based on early medieval Japan, a woman warrior is placed at the heart of shifting political and magical powers when she dares to save a young prince from execution.
Best parts: Strong female character, detailed worldbuilding, differentiated cultures, interesting perspectives, a nature-based magic system, timeless setting and conflicts, exciting action
Pain points: One painfully slow romance (easily ignored), fade-to-black at critical story moments, a slightly unsettled (but entirely happy) ending, and a sense of disconnection from book to book. This is a series, but most of the books in it can be read as stand-alone novels.
Note: The first two novels in this series, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Moribito-Guardian-Spirit-Nahoko-Uehashi-ebook/dp/B00JWGOPZE?crid=3PM6VS8392B3K&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.2mge0v9d_zktcJBFc9lAYsEXNL-KoSAB49BbozHhndn7BF0CgcJnkbkTJqzshBb9eXy9ucfPPyOf-iplZqkysROxrlXQU2UtkCUcblux9i52S5bUFZgQ-KTo0k7rVSEI3uEL2PaOKopiFjfXoIaTx5K52YBFaMcLooUQj3TsBCs3oSXjewWwgHSz0hFypUDtz39ZR7taliILTBhtwfCWfkIQgPPrkNeqD4VPazItZYc.xAH6eyqJzZevFU5S6ZquekSDrwsqad5eoiao6tvGTYo&dib_tag=se&keywords=guardian+of+the+spirit&qid=1738939768&sprefix=guardian+of+the+spirit%2Caps%2C132&sr=8-1">Guardian of the Spirit</a> and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Moribito-Guardian-Darkness-Nahoko-Uehashi-ebook/dp/B00JWGOPUY?crid=1FO5RSHA2BNVQ&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.NB5dC98gl4DutrqJMNGSRQ.0PEfHB8Ug7t5JZsN4ajYUcnC_CgxxI1YT0xgpo6mZng&dib_tag=se&keywords=guardian+of+the+darkness+uehashi&qid=1738939868&sprefix=guardian+of+the+darkness+uehashi%2Caps%2C87&sr=8-1">Guardian of the Darkness</a>, have been officially licensed and published. I highly recommend you read those first! If you'd prefer to do all your reading here, though, you can read the manga versions of the first two novels on this blog.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/12/guardian-of-spirit-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $guardianmanga is true>><hr><img src="Images/GotS.jpg"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/11/guardian-of-spirit-manga-master-post.html">Guardian of the Spirit Manga </a> is based on the fantasy series by Uehashi Nahoko. Set in a world based on early medieval Japan, a woman warrior is placed at the heart of shifting political and magical powers when she dares to save a young prince from execution.
Best parts: Strong female character, detailed worldbuilding, differentiated cultures, interesting perspectives, a nature-based magic system, timeless setting and conflicts, exciting action
Pain points: One painfully slow romance (easily ignored), fade-to-black at critical story moments, a slightly unsettled (but entirely happy) ending, and a sense of disconnection from book to book. This is a series, but <i>Guardian of the Spirit</i> and <i>Guardian of the Darkness</i> are independent enough to be read as stand-alone manga.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/11/guardian-of-spirit-manga-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a>
If you've read these manga already, you can also read the rest of the series as novels <a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/12/guardian-of-spirit-master-post.html">here</a>.
<</if>><<if $jinmanga is true>><hr><img src="Images/18.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/guardian-of-spirit-manga-gaiden-jin.html">Guardian of the Spirit Manga Gaiden - Jin</a> is a spinoff prequel manga based on the fantasy series by Uehashi Nahoko. Set in a world based on early medieval Japan, the Mikado's Hunters must thwart dangerous assassins and attempts on their lives.
Best parts: Outsider perspective, exciting action, shows events outside of canon that still inform canon, examines corrupt systems of authority and power with some nuance, shows teenagers being very convincingly teenagers, brief vengeance quest
Pain points: Sad ending, women exist to be captured, rescued or scapegoated, and the world that emerges from these pages is even more alarmingly horrible and unfair than in the novels
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/guardian-of-spirit-manga-gaiden-jin.html"><button>Pick This Manga</button></a>
If you've read this manga already, you can also read the rest of the series as manga (for the first two books) and novels <a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/12/guardian-of-spirit-master-post.html">here</a>.
<</if>><<if $werefox is true>><hr><img src="Images/98.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/03/beyond-werefox-whistle-master-post.html">Beyond the Werefox Whistle</a> is a fantasy novel by Uehashi Nahoko set in a world of magic where magic users and spirit beasts face unfair persecution that they must overcome.
Best parts: Detailed worldbuilding, differentiated cultures, a compelling past world, timeless setting and conflicts, intense friendships
Pain points: Focuses a lot on the human characters, who are generally less interesting than the magical spirit beasts and the sorcerer that controls them.
This is a stand-alone fantasy novel.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/03/beyond-werefox-whistle-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $dororo3 is true>><hr><img src="Images/21.png"><br>The <a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/01/toriumi-jinzo-dororo-series-3-books.html">Dororo Series</a> is a 3-book series by Toriumi Jinzō based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. A baby boy abandoned at birth loses forty-eight pieces of his body to demons. He embarks on a quest to find his birth family for answers and eliminate the demons who want him dead. He's accompanied by a young sneak-thief, Dororo, as well as a colorful cast of other allies: a brilliant surgeon, a bomb-happy pirate, and a blind monk. Set in 1480s Japan at the start of the Warring States period.
Best parts: Psychologically comprehensible characters, an almost entirely happy ending, a solid setting based on real events and battles, realistic medicine for the period
Pain points: Intensely precise detail for medicine, bombs and battles (easily skipped), slow progression at the start (but it picks up and stays there).
Content Warnings: The body horror of surgery and the macabre abilities of demons to alter minds and bodies make this more psychological horror story than a gore-fest. There is some brief sexual content, mainly in the second book.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/01/toriumi-jinzo-dororo-series-3-books.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $dororo2 is true>><hr><img src="Images/19.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/01/nakamura-masaru-dororo-movie.html">The Dororo Movie Novelization</a> sparked a film of the same name (<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0780503/">Dororo</a>). It is based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. Hyakkimaru, the main character, is abandoned by his birth family with forty-eight body parts missing. A surgeon creates a new body for him out of the bodies of children who've been slain in war. He accompanies the thief Dororo on a journey of discovery when they are both adults.
Best parts: The friendship between Hyakkimaru and Dororo is skillfully developed and never turns romantic, which is refreshing. Anti-war and pro-individuality themes are explored in interesting ways.
Pain points: Villainous characters are given a lot of pages in an attempt to redeem them that falls flat. Some ideas are introduced and don't really go anywhere.
Content Warning: Body horror galore in this one, from missing eyes to genital organs re-growing in real time. If you're looking for something gory, violent, and post-apocalyptic with a strong focus on character development and progression, this is your story.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/01/nakamura-masaru-dororo-movie.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $dororo1 is true>><hr><img src="Images/24.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/12/dororo-novel-master-post.html">Dororo: A Novel</a> is based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. This was written specifically as a children's novel and focuses more on the adventuresome aspect of the story than most other adaptations. The plot follows Hyakkimaru, a paraplegic warrior missing most of his body, and Dororo, a young thief who wants to steal the swords out of his prosthetic arms. Hyakkimaru recovers pieces of his body from demons who stole them when he was born. Both Hyakkimaru and Dororo confront their pasts when family and old friends reappear on their adventures.
Best parts: The friendship between Hyakkimaru and Dororo is fun and silly, and ocassionally poignant. Hyakkimaru's brother has a brief and surprising star turn, and important events from the manga are dramatized in child-focused detail. The authorial voice has personality and verve.
Pain points: Villains aren't given a lot of development and the child-friendly format limits the effect that most of the bad guys can have. Setting this up as a children's story was probably a bit misguided to start with.
Content Warning: Some body horror (PG-rated). A woman and a man are brutally killed on-screen, though most of the violence is stylized.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/12/dororo-novel-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $search is true>><hr><img src="Images/46.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/search-and-destroy-master-post.html">Search and Destroy</a> is a 3-volume series by Kaneko Atsushi based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. The main characters are gender-swapped in this story, meaning the main character is female and Dororo is male. The world is a post-apocalypic hellscape run by corrupt politicians and half-human robots.
Best parts: More so than other adaptations, <i>Search and Destroy</i> is about what being human actually means, well beyond having human parts and pieces. The art style is stunningly beautiful and the ending is perfectly balanced between realistic and positive for all the main characters.
Pain points: Never heard of 'em. If you're here for a horror story and you like manga, then this is a feast.
Content Warning: Features explicit gore, surgeries and under-the-skin visceral body horror for both main characters.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/search-and-destroy-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $bon is true>><hr><img src="Images/49.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/dororo-bon-master-post.html">Dororo Bon</a> is a 4-volume series by Douke Daisuke based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. The main characters are all female in this story. The world setting is modern with magic and the story features a demonic cat as a sidekick character.
Best parts: The relationships are well-drawn, particularly in Volume 3 which is set in the distant past. The end is much more settled than the one Osamu Tezuka wrote for his Dororo manga.
Pain points: The story is obviously a confusing mess and it takes a long time to find its footing.
Content Warning: In addition to the body horror that's typical of <i>Dororo</i> adaptations in media, the series explores common ghost stories in Japan in some detail. It's not especially gory or frightening, but the setting has a very gothic feel.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/dororo-bon-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $adv is true>><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/08/dororo-adventure-novel-choose-your-own.html">Dororo: Choose Your Own Adventure</a> is a game version of Osamu Tezuka's <i>Dororo</i> manga. Play as Hyakkimaru or Dororo (depending on choices), discover more than a dozen unique endings (including the "true" ending), earn achievements, and rewrite the story in interesting ways.
Best parts: It is possible to play the story exactly according to the manga it's based on, but it's also possible to go completely off-script and discover interesting (and sometimes superior) sequences of events that lead to better outcomes. If you've never heard of <i>Dororo</i> before and are interested in seeing what it's all about, this is not a terrible place to start. The game respects personal choices and has real consequences. Curiosity and compassion are rewarded. Ruthless violence and ignorance are severely punished.
Pain points: It's not really a book, per se, but a game! And it's true that <i>Dororo</i> fans will get more out of it. If you've read and liked <i>Dororo</i> stuff before, you'll probably like this. However, it's welcoming and fun enough for newcomers to explore. Beating the game entirely takes 2-3 hours on average and there's limited replayability.
Content Warning: Some of the worst endings have characters slaughtering their own family or being devoured by monsters. It's PG-13 rated violence and gore for the most part. There is no sexually explicit material.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/08/dororo-adventure-novel-choose-your-own.html"><button>Pick This Game</button></a><</if>><<if $bambi is true>><hr><img src="Images/82.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/bambi-and-her-pink-gun-master-post.html">Bambi and Her Pink Gun</a> is a 7-volume manga series by Kaneko Atsushi. It centers on a sixteen-year-old girl named Bambi who has kidnapped a young boy from a crazy pop star and is taking him back to the 'Old Men'. The story is extremely violent, with every new scene taking on a different look and feel (Western, Latino, the 40s, traditional Japanese, etc.)
Best parts: Bambi's violent vegetarianism, inspired art styles, over-the-top crazy drug-fueld violence, it's a ride
Pain points: Very dark, violent and at times gratuitous, <i>Bambi</i> belongs to the genre of manga that is written for men but features a strong female protagonist.
Content Warning: Buckets of blood and copious nudity. Hide the kids for this one. Also some pointed social commentary, if you know where to look.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/bambi-and-her-pink-gun-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $forty is true>><hr><img src="Images/29.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/shijukara-starting-at-40-master-post.html">Starting at 40</a> is a 17-volume manga series by Sakai Eri. It follows Watanuki Shinobu, a 39-year-old woman and unsuccessful manga artist. She plans to give up her career, but after one of her old works becomes a hit online, she decides to create a new comic instead. In need of help, she looks for an assistant. The handsome 22-year-old man named Tachibana Chiaki applies to her ad, and Shinobu finds herself at a major turning point in her life.
Best parts: The director of the drama adaptation described <i>Starting at 40</i> as "an infidelity drama for people who don't like infidelity dramas," and that captures the feeling almost perfectly. Shinobu and Chiaki have wealth of individual experience; collectively, they use art to explain the human experience and overcome extreme personal traumas. I generally don't like romance, but loved this from start to (very happy) finish.
Pain points: Has some explicit sexuality, including sexual abuse. It is never gratuitous but is quite frank and painful. The characters' triumph at the end is more powerful for these traumatic experiences, which are never forgotten or swept under the rug.
Content Warning: Nudity, sexual abuse (including abuse of a child), physical abuse
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/shijukara-starting-at-40-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $r is true>><hr><img src="Images/99.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/05/r-original-kaneko-atsushi.html">R: The Original</a> is a collection of 9 wonderfully weird and violent short stories from the mind of Kaneko Atsushi.
Best parts: Variety. There's everything here from sci-fi, fantasy, aliens, violence, melon bread, lemon bread and more
Pain points: Not for the faint of heart and only for the very curious. The art is, at times, experimental and hard on the eyes.
Content Warning: Physical as well as psychological horror elements, plus Kaneko Atsushi's trademark over-the-top violence.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/05/r-original-kaneko-atsushi.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a><</if>><<if $swallows is true>><hr><img src="Images/Swallows.png"><br><a href=
"https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2025/01/the-swallows-will-not-return-sakai-eri.html">The Swallows Will Not Return</a> is a limited series manga based on the novel of the same name by Natsuo Kirino. It's about a young woman named Riki who lives in desperate poverty. She becomes a surrogate mother out of desperation and is bought by a wealthy infertile couple who want her because she resembles the wife.
Best parts: Heavy topics in happy packaging is very much Sakai Eri's style. The characters are fleshed out and their psychology is comprehensible even when they aren't entirely sympathetic.
Pain points: Depictions of the gulf between the ultra-rich and the severely impoverished are designed to provoke rage.
Content Warning: The manga discusses and depicts explicit sexual topics and is highly concerned with women's (and to a lesser extent, men's) bodily autonomy.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2025/01/the-swallows-will-not-return-sakai-eri.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $fire is true>><hr><img src="Images/93.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/04/fire-hunter-series-master-post.html">The Fire Hunter Series</a> is 5-book fantasy series by Hinata Rieko. Set in a post-apocalyptic world at war, two children uncover ancient secrets that put their families and society at risk.
Best parts: Detailed worldbuilding, differentiated cultures, magic is technology and technology is magic, dogs are a major thing in this world
Pain points: Stilted, stuffy style (meant to imitate older speech), weak and underdeveloped characters, slow-paced, tonally mixed, ethically problematic, many story elements are contradictory
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/04/fire-hunter-series-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $sorceress is true>><hr><img src="Images/26.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-sorceress-revolt-kobijis-story.html">The Sorceress' Revolt</a> is fantasy novel with an historical twist set in ancient China written by Toriumi Jinzō. A Buddhist monk gains mysterious powers in a sacred cave and must use them to save China from outside invasion and the threat of a powerful sorceress.
Best parts: Strong characters (both men and women) with realistic psychological progression. Fast-paced and grounded in historical fact, this novel explores universal human conflicts and desires: the conflict between corruption and righteousness and the desires for immortality and immunity from pain.
Pain points: Historical detail can be thick on the ground, pacing is more variable in the second part. Some content is violent and sexually explicit (between PG-13 and R on the MPAA rating scale).
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-sorceress-revolt-kobijis-story.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $science is true>><hr><img src="Images/97.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/04/science-ninja-team-gatchaman-master-post.html">Science Ninja Team Gatchaman</a> is science fiction/action-adventure novel set in the 1980s. Campy, silly and over-the-top fun, this is what would happen if Saturday morning cartoons became a novel.
Best parts: Strong characters (both men and women), fast-paced and action-heavy, detailed setting, cool art
Pain points: More dated than this author's other novels; the male gaze intrudes for some characters. The zany plot and concept have appeal for kids and teens, but the issues explored and plot progression is distinctly adult.
Content Warning: Violence, violence and more violence, most of it cartoony but some of it very intense.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/04/science-ninja-team-gatchaman-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $stranger is true>><hr><img src="Images/89.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/xamd-lost-memories-pilgrims-compass.html">The Sword of the Stranger</a> is a manga about a warrior and an outsider in Meiji era Japan (1860s). He finds his way of life shattered when a foreign faction captures a child to use in a nefarious sacrifice. Based on the anime film of the same name.
Best parts: Exciting action, some good character development, exaggerated but largely accurate historical detail
Pain points: Plot progression is generic to the action genre, and the manga doesn't add much value to the anime movie
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/12/sword-of-stranger-manga.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a><</if>><<if $xamd is true>><hr><img src="Images/90.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/xamd-lost-memories-pilgrims-compass.html">Xam'd Lost Memories: Pilgrim's Compass</a> is a world tour through a lost age. Teenagers embark on a sacred pilgrimage seeking lost magic and memories. Fun but generic. Based on the anime of the same name.
Best parts: Some positive character progression and bright but zany humor
Pain points: Doesn't offer much to differentiate it from all the other action anime out there, though past discoveries do lend the story some depth
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/xamd-lost-memories-pilgrims-compass.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a><</if>>
<<if $guardian is false and $jinmanga is false and $guardianmanga is false and $werefox is false and $dororo3 is false and $dororo2 is false and $dororo1 is false and $search is false and $bon is false and $adv is false and $bambi is false and $r is false and $forty is false and $swallows is false and $fire is false and $sorceress is false and $science is false and $stranger is false and $xamd is false and $spider is false and $gods is false and $devil is false and $grove is false and $wei is false and $rabbit is false and $tag is false and $mandarins is false and $shrine is false and $toshishun is false and $onions is false and $legacy is false and $sea is false and $june is false and $preference is false and $moon is false and $redbird is false and $bamboo is false and $candy is false and $last is false and $redcandle is false and $goose is false and $shoes is false and $tstory is false>>Sorry, I don't have any recommendations for you right now.
[[Try again->StoryInit]]<<set $allfalse to true>><</if>>
<<if $allfalse is false>>Not what you're looking for?
[[Try again->StoryInit]]<</if>>
<<set $jinmanga to false>><<set $guardianmanga to false>><<set $search to true>><<set $bambi to true>><<set $forty to true>><<set $swallows to true>><<set $bon to false>><<if $guardian is false and $jinmanga is false and $guardianmanga is false and $werefox is false and $dororo3 is false and $dororo2 is false and $dororo1 is false and $search is false and $bon is false and $adv is false and $bambi is false and $r is false and $forty is false and $swallows is false and $fire is false and $sorceress is false and $science is false and $stranger is false and $xamd is false and $spider is false and $gods is false and $devil is false and $grove is false and $wei is false and $rabbit is false and $tag is false and $mandarins is false and $shrine is false and $toshishun is false and $onions is false and $legacy is false and $sea is false and $june is false and $preference is false and $moon is false and $redbird is false and $bamboo is false and $candy is false and $last is false and $redcandle is false and $goose is false and $shoes is false and $tstory is false>><<set $allfalse to true>><</if>><<if $allfalse is false>>I do! Here are some of my favorite manga.<</if>>
<<if $guardian is true>><hr><img src="Images/3.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/12/guardian-of-spirit-master-post.html">Guardian of the Spirit </a> is fantasy series by Uehashi Nahoko. Set in a world based on early medieval Japan, a woman warrior is placed at the heart of shifting political and magical powers when she dares to save a young prince from execution.
Best parts: Strong female character, detailed worldbuilding, differentiated cultures, interesting perspectives, a nature-based magic system, timeless setting and conflicts, exciting action
Pain points: One painfully slow romance (easily ignored), fade-to-black at critical story moments, a slightly unsettled (but entirely happy) ending, and a sense of disconnection from book to book. This is a series, but most of the books in it can be read as stand-alone novels.
Note: The first two novels in this series, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Moribito-Guardian-Spirit-Nahoko-Uehashi-ebook/dp/B00JWGOPZE?crid=3PM6VS8392B3K&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.2mge0v9d_zktcJBFc9lAYsEXNL-KoSAB49BbozHhndn7BF0CgcJnkbkTJqzshBb9eXy9ucfPPyOf-iplZqkysROxrlXQU2UtkCUcblux9i52S5bUFZgQ-KTo0k7rVSEI3uEL2PaOKopiFjfXoIaTx5K52YBFaMcLooUQj3TsBCs3oSXjewWwgHSz0hFypUDtz39ZR7taliILTBhtwfCWfkIQgPPrkNeqD4VPazItZYc.xAH6eyqJzZevFU5S6ZquekSDrwsqad5eoiao6tvGTYo&dib_tag=se&keywords=guardian+of+the+spirit&qid=1738939768&sprefix=guardian+of+the+spirit%2Caps%2C132&sr=8-1">Guardian of the Spirit</a> and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Moribito-Guardian-Darkness-Nahoko-Uehashi-ebook/dp/B00JWGOPUY?crid=1FO5RSHA2BNVQ&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.NB5dC98gl4DutrqJMNGSRQ.0PEfHB8Ug7t5JZsN4ajYUcnC_CgxxI1YT0xgpo6mZng&dib_tag=se&keywords=guardian+of+the+darkness+uehashi&qid=1738939868&sprefix=guardian+of+the+darkness+uehashi%2Caps%2C87&sr=8-1">Guardian of the Darkness</a>, have been officially licensed and published. I highly recommend you read those first! If you'd prefer to do all your reading here, though, you can read the manga versions of the first two novels on this blog.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/12/guardian-of-spirit-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $guardianmanga is true>><hr><img src="Images/GotS.jpg"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/11/guardian-of-spirit-manga-master-post.html">Guardian of the Spirit Manga </a> is based on the fantasy series by Uehashi Nahoko. Set in a world based on early medieval Japan, a woman warrior is placed at the heart of shifting political and magical powers when she dares to save a young prince from execution.
Best parts: Strong female character, detailed worldbuilding, differentiated cultures, interesting perspectives, a nature-based magic system, timeless setting and conflicts, exciting action
Pain points: One painfully slow romance (easily ignored), fade-to-black at critical story moments, a slightly unsettled (but entirely happy) ending, and a sense of disconnection from book to book. This is a series, but <i>Guardian of the Spirit</i> and <i>Guardian of the Darkness</i> are independent enough to be read as stand-alone manga.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/11/guardian-of-spirit-manga-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a>
If you've read these manga already, you can also read the rest of the series as novels <a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/12/guardian-of-spirit-master-post.html">here</a>.
<</if>><<if $jinmanga is true>><hr><img src="Images/18.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/guardian-of-spirit-manga-gaiden-jin.html">Guardian of the Spirit Manga Gaiden - Jin</a> is a spinoff prequel manga based on the fantasy series by Uehashi Nahoko. Set in a world based on early medieval Japan, the Mikado's Hunters must thwart dangerous assassins and attempts on their lives.
Best parts: Outsider perspective, exciting action, shows events outside of canon that still inform canon, examines corrupt systems of authority and power with some nuance, shows teenagers being very convincingly teenagers, brief vengeance quest
Pain points: Sad ending, women exist to be captured, rescued or scapegoated, and the world that emerges from these pages is even more alarmingly horrible and unfair than in the novels
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/10/guardian-of-spirit-manga-gaiden-jin.html"><button>Pick This Manga</button></a>
If you've read this manga already, you can also read the rest of the series as manga (for the first two books) and novels <a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2020/12/guardian-of-spirit-master-post.html">here</a>.
<</if>><<if $werefox is true>><hr><img src="Images/98.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/03/beyond-werefox-whistle-master-post.html">Beyond the Werefox Whistle</a> is a fantasy novel by Uehashi Nahoko set in a world of magic where magic users and spirit beasts face unfair persecution that they must overcome.
Best parts: Detailed worldbuilding, differentiated cultures, a compelling past world, timeless setting and conflicts, intense friendships
Pain points: Focuses a lot on the human characters, who are generally less interesting than the magical spirit beasts and the sorcerer that controls them.
This is a stand-alone fantasy novel.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/03/beyond-werefox-whistle-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $dororo3 is true>><hr><img src="Images/21.png"><br>The <a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/01/toriumi-jinzo-dororo-series-3-books.html">Dororo Series</a> is a 3-book series by Toriumi Jinzō based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. A baby boy abandoned at birth loses forty-eight pieces of his body to demons. He embarks on a quest to find his birth family for answers and eliminate the demons who want him dead. He's accompanied by a young sneak-thief, Dororo, as well as a colorful cast of other allies: a brilliant surgeon, a bomb-happy pirate, and a blind monk. Set in 1480s Japan at the start of the Warring States period.
Best parts: Psychologically comprehensible characters, an almost entirely happy ending, a solid setting based on real events and battles, realistic medicine for the period
Pain points: Intensely precise detail for medicine, bombs and battles (easily skipped), slow progression at the start (but it picks up and stays there).
Content Warnings: The body horror of surgery and the macabre abilities of demons to alter minds and bodies make this more psychological horror story than a gore-fest. There is some brief sexual content, mainly in the second book.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/01/toriumi-jinzo-dororo-series-3-books.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $dororo2 is true>><hr><img src="Images/19.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/01/nakamura-masaru-dororo-movie.html">The Dororo Movie Novelization</a> sparked a film of the same name (<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0780503/">Dororo</a>). It is based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. Hyakkimaru, the main character, is abandoned by his birth family with forty-eight body parts missing. A surgeon creates a new body for him out of the bodies of children who've been slain in war. He accompanies the thief Dororo on a journey of discovery when they are both adults.
Best parts: The friendship between Hyakkimaru and Dororo is skillfully developed and never turns romantic, which is refreshing. Anti-war and pro-individuality themes are explored in interesting ways.
Pain points: Villainous characters are given a lot of pages in an attempt to redeem them that falls flat. Some ideas are introduced and don't really go anywhere.
Content Warning: Body horror galore in this one, from missing eyes to genital organs re-growing in real time. If you're looking for something gory, violent, and post-apocalyptic with a strong focus on character development and progression, this is your story.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/01/nakamura-masaru-dororo-movie.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $dororo1 is true>><hr><img src="Images/24.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/12/dororo-novel-master-post.html">Dororo: A Novel</a> is based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. This was written specifically as a children's novel and focuses more on the adventuresome aspect of the story than most other adaptations. The plot follows Hyakkimaru, a paraplegic warrior missing most of his body, and Dororo, a young thief who wants to steal the swords out of his prosthetic arms. Hyakkimaru recovers pieces of his body from demons who stole them when he was born. Both Hyakkimaru and Dororo confront their pasts when family and old friends reappear on their adventures.
Best parts: The friendship between Hyakkimaru and Dororo is fun and silly, and ocassionally poignant. Hyakkimaru's brother has a brief and surprising star turn, and important events from the manga are dramatized in child-focused detail. The authorial voice has personality and verve.
Pain points: Villains aren't given a lot of development and the child-friendly format limits the effect that most of the bad guys can have. Setting this up as a children's story was probably a bit misguided to start with.
Content Warning: Some body horror (PG-rated). A woman and a man are brutally killed on-screen, though most of the violence is stylized.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/12/dororo-novel-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $search is true>><hr><img src="Images/46.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/search-and-destroy-master-post.html">Search and Destroy</a> is a 3-volume series by Kaneko Atsushi based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. The main characters are gender-swapped in this story, meaning the main character is female and Dororo is male. The world is a post-apocalypic hellscape run by corrupt politicians and half-human robots.
Best parts: More so than other adaptations, <i>Search and Destroy</i> is about what being human actually means, well beyond having human parts and pieces. The art style is stunningly beautiful and the ending is perfectly balanced between realistic and positive for all the main characters.
Pain points: Never heard of 'em. If you're here for a horror story and you like manga, then this is a feast.
Content Warning: Features explicit gore, surgeries and under-the-skin visceral body horror for both main characters.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/search-and-destroy-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $bon is true>><hr><img src="Images/49.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/dororo-bon-master-post.html">Dororo Bon</a> is a 4-volume series by Douke Daisuke based on the children's horror manga by Osamu Tezuka. The main characters are all female in this story. The world setting is modern with magic and the story features a demonic cat as a sidekick character.
Best parts: The relationships are well-drawn, particularly in Volume 3 which is set in the distant past. The end is much more settled than the one Osamu Tezuka wrote for his Dororo manga.
Pain points: The story is obviously a confusing mess and it takes a long time to find its footing.
Content Warning: In addition to the body horror that's typical of <i>Dororo</i> adaptations in media, the series explores common ghost stories in Japan in some detail. It's not especially gory or frightening, but the setting has a very gothic feel.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/dororo-bon-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $adv is true>><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/08/dororo-adventure-novel-choose-your-own.html">Dororo: Choose Your Own Adventure</a> is a game version of Osamu Tezuka's <i>Dororo</i> manga. Play as Hyakkimaru or Dororo (depending on choices), discover more than a dozen unique endings (including the "true" ending), earn achievements, and rewrite the story in interesting ways.
Best parts: It is possible to play the story exactly according to the manga it's based on, but it's also possible to go completely off-script and discover interesting (and sometimes superior) sequences of events that lead to better outcomes. If you've never heard of <i>Dororo</i> before and are interested in seeing what it's all about, this is not a terrible place to start. The game respects personal choices and has real consequences. Curiosity and compassion are rewarded. Ruthless violence and ignorance are severely punished.
Pain points: It's not really a book, per se, but a game! And it's true that <i>Dororo</i> fans will get more out of it. If you've read and liked <i>Dororo</i> stuff before, you'll probably like this. However, it's welcoming and fun enough for newcomers to explore. Beating the game entirely takes 2-3 hours on average and there's limited replayability.
Content Warning: Some of the worst endings have characters slaughtering their own family or being devoured by monsters. It's PG-13 rated violence and gore for the most part. There is no sexually explicit material.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/08/dororo-adventure-novel-choose-your-own.html"><button>Pick This Game</button></a><</if>><<if $bambi is true>><hr><img src="Images/82.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/bambi-and-her-pink-gun-master-post.html">Bambi and Her Pink Gun</a> is a 7-volume manga series by Kaneko Atsushi. It centers on a sixteen-year-old girl named Bambi who has kidnapped a young boy from a crazy pop star and is taking him back to the 'Old Men'. The story is extremely violent, with every new scene taking on a different look and feel (Western, Latino, the 40s, traditional Japanese, etc.)
Best parts: Bambi's violent vegetarianism, inspired art styles, over-the-top crazy drug-fueld violence, it's a ride
Pain points: Very dark, violent and at times gratuitous, <i>Bambi</i> belongs to the genre of manga that is written for men but features a strong female protagonist.
Content Warning: Buckets of blood and copious nudity. Hide the kids for this one. Also some pointed social commentary, if you know where to look.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/01/bambi-and-her-pink-gun-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $forty is true>><hr><img src="Images/29.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/shijukara-starting-at-40-master-post.html">Starting at 40</a> is a 17-volume manga series by Sakai Eri. It follows Watanuki Shinobu, a 39-year-old woman and unsuccessful manga artist. She plans to give up her career, but after one of her old works becomes a hit online, she decides to create a new comic instead. In need of help, she looks for an assistant. The handsome 22-year-old man named Tachibana Chiaki applies to her ad, and Shinobu finds herself at a major turning point in her life.
Best parts: The director of the drama adaptation described <i>Starting at 40</i> as "an infidelity drama for people who don't like infidelity dramas," and that captures the feeling almost perfectly. Shinobu and Chiaki have wealth of individual experience; collectively, they use art to explain the human experience and overcome extreme personal traumas. I generally don't like romance, but loved this from start to (very happy) finish.
Pain points: Has some explicit sexuality, including sexual abuse. It is never gratuitous but is quite frank and painful. The characters' triumph at the end is more powerful for these traumatic experiences, which are never forgotten or swept under the rug.
Content Warning: Nudity, sexual abuse (including abuse of a child), physical abuse
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2022/03/shijukara-starting-at-40-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $r is true>><hr><img src="Images/99.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/05/r-original-kaneko-atsushi.html">R: The Original</a> is a collection of 9 wonderfully weird and violent short stories from the mind of Kaneko Atsushi.
Best parts: Variety. There's everything here from sci-fi, fantasy, aliens, violence, melon bread, lemon bread and more
Pain points: Not for the faint of heart and only for the very curious. The art is, at times, experimental and hard on the eyes.
Content Warning: Physical as well as psychological horror elements, plus Kaneko Atsushi's trademark over-the-top violence.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/05/r-original-kaneko-atsushi.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a><</if>><<if $swallows is true>><hr><img src="Images/Swallows.png"><br><a href=
"https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2025/01/the-swallows-will-not-return-sakai-eri.html">The Swallows Will Not Return</a> is a limited series manga based on the novel of the same name by Natsuo Kirino. It's about a young woman named Riki who lives in desperate poverty. She becomes a surrogate mother out of desperation and is bought by a wealthy infertile couple who want her because she resembles the wife.
Best parts: Heavy topics in happy packaging is very much Sakai Eri's style. The characters are fleshed out and their psychology is comprehensible even when they aren't entirely sympathetic.
Pain points: Depictions of the gulf between the ultra-rich and the severely impoverished are designed to provoke rage.
Content Warning: The manga discusses and depicts explicit sexual topics and is highly concerned with women's (and to a lesser extent, men's) bodily autonomy.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2025/01/the-swallows-will-not-return-sakai-eri.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $fire is true>><hr><img src="Images/93.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/04/fire-hunter-series-master-post.html">The Fire Hunter Series</a> is 5-book fantasy series by Hinata Rieko. Set in a post-apocalyptic world at war, two children uncover ancient secrets that put their families and society at risk.
Best parts: Detailed worldbuilding, differentiated cultures, magic is technology and technology is magic, dogs are a major thing in this world
Pain points: Stilted, stuffy style (meant to imitate older speech), weak and underdeveloped characters, slow-paced, tonally mixed, ethically problematic, many story elements are contradictory
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/04/fire-hunter-series-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Series</button></a><</if>><<if $sorceress is true>><hr><img src="Images/26.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-sorceress-revolt-kobijis-story.html">The Sorceress' Revolt</a> is fantasy novel with an historical twist set in ancient China written by Toriumi Jinzō. A Buddhist monk gains mysterious powers in a sacred cave and must use them to save China from outside invasion and the threat of a powerful sorceress.
Best parts: Strong characters (both men and women) with realistic psychological progression. Fast-paced and grounded in historical fact, this novel explores universal human conflicts and desires: the conflict between corruption and righteousness and the desires for immortality and immunity from pain.
Pain points: Historical detail can be thick on the ground, pacing is more variable in the second part. Some content is violent and sexually explicit (between PG-13 and R on the MPAA rating scale).
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-sorceress-revolt-kobijis-story.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $science is true>><hr><img src="Images/97.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/04/science-ninja-team-gatchaman-master-post.html">Science Ninja Team Gatchaman</a> is science fiction/action-adventure novel set in the 1980s. Campy, silly and over-the-top fun, this is what would happen if Saturday morning cartoons became a novel.
Best parts: Strong characters (both men and women), fast-paced and action-heavy, detailed setting, cool art
Pain points: More dated than this author's other novels; the male gaze intrudes for some characters. The zany plot and concept have appeal for kids and teens, but the issues explored and plot progression is distinctly adult.
Content Warning: Violence, violence and more violence, most of it cartoony but some of it very intense.
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2024/04/science-ninja-team-gatchaman-master-post.html"><button>Pick This Novel</button></a><</if>><<if $stranger is true>><hr><img src="Images/89.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/xamd-lost-memories-pilgrims-compass.html">The Sword of the Stranger</a> is a manga about a warrior and an outsider in Meiji era Japan (1860s). He finds his way of life shattered when a foreign faction captures a child to use in a nefarious sacrifice. Based on the anime film of the same name.
Best parts: Exciting action, some good character development, exaggerated but largely accurate historical detail
Pain points: Plot progression is generic to the action genre, and the manga doesn't add much value to the anime movie
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/12/sword-of-stranger-manga.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a><</if>><<if $xamd is true>><hr><img src="Images/90.png"><br><a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/xamd-lost-memories-pilgrims-compass.html">Xam'd Lost Memories: Pilgrim's Compass</a> is a world tour through a lost age. Teenagers embark on a sacred pilgrimage seeking lost magic and memories. Fun but generic. Based on the anime of the same name.
Best parts: Some positive character progression and bright but zany humor
Pain points: Doesn't offer much to differentiate it from all the other action anime out there, though past discoveries do lend the story some depth
<a href="https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2023/10/xamd-lost-memories-pilgrims-compass.html"><button>Pick This One</button></a><</if>>
<<if $guardian is false and $jinmanga is false and $guardianmanga is false and $werefox is false and $dororo3 is false and $dororo2 is false and $dororo1 is false and $search is false and $bon is false and $adv is false and $bambi is false and $r is false and $forty is false and $swallows is false and $fire is false and $sorceress is false and $science is false and $stranger is false and $xamd is false and $spider is false and $gods is false and $devil is false and $grove is false and $wei is false and $rabbit is false and $tag is false and $mandarins is false and $shrine is false and $toshishun is false and $onions is false and $legacy is false and $sea is false and $june is false and $preference is false and $moon is false and $redbird is false and $bamboo is false and $candy is false and $last is false and $redcandle is false and $goose is false and $shoes is false and $tstory is false>>Sorry, I don't have any recommendations for you right now.
[[Try again->StoryInit]]<<set $allfalse to true>><</if>>
<<if $allfalse is false>>Not what you're looking for?
[[Try again->StoryInit]]<</if>>