MISC. MANGA, *Kekkaishi

So, let’s say your a demon hunter in training in Japan(God knows there’s alot of them there!)but your sick of your grandpa’s constant bitching about family tradition, and all you wanna do is be a baker. That’s the premise for Kekkaishi by manga-ka, Yellow Tanabe.

Yoshimori is the latest in his family’s group of spiritualists. They have the power to set up barriers around demons, and either exorcise them to the afterlife, or just contain them in an attempt to ward them off. At the same time, there is a rival clan of from the same order whose latest disciple Tokine is Yoshimori’s neighbor and schoolmate, although she goes to the high school part of the campus while he’s still in middle school(they sometimes mix in grade schools in Japan). Most of the ghosts and other undead nasties habitat around their school because it was the site of a temple that was overrun with demons centuries ago. Now, both Yoshimori and Tokine’s plans recieve payment from a mysterious benefactor for keeping the area clear of spooks.

Yoshimori gets help from a dog demon named Madarao who is indebted to his family’s service for the past few centuries. Tokine gets help from a similar canine called Hakubi. Between the two of them, they have to deal with possessed teachers, pesky chef ghosts, and other things that might make campus life more like an episode of Buffy.

Kekkaishi is a pretty fair manga. It’s not as gripping as say Bleach which is also about teenage ghost chasers. But it does have a pretty original story and interesting artwork. It seems to develop more and more with each chapter, so its worth looking into further volumes of. If you liked the anime on Adult Swim, you’ll probably dig the manga too.