The Story

There is a rumor that Hinatsugi Mountain is cursed. People who wander too deeply into the mountain end up getting spirited away, making it the perfect topic for a school’s supernatural club. As they traverse the mountain, it begins to rain. Instead of taking shelter, they attempt to climb back down, but one of the girls, Reina, falls and injures herself.

A young girl suddenly appears and offers to guide them back to her village so Reina can be treated. Once there, the group is welcomed with food, but what is set before them is horrifying: teeth, hair, eyeballs, and other human body parts.

Minato immediately realizes they need to escape, but when he goes to retrieve Reina, half of her face is missing. The woman of the manor captures them, and they are literally torn apart limb from limb and given to her daughter Kiriko, who is described as a patchwork doll. As more people disappear on the mountain, the story later reconnects with Minato, now trapped in a cell and told that he has been chosen to become Kiriko’s next husband. But when the ceremony finally arrives, Kiriko has a different wish entirely.

Characters

Minato

Even though Minato can be viewed as one of the main characters, he never fully felt like one. He does get some backstory, but it leans into a pretty familiar setup: strict parents, academic pressure, and the expectation to be perfect. It works well enough to create a connection between him and Kiriko, but outside of that, he mostly feels like someone there to keep the plot moving.

Kiriko

Kiriko is where the story becomes much stronger. Her backstory is tied directly to her mother, and that entire thread gives the manga its emotional core. Her mother fell in love with a samurai and became pregnant, but when illness and fear took over, people believed she was cursed. What followed was horror layered with rejection, cruelty, and desperation.

Kiriko’s existence becomes the center of the story’s tragedy. Compared to Minato, she feels far more layered, and because of that, she carries the emotional weight of the volume much better.

My Review

Final Thoughts

With only seven total chapters, I expected the story to feel extremely rushed, but it honestly handled itself better than I thought it would. It still told a complete story for the most part, although there was definitely one storyline in the middle of the volume that felt like it suddenly stopped and never got the follow-up it seemed like it was building toward.

That is the one place where the shortness really hurt it. It almost feels like the manga began with Minato and his club, shifted into a side story, then had to jump back and wrap everything up before it ran out of room. If that is what happened behind the scenes, then honestly, it still did a decent job closing things out with what it had.

What Works

• The atmosphere is creepy and effective right from the start.
• Kiriko’s backstory adds sympathy and emotional weight to the horror.
• The gore is uncensored and definitely delivers if that is what you read horror for.
• It is short, quick to read, and still memorable.

Where It Falls Short

• Some continuity suffers because certain story threads are not followed through.
• The short format keeps the manga from diving as deep as it could have.
• Minato feels more functional than compelling as a lead.

Overall

Even with its flaws, this was still a worthwhile read. The story does enough to make you care about Kiriko, and the ending, while somewhat open to interpretation, gives you enough to piece together what happened on your own. It is not perfect, but it is still a solid horror one-shot with enough gore, tragedy, and creepy mountain folklore to make it worth your time.

If you are looking for a quick horror manga you can finish in about an hour, this is a good pick.