Nonetheless, the unravelling of the mystery and the revelation of Ryusuke's involvement to these catastrophes makes for a compelling read. The art has so much depth and he is able to transition to just bonkers intense horrifying scenes and concepts after filling you with dread (see Alexander's excellent review for examples of the art).

Born in Gifu Prefecture in 1963, he was inspired from a young age by his older sister's drawing and Kazuo Umezu's comics and thus took an interest in drawing horror comics himself. Eventually, unable to cope with her coy flirtation and their desire to possess Tomie completely, they are inevitably compelled to kill her — only to discover that, regardless of the method they chose to dispose of her body, her body will always regenerate. The next day at school, Ryuusuke meets Midori Shibayama, who he had a crush on back in kindergarten, and her friend Reishi Tanaka, who tells him that the girls in school have been eagerly talking about him.

Such as, what is the real origin / identity of the bishounen, what is the connection between him and Ryusuke, and what is the meaning of the ending (Boy in White chapter)?

We see quite a few of these, with the responses varying from jokes to genuine advice to spiteful cruelty. The last 50 pages include two shorter stories that I think are by far the best part of this collection [unfortunately, since they also take up the least page space]. At first, I did not realize just how long the story would be, the premise was a little flimsy, and the details laid out seemed to be leading down a predictable path. The man quite honestly reveals that he also knocked up the same woman that harassed Ryusuke and Midori, but he says that his son was innocent and shouldn't have been caught in the crossfire.The story progresses through ‘A Woman in Distress’, ‘Shadow’ and ‘Screams in the Night’; Ryusuke, sometimes joined by his would-be girlfriend Midori and friend Tejima, attempts to identify the ‘beautiful boy’, and is eventually suspected of telling the fateful fortunes himself. By the end we have an idea of why the beautiful boy of the crossroads may be haunting this town, but nothing concrete enough to dispel his mystique. of this are linked stories that centre around the custom of people with problems going to an intersection, accosting the first person that they meet and asking their fortune.