In her youth, young Sumireko Ogawa aspires to become a successful writer, promising herself to write a new novel she can be proud of.
Several years later, however, 27-year-old Sumireko has been working as a bookstore clerk, struggling with writer's block as she trying to grasp the fact that her youthful years was left behind a long ago. That is, until she, on the eve of her 28th birthday, she found herself becoming a little girl under the moonlight, of which she rejoicing as she can finally gain the energy to write her novel again.
Unfortunate, what looks like a blessing for her became a nightmare as she is slowly dying from the effects of suddenly regaining her youth, only to be saved by her unassuming co-worker Ren Adashino, who told her of what actually is happening to her: she is been cursed after reading from one of the dropped books Ren very adamantly wanted back, a cursed one at that.
Being fascinated with the occult herself, not to mention having the ability to change her body between two age forms at will, Sumireko teams up with Ren and his equally-creepy sister Oto in solving the many supernatural mysteries around her... just as long as she can find the right inspiration for her upcoming novel.
Mysterious Disappearances (Kaii to Otome to Kamikakushinote ) is an Urban Fantasy Mystery Horror manga written and illustrated by Nujima, currently serialized on Shogakukan's Yawaraka Spirits website since October 2019.
An anime adaptation is been announced to premiere on April 10, 2024 during the Spring 2024 season, animated by Studio Zero-G.
"So, what kind of tropes do they warn about?"
- Cursed with Awesome: Much of the main cast were this.
- Sumireko's curse is "Tsukuyomi's Water of Life", which allows her to switch between her child and adult forms at will, despite some caveatsnote . While the agonizing side-effects has since been nullified due to her high compatibility with the curse, this has since became extremely useful on multiple occasions, as it sometimes gets her out of sticky situations at times and even helps her with her investigations.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Turns out that just because Sumireko can turn back into a child due to her curse doesn't mean the extra biomass from when she was an adult magically goes away; it's all compressed to the point that she will start bleeding from the ears and eyes if she stays a child for too long.
