#yoru mitchio

[xitty]

Here's my "trying to desperately find books that scratch the same itch as The Case Files of Jeweler Richard" collection. And I have to say, none of these can top it but two I really like. Three out of four are from Yen Press and one (Onmyoji) from Cross Infinite World. Jeweler Richard is from Seven Seas. So Yen Press is aggressively targeting the same crowd and look at me, it's working. All four have supernatural elements unlike Jeweler and so far I've read only the first books of these series. Noting the BL vibes too because I like handsome men together. ;)

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Mikage Sawamura: Associate Professor Akira Takatsuki's Conjecture This is the the best of these four and closest to Jeweler Richard in feel and setting. It's about titular university professor who's a folklore expert and a student called Naoya who hears people's voices distorted when they lie because he stumbled across festival of the dead as a kid and things happened there. Takatsuki is eccentric and harbors a few secrets of his own. They solve cases relating to urban legends and cursed objects etc. There doesn't seem to be any BL vibes even though Naoya notes how handsome and charming Akira is. Enjoyed the book a lot and I like the characters and the urban legends!

Yoshiko Utamine: Onmyoji and Tengu Eyes I like this one a lot too! Misato is an onmyoji who takes a job in a small town of Tomoe, joining a government management unit who deals with abnormal crises. Ryouji is doing a freelance monk work and claims to be . Their paths cross, they end up living together and solving the mysteries together. And their family backgrounds play roles too. Inspiration from mythology, Shinto, Buddhism, Onmyodo etc. Not actual BL but it's very easy to ship them. Liked that the paranormal investigation was a government job, it's not unique setting of course but between these four books it's a different to the others.

Michiru Fushino: The Contract Between a Specter and a Servant A lot of promise here and only marred by unnecessary threats of sexual violence at certain points. Masamichi has failed his university exams, lost his job and then is hit by a car to top it all, about to die. A handsome specter called Shino appears and wants to eat Masamichi but he offers to fix him and eat him only later. Masamichi agrees and they began living together in Shino's antique shop. There are demons and curses and tsukumogami etc. This is BL! First book very slow on that though but it's BL, writer says so. This is actually rewrite of their earlier work.

Yoru Michio: Hell Is Dark with No Flowers Great setup but writing is the weakest of these. Seiji is 20-something NEET who gets lost in the city one day and finds a mansion. The owner, Shiroshi, invites him to tea and offers a place for him as his assistant. Shiroshi sends people who have sinned to Hell and Seiji sees people who have sinned as yokai. Shiroshi doesn't seem to need Seiji's skills though and Seiji feels more like a pet. The links to yokai and the mysteries are interesting but exploring characters' thoughts and reason is a bit lacking and pacing is jumpy. No BL vibes.

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So, the first two I absolutely recommend, third with that one content warning attached and fourth not really. I already have more volumes from each except Hell because there's only that first one out. And I don't know yet if I will get the second one.