The Teen Exorcist Volume 1 Review
‘Unwelcome visitors… are lurking… in the capital…’
Heian-Kyou. Masahiro is only thirteen – but because he’s the grandson of the famous court onmyouji (exorcist/diviner) Abe no Seimei, his wise yet cunning grandfather has sent him in his stead to exorcise a man-eating youkai hiding out in an abandoned mansion. Aided by his spirit companion Mokkun (who takes the form of a clawed creature that resembles an albino rabbit), Masahiro is determined to prove his worth as an exorcist – in his own right. It’s not long to go until his Genpuku ceremony at which he will officially become an adult.
It’s a close-run contest between young Masahiro and the terrifying youkai but just in time he manages to remember the chants of exorcism. Aided by Mokkun, he subdues the youkai but in doing so, brings the dilapidated building down. Just before he blacks out, he’s aware of someone powerful protecting him from the falling timbers and masonry…
Even though Seimei praises Masahiro, he also reminds him that he shouldn’t have annoyed the neighbours by bringing the old building down in the middle of the night. And to Masahiro’s constant annoyance, the courtiers insist on calling him Seimei’s grandson. Can’t they understand that he’s an onmyouji in his own right now? If he’s ever to emerge from the shadow of his famous grandfather, he’ll have to prove that his powers are just as impressive, maybe even more so.
After his Genpuku ceremony Masahiro begins to serve the imperial court, gaining access to the divination division. But it’s when a fire breaks out in the inner palace that he senses a sinister supernatural presence. Hurrying to the rescue, he realizes that the young Fujiwara princess, Akiko, is in danger. Will he get there in time to save her?
I’m always excited by the prospect of reading a story that’s set in the Heian era (the time when Lady Murasaki wrote her celebrated Tale of Genji) and especially one with supernatural elements. The Teen Exorcist is a manga version by Shikiji Sorakura of the (untranslated) popular light novel series Shounen Onmyouji (56 volumes and counting!) by Mitsuru Yuki (2001) which I first encountered in its 2006-7 anime TV series adaptation (recommended). Abe no Seimei keeps reappearing in various manga and anime: his descendant is the hapless, accident-prone Haruaki Abe in A Terrified Teacher at Ghoul School (currently streaming on Crunchyroll) and over on Netflix, Onmyoji is a 2023 anime TV series based on the novels and short stories by Baku Yumemakura. (See also Otogi Zoshi and many other anime and TV series).
Given such a rich background, how well does this latest version of the material work as a manga? Did we need another version for new readers? It’s divertingly told; the mangaka makes sure to use plenty of different manga techniques and a variety of different-shaped panels from page to page helps to hold the reader’s attention. Shikiji Sorakura’s drawing style and character designs are pleasing to look at but, I think, owe more than a little to the designs in the anime, which in turn were influenced by the character designs for the novels by Sakura Asagi, the very first illustrator. The Heian background is sketched in lightly, without too much detail to bog the story down but just enough to give a convincing visual evocation of the period. The compulsory wearing of the ‘eboshi hat’ by boys who have passed their Genpuku ceremony to prove they have become adults is featured here and there are a couple of pages explaining about Masahiro’s clothing on the inside end covers. If I were being finicky, I’d say that some of the big supernatural explosions are not so easy to ‘read’, especially the first appearance of a human-like figure that comes to Masahiro’s rescue – I only learned from later dialogue that ‘someone’ had rescued him (this then required some squinting at the images before accepting that a figure was depicted there).
These opening action-filled chapters are designed to catch the reader’s attention, accompanied by quite a lot of scene-setting. It’s not until quite late on in the volume that we get flashbacks explaining that Masahiro was born with a gift but Grandfather Seimei decided to seal his ability when he was three, to protect him. Since then, Masahiro has determined to emerge from his grandfather’s protective shadow and he’s sensed the underlying feeling of slow-growing menace in the city. Masahiro comes across as intelligent and not easily deterred – but it’s early days yet and much of the interest in this volume lies in the depiction of life at the Heian court.
The translation for Yen Press is by Minna Lin with lettering by Bianca Pistillo and both work well in conveying the story and the characters’ interactions. (They use ‘youkai’ and ‘Heian-Kyou’ as anglicized spellings for ‘yōkai’ etc.) For those interested in the time period, there’s also a fascinating illustrated page of ‘Heian Trivia’, a two-page bonus story and four attractive colour pages at the front. Both the author and the mangaka deliver short afterwords and there are helpful translation notes from Minna Lin, as well as some historical explanations on the relevant pages. The second volume is due out in April 2025 and the series is ongoing in Japan.
Even though the story is only just getting going in this volume, there’s plenty of incident to keep the reader interested – and there’s a really big revelation at the end.
Our review copy from Yen Press was supplied by Diamond Book Distributors UK.
