Kyoukotsu no Yume

The manga author Aki Shimizu continued the adaptation of Natsuhiko Kyogoku’s “Hyakki Yakou” series with the third novel, “Kyoukotsu no Yume” or “Dreams of Mad Bones”. It continues to build on the themes from earlier books like “Ubume no Natsu” and “Mouryou no Hako”, like crime, suspense, body horror, psychological trauma, and esoteric rituals. The character designs for this series rely heavily on the manga author’s design aesthetics. This gave the series from “Ubume no Natsu” to “Kyoukotsu no Yume” its signature feel. In fact, it influenced the anime adaptation of “Mouryou no Hako” from Madhouse. The novel dealt with several topics like Buddhist sexrituals, a secret branch of the Japanese Imperial lineage, the repatriation of Japanese POWs from Soviet labor camps, and Freudian psychoanalysis. An eclectic mix indeed. Dreams as repressed memories were a recurring theme in the original author’s books. Sounds Freudian? Alas, the original author was definitely not Freudian, if I have to categorize it, the author’s Jungian. Freud’s theories mostly revolve around sex, and though it made for an interesting topic, it is boring because the human psyche is more layered. The original author, through their self-insert character, Chuuzenji the exorcist, totally destroyed the Freud stand-in. I really enjoyed this manga, and the skull imagery is totally creepy. The ending is plausible, and the mystery seemed actually solvable for a change.