Kakuriyo Bed & Breakfast for Spirits is a manga with story written by Midori Yuma, art by Waco Ioka and character design by Laruha. The story follows a girl named Aoi who’s grandfather has recently passed away. Her grandfather had the ability to see Ayakashi, otherwise known as Yokai. Aoi inherited this trait from her grandfather and is able to see them as well. The story follows her as she navigates this world without him.
Aoi is a sweet girl who would rather feed the Ayakashi than try to run or banish them, though she herself admits she lacks the power to do the latter. She one day comes across a hungry ogre and is kind enough to share her lunch with the Ayakashi. Mostly because she doesn’t want him to eat a human out of hunger. When she returns later that day to retrieve the satchel she finds a beautiful hair ornament and the satchel wrapped in a type of spell paper that sucks her into the world of the Ogre.
She must either become the Ogre’s bride or find a job at the Tenjin-Ya where the Ogre is the head of the Inn. She is given the choice because her grandpa owed the Inn a debt that he paid by “giving the granddaughter that could see Ayakashi” in return for. He essentially destroyed the Inn one night while drunk causing a great amount of damage. So now Aoi has to find a way to pay off the debt.
The problem with finding a job at the Inn is that since her grandfathers mishap no one wants to hire a human! So how is Aoi going to work off the debt if no one will hire her? Lucky for her a super cute nine tailed fox may have the answer.
Whenever I first start a new manga what happens within the first few pages is usually a big tell on whether or not I will like the story. With Kakuriyo Bed & Breakfast for Spirits the story starts so smoothly that you can’t help but get pulled into Aoi’s world. It is really cute and not clouded with information you don’t need. Everything you read is important and you don’t find yourself skimming over pages which I am usually guilty of.
The art style is very good, the characters don’t look silly or out of place and the background scenery is gorgeous. It’s set in an atmosphere reminiscent of historical Japan when she goes into the world of the Ayakashi and the Inn and it’s surroundings are beautifully illustrated. The character design is probably my favorite aspect because the Ogre Odanna is just a cute boy underneath that scary mask. Same as one of the Nine Tailed Fox’s incarnations. It’s styled much like an Otome(dating) game without being about that.
The story of Aoi finding things out about her grandfather are a nice touch. I think it is interesting to see the character who thought she knew for the most part who her grandfather was find out that maybe he wasn’t such a kind hearted guy after all. I also find the prospect of an arranged marriage intriguing. I want to see if this plays out more like an Ancient Magus Bride anime where she eventually succumbs and starts to fall for this Ogre. I want to find out her and that Nine Tailed fox have a history because he says something that makes me believe they do. But what? What happened with them when she was a child? Oh and if you like food drawings, this manga has plenty. It may even make you a little hungry!
This book is a great lead up to what I can tell will be an amazing story. I definitely recommend it for anyone who enjoys manga about Slice of Life, Food, or Historical Japan. It checks all those boxes for me and more. If you want to check it out for yourself head over to Viz.com for a free preview of the manga. I definitely recommend this book and I plan on following this story to its end.
You can buy a copy at the VIZ store here or get it on Amazon here.
Are you going to check this one out? Tell us in the comments what you think when you do!
*Special Thanks to Viz Media for providing us with a review copy of Kakuriyo Bed & Breakfast for Spirits
