Can't stop cursing you vol 1 by Kensuke Koba

Illustrated by Natsuko Uruma
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Kiyoharu Saeyama is currently posing as a high school biology teacher, but that's only because he's really a Curse Breaker on the hunt for the next Curse Killer. He's contracted to find those who make pacts with Curse Gods, and break their contracts before too many people die. He has some special abilities that help him trace Curse Killers - he's able to ask the dead one question about their contractor in the hopes of narrowing down the suspect pool. Curse killings also come with several unbreakable rules, and they're not exactly spelled out for the Killers. So, while they're busy making sure they meet their quota of kills per month, Killers must also find out the rules and make sure their kills go off without a hitch. If they successfully fulfill the terms of their contract, the Curse Gods will bestow on them immense power.

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The feel and premise of this story is very much like Death Note, with that dance back and forth between the Killer and law enforcement who are trying to break the case. Similarly with Death Note, the police find help in an outside source who isn't a police officer. The pacing of this story is much faster, however, with the story centered around Saeyama, the hunter, instead of the Curse Killers, and Saeyama may potentially break one case per volume. This is, overall, a pretty dark murder-mystery where the audience knows almost everything and just watches the cat-and-mouse game unfold, bringing some heightened levels of suspense depending on which characters they choose to root for.

At times, the illustrations are very detailed, but are mostly creepy. Characters are drawn with abnormally long limbs or necks; they often have dark shadows under their eyes and crazed looks on their faces. Uruma does a fantastic job capturing the disturbing nature of the storytelling.

Saeyama always has his pipe with him, which looks like an opium pipe, but they never discuss what the contents are. There is also a lot of killing that happens on the page with a fair amount of blood each time. There is also some mild cussing, and some really intense scenes with interrogation of dead souls and the Curse Killer.

Sara's Rating: 8/10
Suitability Level: Grades 10-12

Publisher: Yen Press
Publication Date: March 30, 2021
ISBN: 9781975321680 (Paperback)

​Tags: Rating: 8/10, Suitability: High School, Manga, Paranormal, Horror, Mystery, Suspense, ​Yen Press