5 out of 5

Supremely enjoyable.

I shan’t rehash much of the general description here beyond the one-liner: The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service is a group of youngsters who’ve all proven a proclivity – whether supernaturally endowed or otherwise – for tracking down corpses and delivering those corpses wherever they “belong.”  It’s creator Eiji Ōtsuka’s endless creativity that’s allowed for multiple satisfying setups that can act as standalone murder / revenge mysteries, spacing out the dips into gore so that the series can revel in a surprising amount of character building.  …Which is where volume 2’s strengths supercede volume 1‘s: after feeling his way around how to properly apply his cast, KCDS settles into very clearly relying on Kuro Karatsu and Makoto Numata to carry things, with Yuji Yata and his puppet as the occasional straight man or fall guy.  This seemed like a compromise early on, but Eiji’s growth with the series’ pacing, consistent comedy, and slow and deliberate addition of reoccurring elements becomes wonderfully comforting; the other characters begin to take up those kinds of one-note roles you see in procedurals (Kurosagi being something of a procedural) – the tech person; the medical person, etc.  But it works wonderfully!  And allows for the more light-hearted tone which ends up being a brilliant juxtaposition to the darker aspects, and ultimately makes the flashes of drama more effective and earned.

Housui Yamazaki’s art is stunning.  Even with a couple of chapters seeming a bit more streamlined – slightly less detailed – the sense of movement and characterization remains spot on.  Carl Gustav Horn also happily returns to offer up his excellent commentary after each book.

Don’t be daunted by that thick, omnibus binding – this is a breeze of a read, but rewarding enough to merit multiple rereads as well.