Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan - Volume 1
Summary
The famous manga artist living in Morioh, Rohan Kishibe. He's full of curiosity and pursues realism, but just what frightening episodes has he experienced during his travels...?! Contains five stories: At a Confessional, Mutsu-kabe Hill, Millionaire Village, Poaching Seashore, and Kishibe Rohan Meets Gucci.
Episode 16: At a Confessional
After an incident forces Rohan to put his series on hiatus, he takes a vacation to Italy. While in Venice, Rohan accidentally enters a confessional where a man begins to confess his sins. The man tells of his youth when a starving vagrant came to him for food. Disdainful, he forced the vagrant to carry large bags of corn, ultimately leading to his death. However, the vagrant's ghost appeared, swearing to return and take revenge on the happiest day of his life.
After becoming rich and successful, the man walked cheerfully with his daughter and servant in what he thought was the happiest moment of his life. Suddenly, the vagrant's spirit possesses his daughter and reveals that he was behind the man's prosperity from the start. The ghost explains that he wanted fate to judge him, demanding that he throw three pieces of popcorn into the air higher than the lamppost and catch it in his mouth. If he fails, the ghost would cut off his head.
Episode 2: Mutsu-kabe Hill
Bankrupt from buying a large piece of land for research purposes, Rohan tells his editor the story of a genuine Yokai he witnessed during his exploits. The story starts with Naoko Osato, the heir of a wealthy family, cutting ties with her secret lover, Gunpei Kamafusa, after being forced into an arranged marriage. The break-up turns into a fight ending with Gunpei's accidental death. At the same time, Naoko's father and fiancé arrive at the house. Panicked, Naoko delays them while trying to stop Gunpei's wound from bleeding, however, the blood mysteriously keeps gushing out. In desperation, Naoko puts Gunpei on top of the armoire while drinking his blood.
Naoko married and had children, as she continued to hide Gunpei's corpse, meticulously collecting the blood as it endlessly poured—eventually developing a strange attachment to it.
Episode 5: Millionaire Village
Rohan and his editor Kyoka Izumi meet at a cafe in Morioh. While discussing Rohan's new one-shot, Kyoka talks to him about buying a villa in the mountains, claiming that anyone who buys a property there becomes incredibly rich. Hiking up the mountains, Kyoka also mentions that the people in the village won't sell their property to anyone with bad manners. At the front door, a child butler greets the two and asks them to wait for the current owners, giving them tea as refreshment. However, the butler soon asks them to leave as they've already breached etiquette twice.
Kyoka begs for a second chance, which is granted, but is soon devastated to learn that her mother and fiancee have both died in a car crash. Rohan immediately uses Heaven's Door on the butler and learns that the Gods of the Mountains are testing them, and that whoever breaches etiquette is punished with the loss of which they hold dear.
Episode 6: Poaching Seashore
At Tonio Trussardi's trattoria, Tonio asks Rohan for a favor: to help him harvest disk abalone, a unique type of abalone only found near Morioh. After learning of their value, Rohan guesses that Tonio is asking him to go poaching. Tonio has done his own research, and explains that there is a precise path and night during which the duo will be able to harvest the freely swimming abalone.
On this night, Rohan and Tonio sneak toward the reef, and Tonio reveals that he seeks the abalone to cure his girlfriend's disease. Waist-deep into the water, the duo see the spectacle of the swarm of swimming abalones. Distracted by the sight, Rohan soon notices that Tonio has sunken at the bottom of the sea: the abalones have stuck onto his body, weighing him down.
Chapters
- Episode 16: At a Confessional[a]
- Episode 2: Mutsu-kabe Hill
- Episode 5: Millionaire Village
- Episode 6: Poaching Seashore
- Kishibe Rohan Meets Gucci[b]
Release Dates
| Country | Release Date | ISBN |
|---|---|---|
Japan 
|
November 19, 2013[1] | 978-4088708720 |
Taiwan 
|
September 14, 2014[4] | 978-9863486794 |
Italy 
|
January 8, 2015[5] | 978-8869201684 |
France 
|
April 6, 2016[6] | 978-2756078519 |
South Korea 
|
March 3, 2021[7] | 978-8954677851 |
Spain 
|
July 22, 2021[8] | 978-8418837449 |
Argentina 
|
June 10, 2022[9] | 978-8419185426 |
USA 
|
September 27, 2022[10] | 978-1974730742 |
Author's Note
Author's Note
一番最初に描いたのが１９９７年の作品なので、この度、一冊に集まってくれたのが本当に嬉しくて感謝したい。
内容も舞台がイタリアから山奥から海岸まで、バラエティに富んでいる５つの不気味話がそろってくれたので、楽しんで頂けると更に嬉しく思います。
Gallery
Ad for Volume 1 on sale
Obi used for Printing 24 (released on December 6, 2020)
Clean Cover art
Taiwan Cover
Italian Cover
French Cover
Korean cover
Spanish Cover
Argentinian cover
Chinese cover
Thai Cover
English cover
Inside Cover
Illustration in the Volume
Rohan's profile
Notes
- ↑ At a Confessional was also included in the Under Execution, Under Jailbreak.
- ↑ Kishibe Rohan Meets Gucci is not included in the English and Spanish (both Spain and Argentina) releases.
