Mao Review: Rumiko Takahashi's Supernatural Mystery About Two Teens Linked Across Time by a Mysterious Curse

Quick Take

• Rumiko Takahashi returning to the supernatural mystery format that she pioneered in Inuyasha and Ranma 1/2, but with a Taisho-era setting and a specifically Japanese supernatural framework (onmyouji, curses, yokai)
• The time-slip mechanic — Nanoka moving between present Tokyo and 1920s Japan — creates a consistent structural elegance where the same locations and the same spiritual forces exist across a century of change
• 17 volumes ongoing; Takahashi at her most technically mature

Who Is This Manga For?

• Readers who loved Inuyasha and want the same temporal-split supernatural adventure from the same creator at greater narrative maturity
• Anyone interested in Taisho-era Japan depicted with historical accuracy
• Fans of onmyouji and Japanese supernatural tradition in manga
• Readers who want an ongoing supernatural mystery from a foundational creator

Content Warnings & Age Rating

Age Rating: T (Teen) Content Warnings: Supernatural violence against yokai and cursed beings; curse themes are central; Taisho-era historical content including period social structures

The T rating reflects the supernatural content without graphic violence.

Yu's Rating

Category	Score
Story Depth	★★★★☆
Art Style	★★★★★
Character Development	★★★★☆
Accessibility for Non-Japanese Readers	★★★★☆
Reread Value	★★★★☆

Story Overview

Nanoka Kiba survived a traffic accident ten years ago that killed her parents — and at certain locations, she slips from present-day Tokyo into the Taisho era of a century past.

In that past-Tokyo, she encounters Mao — an onmyouji (a practitioner of divination and supernatural arts) who has been cursed with immortality by a mysterious cat entity called Byoki. He cannot die and cannot age. He has been searching for Byoki for a century.

Nanoka's ability to time-slip is connected to the accident and to the same supernatural forces Mao is pursuing. Together they work cases — supernatural disturbances, cursed objects, yokai causing problems in both eras — while following the thread that connects Nanoka's past, Mao's curse, and a hundred years of intertwined destinies.

Characters

Nanoka Kiba — A protagonist with genuine agency and genuine feeling. Her time-slip ability is not arbitrary — it connects to loss she has never fully processed, and the Taisho world is where she most directly encounters what that loss means.

Mao — An immortal who has spent a century waiting for something to change. His century of experience is present in how he handles supernatural cases — with a calm and a thoroughness that Nanoka gradually learns from.

Byoki — The cat entity at the center of Mao's curse and Nanoka's connection to the supernatural — a presence that is developed progressively as something more complex than a simple antagonist.

Art Style

Takahashi's art in Mao is at its most refined — the clean line work that defines her style is applied to Taisho-era settings with beautiful historical detail, and the supernatural entity designs draw on Japanese yokai tradition with original variations. Character expressions carry the story's emotional weight as efficiently as any text.

Cultural Context

The Taisho era (1912-1926) was a period of significant cultural change in Japan — Western influences entering, traditional structures beginning to change, the specific anxiety of a society in transition. Takahashi uses the period for both its historical texture and as a setting where supernatural forces and modern life were still in genuine contact.

Onmyouji — practitioners of onmyoudou, a system of divination and protective ritual from the Heian period — are a real tradition with a long history in Japanese culture and literature. Mao as an onmyouji draws on that tradition with specificity.

What I Love About It

The time-slip format allows the series to have two complete settings without either feeling thin. Present-day Tokyo and Taisho Tokyo are both fully rendered, and the contrast between them — what changes in a century and what doesn't — is part of the series' texture.

What English-Speaking Fans Say

Western readers who grew up with Inuyasha describe Mao as a mature evolution of what they loved about that series — the supernatural adventure structure, the cross-time relationship, the episodic case-of-the-chapter format — but handled with greater skill and less romantic frustration. Takahashi's name carries immediate trust, and the series delivers on that trust.

Memorable Scene ⚠️ Spoiler Warning

The chapter where Nanoka discovers what the accident that killed her parents actually was — and what connection it has to the supernatural forces she and Mao have been pursuing — is the series' most significant revelation and the point where the personal and the supernatural threads converge.

Similar Manga

• Inuyasha — Same creator, same temporal-split supernatural adventure
• Mushishi — Supernatural cases with historical Japanese spirit folklore
• Natsume's Book of Friends — Japanese spirits/yokai, similar episodic structure
• InuYasha — Same creator's earlier work with similar structure

Reading Order / Where to Start

Volume 1 — Nanoka's time-slip ability and her first encounter with Mao establish the premise immediately.

Official English Translation Status

VIZ Media publishes the ongoing series. 12+ volumes currently available in English.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Rumiko Takahashi at her most technically mature
• Taisho-era setting is beautifully rendered
• Time-slip mechanic is elegantly used
• Episodic case format balances with developing mythology

Cons

• Ongoing series without complete arc
• Romantic development is slow (Takahashi signature)
• Requires some familiarity with Japanese supernatural tradition for full appreciation

Format Comparison

Format	Notes
Individual Volumes	VIZ Media; ongoing
Digital	Available

Where to Buy

Get Mao Vol. 1 on Amazon →

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