Ghost Reaper Girl, Vol. 1 (2025)

why was this Maxxxine meets Beetlejuice🤣

I know this manga will be a great fit for so many readers, but I just can't with the non-stop innuendos, very fan-service vibes, and harassment glorification. I know it won't hit the same way with all readers, and there is definitely a market for this sexually charged paranormal manga.

I wanted this manga to be about a badass former TV star who now slays for real. But it's about a badass former TV star who is subject to non-stop harassment and spirits trying to possess her - including one who must possess and "be inside" so that she can fight. For real? Just let Chloe be a badass in her own right. *sigh*

A strong start to a new paranormal manga series! I had fun the entire time I was flying through this. If you're looking for a good and fun new release, would highly recommend Ghost Reaper Girl!

Interesting concept. I will have to pick up volume two to get more of a feel for this series before I decide if I'm all in or not.

Chloé Love is a young actress, or looks the part anyway. When an audition lands her on the casting couch, she finds herself under threat from evil spirits escaped from Hades. As you do. Turns out her small frame houses a spirit medium, which means large problems. And a gaggle of guys. As you also do.

This story starts off with the aforementioned audition, where Chloé reveals she’s lying about her age and strikes the classic teheporo pose and shows that her acting chops consist largely of dying a lot. Then she nearly gets sexually assaulted by a man possessed. Literally.

In case you couldn’t tell, this story’s about to get wild and insane in a way that I wouldn’t necessarily have expected from the author of the very, very service-heavy Rosario + Vampire, who always seemed a lot more about drawing sexy nonsense than doubling down on plotting.

Now, this is still nonsense and there’s definitely some sexy in here, although it’s toned way down. Chloé’s ridiculous battle outfit is the biggest bit and, if anything, the mangaka is having an absolute field day with their reputation - there should be a panty shot very early on that gets completely obscured by the sound effects. There’s also a series of omake at the back of this that is totally worth the price of admission if you like these sorts of tropes being dunked on.

So, with minimal fanservice, where’s the story? In orbit somewhere around Venus, it feels like. Chloé saves herself initially, a welcome touch, but then gets rescued by Kai, a hot dead guy who turns out to be a lolicon (shudder), though they somehow salvage this with his love of Chloé, since she just looks underage (and there’s the facepalm).

Turns out Kai works for an organization called Arkham Bullet, which turns out to be run by Nyarlathotep, in case you were wondering how much Chloé Love(craft) was baked into this story, not that they seem to be doing anything specific with that aspect. It’s all an excuse for catboys and menboys and action and reverse harems. It’s a mess.

But it’s a damn fun mess. In the same way that Can’t Stop Cursing You thrives on its nonsense, so too does this story. It is just screaming for the fences and self-possessed of the courage that comes from having a veteran mangaka at the helm.

This story is just so goofy and the writing just so punchy that it becomes so silly it’s almost infectious. Of course the cat turns into a servant of Chloé’s, but then starts acting like, well, a cat, so he’s utterly useless. Until that scene at the end, which gives a good idea of how we’ll be getting most of the fan service.

It all gets better as things go along. Noel, the cat, is useless, as noted, but speaks in those horrible cat puns and Kai has absolutely zero concept of poor Chloé’s circumstances, using all of her groceries to prepare a welcome feast for her own apartment. Their domestic set-up is a manga classic, but somehow the story still makes it fun and peppy.

There’s a definite ear for dialogue to all this and when you combine it with one of the oddest magical girl stories in ages (seriously, Kai’s form when Chloé transforms is something out of a Hanna-Barbera cartoon) it really is one of those ‘more than the sum of its parts’ deals. It’s all nonsense, but it rarely lets up (also they don’t dwell on the lolicon stuff, although it is used for a great scene when the spirits from hell pause in their assault to just full dunk on Kai).

3.5 stars - however, I can put up with a lot of nonsense if it’s enjoyable and this is some fine, fine nonsense. It’s the Cadillac of taking a perhaps needlessly complicated premise and just having a damn good time and making sure the reader does too.

I received this as an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

(1.5/5 stars)
The minute the male lead opened his mouth saying he was a "lolicon," I knew this was not the manga for me. I was originally interested because having a female main character in an action manga who's almost 30 is rare, but everyone kept commenting on how "childish" and young she looked. Combine that with evil spirits constantly trying to enter her body and references to men having sexually harassed her in the past--it really soured my mood while reading. Kai continued to reference how she was his favorite actress partially for her childish/perfect "loli" looks, which was super creepy to me. Much of this just rubbed me the wrong way.

Also, this volume wasn't very interesting to me. Other series have done ghost hunting way better, and less awkwardly. None of the characters stuck out, nor peaked my interest. I can barely remember their names--which isn't a good sign.

I will say that the art is very pretty to look at, but that's about it. A shallow first volume with a pretty coat of paint.

3.5 rounded up out of love for Masakazu Katsura's Shadow Lady, which this reminds me of strongly. Mostly that's because it's another Shounen Jump magical girl title; in all fairness, the transformations are much closer to those in Pretear because of the conceit - Chloe transforms when she allows her ghost familiars to possess her, which is naturally phrased as "enter her body." No, it's not classy, but as noted, it's got firm shoujo precedent. In fact, much of what's fun about this volume is the way that it takes two shoujo subgenres and reworks them for a shounen audience; it's also, as heroine Chloe notes, a reverse harem story, and despite the fact that it comes from the same creator as Rosario + Vampire, it isn't too heavy on the fanservice. It's a romp of a supernatural tale (with bonus Nyarlahotep), and it's definitely worth checking out.

Fun and entertaining! Strongly recommend for fans of manga! Can’t wait to read Volume 2! 😉📚📖

I had a horrible flashback to the flipped manga era when I opened this up and realized it reads left to right. Apparently that's how it was originally drawn and how the author wants it read so thankfully we haven't gone back to that dreary time.

Nice to have a heroine that's 28 but it loses points for making her look like a kid and still doing loli jokes. Not a bad start but it's not really funny or special enough to really make me want to continue, though I suppose I might anyway and at least give it another volume or two before I drop it.

Let's call this a good idea ruined by toxic masculinity. It left such a bad taste in my mouth I've let it sit so long I've forgotten things I wanted to put in the review. The idea of it is good (and the art is fantastic) which makes this all the sadder for me.

Chloe Love is a wannabe actress but at nearly 30 she still looks 13 (a big (and gross) deal is made of this throughout) and somehow that's a detraction from her finding roles (taking that with a grain of salt). She faces a casting couch moment that turns into a nightmare complete with tentacle rape attempts (OMG mangaka can we please stop with that).

She meets Kai Ioda, a psychopomp from Hades who has to round up escapees from Hades including whatever has possessed her would-be employer. Kai is able to possess Chloe's body turning her into the titular ghost reaper girl while he becomes a scythe with an eye (ala Soul Eater) While the fight scenes are bad assed we're forced to deal with her morphing into her outfit that is your typical chain mail bikini nonsense.

I can handle a little fan service. Hell I consider Kai's open shirt/man in chains look fan service for the ladies but this goes to extremes, Chloe is briefly naked each time she changes, there are upskirt/panty shots galore and this is where I start getting angry. We keep talking about representation and doing better and then we have something like this aimed at teen aged boys and it's glorifying all the toxic behavior you can think of.

Kai is constantly sexually harassing Chloe. The art is doing the same if we're honest. We had to endure endless Lolicon fantasies of Kai's. It gets gross quick and it tries to make this way of treating women okay. I know I won't be reading more of this because I felt like I needed to shower in alcohol after this one. It's a shame because the idea was neat and the art was gorgeous (I mean look at that cover) but I can't get past not only the extreme sexualization of Chloe but the added fact that it is because she looks prepubescent that's the turn on that truly creeps me out.

This manga is a mixed bag for me, I pre ordered it on a whim because it looked like the kind of manga I would love.
There is this very uncomfortable underlying aspect. I had to look it up to find out what it meant, but this whole lolicon thing. It's very gross and has no business being in the book.
The main character is fetishized because she looks like a teen girl but she's 28.
They constantly reference it and the main spirit that posseses her says he is a lolicon.
The rest of the manga would be excellent if that aspect was removed. The art is top notch and I love the general story and some of the humor. "My horror DVD Collection!, NOO!"
Sadly to say if I continue to read this it will be second hand, I won't support someone like that.

This is everything I wanted out of Shugo Chara! and didn't get. Magical girl transforming with the help of her reverse-harem ghosty boys. Oh I am so here for this!

Ghosts have escaped from Hades and are running free. Chloe is an F-level celebrity looking for her big break and when is discovered - - -by ghosts. This is a shonen manga with a 28 year old feisty heroine who is befriended by two gorgeous men. It is lots of fun and I am looking forward to the next volume.

Thank you to NetGalley and VIZ Media for a free review copy of this!

This was such a blast to read! I love that the main character is 28. We don't usually get MC's that are that old and I really enjoyed that fact. I cannot wait to read the next volume!

it’s like soul eater meets sailor moon with a dash of miraculous ladybug

I'll give this an extra star for the concept, but uhhh... Yeah, the execution and details of this is extremely uncomfortable. It's constantly stressed that the 28-year-old protagonist looks 14 and that this is appealing to the male lead as well as other characters, and I am... not exactly here for the constant innuendos. And I do mean constant. Bit of a shame, it's a good set-up and Chloe's basic backstory has potential. Unfortunately, there's just too much that puts a bad taste in my mouth.

Vi prego ragazzx fatevi un favore e non comprate mai questo scempio, è la cosa più brutta, piena di cliché e con la storia più BANALE E RIDICOLA di tutti i manga mai prodotti. Fidatevi e fatelo per voi stessx

I have never read this type of vook, but challenged myself to this year since my oldest son is OBSESSED with anything anime. This was a suggested read on my Amazon account so I checked it out. I read this in under an hour. I giggled at a few parts, but wouldn't call this a favourite.

I'm a sucker for anything that looks Halloweeny. The cover of this Manga drew me in big time. And it's not bad! A bit rough around the edges but kept me entertained enough for me to read volume 2 :) really nice character design and premise.

Yay new series by guy who made Rosario vampire
I loved it can't wait for more

*3.5 stars*

A Buffy-esque fun filled new manga by Akissa Saike. This has it all adorable heroine who has the will to survive and hot supernatural guys.
Chloe Love is a C-List actress getting small parts or background characters. Her one bigger role was Ghost Reaper Girl in a one off TV show. When spirits escape from Hades to our world they find Chloe and are extremely interested in her. Chloe has latent spirit power that means the spirit can posses and use her body. Enter the hot guy sent to hunt down the spirits who needs her help to fight the onslaught. Can Chloe find the courage to become a real life Ghost Reaper Girl?

This is a little all over the place. It takes a minute to figure out what’s going on. Our main character is Chloe Love and she was in actress in a show called Ghost Reaper Girl. However, it turns out that she is also the perfect medium for ghosts, and all of them want in her body. It’s very rapey. There are constant comments about getting in her body and her lack of free well while not actually rape, it feels like rape. So that’s a little sick. However, as the story develops, one likes her more, and it’s not disliking the main character. It’s how everyone sees her as a sex object that gets annoying. She even sees herself as a sex object at times between looking like a child, but being 28 (which is mentioned frequently), it’s a little pedophilic. I do want to read the next one to see if it levels out any because nothing really happens to the character except they sign a contract to become an actual ghost reaper but I think I might want to see where this goes. I’m on the fence right now.

The cover is what caught my eye. A strong female, looks to either be slightly dark or serious, gorgeous cover artwork, interesting storyline synompsis. After weeks of debate, I finally decided to purchase a copy. I don't normally go for "dark, possibly creepy" manga but this one had me interested.

What I was thinking is nowhere near what this manga ended up being.

It starts out, cute girl, looks younger, "creepy" ghouls want to take over her body. Okay, gotta start somewhere.... it will improve.... it has to improve... right?

It didn't. When the guy transforms into the scythe.... a very cartoony, corny scythe, I was done. I started skimming over the rest of the book, trying to see if it improved any, lost some of the silliness but unfortunately, it doesn't seem to.

I feel this could be a really great manga if it had taken the slightly darker path instead, it wanted to remain goofy and fan-service and just was not at all what I was expecting. The cover gives it so much promise.... just wish the content followed suit.

I was a little hesitant to read this one based on the cover, but I wound up liking it immensely. That being said, it will not premiere in my middle school manga collection (not just because of the cover, but there's so riske clothing choices and some super not middle school appropriate innuendos). For young adults and adults though, this manga is fun: gives off some Sailor Moon vibes but mixed with the humor of One Peg.

Chloe is an older (*gasp* 28 is old in the world of Manga) aspiring actress whose big gigs are all of her as a character who dies or already is a dead body. She has a few fans though. In auditioning for a bigger role, a possessed manager tries to feast on her spirit, soul and body. She is protected by Kai (who also covets her body, soul and spirit) who is a ghost reaper. They team up to fight some ghosties (queue transformation/possession scene) and I kinda love that Kai turns into a scythe (an animated one that reminds me of the Fairy Odd Parents for some reason).

Chloe not only attracts the attention of the manager, his ghosts and Kai, soon she's coveted by another catty familiar: Noel. I love the triangle dynamic of these three.

Read on if you need a ghosty read.

I hadn't heard of this manga before signing up for an ARC. It's perfectly fine, I guess, but I don't think I'll continue past this volume. The whole time I was reading it, I was reminded of other manga I've read that I've enjoyed more (Soul Eater, Zombie Loan, Madoka) and this was just kind of...there. If you're really jonesing for a new present-day fantasy or are just really interested in the shinigami theme, it might be worth a read.

Pretty good. Nothing groundbreaking or new, but it's a fun read. And a lot of potential to go up to a 4 star series as chapters continue to come out. I'm gonna keep reading it and see where it goes!

Oh, I love this book. I think the idea of spirits escaping Hades and wreaking havoc in the real world is such a good concept for a story. I am mediately fell in love with the main character Chloe because she is an older character which I like, because I’m used to reading manga books with younger girl characters. I thought it was really refreshing that she was 28 even though she looked young for her age I appreciate the fact that she was indeed older. I think the fact that she was a struggling actress was really an interesting concept as well because she’s used to working to get ahead in life and I just think that, even though she’s got a lot of things against her, she doesn’t give up and I think that’s really inspiring. I think it’s cool that she was immediately just thrown into this world of ghosts and evil spirits without really believing too much of it. Even though she played a character that did just what she’s doing now she still was surprised. I also think it’s cool that there is this guy who is a spirit himself and he is assigned to hunt down evil spirits and rid the world of them and his name is Kai Iod and Omg he’s so cute and I love him and he’s her biggest fan and she’s completely baffled by him in general let alone to know he’s a huge fan of hers. Anyway because he’s only a spirit it’s hard for him to hunt humans possessed by these evil spirits without having a body so he asks to possess her to fight them. And she eventually agrees and he becomes her familiar and they blend together to fight the evil spirits and she legit becomes the character she played Ghost Reaper Girl. So he stays to protect her and they come across this soul predator and he tries to attack Chloe, because the more he devours souls the more powerful he becomes, even though he’ll have eternal starvation, no matter what, so she fights him, and saves him and rids him of the evil spirit and then he pledges to become her familiar as well. So now she has Kai and Noel as her familiars and they work to protect her because according to them she’s their master. So they go to register her as a ghost reaper with the Arkham bullet, but then they get attacked by this other spirit, and she tries to kill Noel and Kai and I will come back because he’s not so easily destroyed. But Noel is dying because she brought him back to his original form so he’s not a strong as Kai. So she has to fight this other spirit, who is chaos named Nyarlathotep. So being the fact that Noel is her familiar as well Chloe begs him to possess her so she can fight against chaos, and that’s how the story ends. She combines with Noel so he has a chance to heal and she can fight against this spirit Chaos who wants her because Chloe has such potential to be so powerful because she is a spirit medium.

Magical Spirit Hunting Make-up Transform!

Just as a warning there are some rather hentai like moments as ghosts try to force themselves into the body of the heroine of the story and even use possessed bodies to attempt to grapple her but nothing sexual actually occurs (although getting two hottie spirit men might make the heroine hope for a little more being 28 herself and seemingly perpetually single.) Another thing some people may find offensive is one of the spirits that offers the heroine a contract to work together is a self proclaimed lolicon attracted to her based on her roles in movies as well as her body which doesn't even look 20 yet. Use caution when deciding to try this series if such things are a big bother to you.

From the creator of Rosario + Vampire comes a unusual choice in Japanese manga as the story is told from left to right as opposed to the traditional right to left style often found in the genre. Chloé is a girl who has had a rough life doing whatever it took to survive but when a legion of evil souls escape from hell en masse she finds herself fighting not only to survive but to keep her identity due to her special body is highly functional when it comes to being possessed. Only the timely intervention of super fan and hot spirit boy Kai can hope to give her a chance against the approaching darkness but being a victim was never her style so regardless of her choices in life she will stand tall and face what is to come.

Being a not very difficult read it reminds me of Rosario + Vampire in that the art style is oh so pretty much of the time but in certain ways I started imaging other influences like Yuyu Hakusho but instead of being a spirit detective Chloé is going to try to make a living exterminating evil spirits as well as Soul Eater when Kai takes on the form of a Scythe as Chloé becomes her Soul Reaper Girl alter ego (her form when Kai possesses her.) The big difference between Kai and Soul would probably be size and Kai looks like something out of a goofier anime as opposed to a serious weapon when he is not being swung around. Of course this story is not just about Chloé and Kai as another spirit join her jolly group after am act of kindness even as a being of Cthulian horror awaits them not far away. Honestly between the action scenes and the quips between interesting characters the book might be easy to read but I found it also quite enjoyable as well. :)

More reviews (and no fluff) on the blog http://surrealtalvi.wordpress.com/

Story: Chloé grew up on the streets but as a teenager was inspired by a large billboard of a glamorous actress. She's tried to make it as an actress but somehow has only been able to be cast in z-grade movies. The problem is that she looks very young for her age and doesn't exactly come with a lot of talent. When a casting agent suddenly attacks her, she is saved by a rude young man with red hair. Turns out, he is a reaper and a big fan of one of her low budget movie efforts - Ghost Reaper Girl. Chloé may just have some unusual ghost juju herself and, when merged with the mysterious reaper, gains a cool sexy outfit and a talking scythe. Is she ready to take on the ghosts of the underworld.

There are some good aspects to the story: when she transforms, she gains a very funny looking scythe with amusing eyeballs on it. The ghosts themselves are awfully happy and eager. But Chloé as a character is pretty boring - all genki and cute and positive and very, very dumb. Great for young boys to have a non-threatening heroine in a bodysuit and chains - but perhaps kind of boring to everyone else. The reaper guy is the usual clueless supernatural who lusts after the girl.

The illustration work is clean and the action easy to follow. The plot is very straightforward and I'm sure more mysteries will be revealed in later volumes. For now, Chloé is discovering her talents and destroying the monster of the week.

In all, it's cute with a lot of action. But it is no Bleach. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.