Mao

Name: Mao
Rating: 7.21

Manga7.21300 votesPublishing

MysterySupernaturalHistoricalTime TravelShounen

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About this title

Synopsis

Nanoka passes through a portal into the Taisho era, where exorcist Mao reluctantly rescues her from the jaws of a grotesque yokai. When Nanoka gets back to the present, she discovers she has some new, incredible abilities. She returns to the past looking for answers, only to get caught up in Mao's investigation of a series of gruesome murders. As her questions about herself multiply, Nanoka learns that Mao is cursed by a cat demon named Byoki—and so is his sword. If anyone but Mao attempts to wield it, they are doomed. But when Mao's life is in jeopardy, Nanoka picks up his blade and swings! (Source: VIZ Media)

Publication notes

Mao has been published in English by VIZ Media under the Shonen Sunday imprint since September 14, 2021. The series has also been simulpub through VIZ Manga.

Published

May 8, 2019 to ?

Authors

Takahashi, Rumiko

External links

MyAnimeList page Official Site Wikipedia Wikipedia

MAL rank: #6447
Members (MAL): 6,015
Favorites (MAL): 66

Related titles

Adaptation

Mao (anime)

Main characters

Mao8 fan favorites
External profile
Born in the late Heian era, Mao states that he is at least 900 years old by the mid-1920s. Orphaned at a young age, Mao foraged for food and lived in a system of caves, navigating the darkenss by scent, sound and the faint winds that blew through it. As luck would have it, the cave navigation was a trial to join a school that taught onmyodo, a Chinese mystical art that blended early science with the supernatural. Mao bested the other pupils who had hoped to gain entrance into the school, saving the life of a young Shiranui in the process. Soon Mao found himself being taught a vocation and slowly improving his lot in life in the late 1100s. Mao's skills however were average compared with many of his fellow students. Consequently it was a shock when he was named as the intended successor to the school by their master. Mao was infatuated with the master's daughter, Sana, and her hand in marriage was promised to him along with knowledge of the most esoteric and important teachings, particularly the life-lengthening skill so many sought to master. All of this was a ruse however as Mao was intended to be used as a ritual sacrifice, his modest skills made him an unimportant figure easily killed for the greater good. However Byoki, a cat demon created by the school soon escaped and rampaged throughout the temple, murdering dozens until Mao faced off against it. With his blade in hand Mao managed to decapitate the cat creature, though he accidentally merged with Byoki's body, gaining more power in the process. The disembodied head of Byoki fled and Mao has no memory of what happened next. However the survivors of the school insist he murdered Sana, the woman he loved. Mao has lived for 900 years with this burden, quietly living a simple life as a doctor treating yokai and humans alike. It is not until 1922 during the Great Kanto Earthquake that he next encounters Byoki in a battle that rips time and brings him into contact with Nanoka, a girl from the modern day who was pulled into the 1920s. (Source: furinkan.com)
Nanoka Kiba7 fan favorites
External profile
Nanoka is a modern girl who suffered a tragic accident on September 1, 2011. While riding with her parents to check on her grandfather who had been admitted to the hospital a huge explosion engulfed her parents car which then cratered into the blast hole killing them both. Nanoka was blown free of the car and awoke in a firey landscape staring down a creature with a decapitated head in its mouth. Stunned she turned to flee only to be attacked from behind. Her next memory is waking up in the hospital with her grandfather and learning of her parents passing. From that day forward Nanoka was raised by her grandfather and his new live-in maid, Fune Uozumi. Told that she was a weak, sickly child she was made to drink a pungent green beverage and told that it was to fortify what little strength she had remaining. Eight years later Nanoka becomes curious about the strange explosion and sink hole that claimed her parents lives and begins to research the event. Returning to the scene of the accident she passes through a gate and the shopping street that stretched out before her is replaced by a bustling duplicate from the 1920s. Soon Nanoka meets Mao and discovers that the explosion that killed her parents was a side effect of a battle between Mao and Byoki during the Great Kanto Earthquake, the severity of which stretched through the time portal and struck her family's car. Nanoka soon learns that during the accident she was swept into the past and like Mao she too was cursed by Byoki. She carries with her the demon's blood and the green drink she has been imbibing since childhood was not to keep her healthy but to rob her of her demonic powers so as not to draw the attention of Byoki who now lives in the modern age and continues to seek out the girl in hopes of joining with her to regain his own powers. (Source: furinkan.com)