Phantom Tales of the Night vol 1 by Matsuri

A mysterious innkeeper will let lost souls stay in his inn for a price that isn’t money: he feeds on secrets. When a young man is being chased by a monster in a cage, he finds refuge in the Inn, but has no secrets to give. The Master uses his power to create a situation where he will know the young man’s secret, and it gives them both new life. The Innkeeper also has several creatures in his service, including Butterfly, who can take the shape of a man, but also burst into hundreds of butterflies. Butterfly often "gets into trouble" in his human form, particularly with young ladies who often fall for him.

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There are some serious Sandman vibes from these mysterious people and their powers, especially how otherworldly they all are. The magic and the world-building are a little minimal in this first story, but instead of it leaving too much unexplained, it feels more like Preludes and Nocturnes where Gaiman knows you're not going to understand everything about how Dream has his powers. I imagine we'll get more detail into the Innkeeper in future volumes as more souls visit the inn. This volume is set up a little more like slice-of-life where all of the chapters don't really relate to each other until you get to the very last one, which revisits the young man from the beginning. This title might be a good one to hand to fans of urban fantasy or supernatural stories who want to try out reading manga.

There is a scene that takes place after Butterfly and woman have slept together and they are both still in bed, but nothing is really discussed about it and you don’t see any of their bits. 

Sara's Rating: 8/10
Suitability Level: Grades 9-12

Publisher: Yen Press
Publication Date: September 3, 2019
ISBN: 9781975385217 (Paperback)

​Tags: Rating: 8/10, Suitability: High School, Manga, Paranormal, Magic, Yen Press