The Devil Does Exist

(CMX, 2005)
™ and © 1998 Mitsuba Takanashi
graphic novel; read right to left; b&w

Although the title suggests another supernatural manga, this is one of those creepy “almost-incest” romances where the leads needlessly torture themselves over their supposedly inappropriate feelings. At school, Kayano is tormented by bad/pretty boy Takeru whose dad is the principal. So, “naturally,” Kayano’s mother marries Takeru’s father, the two teens become “brother and sister,” and she (in spite of herself) falls in love with him. It’s a desperate attempt to create the maximum amount of nearly hysterical melodrama out of the most meager of premises. Things aren’t helped by the fact that neither of them is particularly interesting. Kayano is defined exclusively by her naughty feelings for Takeru, who, frankly, is more a creepy jerk than hunky heartthrob.

And it’s not just them; there’s pathological behavior by the pound, as the seriously messed-up Rika hires someone to beat her up so Takeru can protect her. And Yohei loves Rika and, in spite of the fact she shuns him, so he tries to hurt Kayano because she wants Takeru. Forbidden love has never been so dull.

— S. A. Bennett

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