A Thousand Miles

Nightmare Inspector

****

Yumekui Kenburn, otherwise known as Nightmare Inspector, is a 2001 Supernatural Drama manga by Shin Mashiba. It started serialization in Stencil magazine in 2001. Viz media picked up the series and published it in the west between April 2008 and August 2009. It also spawned a spin off manga, Yumekui Kenbun: Moukyoudou, about a side character in 2007.

Cover Appeal

Shin Mashiba – This is their first serialized publication of this sort, so it’s fitting that this would also be the first of their work I’ve read. Their follow up works seem to share supernatural themes and a focus on drama as well, with the exception of Utau! Heiankyou which seems to be a comedy.

The Unstoppable March of Time – In a cover image that’s more colorful than it probably should be, we see Hiruko lounging around in a train station or plaza at least. Besides displaying Hiruko’s laid back demeanor, the locale is empty and in an obvious state of disrepair. Despite it’s state, it likely holds some degree of sentimental value for Hiruko. It may also be in the same neighborhood as the Silver Star Tea House. Considering Mizuki’s assertion that the tea house, which is always dark, is “too gloomy”, the two would go together.

The Gist

The Silver Star Tea House deals not just in delicious beverages, but in a more valuable service: nightmare cleansing, if you will. For the low, low price of the nightmare that ails you, Hiruko and Mizuki will free you from its pesky grasp.

The Cast

Hiruko – A Baku or dream eater. Guides patrons through their dreams to help them overcome their mysterious dreamscapes and bring them some peace of mind. Acts somewhat distant and uninterested, but we see a perceptive person that can be said to care at times.

Mizuki – runs the Silver Star Tea Shop with Hiruko. Is cordial to customers and patient with Hiruko, despite the fact that very little attention is paid to her.

The Rub

Nightmare Inspector is this workable mix of magic realism and mystery elements. It’s magic realism in and of the fact that everyone’s dreams are pocket dimensions that one can be transported to and astrally projecting into, but you soon come to learn that the moving parts of said dreams are just representations for parts of the person’s subconscious. “Nightmare” can only be applied loosely as few of these are actually horrific dreamscapes, in reality usually just being recurring dreams that cause annoyance. But I guess “Dream Inspector” doesn’t have the same oomph (and would probably invoke the idea of RIPD, but with dreams). With that in mind, Nightmare Inspector quickly cements itself not as a horror manga, but as a light mystery one.

That being the case, the audience comes to greet each case with a curiosity, not about what monster Hiruko will be facing down, but rather what emotional hang up is ailing this person and just who or what (you’d be surprised the customers Silver Star gets) they are. To that end, a few of the resolutions and explanations are what you’d expect, but some of them take full advantage of the fact that we are dealing with flawed, even cunning humans and serve us an Outer Limits twist or two.

I must admit that I love Hiruko’s design. It’s always a toss up whether a design will hold up when color is applied. You spend most of your time seeing it in two tone and abstraction can be a bitch sometimes. But while the two tone version we see the most of is great, the full color version is what caught my eye. It’s this mix between priest and trendy pretty boy. Furthermore, he has this magical cane (named Formalin after the early commercial name for embalming fluid) that is one bent tip away from being a bona fide shepherd’s hook, which totally goes with the dream theme – tangentially through sleep and counting sheep, but more directly through him acting as a shepherd to the lost sheep that enter his shop. It also is filled with soda, which is fucking awesome if I do say so myself.

The Verdict

I was expecting a more involved, slow burn horror affair when I picked up Nightmare Inspector. What I got instead, was a more episodic, magic realism “mystery of the week” set up. All and all, I was pleasantly surprised. Such a dynamic affair where you only really have two characters as your recurring cast, lives or dies then, on the back of the adventures the patrons bring with them. As I said earlier, they aren’t all that bad. What I would like to see, however, is future cases forcing us to come to terms more and more with what Hiruko actually is and what him and Mizuki relationship is. That or just some more focus on Mizuki, would work as well.

Continue?: Sure, why not?