Danica Davidson
July 7, 2023 
In Haita the Invisible, main character Yuzu can’t speak and she’s harassed at school because of it. Adolescence is hard enough, but the mean girls see her as vulnerable and walk all over her. They say vicious things about her, which she hears, and they might even get physical with their harassment. She’s treated better at home, but no one there understands what she’s going through, either.
One day at school, when Yuzu is seemingly alone, a voice asks, “If you don’t need that body . . . why don’t you give it to me?”
She looks around, but no one is there. Or at least, there doesn’t seem to be anyone there.
This leads to some other being, some strange creature known as Haita, taking over Yuzu’s body. Now there are two Yuzus, the real Yuzu and Haita as Yuzu. The real Yuzu needs help, but luckily she finds a doctor who has dealt with this sort of thing before. He says that for something like this to happen, “The reason for one’s existence must be in the tentative state of adolescence. There must be a strong wish of wanting to disappear.”
So far eight chapters of Haita the Invisible are available on Mangamo, where they’re being published exclusively. In these eight chapters it’s not really clear what’s going to happen next, but there are any number of ways it could go forward, and it has a very interesting premise. The eighth chapter, in fact, seems to be leading in an intriguing area. Yuzu is a sympathetic, sensitive character, and many adolescents (or people of other ages) can relate to wanting to disappear. So this is a manga that takes a very real emotion and puts a fantasy story with it. Haita the Invisible has a unique twist to feeling left out, as well as a good start with its premise, so it will be interesting to see where it goes from here.
Story & Art: Ao Kutani
Publisher: Mangamo
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Danica Davidson is the author of the bestselling Manga Art for Beginners with artist Melanie Westin, plus its sequel, Manga Art for Everyone, and the first-of-its-kind manga chalk book Chalk Art Manga, both illustrated by professional Japanese mangaka Rena Saiya. Check out her other comics and books at www.danicadavidson.com.
