| | |  | SCIENCE FICTION | Home » » » Rasetsu, Vol. 1 | | | | | | | Product Promotions: | | | | | Description: | | R to L (Japanese Style). Yako Hoshino, a young man with spiritual powers of his own, comes to the agency seeking help with a possessed book. He's seen a lot of strange phenomena in his day, but the last thing he expects to see is Rasetsu bearing a striking resemblance to his old love Yurara! | | | Product Details: | | | Author:
| Chika Shiomi | | Paperback:
| 192 pages | | Publisher:
| VIZ Media LLC | | Publication Date:
| June 02, 2009 | | Language:
| English | | ISBN:
| 1421527502 | | Product Length:
| 7.4 inches | | Product Width:
| 4.9 inches | | Product Height:
| 0.7 inches | | Product Weight:
| 0.4 pounds | | Package Length:
| 7.48 inches | | Package Width:
| 4.96 inches | | Package Height:
| 0.71 inches | | Package Weight:
| 0.44 pounds | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 7 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
 ( 7 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 found the following review helpful:
 Yako ReturnsMay 29, 2009
By J. Gebhard
For those that may not know Rasetsu is a spin off story from the series Yurara. It is not really necessary to read Yurara before Rasetsu because the tie in is explained in Rasetsu.
That said on with the review . . .
Rasetsu appears to be just as much fun as its predecessor. The blend of quirky office moments, a touch of horror, and supernatural suspense keeps the reader entertained and engaged. The characters are interesting to see develop. The individual supernatural powers are different. Granted there is the usual I can see ghosts bit, but other powers are an exception from the norm. For instance, one character can speak a word or phrase such as "shut up" and the effected person cannot speak. Another character hugs people in order to discover what problem the person has come to the agency with.
My only complaint with the work is that it is predicitable. Our heroine has been marked by a demon who will kill her so that she will be his on her 20th birthday. The only way to stop this? Find her true love - how Disney. And by the first volume we know which bishouen character that is.
Also plot so far is rather episodic. It is just one ghostly job after another. However in the last chapter there is a rather interesting development that can only be determined if you have read Yurara. If this development is what I think it is then the work isn't focusing on our heroine. I hope that my guess is right because that would make the plot that much more interesting.
The art is pretty to look at and is standard for most shojo manga.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
A Cursed BeautyMay 29, 2009
By Hakajin
"Ecclectic Student"
I wasn't expecting "Rasetsu" to be any good. I'd already read about half of the prequel, Yurara Vol. 1, and hadn't liked it much. I was afraid that "Rasetsu" would suffer from the same cliched plot and unconvincing romance. However, the preview chapter in "Shojo Beat" magazine was interesting, so I decided to give it a chance.
And I found that "Rasetsu" is indeed an improvement upon "Yurara." First of all, the plot is better. The heroine, Rasetsu, was attacked by a demon several years before the start of the series. He promised to return on her 20th birthday to claim her as his bride... unless she can find her true love before then. Since then, Rasetsu's been working with a group of exorcists to get rid of ghosts for clients. One day, Yako enters the store looking for help with a problem at the library where he works. He's surprised by Rasetsu's appearance, because she bares a striking resemblance to the ghost he was in love with. He somehow gets roped into working with Rasetsu and the others against his will.
The characters and romance were better here, too. Rasetsu is a feisty heroine with a crazy addiction to sugar, and I liked the strength she shows in facing her problems. Yako still plays the strait guy, not wanting to get involved in the antics but getting dragged along anyway. I'm glad to see him get a second chance at romance. Yako and Rasetsu aren't the best of friends, but they get along. They find out more about each other during the first volume, though nothing's really happened between them yet. Then there's Rasetsu's partner, a man who can use kotodama, or spirit words, to fight angry spirits. He seems light-hearted, but there seems to be more to him than he lets on. The other characters are also good, especially the chief. He likes to goof off, but he can be serious when he needs to be.
I also liked the mystery in this manga. Rasetsu obviously has some sort of connection to Yurara, and it seemed pretty obvious to me what it is, but there's still the problem of how (er, you might have to read it to get what I mean).
The art is ok. It's as sparkly as that in most shojo, but it's appropriate. It fits the characters personalities.
Overall, this is a solid beginning to the series. I'll definitely read the next volume.
Worth readingSep 16, 2011
By Serene
I am always looking for manga featuring more mature characters, as I'm burned out on the high school stuff. This book was quite entertaining and features a thankfully older heroine and hero. The heroine is an exorcist and she has been cursed by a demon to either find her true love or become his mate when she turns 20. She works for a exorcism agency. When the library hires her and a cute co-worker to exorcise a book, she meets a male librarian who she finds quite attractive... Could he be the one? The book is basically about her job, exorcism and her zany/intriguing co-workers.
What can I say? I loved it. The book's characters are endearing, the artwork beautiful and this is geared towards adults, which I like without being... At least in this issue, porny. I liked it, and have bought the second book in the series.
A fun manga with great art and charactersFeb 23, 2011
By GraphicNovelReporter.com
Rasetsu is supposed to be finishing up high school, but instead she works full-time as an exorcist. From a young age, she was able to see spirits, and something very traumatic happened when she was 15. A demon captured her, wrestled her to the ground, and put a tattoo-like mark of a rose on her chest, saying it symbolized that she belonged to him. He promised to come collect her when she turned 20.
The only way around this is if she finds her one true love.
Now Rasetsu is 18 and an excellent demon fighter. She easily takes care of ghosts and hauntings. However, the demon who threatened her is often on her mind. How will she find her one true love?
Well, there are at least two possible candidates working in the same exorcism company she is. The first would be her coworker Kuryu, a tall, friendly psychic who has a special power with words. The second would be Yako, a former librarian and psychic who only recently became an exorcist. Right now, Yako seems to be the more likely candidate (though I personally prefer Kuryu). But if either man is her one true love, some things are going to have to change.
So far, the romantic element of Rasetsu is in the background, weaving in with the supernatural front story but not overtaking it. I think this works out really well. It reminds us that Rasetsu will have to figure something out before her twentieth birthday (either finding the right guy or defeating the demon another way) without bogging down the story with "Is it him or isn't it?" excess. Rasetsu herself is a delightful heroine. She's sassy and has a sweet tooth, and she always manages to get the job done.
Rasetsu is a really fun manga, great for fans of shojo, supernatural stories, or even romance (though the romance is in the backseat). Viz labels it as Older Teen, but inside the book the mangaka says it's really aimed for adults. So, technically I would say it's an adult book, since that's the author's opinion, but it'd easily get an audience of teenagers as well. Libraries ought to take a look. The art is very attractive, just as the characters in it are attractive. (We can't have a shojo manga without good-looking characters, it seems.) This series is off to a very promising start.
-- Danica Davidson
A Supernatural Manga, Sure To Be SweetAug 28, 2010
By J Astin
Rasetsu is apparently a spin-off of Yurara, but I haven't read that, so apologies if I miss any references.
Rasetsu is the title character, a girl marked by a demon who plans on carrying her off once she turns twenty. The only way to stop him is to find her true love by that time, but Rasetsu believes it to be hopeless, though she appears to think of it as little as possible, preferring to work and eat her current love, cake. She works at an exorcist agency with Yako, who she got fired from his job at the library in order to get him to work at the agency, and Kuryu, who doesn't do much but seems to have powers which he's hiding. Also featured are the Chief, who senses spirits by hugging people, and Aoi, who helps around the office.
In this volume, we get acquainted with the characters, learning about Rasetsu's mark and her resemblance to Yako's lost love. The team vanquishes several ghosts and is learning to put up with each other, as well as ignoring Rasetsu's horrible eating habits.
There's nothing particularly special about the art style, though it does look nice. This makes for a good light read, though don't expect too much substance, or, at this stage, romance. Still, it's worth a read.
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