When something is free … always be suspicious.
Creative Staff:
Story & Art: Gao Yuzuki
Translation: Abby Lehrke
Lettering: Rochelle Gancio
What They Say:
Meet Meme, the good-for-nothing daughter of the Demon World’s mighty Summoners Clan leader. Her dad has kicked her out into the human realm to learn some responsibility, and she needs to find a home! Enter Sentarou Narigane, wealthy landlord of Kuroyuri Apartments. Suffering from the worst case of malaise, Sentarou offers Meme a free apartment on one condition: She has to be his entertainment!
Content (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The Summoners Clan was once a powerful family in the Demon World, and it is lead by the imposing man named Morio, but now getting on in years he can no longer support it as before, however at the same time it cannot be passed along to an heir. In tragic disgust and humility, the aged leader looks upon his only daughter Meme sprawled before him, amidst piles of trash, gaming consoles and a television blaring in the background. However while he was speaking, the disrespectful girl addresses her father as Beardy and tells the man he is speaking too loud. Tired of this child’s slovenly behavior, Morio decides he has had enough and kicks her out to live in the Human World, all to learn some much needed discipline. However after three months pass by, the young girl still has not found a place to live or had anything to eat, but without any money to pay for food or rent, she is about to give up.
But as she crawls through a filthy alleyway, a posted flyer attracts her attention with the words prominently displayed: Tenants Wanted Urgently. The bulletin was for Kuroyuri Apartments, a place nearby and more importantly, it also noted there was no deposit need and … rent was free! Seeing no other options, Meme goes to the location displayed and knocks on the Japanese style sliding door, waiting for an answer. The man inside, landlord of the building and suffering from a cold Sentarou Narigane, was about to eat a meal and immediately became annoyed by the disturbance. Thinking it was the same kids who had been ringing his doorbell and running away, he grabbed a weapon and proceeded to answer the door, only to find no one there, until looking down and seeing a collapsed girl. After stuffing herself with the contents of the rice cooker, Meme pleaded to be allowed to stay in one of the free rooms, to which Sentarou flatly denies her request.
With sincere annoyance, he asks if she read the fine details on the flyer – rooms are only available after terms and conditions were applied. Sentarou then goes on to explain four years ago his grandfather died, and unbeknownst to him, the man was extremely wealthy and being the only survivor, he inherited everything. With too much money ever to spend in one lifetime, he quickly grew bored with an outlandish lifestyle and decided to buy this apartment building, all in an effort to break the tedium and meet some interesting people. So the only condition to rent a room in this place was simple, they needed to entertain the landlord with something he found amusing. When Meme asks how she would know if it was a success, his flat answer was that bodily fluids would squirt out. And since she was a Summoner, it should be a simple task to fascinate this human, but what would be enough to secure a place within this strange tenement … and does she truly want to live here?
In Summary:
The Strange Creature at Kuroyuri Apartments on the whole is a gag manga, looking for cheap laughs all to amuse the main character Sentarou. While writer and artist Yuzuki-sensei’s style comes across as comical, the pairing of a twenty something recluse with a girl who looks about ten is reminiscent of an older brother caring for his younger sister … until his boredom steps in. On the whole, the story reminds me of No Game No Life, two hikikomori who want to do nothing but laze around, with Meme acting like a typical kid on summer vacation, trying to do as little as possible until she is forced train or inject a certain amount of cuteness into the story. However then we come to the part where the Mature rating comes into conflict with the title, since according to the warning, we should be wary of language and nudity.
While the beginning of the volume starts as jokes about Meme’s laziness, there comes the time we she has to take a bath, but even then Yuzuki-sensei is subtle in broaching the subject. As with most manga in exposing nudity, we have opportune times where hair is covering her body, and more appropriately when Sentarou steps in, he has his full front covered by a prop to show nothing. However once more adult female members of the building are introduced, such as the obsessive Makoto trying to marry a rich man, and his equally solitary non-working maid Shioriko, there are chances to show off, but it is never done; thus while we do have the obligatory public bath scene, even then there is a moment, but the whole chapter it is more suggestive than anything, with steam hiding nudity, thus showing nothing. All in all, if this typical tease is what the publisher means by nudity, then why mention it unless it gets more explicit later on in the series, thus limiting the audience to read the book? Perhaps the blood squirting nose which Sentarou receives when getting amused is a signal of what is to come. Lastly on the subject of language, once again there is nothing too profane, aside from innuendos about virgins and ovulating, this is as bad as this title gets, so nothing too obscene. If this is what Yuzuki-sensei and Yen Press define as a Mature title, I am curious to see how much shameless it can develop, with this premiere volume as the basis.
The Strange Creature at Kuroyuri Apartments has all of the promise for a charming slice of life series, but with the boredom of Sentarou and laziness of Meme added to the mix, it should turn out to be something much more interesting. The quirky sense of humor allows the title not to take itself too seriously, with failures turned into comedy and uncomfortable events just adding to the amusement. And while the Mature rating may hold some readers back, most of the material is merely suggestive instead of overt, with nothing shocking for Western audiences used to this type of material. For the most part, the title is more comical than embarrassing, and should not hold you back if you want a laugh with a demonic touch, even if some of the jokes seem a bit trite.
Content Grade: B+
Art Grade:A
Packaging Grade: B+
Text/Translation Grade: A
Age Rating: Mature
Released By: Yen Press
Release Date: June 26, 2018
MSRP: $13.00
