Ghost Talker's Daydream Vol. #1
© Dark Horse

Mania Grade: B
Art Rating: A-
Packaging Rating: B
Text/Translation: A
Age Rating: 18+
Released By: Dark Horse
MSRP: 10.95
Pages: 216
ISBN: 978-1-59307-950-5
Size: B6
Orientation: Right to Left

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Ghost Talker's Daydream Vol. #1

A story about an albino dominatrix who has a demon rope under her control and she makes money on the side as a Ghost Talker.  How can you not be curious enough to read more of a story this original?

Creative Talent:
Writer/Artist: Sankichi Meguro and Saki Okuse
Translated By: Matthew Johnson
Adapted By: Matthew Johnson

What They Say:

Misaki Saiki, a young woman with a troubled past, is a professional dominatrix in one of Tokyo's most exclusive S&M clubs. However, her real money is something she likes even less than being a dominatrix. Ever since childhood, Misaki has had the ability to see and communicate with ghosts. That talent is put to use by the Livelihood Protection Agency, who pairs Misaki with Souichiro Kadotake, a martial artist who happens to be deathly afraid of ghosts.

Using her gifts, Misaki is able to help troubled departed spirits resolve what is troubling them and allow them to move on to the afterlife. If all that isn't odd enough, Misaki is also an albino and a virgin.

What We Say:

Packaging:
Dark Horse can be hit and miss with producing there books, and for the most part this is no exception.  The ink is solid black throughout the book.  My only real complaints are a few pages with text too close to the spine.  Nothing bad, just a minor annoyance on a couple of pages.  The cover design for this first volume matches the original Japanese release, which does a good job expressing the bleakness of Misaki’s life.  Both dealing with ghosts and deviant men desiring the rough handling of a woman clad in leather, are aspects served well by a washed out cover with only Misaki’s red eyes and boots standing out.  The bright red coloring of the title looks great laid over the whites and grays of the background.  The back cover has a synopsis and depicts wraparound background art from the front.

Artwork:
Meguro’s art style focuses attention on facial and costume detail while leaving backgrounds sparse and often times absent.  This creates a stark impression of Misaki’s world that effectively matches the story’s theme.  Even though backgrounds usually lack detail, characters evoke large amounts of emotional distress through crosshatching and succinct facial detail.  This is a good example of overall effort on the artist’s part.  While I am not normally a fan of SD facial expressions in serious seinen, Meguro does well with small amounts of facial over exaggeration at key moments in the story.  The panel layout has a cinematic feel with numerous small panels per page and most panels are rectangular with large gutters between them.  Add these aspects with well placed speed lines during the action scenes and this first volume leaves me thirsting for more.

Text/SFX:
The translation and adaptation is well done, making for an easy read.  English SFX is aligned with the original Japanese SFX.  The book lacks a Translators Notes section, but I cannot say it really had much of an impact for this story.  There doesn’t seem to be any terms even a casual manga fan would need explained.  Sign translations are placed alongside the kanji. 

Contents: (Caution ahead! Spoilers may jump out at anytime)
Saiki Misaki, albino, dominatrix, ghost talker, and daughter of Metropolitan’s Quality of Life Division director.  Misaki started her young career as a ghost talker, communicating with ghosts in an attempt to help them pass on.  This is an important aspect to the Metropolitan Quality of Life Division’s mission as the constant reconstruction in the city can cause angry ghosts to take out their confusion on the citizenry.  As time passed, Misaki grew tired of the work and became a dominatrix at an exclusive club.  Seems a strange job for an albino girl, but her unique appearance probably also makes it easy for her to find curious clientele.  Oh yes, Misaki also deals with another aspect of her condition that bothers her more than anything else does; she can’t grow pubes.  I have known many women that would love that affliction, but I can also see why Misaki would want something she doesn’t have.

Now Misaki divides her time between being a dominatrix and a ghost talker.  Whenever the city needs her ghost talker ability, Soichiro arrives on Misaki’s doorstep to drive her to the problem area and render her payment for a job well done.  The two make an interesting team.  Misaki is obviously unique, but Soichiro is also peculiar because he is deathly afraid of ghosts but can kick some serious ass when it comes to flesh and bone opponents.  He used to be a wrestler, but now he protects Misaki from living problems, at least all of those excluding Misaki’s stalker, Mitsuru.  Her stalker is constantly stealing Misaki’s underwear and electronically bugging her apartment.  It is certainly creepy, but the funny thing is he always pays for her underwear and helps her from a distance with her cases.

Misaki covers two cases in this volume.  The first is a suicide that has left an apartment haunted.  The owner cannot rent the place until it is free of supernatural problems, so Misaki is called in.  The suicide stemmed two additional suicides, but it is the ghost of the original boy that needs to be laid to rest.  Will Misaki be able to track down the man responsible for the boy’s suicide?  Will Misaki ever be able to stop Mitsuru from stealing her panties?

The longer story in this volume revolves around the confusing death of a woman and her daughter.  For those familiar with the anime OAV released in 2005, the story of ‘Bear Po’ involves the victim’s sister, Ai, and her need to solve the mysterious deaths.  What role, if any, did the scumbag father of Ai’s niece play in their deaths?  Will Misaki take the case to help Ai?  Finally, what the heck is Misaki’s Demon Thread and how did she come to possess it?

Comments
In the past, I have enjoyed Okuse’s ability to tell a story, but never found the art very impressive (Blood Sucker series and Twilight of the Dark Master one shot).  I am glad to see Okuse teamed up with Meguro for this series as I enjoyed the anime adaptation and I think the two make a good team.  The idea of someone that talks to ghosts is certainly not new, here in the U.S. or in Japan.  Therefore, it is necessary to come up with an original aspect to this type of story to make it interesting.  For me, the idea of a female albino dominatrix, who cannot grow pubic hair, spending her spare time talking to the dead has a lot of potential.  This first volume sets the ground rules and establishes the main characters.  Therefore, there isn’t any character growth or enough acquaintance with Misaki for anything really gut-wrenching to happen.  Not that the death of a child doesn’t naturally come with a somewhat visceral twinge of unease.  Nonetheless, I found this first volume entertaining and I look forward to seeing where this story goes as it lacks the confining aspects of a four part OAV like the one U.S. fans are already familiar with.  It seems the anime may only cover the first two volumes of the manga series, so fans of this series should be able to expect much more Misaki goodness in this eight book manga series.