Demon Love Spell

Demon Love Spell

Cover for the Viz Media English release of volume 1
あやかし恋絵巻
(Ayakashi Koi Emaki)
Genre Comedy, Romance, Supernatural
Manga
Written by Mayu Shinjo
Published by Shueisha
English publisher
Magazine Margaret
Original run 20082014
Volumes 6

Demon Love Spell (Japanese: あやかし恋絵巻 Hepburn: Ayakashi Koi Emaki) is a manga series by Mayu Shinjo about a shrine maiden that finds herself falling for a demon that feeds on passion and love.[1] Shinjo initially wrote Demon Love Spell in 2008 as a two part installment manga for Margaret magazine, but chose to serialize the series in 2009 due to the story's popularity.[2] In 2012 Viz Media licensed the manga with the intention to publish it in English through their Shojo Beat imprint and released the first volume in December of that same year.[3]

Synopsis

The series follows Miko, a young shrine maiden living with her family. She's frustrated that she's unable to contribute much to the family business, as she has little apparent supernatural abilities and cannot easily see or banish spirits. Miko eventually runs into Kagura, an incubus that has been feeding on the female students at Miko's school. She manages to seal him, but in the process turns him into a chibi, lower powered version of himself. Miko initially tries to keep him secret from her family, but they inevitably discover Kagura but allow him to remain with Miko due to his small size. Meanwhile Kagura has shown the ability to enter Miko's mind while she's sleeping, where he is able to assume his full size. Kagura uses this as an opportunity to attempt to seduce Miko, with some success.

Reception

Critical reception for the series has been mostly positive, with the School Library Journal commenting that for the story material the manga was "quite clean, consisting mostly of cheeky innuendos and a few abstract dream sequences in which sex is insinuated but not graphically depicted".[4] Anime News Network gave overall positive reviews for the first two volumes, praising the series' artwork and remarking that Miko was a stronger female character than some of the ones Shinjo had written in the past.[5][6] In contrast, U-T San Diego reported that a Comic-Con panel had named the manga one of their five worst manga releases for 2013.[7]

Volumes

No.Japanese release dateJapanese ISBNEnglish release dateEnglish ISBN
1 May 25, 2009ISBN 978-4-08-846403-9December 4, 2012ISBN 142154945X
2 November 25, 2009ISBN 978-4-08-846465-7March 5, 2013ISBN 1421550776
3 July 23, 2010ISBN 978-4-08-846546-3June 4, 2013ISBN 142155366X
4 July 25, 2011ISBN 978-4-08-846671-2September 3, 2013ISBN 1421553651
5 August 24, 2012ISBN 978-4-08-846816-7December 3, 2013ISBN 1421553740
6 August 23, 2013ISBN 978-4-08-845080-3July 1, 2014ISBN 1421569475

References

  1. Alverson, Brigid. "Viz Announces Strobe Edge, Demon Love Spell Manga". MTV Geek. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
  2. "Viz Media Licenses Strobe Edge, Ayakashi Koi Emaki Manga". ANN. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
  3. "VIZ Licenses Shojo Manga "Strobe Edge" and "Demon Love Spell"". CrunchyRoll. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
  4. Goldstein, Lisa. "Review: Demon Love Spell V1". School Library Journal. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
  5. Silverman, Rebecca. "Demon Love Spell GN 1 (review)". ANN. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
  6. Silverman, Rebecca. "Demon Love Spell GN 2 (review)". ANN. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
  7. Rowe, Peter. "5 best -- and 5 worst -- manga of the year". UT San Diego. Retrieved 22 September 2013.

External links