Yurara, Vol. 1 [Paperback]

Chika Shiomi (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Series: Yurara | Publication Date: June 5, 2007

There are two sides to every ghost story...

Yurara Tsukinowa is a quiet girl who can see spirits and sense their emotions. Not wanting to seem abnormal, she hides her secret until she meets Mei Tendo and Yako Hoshino, two guys who use their spiritual powers to ward off vengeful spirits. The dormant guardian spirit in Yurara arises and a strong-willed beauty with the power to release souls emerges!

On Yurara's first day of high school, she finds her assigned seat is occupied--by a ghost! Mei and Yako cannot banish the spirit, and Yurara's other self is released...

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In Shiomi's third title to come to the U.S., title character Yurara Tsukinowa is a high school student with the unique talent for seeing ghosts and for feeling their pain. Preceded by her weird reputation (her gift often has her bursting into tears or staring off into space), she's shunned by her classmates—all except for the handsome and playful Mei Tendo and his best friend/arch rival, the cool, attractive Yako Hoshino. As it turns out, the two hottest guys in school share not only the same class as Yurara but also the same ghost-seeing ability. Together, the threesome form a yin and yang type of ghost busting. With Mei and Yako, Yurara discovers her inner self—a self-confident and compassionate girl who can release spirits from their suffering. As in many shojo narratives, the outer Yurara struggles with her insecurities and appears meek and helpless. Shiomi develops her characters in an entertaining and intricate manner and presents the story with clean, detailed art. For readers who like their shojo with an edge, Yurara is Land of the Blindfolded with teeth. (June)
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Product Details

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: VIZ Media LLC; 1 edition (June 5, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1421513501
• ISBN-13: 978-1421513508
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 7.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #793,532 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful new manga series about ghostbusting!, November 13, 2007

By 

Jenine Wilson "Lover of fantasy" (Western, MA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Yurara, Vol. 1 (Paperback)

Yurara has been able to see ghosts since she was a young girl. This has lead to her living a life estranged from her peers who think her long periods of staring off in to space and sudden crying fits are unforgivably odd. Instead Yurara's strange actions are from her empathic connection to the spirits around her. She had thought that starting a new school would give her a new chance, unfortunately it turned out there were more restless entities there than anywhere else she had ever been. To top it off the ever flirtatious, popular and not to mention grabby, Mei, develops an instant interest for her, much to the dismay and jealousy of her female classmates. Soon Yurara finds that there are even greater forces at work, in her classmates, in the spirits drawn to the school and, most importantly, within Yurara herself. So much for fitting in!

I really enjoyed this start of Shiomi's new series, even more than her Night of the Beasts manga. It had subtle humorous moments that I totally enjoyed. I love the interactions between Yurara, Mei and Yako and see a potential love triangle issue brewing. This manga was much, much better than I expected and I'm very excited about reading future volumes. This manga is rated for older teens, but thus far I haven't seen anything I think would be too offensive for younger teens as well.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars I liked the first chapter a lot., August 31, 2007

By 

Kayuga - See all my reviews

This review is from: Yurara, Vol. 1 (Paperback)

I too read a preview of it in Shojo beat and i was totally psyched to read more. However..i found that the rest of the volume is not nearly as exciting. it was just lackluster. i still don't really care about any of the male leads and Dark Yurara is still heads and tails more interesting than her normal self. it's just not that good. but it has potential to get better.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars New Manga Review: Yurara vol 1, June 24, 2007

By 

Kuro_Neko003 "Kuro_Neko003" (San Marcos, CA United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Yurara, Vol. 1 (Paperback)

"Yurara" by Chika Shiomi is a manga under the Shojo Beat brand from Viz in the US. The first volume introduces the main characters, Yurara, Mei, and Yako. Yurara is an innocently dense high school girl who can see see ghosts and sense their emotions. Mei and Yako can also see ghosts and they have fire and water "magic" that can elimate ghosts. Yurara is protected by a guardian spirit that comes out and covers Yurara in the body of a tall beautiful woman when Yurara in is danger. The guardian spirit is fiesty and rowdy, the very opposite of Yurara. This guardian can also point lost spirits to "the other side." Mei is a very flirty with Yurara and her guardian spirit while Yako is more reserved. Of course, since there are three main characters, there is a triangle relationship between the three. This, though, is more like fan service than an element that furthers the story along.

After reading the first volume, I would say that this is not a compelling manga to me. There's no depth to Yurara or the male leads, although, they are trying with the sensitive Yako character. There also appears to be no underlying story arc, but rather a series of day-to-day accounting of ghost stories. I will read the second volume when it comes out to confirm this. I think, though, "Her Majesty's Dog" is a better series if you like shojo ghost-mystery manga.