Volumes: 2/2 Omnibuses (3 in 2 HC) (Complete), In Print
Seinen/Josei
Genre: Historical Fiction, Supernatural, Dreams, Doctors and Nurses, Romance
Summary: The Black Museum, where the secret evidence from cases investigated by Scotland Yard are kept, has a mysterious display called “A head on collision of two bullets.” This bizarre chance occurrence of two bullets cancelling each other out was said to have been left on the seat of a theatre… by a ghost. The ghost known as “The Man in Grey” haunted a theater for a long time and seeing him was said to bring success to any play. As it turns out, the ghost himself wants to set the record straight, and so he tells his story. He was originally a professional duelist, who was very good at winning duels on behalf of the wealthy. But at some point he died, and doesn’t remember how he died. He haunted the theater for a long time until he met “that bothersome woman”, who turns out to be the famous Florence Nightingale. (The mother of modern nursing)
All humans have parasitic ghosts attached to them called Eidolons. These creatures get stronger as they feed on negative emotions, and they battle each other for dominance and the results are sent psychically to their hosts. Florence Nightingale catches the eye of the Man in Grey because her Eidolon is huge, and yet it only attacks her instead of other Eidolons. She constantly feels like she is being tortured, and yet no one else can see it except the two of them. She wants to die but instead he kills her Eidolon instead. Having nothing left except his love for theater, he pronounces he cannot kill her until her life reaches “the height of tragedy,” like in his favorite plays. Can she accomplish her dreams before he kills her?
Review: It’s an oddly theatrical-inspired blend of Supernatural and Historical Fiction, but strangely, it kind of works. It takes a bit for the story to get going, but after a bit of a rambling beginning, the story between the Man in Grey and Florence Nightingale starts in earnest. At first the Man in Grey mocks Florence and treats her like entertainment, but as the story goes on he starts to see something in her that perhaps he lacked when he was alive.
Meanwhile, Florence, as the central heroine of the story, is part inspirational, but also a bit unhinged and yet also newly determined to make a difference in the horrid state of hospital care. The Man in Grey expects her to fall into despair with every difficulty she faces in her mission to improve hospitals, but after their agreement, she feels she has nothing left to lose, and only grows bolder. The plot takes a few historical creative liberties as an antagonist ghost of Chevalier d’Eon is introduced. And then the plot heads towards a not very accurate but interesting climatic showdown between Florence and her political enemy, William Hall.
The horrifying, grotesque Eidolons are really a fascinating sort of visualization of suppressed malice that people have towards others. A simple conversation can turn into a sort of psychic duel between People wielding their Eidolons, and words do damage to the soul that can be seen directly, at least by those who are able to see spirits.
As far as historical fiction goes, it’s a genuine and dramatic snapshot of a time when Hospitals of that time were horrible, disgusting places rife with poor hygiene where people went to die in terrible conditions. Back then nursing was a low-brow, dirty profession for commoners, since it was not understood how diseases spread or how they could be treated. Nursing was a job just barely above being a prostitute in the social standing, unless you were a nun. But as far as Florence Nightingale, the historical figure though, it’s kind of a mix. On one hand she really was a fierce advocate for her patients, and she really was a wealthy woman who turned her back on high society. But this manga has her curiously reinterpreted as a fighter. And while she definitely fought to change things over the objections of many, I also doubt that she ever lifted a rifle and tried to shoot William Hall. Still, it’s a really interesting take on her life, and it’s a dramatic and interesting read.
Recommended: If you want to read a curiously theatrical dramatization of a story between the ghost of a duelist and the famous mother of modern nursing, Florence Nightingale, then it’s really a very interesting and entertaining story. Even if it may not be entirely historically accurate.
Age Rating: Older Teen: A lot of strangely violent psychic attacks by the grotesque Eidolon ghosts. Also quite a lot of “soul nudity” if you can call it that. But kind of chaste and not explicit. And some implied but not shown sex scene with some mild nudity with careful camera angles. And the state of the hospitals is really disgusting.
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