 |
Manga-ka: Shuri Shiozu
Publisher: Tokyopop
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Released: March 2004 – September 2004
Synopsis: “Mitsuo Shiozu seems to be particularly attractive to spirits. His mind and body are taken over in succession by two female ghosts who use their incorporation to resolve something left undone by their untimely deaths… gender-bending hi-jinks ensue…”
Originally titled, Ghost! during it’s original Japanese publication, Tokyopop held nothing back its renaming of this series for its English release: Eerie Queerie. The lead character is Mitsuo, a young boy with the ability to see and interact with ghosts. Problem being, however, is that the ghosts can take over his body, and he has little say in the matter! Enter a variety of other characters that all come together to make this a wacky, weird and humorous four volumes of ghosts, spiritualists and boys’ love.
Each volume of Eerie Queerie delivers its own something to the set. The first volume sets up the main trio; Mitsuo, the boy often possessed by ghosts and his two classmates, the suave and very physically affective, Hasunuma and the helpful, though often reluctant, Ichi. Both get to know Mitsuo when ghosts, who have business with the two, possess Mitsuo. Right away the awkward boy on boy events start when the first ghost to possess Mitsuo just so happened to have a huge crush on Hasunuma when she was alive.
Another character eventually introduced is Mikuni, a sadistically mischievous priest at a nearby temple that Mitsuo begins frequenting, and eventually work at. He takes any chance he can get to get what he wants and have some fun doing it, at everyone else’s expense. He’s the closest thing to a repeated protagonist in this pretty light-hearted series that rarely gets too serious past a few dramatic moments and its more adult humour.
My favourite book was the third, as the plot tones down for a bit and actually manages to feel pretty linear, as opposed to be the more frantic comic styling of the other volumes. It introduces two new characters (who only make brief appearances in the fourth and final volume, much to my disappointment) that I really liked. Honestly, those two characters, and their budding relationship, cinched my love for the boys’ love genre and I loved the nostalgia of rereading that volume again after so long.
The artwork isn’t much of a reason to read the series but it gets the job done. The characters aren’t drawn with much consistency (though its easy to keep the characters straight), and really unattractive facial structures and anatomy plagues some panels. On the upside though, things start looking a little nicer as the series goes on. For the style’s defence also, it does work well with the dialogue and physical comedy is a very large part of the series, well executed with funny flailing and energetic expressions.
Eerie Queerie was a set of books released before their time, back when there was no real yaoi market established in North America. I imagine now with a strong boys’ love following, and one that has such a large age range, Eerie Queerie would definitely find itself in the hands of some happy people if it was half as easy to acquire as Tokyopop’s other books. It’s still in print and can be bought from most online retailers, but is a little more difficult to come by in chain bookstores, save for maybe a few leftover copies.
In short, I love this series. I’ve loved it since the moment I bought it back during it’s first print run and rereading it now still elicited some laughs. It’s absurd and random but manages to be entertaining and humorous in all the right ways. It’s not something I’d recommend to anyone who isn’t a fan of boys’ love but for those who want some funny, shamelessly-boys’ love-teasing antics, then I suggest finding yourself a copy because it’s loads of fun!
Written May 28, 2008 by Lissa Pattillo
Books purchased in-store from Chapters
   |
Manga-ka: Shuri Shiozu
Publisher: Tokyopop
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Released: March 2004
Synopsis: “Mitsuo Shiozu is an ordinary student with an extraordinary gift – wandering spirits use his body and mind to communicate with loved ones. But sometimes this ‘sixth sense’ puts Mitsuo in unusual situations. When his mind and body are taken over by two otherworldly women, he suddenly develops a few fawning admirers… of the male kind!”
 |
Manga-ka: Shuri Shiozu
Publisher: Tokyopop
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Released: May 2004
Synopsis:”After Mitsuo discovers that a former theatre club member had been haunting the school, Hasunama collapses in the middle of rehearsal – and to make things très miserable, the injuries separate his soul from his body! It’s up to Mitsuo to return peace to all of the guys and dolls. As the drama heats up, will the show go on? Or will the production turn into a little shop of horrors?”
 |
Manga-ka: Shuri Shiozu
Publisher: Tokyopop
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Released: July 2004
Synopsis: “Meet Itsuki, a loquacious male medium whom Mikumi schemes with to dupe some suckers out of big bucks – unfortunately, the paying crowd doesn’t exactly go ga-ga over the infantile performance. Meanwhile, Mitsuo signs up for employment as a “psyhic detective”, but the on-the-job training leads to some sexual tensions. Love may be in the air, but Mitsuo realizes that cahsing some damsels in distress may be more trouble it’s worth!”
 |
Manga-ka: Shuri Shiozu
Publisher: Tokyopop
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Released: September 2004
Synopsis: “Mitsuo discovers his streetcar just might be named ‘desire’ when he’s overcome by a longing to get closer to Hasanuma. However, his feelings turn out to be premature when his parents announce that they’re moving. Desperate to stay, Mitsuo is forced to get a job – but he only finds employment as a French maid! But when his boss starts falling for him, work becomes les misèrable!”
Follow
[…] at Manga Xanadu. It’s ghost story week at Kuri-ousity, where Lissa Pattillo shivers through Eerie Queerie, vol. 1 of xxxHolic, and CLAMP Paranormal Investigators. Holly Ellingwood checks out vol. 3 of […]
I can't remember the last time I saw something like that…bookmark ftw =)