Inugami Creator Masaya Hokazono Launches New Horror Manga Ryojin Nikki

Manga artist Masaya Hokazono has launched a new series called Ryojin Nikki, which translates as Hunter Diary. The first chapter was published by LEED Publishing on October 25. The story follows a girl who survives a terrible accident and, hovering between life and death, encounters a giant man wearing a pig mask by the sea.

Hokazono is best known for the Kichikujima manga, which launched on Takeshobo’s Web Comic Manga platform in 2013 before moving to LINE Manga in 2019. That series ran to 24 compiled volumes and also inspired a short comedy spinoff anime in November 2020. Hokazono and collaborator Ryu Horie also produced the Koi Suru Kichikujima spinoff manga, which ended at two volumes in January 2022.

Ryojin Nikki marks Hokazono’s return to serialized storytelling with a premise that fits squarely in the dark, unsettling territory his work is known for. A girl caught between life and death meeting a masked figure at the edge of the sea is exactly the kind of opening image that Hokazono knows how to develop into something haunting.

My take: Hokazono has a real gift for establishing dread in a very short amount of space, and the setup for Ryojin Nikki sounds like it will hit that same nerve. Kichikujima found an audience for a reason. Fans of dark, unsettling manga that takes its time building atmosphere have good reason to check this one out from the first chapter.