A twisting and turning mystery story that will leave you wanting more. Beautiful art, exceptional story and world full of human and monsters to dive in head first. I think this is going to be my newest obsession!

I picked this book up because the name was very catching, and I'm newly interested in manga so its been fun to explore what's out there.

That being said, this was really funny and engaging. I was absolutely curious about the Cage, and the murder. Though as with most manga I am usually left wanting a bit more depth than I get out of them. I do think this could have been a LITTLE bit longer to hide a few more clues or set up a bit more of the mystery. It felt very "we're here, we're investigating, you did it, the end" Like I was reading the shortened version of what happened.

Of course I do not expect this to have 400 pages of exposition, as that is not the point of a manga but I do think this was just a bit too short.

I loved the world set up with Demons getting protection as Human-Ally's but still being seen as monsters by society and no one being willing to help them was great. I have a lot of questions about this family and where this story is going to go, and I do hope volume 2 will answer some of those questions!

All in all its a good start to a new series and i'm definitely interested in where its going to go in the future

This manga was only alright for me. I loved the concept and the art was pretty, but I found it very underwhelming overall and it just didn’t grab me. I didn’t get enough time or character development to be invested in the story.
I don’t think I was intrigued enough to continue on with the series either.

I can see it being a good recommendation for younger readers who really like Sherlock type stories with a supernatural twist though, it just wasn’t for me.


Thanks to netgalley and Kodansha for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review

Undead Girl Murder Farce is a very Sherlock-like story. We have a mysterious murder case, we have even more mysterious detectives working on in.
While the setting is well done and the art is nice, the story fell a bit short for me. I'm not sure if it's a pacing problem or general story issue, but it just didn't hit in the right spot. While I'm curious about the 'why' in the case, which gets pretty much solved by the end of the volume, I don't feel particularly interested to read the next chapters/volume to learn more.
I'd definitely suggest this for younger audience that's into detective supernatural stories.

*Thanks to NetGalley and Kodansha for providing me with an ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.*

In Undead Girl Murder Farce 1, it’s 1898. In France, vampires may live alongside humans as long as they vow not to prey on humans. The humans living near the vampires have mixed feeling about this government policy.

When Madam Hannah, the wife of one of the socially acceptable vampires, Sir Godard, is murdered, her husband is forced to hire two private detectives to find her killer. It seems the local police are reluctant to help demons like the vampires. Sir Godard had recently killed a vampire hunter in self-defense. He is convinced that a friend of the hunter killed Hannah in retaliation. With the help of the two detectives, Tsugaru and Aya, and an intrepid girl reporter, Annie, an investigation begins. Oh, and Aya is a disembodied head, in a cage, who talks. The reader has to have a great suspension of belief at this point.

The art is serviceable in my eARC of Undead Girl Murder Farce 1. Hopefully, it will be better in the final version. The plot starts well but then just ends. Still, I will be waiting for the next volume just to find out what happened. 3 stars.

Thanks to Kodansha and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

I liked the concept of vampires and a demon being the detective.
I sadly didn't enjoy this much as there was little character development, was short and didn't really give much away in the detecting/investigation. The end was abrupt and left me thinking is that it.
If another volume comes out i might give it a try.

Thank you to netgallery and the publishers gor providing me with a copy to leave an honest review.

Read a NetGalley eARC
Content warnings: Blood, murder, nudity, disembodied head

In 19th Century France, vampires are allowed to live alongside humans. Detectives are called in but little does anyone expect, it’s the disembodied head who’s also a demon.

This manga opens up with a dead vampire, a family member suspected, and a kooky trio consisting of a maid, a himbo, and a disembodied head in a cage. It is wonderfully strange and not very deep. It ends on a cliff-hanger, and I’m eager to see what the cage user has hidden behind his kind lack of sense.

The art style is really neat, though at times, the background work gets in the way of comprehending the words on the page. I’m unfamiliar with the differences between ARC manga and finished copies, so perhaps it is cleared up, and I hope so. I had a ton of fun during this read.

If you’re looking for something with cheek, thought-out world-building, and engaging action, definitely give this a shot.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kodansha for a free advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I was first drawn toward this book by the art, and the story was engaging enough that I finished; however, by the end of the book, I still wasn't very invested in the characters, and I would have liked to see a little more development there.

At times it was a little difficult to read the book on a screen because of the low contrast between the foreground characters and the background (Haruka Tomoyama's rendering style is line heavy with little use of black fills), but this problem might be mitigated if you read a hard copy printed on paper.

This book wasn't quite the right fit for me, but I can definitely see how it would appeal to those looking to start a new supernatural mystery series.

I read a free copy of Undead Girl Murder Farce 1 by Yugo Aosaki, Haruka Tomoyama, in return for an honest review.

This is a great mixture of vampire/detective/manga but I just didn't feel I was that invested in the characters. I needed maybe a little more to care about them. The ending was really abrupt and I felt like we could have been given a little more just to round it off.

I found the concept of a demon being the detective really interesting and loved the way that she was very Poirot with how she solved the crime.

Would I read the next one? Given the chance, probably as I would like to see where this goes and the art style was nice.

The artwork was so cool for this one and I loved the vibes- vampires and crime? I'm in! I'm not too sure what it was but this book was just missing that extra bit of content that was needed to fully invest me into the plot and characters.

As a reader who loves vampire stories, and enjoys mystery all around, this manga looked appealing right away. Finished this read in one day. Recommend ⭐️⭐️⭐️

I received an eARC copy from Kodansha via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A clever mix of Western and Eastern cultures (vampires and manga) with a historical twist caught my attention when I saw the title and the cover; I felt compelled to read the first volume.

A wealthy vampire lady had been murdered. The police decided not to investigate and find out who the perpetrator was. Her husband, however, hired private investigators to solve the mystery. These private investigators are everything but ordinary ones. Once they step on the scene, we realise just how spooky, imaginative, and unusual this story, the characters, and this manga are.

The story was enjoyable to read and quite intriguing, making you wonder who the murderer is; I was shooketh by the outcome, being it someone I least expected it to be. The downside was the massive general confusion at the start; the intro to the plot perplexed me. Time and time again, I learn more about manga and graphic novels in general, adding some of the missing details from my imagination (whether right or wrong) to complete the story for myself. A few more frames or an additional sentence or two to explain a few things wouldn't hurt.

The artwork is delicate and intricate; there are so many small details strategically placed to catch your attention and invite you to look at them more, analyse them and dive into this fantastic world where humans and vampires coexist.

Undead Girl Murder Farce Volume 1 is a spellbinding overture to a, hopefully, intriguing development of this alluring historical horror manga; looking forward to reading Volume 2.

A vampire murder mystery set in 19th Century France. It's as cliched as it sounds, save possibly for the fact that the detective in this case is a severed head in a birdcage. Why they chose the spoil the only surprising thing about this otherwise boring but nicely drawn manga is beyond me...

Thanks to Netgalley for a digital copy in exchange for an honest review :)

This manga has everything I love at the moment: a crime, strange funny mysterious detectives, some sort of interesting fantastical creatures (vampires) and a strange mysterious location. I had so much fun with this and I want the next volume ASAP!!!!!

The action takes place at the end of the 19th century. We have a vampire's wife is murdered, and the detective known as the "cage user" is called in to solve the crime. The vampire family is interesting. The 'cage user', who is a mystery as well, is one of my favorite characters. I really want to find out more about him and what is in the 'cage'.

The whole story is fast passed and I could not put it down. I have read everything in one go and loved it! It's great and it has so much potential!

Thankyou so much to Netgalley and to Kodansha for allowing me early access.
I'm on a manga/graphic novel kick and I really enjoyed this story.

Great story about a vampire who's wife has been murder and the human police have refused to investigate, so they have hired a private detective. Loving the Sherlock Holmes vibe!

Artwork definitely evokes a Victorian mood. I liked all the characters, meeting them and finding out their past and back story.

I can't wait to read the next one.

Undead Girl Murder Farce is a comedic supernatural mystery that begins with the mysterious arrival of two mysterious detectives to a French vampire's estate. In a world where demons and humans coexist a little less than peacefully, the vampire lord's wife was murdered and police have refused to get involved. However, a strange detective known as the "cage user" has arrived to investigate.

This manga had a very interesting concept. I'm a huge fan of detective stories, and whenever I see a detail-focused investigator in a story use little clues the rest would mix to get the whole story, I know I'm sure to like the character and be intrigued! However, in this case, it didn't extend to the rest of the story. There was a lot of talking and walking and not a lot of action, and after the killer was revealed (predictably and at an odd point in the plot) I found I didn't care about any of the characters enough for it to be a huge shock. The cliffhanger was slightly intriguing, and I might continue if the opportunity presents itself.

Thanks to Netgalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Vampires are offered a chance to co-exist with humans in the wake of the French Revolution, but their status is definitely second-class. When a prominent vampire’s wife is brutally targeted, the police aren’t much help, so said vampire decides to get ahead of things by calling in a trio of investigators from Asia. Okay, maybe two and a half investigators…

Well, it’s a bit of a shame they spoil the big reveal of this volume on the cover because that would have been one weird twist to walk into cold, let me tell you. And it would have goosed this book’s appeal a bit, which it could have used.

I mean, there’s standard shonen and there’s ‘we poured the writing batter into the mould and a shonen story came out baked like every other one’. We’re decidedly in the latter camp here. And don’t get me wrong, it’s not bad (I appreciate a book that is blatantly trying to arrange its own parlour scene to deliver the denouement to its mystery), but it isn’t very novel either.

I do appreciate that even with the fantastical elements, the mystery aspect appears bound and determined to make sure the murder adheres to its particular set of rules rather than circumvents them. We won’t get the full explanation until next time, but that appears to be the case and I think the story would have have fallen apart completely if that had been the case.

It also juggles an impressive number of characters and suspects fairly well. The male lead is incredibly annoying at the start of the book, though this tamps down as it goes, mercifully. I’ve yet to understand the point of the maid and our detective proper has some wobbly deductions but no real personality as yet. There’s also a reporter character who is given a full name, then disappears into the ether after her one appearance.

Combine that with some very mushy art and you have a book that just kind of sits there. If you’d never read anything like this before, you’d probably see more appeal, but see one sword-wielding maid and you really have kind of seen them all.

2.5 stars and I’ll nudge this up to 3 because I don’t think this is a bad story, just aggressively mediocre. The mystery angle doesn’t seem fleshed out enough (sorry) to make it as satisfying as I’d want, but I’ll likely check out the next volume and give it the two-volume chance (and I want my denouement, dang it).

I was uncertain about this one when looking at the manga but I weirdly enjoyed it. The fact that one of the characters is a talking head in a cage is totally crazy. But maybe, it’s the charm of the manga. At first, I thought it was going to be a remake of Sherlock Holmes because the detective was like “I know your story thanks to my deduction and observation skills”. But thankfully, no, it has its own characteristics.
The characters are quite fun and I cannot wait to read the next volume as there is a real cliff-hanger at the end of this one. The drawings are nice but I wouldn’t recommend this manga just for them. Moreover, I know I classified this manga as horror but it is really not a big part of it, at least in this first book.
I recommend to fans of mystery and fantasy
3.5/5

"Undead Girl Murder Farce" is probably one of the weirdest titles I have ever come across in my time reading Manga, while this title is accurate it does feel like it is a bunch of words thrown together.

Undead Girl Murder Farce is a Supernatural Clue. With interesting clients and even more interesting detectives.

The only downside is that this volume doesn't include the entirety of this story arc.

dnf
just not for me
while the plot seemed complex and well though out i think i honstally just didnt like it
great artstyle though