Name: Undead Girl Murder Farce 1
ISBN: 9781636991504

Haruka Tomoyama

The end of the 19th century—a vampire's wife is murdered, and the detective known as the "cage user" is called in to solve the crime. But there's more to the detective and the curtained birdcage he carries...after all, when solving a case involving a monster, it might just take one to know one!

Undead Girl Murder Farce 1

Frida Kahlo

I received an eARC copy from Kodansha via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A clever mix of Western and Eastern cultures (vampires and manga) with a historical twist caught my attention when I saw the title and the cover; I felt compelled to read the first volume. 

A wealthy vampire lady had been murdered. The police decided not to investigate and find out who the perpetrator was. Her husband, however, hired private investigators to solve the mystery. These private investigators are everything but ordinary ones. Once they step on the scene, we realise just how spooky, imaginative, and unusual this story, the characters, and this manga are. 

The story was enjoyable to read and quite intriguing, making you wonder who the murderer is; I was shooketh by the outcome, being it someone I least expected it to be. The downside was the massive general confusion at the start; the intro to the plot perplexed me. Time and time again, I learn more about manga and graphic novels in general, adding some of the missing details from my imagination (whether right or wrong) to complete the story for myself. A few more frames or an additional sentence or two to explain a few things wouldn't hurt. 

The artwork is delicate and intricate; there are so many small details strategically placed to catch your attention and invite you to look at them more, analyse them and dive into this fantastic world where humans and vampires coexist. 

Undead Girl Murder Farce Volume 1 is a spellbinding overture to a, hopefully, intriguing development of this alluring historical horror manga; looking forward to reading Volume 2.

Ethel

A very nice surprise

Key words: manga, mystery, horror, shonen, vampire, fantasy

I was uncertain about this one when looking at the manga but I weirdly enjoyed it. The fact that one of the characters is a talking head in a cage is totally crazy. But maybe, it’s the charm of the manga. At first, I thought it was going to be a remake of Sherlock Holmes because the detective was like “I know your story thanks to my deduction and observation skills”. But thankfully, no, it has its own characteristics. 

The characters are quite fun and I cannot wait to read the next volume as there is a real cliff-hanger at the end of this one. The drawings are nice but I wouldn’t recommend this manga just for them. Moreover, I know I classified this manga as horror but it is really not a big part of it, at least in this first book.

I recommend to fans of mystery and fantasy

3.5/5

Thank you Netgalley for this eArc in exchange of my honest opinion

Undead Girl Murder Farce 1

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