Nishizuru Yatsuki is a permanent part-timer, regular customer in a maid-cafe, and 20-year-old virgin, who lives with his sister in his apartment. The only notable thing about him is that he can see (and smell) ghosts, who congregate in the area he lives due to all the electromagnetic waves. But for the most part they're harmless, and he can simply ignore them. Yatsuki never believed anything particularly monstrous until the day when he meets a girl named Rokka, who isn't quite what she seems...
So begins Yokai Girls, an Ecchi action-comedy series by Funatsu Kazuki with a strong supernatural bent.
This manga provides examples of:
- Absurdly Sharp Claws: Nia Suzunari can extend her fingernails into ridiculously long and sharp claws.
- Accidental Pervert: Happens to Yatsuki on a somewhat regular basis. It also happens on a larger scale in one chapter, where a bunch of men are arrested as perverts for running around in public with panties on their heads. In reality, it's the work of an Ittan-momen
who had gotten itself made into a pair of panties, and was attempting (and failing) to smother its targets to death. - Ambiguously Bi: Rokka clearly has the hots for Yatsuki and is a Shipper on Deck for Kei and Momo, but she's also very touchy-feely with the other girls and displays an unusual degree of interest in their bodies — especially Nia, who is herself implied to have feelings for Rokka. At one point she's excited when she finds out that the restaurant where she's having lunch has well-endowed waitresses.
- Ambiguously Gay: Nia Suzunari is indicated to have developed feelings for Rokka but is too much of a tsundere to admit it. This is one of the reasons she is reluctant to fuse with Yatsuki, and it's ultimately Rokka who convinces her to do so.
- Ambiguously Human: Nagi, Moru's older sister, is referred to as being human but has Hellish Pupils and is capable of intimidating powerful yokai like the Kaki-Man and the Tengu. Towards the end of the manga she's revealed to be a powerful kitsune}.
- Ass Shove: How Yatsuki defeats the Kaki-Man.
- Attempted Rape: Possessed by a lesbian kappa, Kei attempts to rape Moru but is stopped by Yatsuki.
- Bakeneko and Nekomata: Nia Suzunari is a nekomata, having taken on the form of a teenage girl who looked after her when she was a normal cat, and who she became a yokai to avenge.
- Barrier Warrior: Icchan the nurikabe can create barriers at will, using them to block oncoming attacks, break falls, and crush opponents.
- Batter Up!: Yatsuki's main weapon is a wooden practise sword inscribed with kanji, allowing him to channel his powers into it.
- Beach Episode: Chapters 44-45. Naturally, a yokai shows up to start stealing swimsuits.
- Body Horror: Yokai being Yokai, some of them are quite grotesque. The pervert who ends up sprouting eyes all over his body is a good example.
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: When Kirue takes Yatsuki back to her apartment, ostensibly to have sex, Rokka (who's following them) comments that they can't do that because the series isn't in an adult magazine.
- Breather Episode: Chapter 14 is one, focusing on Nanao and Ichufu while Yatsuki recovers from the battle with Kirue.
- Cat Girl: Nia Suzunari's true form is a nekomata, and the hole in her panties is for her tails to poke out.
- Chick Magnet: Yatsuki has Rokka, Momo, Kirue, Icchan, and Nanao crushing hard on him, which is part of what enables the yōkai to fuse with him.
- Chivalrous Pervert: Yatsuki definitely has his urges (he masturbates the night after Rokka lands butt-first on his face), but whenever a girl is in a genuinely compromised position he never takes advantage and always tries to help.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: Rokka acts like this while Yatsuki is on a date with Kirue.
- Cosplay Otaku Girl: Nagi. In every appearance she's wearing a different cosplay outfit. The rest of the cast is surprised when she actually shows up in normal clothing.
- Cute Ghost Girl: Nanao. Technically she isn't dead, just in a coma, but she fills this role anyway.
- Date Peepers: Rokka follows Yatsuki and Kirue around on their date.
- Dead All Along: Sort of. Nanao is revealed to be a ghost in the second chapter, but her physical body isn't dead, just in a coma.
- Defeat Means Friendship: How the cursed kappa doll, Nia, and Kirue joined the group.
- Demonic Possession: Kei is possessed by a lesbian kappa after she posed naked in front of a river during a vacation. Said kappa turns her yandere for Momo and causes Kei to almost rape her before being stopped. Kei later willingly channels the kappa to establish a Symbiotic Possession relationship.
- Embarrassing Damp Sheets: Ichufu suffers one, highlighting her childishness.
- Embarrassing Nickname: Rokka refers to Suzunari as "Pantyhole-chan" after seeing that the latter's panties have an extra opening. Suzunari is understandably annoyed by it.
- Fan Disservice: The Kaki-Man, though depending on one's taste he could be plain old Fanservice.
- Fanservice: Quite a bit. There's usually at least one naked woman per chapter, and Yatsuki himself loses his clothes on occasion.
- Fusion Dance: Yatsuki can fuse with various yokai to acquire superpowers. Combining with Rokka gives him a cybernetic arm with a Rocket Punch, combining with Icchan gives him robotic armor, combining with Kirue gives him cybernetic spider-legs, and combining with Nia gives him cybernetic claws.
- Heel–Face Turn: A recurring theme is for the main characters to go up against an antagonistic yokai who is redeemed through The Power of Friendship:
- The possessed Kappa doll joins up with the heroes after being defeated.
- After her defeat, Kirue stops eating humans and loses the stench of malice. That doesn't stop G-CUP from trying to kill her, but Yatsuki rescues her and she joins his team.
- Hero Antagonist: Sakurako Houjou, one of the team-leaders of G-CUP, is a monster-slayer whose profession places her into conflict with Yatsuki due to her Knight Templar belief that all yokai are abominations that should be exterminated — including the yokai Yatsuki is friends with. In spite of this, she's nothing but cordial towards him, and expresses genuine dismay when her attempt to recruit him backfires.
- The Immodest Orgasm: When Kirue merges with Yatsuki for the first time, she has a very noisy orgasm from the intense pleasure she feels.
- Improbable Weapon User: Several G-CUP members have rather odd weapons. Rin uses a weaponized skateboard, while Sakurako fights with what appears to be a giant stapler.
- It's Personal: Rin Kizuki believes that Icchan killed his older sister, and joined G-CUP with the sole intention of one day hunting her down and taking revenge.
- Little Sister Heroine: Nanao, who Yatsuki is dedicated to saving by finding the yokai that cursed her. She is implied to have incestuous feelings for him when her method of determining whether the illusory entity impersonating him is really him was to remove her clothes and note that he's an imposter due to not getting an erection.
- Long Neck: Rokka can extend her neck at will. It also occasionally happens by accident, usually when she falls asleep.
- Made of Iron: Yatsuki regularly suffers damage that would incapacitate or kill a normal person. It's chalked up to his higher-than-average spiritual energy.
- Mood Whiplash: Some chapters go from ecchi comedy to supernatural horror and back with the turn of a page.
- Psychic Nosebleed: Fiore starts to get one when she uses up too much spiritual energy to power her puppets.
- Psycho Lesbian: Kei turns into one when possessed by a particularly lustful kappa.
- Raging Stiffie: Yatsuki suffers from one at the beach when he sees the female cast in their swimsuits.
- Razor Wind: The Tengu puppet controlled by Fiore was capable of using wind offensively. The real deal — who shows up afterwards to protect his charge, was capable of doing so to Physical God levels, but was still scared off by Nagi.
- Rocket Punch: Yatsuki uses one against Kirue after he fuses with Rokka.
- Science Destroys Magic: Rather than rely on Buddhist or Shinto magic to vanquish yokai, G-CUP instead uses high-tech plasma weaponry, which is especially lethal to supernatural beings due to disrupting the electromagnetism keeping them together.
- Seductive Spider: Kirue is this through and through, using her feminine wiles to lure men back to her web. After her Heel–Face Turn, she still tries to seduce Yatsuki — having fallen in love with him due to his genuine kindness and compassion towards her.
- Spider People: Kirue is a jorōgumo, a spider yokai that takes on the form of a woman and seduces men so she can eat them. After being defeated she stops eating people, but is nearly killed by G-CUP before being rescued by Yatsuki, officially joining his yokai harem.
- Story-Breaker Power: A Satori who appears later in the series has the ability to read minds, though it does have limitations in not being able to predict randomness, or Dirty Mind-Reading affecting him. Turns out he even knows arc-critical information that no one else does. Shortly after the character is introduced and defeated as part of a Spiritualist duel, he becomes the first on-screen death by getting a good chunk of his body sniped off by G-CUP.
- Unsound Effect: In one frame, Suzunari's behind is accompanied by an "Extra-soft" sound effect.
- Van Helsing Hate Crimes: Nishizuru is approached by G-CUP, a high-tech organization that wants to recruit him for his supernatural powers. He considers joining them... until he learns that they are dedicated to exterminating all yokai regardless of whether or not they kill humans. Sure enough, soon afterwards they ambush and try to kill Kirue, Nia, Rokka, and Icchan.
- We Used to Be Friends:
- Nagi and Sakurako used to be friends, before their differing opinions on how to deal with yokai drove them down separate paths and made them mortal enemies.
- Yatsuki and Yuugo as well; both had Spiritualist senses and a close relationship with the former's younger sister, Nanao. But then once she was put into a coma for reasons unknown, Yuugo disappeared for years - only to return as the commander of G-CUP, blaming Yatsuki for the incident and seemingly being intent on killing him.
- Willing Channeler: It's revealed that Kei is still possessed by the lesbian kappa, although they've come to an understanding and work together to fight off a perverted teacher who was in the process of becoming a hyakume.
- A Wizard Did It: When Moru and Kei briefly discuss the exact mechanics of how Rokka is able to extend her neck, they quickly come to the decision that they should just chalk it up to Yokai Power.
- Youkai: Tons; it's practically the point of the series. Rokka is a Rokurokubi, Icchan is a nurikabe, Kirue is a jorogumo, Nia is a nekomata, and Kei is possessed by a kappa.
