Walking amongst humanity there are horrific creatures wearing costumes to hide their true forms.  Megumi Ohtori is a young, pretty Japanese woman who is living in South Korea. While enjoying a nice night in the Dongdaemun Market, Megumi finds herself walking in a strange alley, where she comes across a shady old lady.  The elder offers the way out, for a hefty price, and after a terrible scare, Megumi pays the price for remaining alive.  The beasts that walk with humans are after her, but she makes it to the place to which the old lady has directed  her.  A dancer is there, a man who is surrounded by an aura of overwhelming mystery.  It turns out that this dancer is Akamushi Fujiwara, the Red Spider Exorcist.  Akamushi saves Megumi, reassuring her that he will always be there, if an attack by the creatures happens again.   

Highlights

From the very beginning a mood is set –  with fireworks, young couples in love, and the lively vibe of the nightlife.  But then it changes drastically.  Megumi is in a creepy dungeon-like hallway.  All the free-spirited,  fun, happy feeling is stripped away.  It was actually a great way to catch my attention.  Then more that was set up in the beginning is trashed.  Megumi is in a plaza, with traditional paper decoration, and an old-looking cherry tree, and a traditionally dressed Japanese dancer.  From the modern, bright lights, big city setting, to the calm, peaceful, safe setting of a natural plaza, was a delightful change of place.  Most of the time, when a setting is established, it stays that way for most of, at least, the volume.  When the dramatic switch happened, it was actually peaceful.  It opened the door to the driving factor I was looking for.  

Overall

I first was exposed with this series from a "sneak-peek"  in a Vampire Hunter D manga volume.  I will be honest, I was confused by the sneak-peek, the pages included were incoherent, but, there was something about them that caught my attention.  It was not disappointing.  Hideyuki Kikuchi (the author of Vampire Hunter D) has created a world that has the best of two, as well as a plot one does not expect from Kikuchi.  I really enjoyed most of it.  All that I have to complain about is the obvious similarity between Akamushi and D from Vampire Hunter D.  It was a bit of a one note that prevented Taimashin from being one of the best series I've read.  

Overall, this Taimashin is not for everyone.  It has some graphic scenes, of both violence, and nudity, thus I would recommend Taimashin to those over 16. However, this series was exciting, thought-provoking, and enjoyable.  The plot was interesting, the characters were deep and had substance, but the setting was one of the best I've ever seen.

ComicsOnline gives Taimashin: The Red Spider Exorcist, Volume 1, 4.5 out of 5 Unbreakable Strings.

Look for this volume on Amazon!