What We See so Far - "The Border Shop at Flower Demon Gate"

Synopsis

Many demons have grown the desire to become a part of human society. Being as strong as they are and unaccustomed to the human world as they are though, this desire is easier said than done. There is, however, a solution, and that is for them to visit the border shop.

The Good

For most manga featuring youkai, the youkai either look surreal, terrifying or at times artistic. With this series, the art manages to settle into an interesting middle between these types with a surreal but beautiful style. From how the feather details are handled to the shifting of youkai to human, there’s a lot of fun visual play to be found with the series. That and the way the general style seems to have a soft tone to it also helps.

Storywise, there’s a lot of heartwarming moments to enjoy and the general flow is done well enough. The way that each youkai is introduced is fleshed out is one of the biggest aspects of interest for the series. Seeing the different struggles and efforts that the characters go through, you can’t help but root for them. It also helps that every spirit introduced has their own distinct character and story.

The Bad

As interesting as all the youkai characters are, the same can’t really be said about Minoru. For the first chapter, he was an interesting character in how he handled the spirits. Other than that though, his personality doesn’t seem as dynamic as the others. It’s not to say he is a bad character, he isn’t, but he does come off as rather one dimensional. Happy, calm and doing his best to help demons, and…? Again, he has a great role, but it would be nice to see some personal exploration on him.

There was one chapter that explored how he came to work at the border shop. However, it really didn’t give much and for the most part, ended up rather lackluster. Other than this, it would be nice to see things from the youkai’s perspective for like one chapter, just to add some spice to the series.

Conclusion

The art is beautiful, the characters are interesting and the story has a great flow to it. Each chapter presents interest and heart-warming stories for each youkai character introduced. The art especially helps with the story given how detailed but soft it is. The only flaw that can be said against the series is that Minoru could be improved as a character and on a smaller note, a little branching out on the story could be nice. Still, this is a nice supernatural work with lovely art and great characters.

Rating: 7.5/10