100 Tales from the Tokyo Ghost Café

This is a book set in Japan so it has some Japanese words in it but you don’t even need to speak Japanese as there is a section at the end of the book that tells you all the definitions of the words. It is an unusual book with both comics and writing as stories. The comics are all different parts of the same comic spreading across the entire book while all the small stories are completely different all with a different Japanese monster in each of them. A bit confusing to read though and it could also be hard to understand the storyline. The authors are Julian Sedgwick + Chie Kutsuwada.
– Catherine, Year 8, Millthorpe School

100 Tales from the Tokyo Ghost Café is a story of a rabbit and another dude who may or may not be the authors. It is very hard to tell. Does the rabbit really speak? Maybe. Maybe she is a hallucination. We may never know. This book made me question everything. Are there walking talking rabbits that are watching me in my daily life? Who can tell?
However the book was a very culturally informative and an exciting story. However I found it hard to follow. The constant switch between characters made me think one character was another and so on. Despite this, I loved its mystery and feeling of adventure, especially in the chapter: Devil’s Bridge. It was extremely intriguing and thrilling when the man with the red face appeared.
My favourite chapter/story was probably “Lecture from Beyond”, as it had an interesting plot line and a  good character arc. The story has motivated me to find out more about Japanese history and culture. Other stories I enjoyed were the ones about K-chan. I thought she was a really relatable and cool character. Her stories were very intriguing such as the one in chapter 2.
Apart from the stories, I thought that adding the bits of comic in between them was a very clever way of laying out the book and giving it emotional depth. It was an engaging way to tell the story of Julian and Chie. I especially liked the character Chie as I thought she was very funny and Chie sending Julian that photo was a very wholesome way to end the book.
In the end, I think that Akira was a representative of the fact that you will always find your way home, even if you’re dead.
Overall, I loved the book despite it being slightly confusing, the writer is absolutely brilliant and I’m glad Japanese culture is being represented so well.
– Lucy, Millthorpe School

This book is haunting.
Completely, terrifyingly haunting. The book is a mix of manga and stories. Each story is a terrifying tale all about the yokai – the spirits that haunt our world, and the next. The manga is beautifully drawn with a spooky storyline throughout. There were so many plot twists that put me on edge. The style of the book was a welcome change from the usual style of novels, with a storyline that kept me entranced throughout. I loved this book and I would really recommend this to anyone else looking for a change.
– Imogen, Year 7, St Peter’s 8-13

100 Tales from the Tokyo Ghost Café is a brilliant book. It uses Japanese myths and folklore to paint an interesting story. The book quickly grabs you in with interesting tales and its strange formatting.
The references to Japanese Yokai were all true to their original tales and help build mystery and elevate the overall story. I love how the book uses the viewpoint of the ghost cat and tells us his story.
The formatting of the book leads to a really interesting read which helps you to imagine and see the characters’ story. Overall, Tokyo Ghost Café is a very good book which is very interesting in its writing style and its use of folklore. It is truly brilliant and really interesting and compelling in its design.
– Henry N., All Saints Catholic School

100 Tales from the Tokyo Ghost Café is a thrilling adventure story where main characters Chie and Julian help a child called Akira find his way home and encounter ghosts and other creatures along the way.
This book is well written and illustrated and has a thrilling story. The characters and setting have good descriptions and are easy to read.
– Alexander, Year 7, St Peter’s 8-13

100 Tales from the Tokyo Ghost Café was, in my opinion, an absolutely amazing supernatural book, mixed with the truths of Japanese culture and folklore.
The mixture of graphics and written stories really alleviated the novel and showed the connections between the spirits and Julian and Chie’s journey through Japanese history. The beautifully illustrated graphic novel components were stunning and all of the different tales were spectacularly mixed and intertwined like vines winding around the outside of a quaint country house. The characters were all unique and had their own personalities. Just mentioning Chie’s inquisitive nature and the knowledge they seemed to possess about the Japanese spirits and Julian’s cautious awe at being introduced to the spiritual domain for the first time, you know that you have a thrilling read ahead. All of the diverse and rare spirits and creatures were enthralling and their different tales of woe – Moon’s tale – or business – the kappa – or even the briefest hint of love – between the 2 characters who experienced the tsunami were so beautifully linked at the end of the novel that a ravishing tapestry of Japanese folklore was woven as the tale progressed.
This fabulous tale of cultures and legends and the journey through the mystical tales of folklore and fables touched my heart and allowed me to escape the challenges of everyday life to experience the exquisite dimension of 100 Tales of the Tokyo Ghost Café.
– Alice, Year 8, Millthorpe School

100 Tales from the Tokyo Ghost Café is a very special and unique book. It tells the story of the authors as they journey to the haunted north of Japan with a little boy called Akira, who is on a special mission to save his sister.
There are also other ghost stories included about other characters, featuring three (further) tales of Yūki and Taka, characters from the authors’ previous book Tsunami Girl.
What I loved most about this book was that all of the stories were connected in some way. For example, Kaori is the grandmother of K-chan, and another of their relatives is Torakichi the Tengu boy, another is Sakura.
Lots of the tales also feature Nozomi, who works for the Office of Yōkai Management. This made the book very special since at first you don’t realise all of the stories are connected.
Before reading this book, I had no knowledge of Japanese ghost stories, and I wasn’t sure I would like this book. However, I loved it and gave it 5 stars, which just goes to show how good it is.
However, the chapters were quite long and it was hard to keep the pace.
I loved the chapter of Moon, the bakeneko cat. He was funny and had a distinctive voice.
Another part I loved was Chie’s reaction to meeting Rōshi Rabbit. Overall, I loved 100 Tales from the Tokyo Ghost Café.
– Emily W., All Saints Catholic School

100 Tales from the Tokyo Ghost Café is a fiction illustrating the journey of the author and illustrator, as they collect ideas from the north of Japan with Akira, a boy who got lost and stayed in the Ghost Café. The story floats from the manga’s main storyline to some related prose interludes of ghost stories.  It explores different Japanese myths and demons, as well as friendship, kinship, and partnership. Creating a heart-warming, moving story.
I like the idea of writing a story with yourselves as the main character because as I read the book, I can feel like they are telling me their real story, with the contrast of the illustrator being a rabbit, which blurs the ambiguous margin of myths, stories, and reality and helps you to get into the story more. There is also the appearance of the characters from Tsunami Girl, like Halfwave and Yuki’s grandpa, this makes the storyline and the worldview of the book to be more magically mysterious.
The creators’ mixture of prose and manga is one of their biggest specialties. It allows different stories to merge smoothly without causing confusion. I also enjoyed the illustrations, as they sync with the prose in the same style and visualize the Japanese mythological monsters, which helps you get deeper into the storyline.
Personally, I like this book, including the character designs, storyline, ending, and its role as an epilogue/extension of Tsunami Girl.
– Isaac N., Year 8, St Peter’s 8-13