Monster & Ghost Vol. 1 Manga Review (Minor Spoilers)

Synopsis

Tsubaki Koton has many rumours surrounding him, and his delinquent past and towering appearance as he walks the halls of his new high school don’t help. Even when he tries to aid people, it causes even more misunderstandings. When he fights some men on the street and saves a random woman, his actions are witnessed by the ghost of a high schooler that died nearby, who then follows him home. Somehow, Tsubaki is able to see the ghost of the teenager, Kabuto Yuuki. Kabuto decides he wants to stick with Tsubaki, and they begin to spend time together. Tsubaki’s past comes back to haunt him as various people related to bloody incidents in his past begin to show up at his new school.

The Good

The number one reason I wanted to read this title was purely based on the cover design, and the Monster & Ghost Vol. 1 cover delivers on its promise of many hot moments featuring a tall man with big muscles. Tsubaki is a really tall and scary-looking teenager that just transferred to a new school, and with that, all sorts of unsavory rumors have followed him. Tsubaki’s presence dominates the page from the moment he shows up, and you can see from the amount of attention that the artist put into his muscles that Tsubaki really is the star of this manga.

Tsubaki grows through the events of the first volume, and with Kabuto’s help, other students start to see how cool (and hot) he looks in Kabuto’s eyes. There’s also at least one chest-staring joke at the expense of Tsubaki that I found extremely amusing and well timed. Honestly, Tsubaki looks like he might be more at home in a manga like JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure… If you want to read this purely to ogle at how sexy Tsubaki is, I think that is a valid reason to pick this up.

Kabuto, a ghost with the jewel eyes, seems to have been popular before his death, and with that honed skill, he tries his best to help Tsubaki out of the situations he gets into. Tsubaki often finds himself in the middle of misunderstandings because of his demeanor, and spending time with Kabuto does wonders to his reputation at school. I found this incredibly sweet, but sometimes it felt Kabuto’s only purpose was to be the narrator, as he explains many of Tsubaki’s actions out loud. The two are a fun duo, as Tsubaki seems to not know how to fix the misunderstandings of those around him, and Kabuto has taken it upon himself to be something of an invisible social coach that gives Tsubaki tips on how to salvage social situations.

Somewhere In Between

This is a stylistic choice, but the artist uses white to fade the art in unexpected places. I understand that it adds atmosphere to a ghost story. At the same time, it really distracted me from the dark blacks where I expected it to be dark, or the lighting would simply be inconsistent. It made a lot of pages look extremely blown out. The light is used to show how Kabuto and Tsubaki are good together, but I wish that the way the faded washes were used wasn’t so distracting.

I want to give Tsubaki and Kabuto a chance, but I personally didn’t find that they had much in common, or much chemistry. It’s probably supposed to be cute that Kabuto sees Tsubaki’s real self and often gives tips to Tsubaki on how to improve a situation where someone is starting to misunderstand his actions, but I can’t see the reason why the two of them would like each other because it doesn’t feel earned yet.

Finally, there are some explanations as to what ghosts can or can’t affect in this manga’s world, but I found the explanations for why people can see Kabuto sometimes a bit thin (pun intended). If you’re big into rules for what ghosts can or can’t do, maybe don’t read this manga for the supernatural elements.

The Verdict

If you looked at the cover for Monster & Ghost Vol. 1, and thought, “This guy is hot! I must know more…for science,” that is exactly what reading this manga is for. I personally don’t feel that the romance or mystery aspects hit the mark for me, but if you want to spend time to see how the artist peels back the layers of Tsubaki’s various traits to show off what makes him so charming, I would recommend reading for that reason alone.

Monster & Ghost was voted into the Chil-Chil BL Awards 2025 “Deep” category as a BL title with strong storytelling potential. I can see why, as it has a unique art style, and mixes mystery, supernatural, school life, and BL together in a cool way, even if it doesn’t seem to be able to juggle them all well. The mystery of Kabuto’s demise and how this series will end on a happy note will have to be unravelled in the second volume (as alluded to in the author’s notes at the end of the manga). I would be interested in it if there is more ghost and mystery solving along with more school adventures where we get to see Tsubaki being alluring and seductive in all his bodacious glory.

Credits

Story and Art: Himemiko
Editor: Becca Chen
Translator: Massiel Gutierrez
Copy Editor: Stephanie Buck
Proofreader: Katie Kimura
Quality Check: Shingo Nemoto
Retouching & Lettering: Vibrant Publishing Studio
Cover Designer: Aracelli Ejarque Villegas
Published in English by Tokyopop

Thank you to Tokyopop for providing a review copy. Receiving this copy did not affect the reviewer’s opinions as expressed here.

Article edited by: Anne Estrada