Title: Mad Miniscape Vol. 1
Author: Ayumu Hirose
Publisher: Yen Press
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 162
Genre: Horror
Publication Date: February 24, 2026
The Story
Asahi is spending a quiet night alone with her childhood friend Minoru. They are playing a game together where the winner makes the loser do anything that they want. Asahi wins and wants to go to the pool; however, they end up in the bathtub instead. When Asahi goes to climb in, the tub fills with a dark, viscous liquid and Minoru disappears… until an arm shoots out from it, reaching for her. It becomes apparent that Minoru isn’t human, and the one thing he wants is Asahi’s life!
We learn a little about what happened to the real Minoru. The reason why he came back is not made known just yet; however, Asahi doesn’t care if he’s now some otherworldly being… as long as she gets to spend more time with him, she’ll accept any form, any curse, and pay any price for it to be made so.
One day, when Asahi is out shopping, she runs into Minoru’s younger brother, Wataru. He invites her to Minoru’s grave for Obon; however, she declines for the first time in four years. After talking it out with Wataru, she decides to go anyway. When she’s about to leave, Minoru wants to know where she’s going, but she doesn’t say. When he peeks out the window, he sees her with his brother. He puts the pieces of the puzzle together and follows them to the cemetery. Does Minoru make a move, and can Asahi prevent Wataru from finding out that he’s back?
Characters
For now, there are only three main characters we need to focus on here, so let’s jump into them.
Minoru, as a kid, just seemed like any other happy-go-lucky kid, but there was a moment during a flashback that hints he may not have been so sweet and innocent as we once thought. I believe that a single panel showing this is a silent telltale sign of why he came back after death, and why he became creepy, sadistic, and borderline controlling. It’s apparent that there are some grudges buried deep within him, and those grudges are his sole motivating factor. We’ll have to see how this pans out, but just from the clues in the first volume, it’s pretty easy to piece together why he returned from the grave… but the question remains of how he returned.
Asahi was just a sweet, innocent girl who loved to play with Minoru and Wataru as she grew up. She got along well with both of them, but it’s painfully clear that Minoru’s death hit her hard. When he came back, it was as if something snapped inside her mind, and she rejected all common sense and logic. She doesn’t care how Minoru came back to life. All she cares about is that he’s here now, and she would give everything to keep it that way. Even when Minoru tells her that he could kill her any time he wanted to, she was okay with it. It’s not quite Stockholm Syndrome, but more like a willingness to accept anything as long as she doesn’t lose him again. It’s a rejection of closure, more than anything. While she’s still that sweet girl towards others, when she’s together with Minoru, you can tell that she’s lost the plot… even if she’s calm, collected, and seemingly in control!
Lastly, we have Wataru. We didn’t have enough time with him to develop truly, though. A lot of his development came from Minoru talking about him in a deranged manner. From his little rant, we learn that Wataru is very kind-hearted, gentle, warm, and caring. He was always that way towards Asahi, and when she met him outside of the market, that demeanor was on full display. He truly comes off as someone who couldn’t hurt a fly, which is why Minoru’s death weighs so heavily on him. He explains why when they visit his grave, but there is something off about the way he talked about it. It’s just one simple thing on a single panel, but it makes you wonder… “why would someone who’s talking about a death do something like that?”
Final Thoughts
This looks to be a quick series with four total volumes, and right off the bat, I’m hooked. So far, I’m liking the way that the story is giving you subtle clues that these characters are not what they seem to be on the surface. One single panel with Minoru, another one with Wataru. If you read between the lines, you can kind of piece together the reasoning behind Minoru’s obsession and why he came back to life. As for Wataru, he’s built up to be this kind and sweet kid, but again, there was just one single instance that made me wonder just how sweet and innocent he truly is. I wonder if you’ll pick up on those things, too?
Of course, the biggest mystery here is discovering how it was possible for Minoru to come back. We do see his true form on several occasions, so the best explanation I can think of is that Minoru never came back to life. He’s dead and buried, but some otherworldly creature can likely shapeshift into familiar forms. It probably saw Asahi grieving, read her memories, and manifested itself in her biggest desire… to see Minoru again. That’s just my guess, but I could be completely wrong. It still doesn’t answer how this thing came into existence, where it came from, etc. This is a Japanese story, too, so it’s very possible that something like curses or old legends could play a part here. There are many directions we could go in to reveal what “Minoru” truly is.
That mystery, along with the potential twists in our characters’ development make this an interesting series. Plus, since it’s horror, it has plenty of it go around. There are creepy vibes around every corner, and there are even some imagined scenarios that lead you to believe that our characters have way more depth than what’s on the surface. So far, it’s hitting every note that it needs to, and I can’t wait to check out more of this one!
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This item was provided for review by Yen Press
