Eiji Otsuka

Sho-u Tajima

After a serial killer notices something special about police detective Kobayashi Yousuke, his life is changed forever when the same killer mutilates Kobayashi's wife and kick-starts a "multiple personality battle" within Kobayashi.

MPD-psycho

Five students at a Buddhist college in Japan realize the job market is tough these days...among the living, that is! But their unique spiritual and scientific talents might help them get work from the dead, for they can contact the spirits of corpses and speak with them. And if a body is found hanging from a tree or lying in an alley, it's probably got a story to tell! The five form The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service, specializing in carrying out the last wishes of their dead clients, so their souls can move on. But the Kurosagi gang are magnets for weirdness--not just corpses--and every case gets them involved in disturbing personal obsessions, bizarre modern Tokyo fads, and strange rituals of old Japan...and often all at once!

The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service: Book One Omnibus

MPD-Psycho, Volume 3

Bunpei Yorifuji

Housui Yamazaki

Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service

MPD-Psycho has earned praise for its complex, shocking story arcs and artist Sho-u Tajima's stark, arresting art style-that draws comparison with artist Charles Burns' work. Adult fans of the Death Note and Paranoia Agent anime series, the Takashi Miike MPD-Psycho television adaptation, and nihilistic parables like the Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service, Monster, and Death Note manga will be surprised by the inventive murders, mysterious sci-fi touches, and surprisingly humorous moments in this smart series. Step onto this crazy ride, as even more strange deviants are introduced and writer Eiji Otsuka continues to astound with his inventive plot twists and atrocities. Named one of Publishers Weekly's best reads of 2007!

MPD Psycho Volume 8

Several months after surviving the "Ghost Condo Massacre," our favorite multiple personality detective-the man we've known as Kazuhiko Amamiya--has been missing, possibly under the control of his unhinged, murderous Shinji Nishizono personality. While faithfully waiting for Amamiya to return, Machi Isono is invited to witness an unusual presentation hosted by Japan's Minister of Justice, who then threatens to shut down Machi's Criminal Research Lab. While Machi finds herself getting closer and closer to the heart of the Gakuso Society, Detective Sasayama's career is in trouble. Miwa, Machi's younger sister, bumps into the downtrodden, bumbling Sasayama right after having eye surgery she takes him shopping, and a strange relationship begins to form. * Recently named one of Publishers Weekly's "150 Best Books of the Year."

MPD Psycho

Heads up! That's what the Kurosagi crew sees floating in midair . . . above a moving motorcycle! But this headless horseman in reverse is linked to a corpse that can be smelled and felt . . . but not seen! Then, the mystery moves from sight to sound, as the last words of an elderly veteran reveal the hideous crime behind a secret program of World War II-whose effects can still be heard . . .

The Corpse Delivery Service has been helping dead people move on to the afterlife . . . but what about interred internal organs? In Volume Three, Kuro is surprised to learn that the voice enlisting his help is coming not from a dead man, but a live man housing a necrotic organ, the result of a faulty transplant. The pursuit of putrid parts leads the kids of Kurosagi all the way to the war in Iraq! * In Kurosagi, the writer of the notorious MPD Psycho creates strange, shocking scenarios of contemporary horror drawn by Housui Yamazaki, whose clean, stylish approach has made him one of the hottest new young artists in Japan. "While there is cruelty, gore, violence, and implied unnatural sexual acts, the manga is also a complex and slyly ironic social commentary. Acquire this manga for adult collections for the naturalistic artwork that shows attention to human emotion, the social observation, and the banter between members of the delivery service. " (Christine Gertz, Library Journal)

“Dead Man’s Galaxy Days” skips back in time to events that take place before MPD-Psycho Volume 1. Yosuke Kobayashi seems like a smart, driven Tokyo police officer, but he’ll soon be transformed into a tragic “multiple personality detective.” The ongoing mystery of the Gakuso gang and their murderous “barcode clones” unravels further, and MPD-Psycho’s strange supporting cast is seen in a totally new light as a serial killer—the Tokyo Mirror Man—terrorizes the city with his chainsaw! * The inspiration for Takashi Miike’s television series! * MPD-Psycho crosses over with the Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service universe!

Five students at a Buddhist college in Japan find there's little call for their job skills...among the living, that is! But their unique talents allow them to work with the dead...carrying out the last wishes of those whose spirits are still trapped in their corpses, and can't move on to the next life! Book Five has the Kurosagi gang running into ever more bizarre incidents of modern horror, from mind-control mouse hats, to taxpayer-supported torture museums, to the most feared calamity of all...jury duty! Meanwhile, it seems a gang of corpse-clearing impostors is out to take away their meager business--and in America, someone's made a cartoon series based off them...?! Plus, three previously unpublished stories: a client whose psychological syndrome makes her believe she's dead; the mad robot scientist trio invents a zombie biker gang, and fugitives from a deadly cult hide out in the radioactive ruins of Fukushima! Collects The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service volumes 13 and 14, plus the previously unpublished volume 15.

The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service: Book Five Omnibus

As the mysteries surrounding the devious Gakuso Society and the "eyeball murderers" continue to unravel, multiple personality detective Kazuhiko Amamiya seems to have returned from the grave, taking control of the Nishizono clone! Or is this just a ploy for young Tetora to negotiate his release and go off on another killing spree? The thickest MPD-Psycho volume yet brings us over two hundred pages of colorful characters, bizarre deaths, and horrific twists and turns. Lucy Monostone's descendant, a former Gakuso scientist who has a strange, mystical power over people's minds, joins the Isono Criminal Research staff, enraging the bitter, bumbling police detective Sasayama, but perhaps providing clues that Sasayama needs to solve the new "angel cult" murders. With its main characters evolving -- for better or worse -- and new faces coming to the forefront, this inventive manga series continues to earn its reputation as one of the most controversial, violent, and engaging modern crime sagas.

A small country town's got more than the usual crop circles to claim aliens drop by . . . they've got the extraterrestrial's body! It's going to be a different kind of alien autopsy when the Kurosagi crew investigates their oddest client yet. And there's more strange visitors from afar when an American entomologist drops in-blond, buxom, and an expert on maggots-not to mention a crossover appearance by Reiji Akiba, the gun-toting exorcist of Mail!

Second Death! Two bodies found in the woods-one not quite departed, the other horribly mutilated-lead the Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service to investigate a private online community. The virtual world offers you the chance to do all kinds of things in simulation that you couldn't do in life . . . but are you sure everyone playing is still alive? * Nominated for an Eagle Award and the only manga nominated for Amazon.com's Best Book Covers of 2009!

The dead don't walk in Kurosagi -- that is, not without a little help . . . and it's a shock to the system when the delivery service finds out what's making their clients rise up! Then, for Numata to take off his sunglasses for anyone, it must be a grave matter . . . or, more likely, a matter of someone not yet intheir grave . . .

The corpses whose last wishes Kurosagi delivers usually died not too long ago . . . for reasons that are gruesomely obvious. But when the ominous Mr. Nire returns to the scene with a re-animated mummy in tow, what they're gonna do is go back . . .way back, as the kids kick it Egyptian Old Kingdom school! Then, travel from the past into the future of death, as the Kurosagi crew unlocks the cold business behind some cryogenically frozen heads!

It's weird enough work, just trying everyday to turn corpses into cash when they're connected to mysterious UFO crashes, modern-day mummies, and stiffs turned to soap. But the secrets of the Kurosagi's crew past continue to haunt them as well, as they meet the exorcist Reiji Akira from Mail, who photograps the familiar spirit haunting Karatsu, and a flashback story takes us to early 20th-century Japan to meet the ancestors (?) of our cast, as they hunt the ripper stalking the streets of Meiji-era Tokyo! And now there's sinister competition in the future for them in the body trade, as they encounter a rival firm, the Shirosagi Corpse Cleaning Service... This is the second volume in the value-priced Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service Omnibus series from Dark Horse Manga!

The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service: Book Two Omnibus

The Corpse Delivery Service has helped the dead who wanted justice from the living. Now, think about how many living people would like to take vengeance on the dead. What if it were possible? When Sasaki realizes that the latest corpse in their office is the man who murdered her parents years ago, the Kurosagi crew learns of a far darker business than their own, in this intensely disturbing one-volume story. • Striking cover design by Bunpei Yorifuji makes Kurosagi a standout in a crowded field; Dark Horse has preserved the original graphic elements and even the "brown paper wrapper" feel of the original Japanese book. • 18+ content advisory. "While there is cruelty, gore, violence, and implied unnatural sexual acts, the manga is also a complex and slyly ironic social commentary. Acquire this manga for adult collections for the naturalistic artwork that shows attention to human emotion, the social observation, and the banter between members of the delivery service. " (Christine Gertz, Library Journal)

After last volume's surprising betrayal and bloodbath, Amamiya-the multiple personality detective of the Isono Criminal Research Lab-faces new threats from the young "Lucy 7" deviants! In the midst of new murderous messes, bumbling Detective Sasayama finds himself in a criminal profiler contest fueled by the Japanese media. An American profiler arrives to work on a decade-old serial killer case at an elementary school, but the real group that he represents and his ultimate goals are as mysterious as MPD-Psycho's huge "barcode puzzle." The Gakuso Society pulls some strings, the American begins to hunt down children, and this volume of MPD-Psycho promises to be the most titillating and confusing yet--but you'll love the ride! Jump on, as more players enter the fray and more inventive atrocities abound.

The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service is back...only to find they've got competition from an evil rival version of themselves, not to mention an...American cartoon version of themselves? But don't fear the reaper, because our original corpse-carrying crew is still ready for any gruesome weirdness, classical or modern--from a headless stiff who only does his séances in binary, to a good old-fashioned iron maiden! Excellent!

Shigo kekkon--marrying the dead! It's a quaint old country custom in Japan that's becoming the next big fad in Tokyo . . . and that makes it the business of the Corpse Delivery Service! And meanwhile back on campus, since they're technically a college club, the kids from Kurosagi host a membership drive during the school festival! But you've got to like corpses, you know.

Eiji Otsuka

Books

Your next favorite book is out there