Kara Dennison
December 12, 2024 
Reader beware—Titan Manga is kicking off 2025 with a scare! The publishing imprint is kicking off two new English-language releases next month, and both have something in common: the paranormal. Each of these two series dives into the creepy, the uncanny, and the very, very dead. But they both go about it in very, very different ways.
Read on for our reviews of these two new titles, and find out where to pre-order copies for yourself!
Shadows of Kyoto
If you like your horror gory, unforgiving, and relentless, the first of next month’s Titan Manga picks is for you. Shadows of Kyoto is an expansion of Yumeya’s seinen horror one-shot of the same name from the same name, and this stand-alone volume packs a lot of terror into four chapters. If you’d sooner not see detailed body horror on your manga page, give this one a miss. But if that sounds like exactly your style, read on.
The manga consists of four stand-along stories taking place in Kyoto, each focusing on someone who is in some way less than wholesome. It could be because they take advantage of others; it could be because they upset the restless dead. Either way, the lovely tour guide Kotone emerges to point out the horrors lurking in the shadows of Kyoto. But her listeners soon become part of that horror, undergoing horrifying (and transformative) punishments that fit both their crime and the legends of the place where they find themselves. Check this one out if you take your horror extra dark.
Shadows of Kyoto goes on sale January 14.
Welcome to Ghost Mansion Vol. 1
Kaoru Shinonome is leaving the freelancing life behind and pursuing her real dream: being a landlord! She’s just invested in a haunted apartment block, but she’s not going to let the haunting stop her. If anything, it gives her an idea: why not rent to ghosts? Thus, Welcome to Ghost Mansion—the first of two new titles from Titan Manga—begins.
The series is written and illustrated by Nebukuro, whose art style runs the gamut from goofy to uncanny. The ghosts in this manga are pretty terrifying looking… or, at least, they start that way. Kaoru manages to talk her would-be renters down, as a local exorcist notes. (Yes, there’s also a power system for ghosts, indicating how powerful they are and who can see them.) While the manga confronts some pretty dire stories, the upshot is always lighthearted. No matter how someone died, they now have a home with Kaoru. Though they will be expected to get a job and pay on time. The ghost cast’s transitions from horrifying specter to cute floating friend is impressive. Horror/comedy is always a great combination, and so far this one does it very well.
Welcome to Ghost Mansion Vol. 1 goes on sale January 28.
