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鵺の陰陽師 [Nue no Onmyōji] #1
Nue's Exorcist, Vol. 1
For as long as he can remember, Gakuro Yajima’s been able to see spirits—beings that are drawn to human sadness and anger. A fateful encounter with a quirky pop culture–loving spirit named Nue marks the start of Gakuro’s spirit-exorcist adventure!
Outcast Gakuro Yajima’s only goal in life has been to avoid spirits and try to live in peace. One day, he accidentally enters a sealed room and meets Nue, a quirky spirit who asks him to defeat the evil ones roaming his school. Gakuro is reluctant to take her up on the offer, but the spirits won’t be waiting patiently for him to make up his mind…
Outcast Gakuro Yajima’s only goal in life has been to avoid spirits and try to live in peace. One day, he accidentally enters a sealed room and meets Nue, a quirky spirit who asks him to defeat the evil ones roaming his school. Gakuro is reluctant to take her up on the offer, but the spirits won’t be waiting patiently for him to make up his mind…
192 pages, Paperback
First published October 4, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
May 22, 2025
2.5 rounded up. It's a bit like, "But honey, we have Bleach at home," but still fun nonetheless.
July 22, 2025
Any interest I had by the plot was immediately destroyed by the ridiculous panty shot and all the boob smooshing cause wtf, seriously?
June 22, 2025
Gakuro Yajima starts in a new school and is instantly bullied for trying to stop another boy being bullied. He strives to maintain peace, because he knows there are spirits around them that are drawn to angry emotions.
Looking for a quiet place to have a lunch in, he stumbles on a high level spirit, Nue, who looks like a young woman. She enlists him to fight the spirits in the school by lending him her power. But it turns out he’s not the only one fighting them. The town is a center of exorcists and one of them is his school mate Suo. She enlists him to fight the spirits too, much to Nue’s delight who smells romance.
But Nue’s presence draws in an exorcist who wants her power and isn’t above using Gakuro for it.
This was a good start to a series, fun with a lot of action. The pace is fast, with new characters popping up, all of whom seem to admire Gakuro more than he does himself. There’s some bullying and gratuituous boob action, but otherwise the contents were fine. Art is good.
I received a free copy from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
Looking for a quiet place to have a lunch in, he stumbles on a high level spirit, Nue, who looks like a young woman. She enlists him to fight the spirits in the school by lending him her power. But it turns out he’s not the only one fighting them. The town is a center of exorcists and one of them is his school mate Suo. She enlists him to fight the spirits too, much to Nue’s delight who smells romance.
But Nue’s presence draws in an exorcist who wants her power and isn’t above using Gakuro for it.
This was a good start to a series, fun with a lot of action. The pace is fast, with new characters popping up, all of whom seem to admire Gakuro more than he does himself. There’s some bullying and gratuituous boob action, but otherwise the contents were fine. Art is good.
I received a free copy from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
March 23, 2026
I could go 2.5 or 3.. the fan service really took me out of the story. Other than that I like the concept and the artwork.
October 3, 2025
VIZ can suck all the dicks. This is a moral victory. I can feel it in my bones that VIZ refused to print physical copies of this manga because they object to fanservice now, so as to appear "on the right side of history" or whatever, as anime and manga become more and more defiled by the hordes of normalcy. But the constant flops for new Jump manga have effectively turned Nue's Exorcist into something of a "pillar" - or as much as one can be these days.
Nue's Exorcist reads something like Bleach, as filtered through many a "magic school battle harem" light novel, and a dash of Fate/Stay night for added flavor. Like Bleach, we follow a teenage boy thrust into the world of Spirits and Exorcists, with an initial focus on not-very-human monsters as enemies, before segueing into humanoid foes with higher power-levels. The manga is something of a harem story, first lightly flirting with harem tropes with multiple heroines and semi-erotic hijinks balanced against Yajima's social awkwardness, though the series will eventually involve a handful of love confessions and even marriage proposals(!). The manga isn't really an actual "magic school battle harem" in the sense that it merely takes place around a regular civilian school, but the fact that most girls are professional Exorcists who are also school students kind of toes the line of subgenre. The "battle harem" part is definitely there, as Yajima is pretty much the only main male fighter we follow, and all other main fighters are girls (there are still occasional male allies, though). F/SN influence comes with special attacks that kinda-sorta recall Noble Phantasms, when they aren't just recalling Zanpakuto and Bankai, but it's also worth mentioning Yajima gets a power-up in the future that'll make him look like Archer (EMIYA).
This first volume covers what is apparently officially referred to as the "School Arc," followed by the first two chapters of the Fujino Family Arc. The School Arc, as befits its generic name, is basically just an introductory set of chapters to dripfeed information on the story's world. Yajima can see Spirits, he meets Nue, he gains her power, and he fights a couple low-level Spirits. Then he meets Suo-senpai, who turns out to be an Exorcist, and the two form an occult club at school as an excuse to hang out and clear the campus of harmful Spirits before they can fuse into Level 2s. The Suo chapters could very well be their own mini-arc, as we do not see Suo until the first page of Chapter 3. When Fujino is introduced in Chapter 6, she is a student in the school, meaning it's not strictly inaccurate to continue claiming her chapters are still part of a "School Arc," but... whatever; I'm just a stickler for story arc divisions.
This is especially true for Suo-senpai, but the girl designs sometimes remind me of the work of Suzuhito Yasuda, who has worked on some light novels and video games. He's well-known for anti-gravity tits, as seen in the Devil Survivor games, but also some decent leg/thigh focus as in his work with Digimon.
Kawae-sensei will become known for his extreme use of shadows in the art of future chapters, so it's hilarious the first real example is a partially joking scene of the student council president possessed by a Spirit trying to arm-wrestle Yajima.
"She has such a sad look in her eyes. But I understand her, even if no one else does." Kawae's humor is fantastic.
Was not expecting Kathy to appear so early in an omake page explaining how Nue keeps up-to-date on anime and video games!
Another note from omake pages: Kawae himself notes how much Zenno stands out in the first chapter, making him seem like a main character, if not somehow the main character. It's funny how little he will show up going forward, especially since he seems stronger-willed than Gakuro at face value. And it might not hurt to have had more male heroes, but... it is what it is.
****
It's probably worth mentioning I don't find Nue, the character, too attractive, compared to, say, Suo, who is my favorite girl in the manga for a good while. I usually reserve this section of manga reviews to list pockets of fanservice, but I probably won't have too much to say about Nue herself. I like her skinny pantyhose legs, I guess, and I always liked how her top seems to have her boobs fully covered despite the cleavage still being visible. But... I don't know, I genuinely don't know why I don't like her much. Maybe just because Suo comes in at Chapter 3?
Suo-senpai's upskirt ass in panties...!!!!!!!!!! The Forgetting Beam is worthless when I own the physical volume, haha!
Suo's Soul Gear with the ZR thighs, the tight shirt showing her boobs, and her ass visible through the skirt...!!!!! I also don't think I noticed her panties are visible through the slit in the side of her hotpants. I appreciate the side-ties as well. Good for her that she gets an upgrade Soul Armor later on, but... it's less sexy lol
Yajima getting his face smooshed into Suo's big soft titties...!
Suo round ass and long legs when kicking the Level 2 Spirit...!!!
Suo thighs as she jumps out the window after Yajima...!!!
Suo's thighs and upside-down boobs on the first page of Chapter 6...!
Fujino's smaller-than-Suo boobies in her first close appearance...!!!
Fujino thighs on the next page...!
Fujino's boobs brushing against Yajima's arm...!
Nue's Exorcist reads something like Bleach, as filtered through many a "magic school battle harem" light novel, and a dash of Fate/Stay night for added flavor. Like Bleach, we follow a teenage boy thrust into the world of Spirits and Exorcists, with an initial focus on not-very-human monsters as enemies, before segueing into humanoid foes with higher power-levels. The manga is something of a harem story, first lightly flirting with harem tropes with multiple heroines and semi-erotic hijinks balanced against Yajima's social awkwardness, though the series will eventually involve a handful of love confessions and even marriage proposals(!). The manga isn't really an actual "magic school battle harem" in the sense that it merely takes place around a regular civilian school, but the fact that most girls are professional Exorcists who are also school students kind of toes the line of subgenre. The "battle harem" part is definitely there, as Yajima is pretty much the only main male fighter we follow, and all other main fighters are girls (there are still occasional male allies, though). F/SN influence comes with special attacks that kinda-sorta recall Noble Phantasms, when they aren't just recalling Zanpakuto and Bankai, but it's also worth mentioning Yajima gets a power-up in the future that'll make him look like Archer (EMIYA).
This first volume covers what is apparently officially referred to as the "School Arc," followed by the first two chapters of the Fujino Family Arc. The School Arc, as befits its generic name, is basically just an introductory set of chapters to dripfeed information on the story's world. Yajima can see Spirits, he meets Nue, he gains her power, and he fights a couple low-level Spirits. Then he meets Suo-senpai, who turns out to be an Exorcist, and the two form an occult club at school as an excuse to hang out and clear the campus of harmful Spirits before they can fuse into Level 2s. The Suo chapters could very well be their own mini-arc, as we do not see Suo until the first page of Chapter 3. When Fujino is introduced in Chapter 6, she is a student in the school, meaning it's not strictly inaccurate to continue claiming her chapters are still part of a "School Arc," but... whatever; I'm just a stickler for story arc divisions.
This is especially true for Suo-senpai, but the girl designs sometimes remind me of the work of Suzuhito Yasuda, who has worked on some light novels and video games. He's well-known for anti-gravity tits, as seen in the Devil Survivor games, but also some decent leg/thigh focus as in his work with Digimon.
Kawae-sensei will become known for his extreme use of shadows in the art of future chapters, so it's hilarious the first real example is a partially joking scene of the student council president possessed by a Spirit trying to arm-wrestle Yajima.
"She has such a sad look in her eyes. But I understand her, even if no one else does." Kawae's humor is fantastic.
Was not expecting Kathy to appear so early in an omake page explaining how Nue keeps up-to-date on anime and video games!
Another note from omake pages: Kawae himself notes how much Zenno stands out in the first chapter, making him seem like a main character, if not somehow the main character. It's funny how little he will show up going forward, especially since he seems stronger-willed than Gakuro at face value. And it might not hurt to have had more male heroes, but... it is what it is.
****
It's probably worth mentioning I don't find Nue, the character, too attractive, compared to, say, Suo, who is my favorite girl in the manga for a good while. I usually reserve this section of manga reviews to list pockets of fanservice, but I probably won't have too much to say about Nue herself. I like her skinny pantyhose legs, I guess, and I always liked how her top seems to have her boobs fully covered despite the cleavage still being visible. But... I don't know, I genuinely don't know why I don't like her much. Maybe just because Suo comes in at Chapter 3?
Suo-senpai's upskirt ass in panties...!!!!!!!!!! The Forgetting Beam is worthless when I own the physical volume, haha!
Suo's Soul Gear with the ZR thighs, the tight shirt showing her boobs, and her ass visible through the skirt...!!!!! I also don't think I noticed her panties are visible through the slit in the side of her hotpants. I appreciate the side-ties as well. Good for her that she gets an upgrade Soul Armor later on, but... it's less sexy lol
Yajima getting his face smooshed into Suo's big soft titties...!
Suo round ass and long legs when kicking the Level 2 Spirit...!!!
Suo thighs as she jumps out the window after Yajima...!!!
Suo's thighs and upside-down boobs on the first page of Chapter 6...!
Fujino's smaller-than-Suo boobies in her first close appearance...!!!
Fujino thighs on the next page...!
Fujino's boobs brushing against Yajima's arm...!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 19, 2025
Nuevo shonen en el catálogo de Norma que llega bien cargado de acción sobrenatural, humor picante y algo de caos espiritual 👻✨.
Nue no Onmyouji arranca con un primer tomo que deja ver por dónde puede ir la cosa, aunque todavía no me ha encandilado del todo. Tiene ese puntito ecchi que no molesta y parece que quiere construir algo más grande detrás del fanservice.
Ligero, muy entretenido, y con potencial. Me da la sensación de que este primer tomo ha servido sobre todo para colocar bien las piezas y dejar sentadas las bases. Le voy a dar un par de tomos más a ver si despega… Porque si lo hace, podría convertirse en el nuevo shonen del momento 💥📖
#NueNoOnmyouji #NormaEditorial #ShonenNuevo #MangaSobrenatural #ShonenRecomendado #EcchiConTrama #Manga2025 #LecturaLigera #FanserviceYNarrativa #BookstagramManga #ShonenLovers
Nue no Onmyouji arranca con un primer tomo que deja ver por dónde puede ir la cosa, aunque todavía no me ha encandilado del todo. Tiene ese puntito ecchi que no molesta y parece que quiere construir algo más grande detrás del fanservice.
Ligero, muy entretenido, y con potencial. Me da la sensación de que este primer tomo ha servido sobre todo para colocar bien las piezas y dejar sentadas las bases. Le voy a dar un par de tomos más a ver si despega… Porque si lo hace, podría convertirse en el nuevo shonen del momento 💥📖
#NueNoOnmyouji #NormaEditorial #ShonenNuevo #MangaSobrenatural #ShonenRecomendado #EcchiConTrama #Manga2025 #LecturaLigera #FanserviceYNarrativa #BookstagramManga #ShonenLovers
July 3, 2025
3.5/5
A boy that can see spirits that are driven/strengthened by negative emotions acts as a whipping boy to try to diffuse the tension until one day he encounters an incredibly strong spirit that makes a contract with him to let him fight other spirits.
I went back and forth a few times on this. The MC took me a long time grow on me, something about his fretting/anxiety just wasn't landing for me. There's a lot of comic relief to the series, which I like, the one concern being that the comedy will vanish when it decides to do its "things get dire/serious" arc. There's some mildish fanservice, the protagonist is soon surrounded by beautiful women that don't mind pressing their bodies against him and at least one upskirt/panty-shot.
A boy that can see spirits that are driven/strengthened by negative emotions acts as a whipping boy to try to diffuse the tension until one day he encounters an incredibly strong spirit that makes a contract with him to let him fight other spirits.
I went back and forth a few times on this. The MC took me a long time grow on me, something about his fretting/anxiety just wasn't landing for me. There's a lot of comic relief to the series, which I like, the one concern being that the comedy will vanish when it decides to do its "things get dire/serious" arc. There's some mildish fanservice, the protagonist is soon surrounded by beautiful women that don't mind pressing their bodies against him and at least one upskirt/panty-shot.
August 25, 2025
aka Nue's Exorcist: The Bleach Harem.
On a 10 star scale, this is a 5 out of 10. I want to like it more, I really do. But the art direction feels really cluttered and that is not good for a action shonen. It makes it hard to enjoy.
But sometimes I don't know where the manga wants to go. Silly harem, action battle shonen, or give a deep philosophical story on Nue. I'm basically hanging in there to see how it ends. Yet I never see this series getting higher than a 3 stars out of 5, so it can only possibly get worst and drop to a 2.
On a 10 star scale, this is a 5 out of 10. I want to like it more, I really do. But the art direction feels really cluttered and that is not good for a action shonen. It makes it hard to enjoy.
But sometimes I don't know where the manga wants to go. Silly harem, action battle shonen, or give a deep philosophical story on Nue. I'm basically hanging in there to see how it ends. Yet I never see this series getting higher than a 3 stars out of 5, so it can only possibly get worst and drop to a 2.
April 13, 2025
Note : 2 "ça passe" étoiles.
Hmmm....
Je l'ai pris parce que c'est un manga qui sort du très renommé Weekly Shonen Jump.
En vrai, comme un manga de son genre, ça passe. Même si ça casse rien du tout et qu'on y suit un schéma plus que très classique, avec effectivement une sur-sexualisation des personnages féminins qui est questionnable et non nécessaire.
Il existe de nombreux autre shonen bien plus intéressant que celui-ci, je vais donc passer mon chemin cette fois-ci.
Hmmm....
Je l'ai pris parce que c'est un manga qui sort du très renommé Weekly Shonen Jump.
En vrai, comme un manga de son genre, ça passe. Même si ça casse rien du tout et qu'on y suit un schéma plus que très classique, avec effectivement une sur-sexualisation des personnages féminins qui est questionnable et non nécessaire.
Il existe de nombreux autre shonen bien plus intéressant que celui-ci, je vais donc passer mon chemin cette fois-ci.
April 2, 2026
This series immediately had me with some "Bleach" vibes, but let me tell you the ending of Bleach has made that series one of my least favorite.....I see this as a possibility to wipe those bitter thoughts from my mind. The art and story are both enjoyable by Kota Kawae and I have high hopes for the series. There is a bit of fan service, but that should not deter you, at least it has not for me yet. I am intrigued and hope the series continues to grow!
October 9, 2025
39%
Ehh… not the worst thing ever, but it’s just very bland. It also kinda takes so much from Bleach as inspiration that it becomes almost derivative. Rokuro and Nue are both okay I guess, but every other character is either unlikeable or too plain. I’ve heard this series starts to get way better though, so I suppose I’m willing to give it a few volumes lenience to get good…
Ehh… not the worst thing ever, but it’s just very bland. It also kinda takes so much from Bleach as inspiration that it becomes almost derivative. Rokuro and Nue are both okay I guess, but every other character is either unlikeable or too plain. I’ve heard this series starts to get way better though, so I suppose I’m willing to give it a few volumes lenience to get good…
March 10, 2025
Si l'histoire de base semble pas si mal et pourrait être intéressante. Quel besoin ils ont encore de sexualiser toutes les 2 minutes des collégiennes ? Non y'en a marre désolé. Faut que ça cesse. Ça n'a aucun intérêt pour l'histoire. On est en 2025. Il est temps d'arrêter avec ça !
August 27, 2025
Would be way cooler without all the gross fan service?
I mean, there’s never a legitimate reason for your manga to show a teenage girl’s underwear. That’s a child.
Any story that does that is a major “NO” for me.
You don’t respect your female characters and I don’t respect you~
I mean, there’s never a legitimate reason for your manga to show a teenage girl’s underwear. That’s a child.
Any story that does that is a major “NO” for me.
You don’t respect your female characters and I don’t respect you~
December 12, 2025
Genuinely so disappointed in this. I thought the art was great, the characters were highkey bad too ngl 🤤. The MC looked so cool too and the plot was interesting but then after I finished reading it I found out it had a harem. N I’m not really into harems Cuase I think they’re weird. 💔
August 26, 2024
Another generic supernatural harem shonen beleaguered by fanservice.
September 4, 2025
Really… just disappointingly bad. There are moments where it feels like there’s potential, but ultimately just falls on its face.
November 10, 2025
I actually liked this it kinda reminds me of JJK to an extent. I would likely keep reading this series
January 25, 2026
Mucho tiene que mejorar la historia para que pase por alto todo el fanservice...
February 18, 2026
2.5 stars.
August 12, 2025
Read more graphic novel reviews at The Graphic Library.
Gakuro has always been able to see spirits that seem to lurk around people who have overwhelming feelings of anger or sadness. Then, his life changes when he finds a room in his school inhabited by a strange spirit named Nue. In addition to being an Otaku, Nue is also a powerful spirit who imbues Gakuro with part of her power and the ability to fight evil entities who steal power from emotionally vulnerable humans and become vicious. The increase in spirit activity eventually becomes noticed by external exorcists, some of whom want to partner with Gakuro to take on evil entities and protect humans.
There are a lot of exorcism manga on the market at present, and there wasn't anything particularly stand-out about volume one to make this memorable. Instead, there were a ridiculous amount of fan-servicy panty shots, and disproportional female characters. Many of them have small heads and comically large chests or extremely long legs (coming from a Sailor Moon fan, that's saying something). The illustrations were enough to take me out of the story several times and make it overall unenjoyable. Online, fans of the series say it improves, but I didn't love the premise enough to excuse the artwork and continue.
Sara's Rating: 5/10
Suitability Level: Grades 9-12
Gakuro has always been able to see spirits that seem to lurk around people who have overwhelming feelings of anger or sadness. Then, his life changes when he finds a room in his school inhabited by a strange spirit named Nue. In addition to being an Otaku, Nue is also a powerful spirit who imbues Gakuro with part of her power and the ability to fight evil entities who steal power from emotionally vulnerable humans and become vicious. The increase in spirit activity eventually becomes noticed by external exorcists, some of whom want to partner with Gakuro to take on evil entities and protect humans.
There are a lot of exorcism manga on the market at present, and there wasn't anything particularly stand-out about volume one to make this memorable. Instead, there were a ridiculous amount of fan-servicy panty shots, and disproportional female characters. Many of them have small heads and comically large chests or extremely long legs (coming from a Sailor Moon fan, that's saying something). The illustrations were enough to take me out of the story several times and make it overall unenjoyable. Online, fans of the series say it improves, but I didn't love the premise enough to excuse the artwork and continue.
Sara's Rating: 5/10
Suitability Level: Grades 9-12
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