Title: Kakuriyo: Bed and Breakfast for Spirits Vol. 4
Author: Midori Yuma (Story), Waco Ioka (Art), Laruha (Character Art)
Publisher: Viz Media
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 152
Genre: Supernatural
Publication Date: July 2, 2019
The Story
Volume four of Kakuriyo sees the opening of Aoi’s restaurant which is called Yugao. We learn that it is in an inconvenient location and is usually a cottage that has failed at every business venture that it was used for. Ginji blames himself for all of their failures. Tenjin-ya is getting ready for the Star Festival and Aoi and Yugao can use that as a way to drum up some business. Another way was for Aoi to accompany the Odana to the shopping district where she met the other Ayakashi spirits who serve as merchants there.
As the restaurant nears its grand opening, Aoi is disturbed at several attempts of sabotage and even one attempt of assassination! It’s apparent that nobody wants that restaurant to exist but there is no explanation as to why as of yet. Yugao does open; however, there many trials that Aoi is going through, including a threat from the main office!
This was a rather short edition of Kakuriyo but it still had plenty of impact. If focused on how Akatsuki and Oryo warmed up (somewhat) to Aoi and dug into the history of that cottage without going into full details. There are many hurdles that need to be overcome as it seems that Aoi is being set up for failure from the onset of this new business venture. Still, I found the story pretty engaging as this has been one of the better volumes in the series thus far!
Characters
The volume doesn’t really do much in the way of fleshing out our existing characters beyond what we have already learned about them; however, we do get two brand-new characters in this volume that we learn a little bit about!
First up is Sasuke. Yes… he is a ninja! He serves as head of security for the area around Yugao. He is young in appearance but is as old as Aoi’s grandfather, which surprises her. He’s pretty disciplined and respectful towards Aoi and even seems a bit on the friendly side. He seems like someone who would make a great guardian for her. We don’t know too much about his past yet, but he’s been around for quite a while so he’s pretty experienced.
The next new character is Byakuya. He is the head of the Main Office and in charge of all finances for Tenjin-ya and its associated businesses and property. His motto is that numbers mean everything and he shows that through his cold and ruthless dialogue. Despite coming across very directly and harshly, he does show leniency by giving Yugao a chance to succeed… even though he’s slashing their budget by 30%… which is, yet, another obstacle for Aoi to overcome. They’re certainly not making it easy for the poor girl.
Final Thoughts
Even though this was the shortest volume by far, it was one of the most entertaining. The only real major story here was Yugao and the plight of hinderance that Aoi has to deal with in trying to open the restaurant. I’m willing to place a bet that the Odana is behind everything simply because he wants Aoi to fail so he can become her bride. Sure, he doesn’t really act that way and even encouraged Aoi to succeed; however, feigning well wishes is the perfect cover for deceit. The way he is described by others throughout the series suggests that he may just very well be the one behind everything.
Then again, who knows? That’s just my wild mind doing a bit of armchair booking. Still, there were enough good things in here to make me want to see what happens in volume five. The only real weakness here is that, once again, the book fails to end on a big cliffhanger. That’s something this series sorely needs as each volume just ends on a simple note and doesn’t really make you want to read the next on based off of the final page. It relies on the entirety of the volume to do that and sometimes it is hit or miss. It really needs that ending hook to really get people to want to read the next volume. At least, that’s just my two lira.
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This item was provided for review by Viz Media
