There exists an interesting premise within the initial volume of Nebukuro's debut manga. As a story about a landlord who rents an apartment out to the undead, there is potential in making this an enveloping, spooky story about the things that go bump in the night...as well as being behind on this month's rent. Nebukuro, however, seems a little too excited to start their story, because a lot of it feels a bit scattershot in its execution.

The story starts with young Kaori Shinonome fresh off the freelancing scene and fully signed up to be the landlord of a new apartment complex. The catch? It's haunted and overrun by the undead. And since no living soul wants to rent a room up there, Kaori decides to sublet to the lost souls lurking inside and outside its premises. We see her do this to some success; Kaori puts out an advert and she convinces a couple of ghouls to become tenants. Towards the end of the first volume, Kaori leases a ghoul after she finds one rummaging around an abandoned sea shack. Kaori also finds a ghoul with a knack for customer service, so she puts it to work at a call center. The ghoul talks through a mouth embedded in one of its hands and--get this--they tell a customer they are one of the operators...on hand! I'm not sure if this was intentional, but as a fan of lame puns, I enjoyed this line of dialogue.

This barely makes up the bulk of the story so far. What we get for the most part instead is Kaori trying to adjust to her newfound landlord life. Two things are standing in the way though. First, poor Kaori seems a little bit underdeveloped, and her introduction feels a little rushed. We understand what she is: that she's a landlord and a former freelancer. Yet who she is personality-wise remains to be seen. Of course, Kaori's a bit overwhelmed by some of the events, but then again who wouldn't be when a giant ghoul chases you down the streets? Kaori is met by a meganekko named Tsuzumi while on the run from the ghoul and she doesn't have much personality either. There hasn't been much in the way of chemistry so far, although granted, this is just the first volume of the manga, meaning things might develop between the two later on.

The second issue is how underutilized the main premise is in exchange for misadventures that feel distracting. Along with the aforementioned chase sequence that goes on for a couple of chapters, Kaori convinces another ghoul to not jump off a building, and later on, Kaori and Tsuzumi start their search for an exorcist. While these fun little events don't stray too far from the light horror tone of the story, they stray away from what could have been more meaningful plot and character development. I would have liked to see Kaori's personality explored more from how she handles her landlord business before getting into these crazy supernatural shenanigans. Maybe we could have had a sequence where Kaori comes up with her means to recruit as many undead as possible, setting the tone of the series and showing how determined she is in her goals. Or a chapter showcasing her decision-making and rationality when she has to book a tough client an apartment. Such scenes would have given the Manga Time to develop its main character, yet the manga insists on jumping from one event to the next instead of taking the time to let the story come to a slow simmer.

The art style isn't much to write home about either. I entered the manga with positive expectations based on the cover's color scheme. The problem is, that a cover with appealing colors does not translate well when the bulk of your manga is drawn in black and white. The art design is rather bland without colors. The character designs look stock and the environments feel tacked on, almost like they are there to fulfill the quota. There's a moment when Kaori is shown a haunted painting that kills people with its Jackson Pollock-esque design. Her response? “I mean, is it art? It's such a mess that I don't know what it's supposed to be. Is it a painting of anything at all?” This feels like it's supposed to be a joke, although my pretentious side feels like this is the type of rhetoric echoed by people who are dismissive towards avant-garde art. I could dismiss myself if the art style was anything to boast about.

What could have been a more interesting beginning of a light horror manga feels like a false start. The story isn't enveloping despite its potential. Its characters and art feel flat. This is just the first volume of the manga so we'll see if things pick up later.