Onibi: Diary of a Yokai Ghost Hunter

by Atelier Sento, Cecile Brun, Olivier Pichard, Marie Velde (Translator)

Overview

*Winner Japan International Manga Award*

*Honorable Mention for 2018 Freeman Book Awards for Children's and Young Adult's Literature on East and Southeast Asia*

*Short-listed for the 2019 Dwayne McDuffie Award for Kids' Comics*

Part fantasy, part travelogue—this graphic novel transports readers to the intersection of the natural and supernatural worlds.

Onibi: Diary of a Yokai Ghost Hunter follows the adventures of two young foreigners as they travel to a remote and mysterious corner of Japan. Along the way, they purchase an old camera that has the unique ability to capture images of Japan's invisible spirit world. Armed with their magical camera, they explore the countryside and meet people who tell them about the forgotten ghosts, ghouls and demons who lie in wait ready to play tricks on them. These Yokai, or supernatural beings, are sometimes kind, sometimes mischievous, and sometimes downright dangerous!

Readers young and old will enjoy following along on this journey of mystery and discovery. The comic book format will appeal to anime and manga fans, while introducing the ancient spirit world that is such an important part of Japanese culture.

With the help of Atelier Sento's gorgeous watercolor and colored pencil artwork, you can't help but feel immersed in this fantasy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9784805314968
Publisher:	Tuttle Publishing
Publication date:	08/21/2018
Pages:	128
Sales rank:	368,104
Product dimensions:	7.40(w) x 9.90(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	10 - 18 Years

About the Author

Cecile Brun & Olivier Pichard are French comic book artists known collectively as Atelier Sento. Through traditional techniques using watercolors and colored pencils, their work conveys an unusual side of Japan—of small villages in the mountains, colorful matsuri festivals and forgotten spirits of an ancient world.

Marie Velde is a freelance photographer and translator in Santa Monica, CA. She is the translator of Tokyo on Foot, My First Book of Chinese Calligraphy and other books.

Editorial Reviews

08/13/2018
When Cécile and Olivier find an old camera in a store in Saruwada, Japan, the shopkeeper insists that it will capture any ghost’s image. After purchasing the magic device, the kids travel all over Japan in search of yokai, or spirits. The chapters are largely formulaic (the two arrive, learn about a ghost, and take a picture of it), but they are woven together by the supernatural creatures, which reflect a variety of values. Brun and Pichard deploy watercolors in soft hues that often bleed into one another—a perfect visual metaphor for a story about the blurry separation between natural and supernatural. The kids’ photographs add a powerful visual element at the end of each chapter. Drawn in a realistic style, these “photos,” coupled with notes about when and where the image was taken, both incorporate glowing figures signifying the yokai and help to create a haunting experience for readers. Ages 10–18. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

"Welcoming locals, mysterious strangers, toothsome meals, and spooky legends all lead the intrepid duo through otherworldly adventures in this fantasy travelogue…Aided by Velde's smooth, succinct translation, the duo 'share a Japan that's uncommon' in panels rich with cultural details and sensitive representation, with just enough chill-factor to ensure entertainment along the way." —Booklist

"Basing their adventure on real people and places in Japan, [Brun and Prichard] create a spooky yet intriguing spirit world overlaid on our reality. Using a combination of watercolor and colored pencil, the illustrations are done in a beautiful traditional Japanese style…A must for anyone intrigued by the hidden spirit world and how it crosses over into ours." —Kirkus

"As a charming and offbeat guide to some of the lesser-known parts of Japan and their sometimes strange but typically generous human inhabitants, Onibi is charming and effective." —Foreword Magazine

"The story is a wonderful combination of today's life with the history of Japanese folklore. The story is engaging and interesting. And, the graphic artwork is fantastic with loads of detail." —In Our Spare Time blog

"Brun and Pichard deploy watercolors in soft hues that often bleed into one another—a perfect visual metaphor for a story about the blurry separation between natural and supernatural." —Publishers Weekly

"Like a love letter to traditional Japan, this graphic novel takes readers off the beaten path to explore the mountains, coast, and small towns of Niigata prefecture alongside a pair of adventure-seeking French tourists…brimming with charm, this stunning volume will enchant ghost story enthusiasts and those interested in Japan." —School Library Journal

"Onibi: Diary of a Yokai Ghost Hunter is a gorgeous book, its pages full of lovingly rendered food, vistas, and people. Atelier Sento use traditional materials, and these are some of the loveliest watercolors I've seen in a comic to date." —SequentialState.com

"The creative team's pencils and watercolors give great expressiveness to faces, colors, and light, and make every page a pleasure to read and reread." —LibraryComic.com

From the Publisher

09/01/2018
Gr 3–6—Like a love letter to traditional Japan, this graphic novel takes readers off the beaten path to explore the mountains, coast, and small towns of Niigata prefecture alongside a pair of adventure-seeking French tourists. Based on the authors' own travels, the delightfully quirky narrative begins when Olivier and Cécile stumble into a secondhand shop and buy a camera that's said to capture images of otherworldly creatures known as yokai. Intrigued by local legends and folktales, the travelers talk to townspeople and visit shrines, hoping to catch the supernatural on film. Each episodic chapter delves into the question of whether the natural and supernatural coexist side by side, and concludes with a yokai photo, revealing that Olivier and Cécile did indeed encounter spirits—though they may not have realized it at the time. Translated from French, the dialogue is appealingly straightforward, and beautiful, detailed watercolors of changing autumn leaves and steaming bowls of udon depict rural Japan. VERDICT Light on character development and plot but brimming with charm, this stunning volume will enchant ghost story enthusiasts and those interested in Japan.—Allison Tran, Mission Viejo Library, CA

School Library Journal

2018-06-25
A couple of foreign travelers search for ghosts and spirits in the countryside of Japan.According to Japanese legend, onibi are ghost lights, rather like will-o'-the-wisps, and yokai are supernatural monsters, spirits, and demons. Originally written in French, this graphic novel follows two foreign children, Cécile and Olivier (presumably child avatars of the creative duo, Cécile Brun and Olivier Pichard, who work together as Atelier Sento), as they travel around Niigata Prefecture. While there, they purchase an old camera that's purported to capture the yokai on film. Using their camera, they explore this rural area, listening to eerie legends and visiting its haunted places. Unfortunately, the yokai like to play tricks and can sometimes be mischievous and dangerous. Each chapter centers on one of the pictures taken on the trip and tells the story of how it was captured. Overlaid with ghostly illustrations, these photos are real pictures printed using the cyanotype process, which gives them a mysterious blue color. (A three-page minicomic explains the process.) Basing their adventure on real people and places in Japan, the French duo creates a spooky yet intriguing spirit world overlaid on our reality. Using a combination of watercolor and colored pencil, the illustrations are done in a beautiful traditional Japanese style, and the device of the camera in the hands of white tourists is an artful one, given the theme of intersecting worlds.A must for anyone intrigued by the hidden spirit world and how it crosses over into ours. (maps, glossary) (Graphic fantasy. 10-14)

Kirkus Reviews