▪	RELEASED BY:		VIZ MEDIA
		▪	AUTHOR / ART:		CHIKA SHIOMI
		▪	FORMAT:		JAPANESE / BW
		▪	PAGES:		200
		▪	RATING:		T
		▪	RELEASE DATE:		06/05/2007
		▪	REVIEW DATE:		06/25/2007
		▪	REVIEWED BY:		HOLLY ELLINGWOOD

Yurara is a fantastic new supernatural series from Viz’s Shojo Beat manga line. Yurara is a quiet girl cursed with the ability to see spirits. But when two new classmates arrive and a ghost won’t let her rest, a powerful guardian spirit awakens within Yurara to defend her. Her personality and appearance even change and the two new guys witness it! Now Yurara must contend with having to battle restless ghosts, evil spirits, and two boys who have a few supernatural secrets of their own!

Yurara is a fun supernatural story that runs the gamut of Nancy Drew to a less comedic Scooby Doo as Yurara and her two new friends, Mei and Yako, do some supernatural sleuthing when various ghosts and other sprits appear and haunt various areas of the school. It has some honest to goodness horror elements with the ghosts and discontented spirits. Many of the stories behind each of the haunting are naturally not happy tales and the ghosts represent a real threat to the living beings around them.

There’s also quite a bit of mystery running around this new manga series. First and foremost is the secret of Yurara. Her supernatural transformation took her by surprise as much as it did Mei and Yako. Just what is the secret behind her amazingly strong guardian spirit and why does Yurara’s appearance and personality change? The guardian is aggressive compared to Yurara, but still displays a compassionate regard towards the restless ghosts haunting the halls of the school, much more so than her two new friends do. This leads us to the mystery of the two young men suddenly in Yurara’s life. Mei has the ability to create and control demon fire. He’s handsome, friendly, flirty, and energetic. He likes Yurara as her dark haired and menacing guardian spirit, but secrets and pain hide behind his bright smile. Yako is his complete opposite. Aloof, casual, and with command over waterpower, he tends to berate the reckless Mei, but Yako has his own inner demons. When he goes up against one of his greatest fears, Yako reveals a breach in his emotional defenses, on that the human Yurara seems to have slipped inside of. This all quickly creates a romantic triangle between her and the male classmates (four if you include Yurara’s guardian spirit).

This is a many-sided new series with supernatural mysteries, ghost busting, romance and even some comedy thrown in. It’s very well told and has a well drawn and appealing art style that is both expressive and enjoyable.

IN SUMMARY:
Yurara is a multi-faceted gem of supernatural intrigue, adventure and romance.