A full-color story about a young ronin who believes a zashikiwarashi has come to live with him. He is overjoyed that she looks nothing like the small, childlike creatures are supposed to, however she tells him looks can be deceiving. Rather than bring good fortune to him, she seems intent on eating him out of house and home. Soon he learns that she is not a zashikiwarashi, but a gaki (hungry ghost).
Published In:
Boys and Girls Complete Competitive Collection of SF Manga PART 8
Publication Date: November 1, 1980
Pages: 6 (full color)
Anime Adaptation:
None
Notes:
The books that these were published in, Boys and Girls Complete Competitive Collection of SF Manga (少年少女SFマンガ競作大全集) features some continuity of creators during this time. Other than Rumiko Takahashi, Kaoru Shintani (新谷かおる) (of Area 88 fame), Tomoko Naka (名香智子) and Hideo Azuma (吾妻ひでお).
The story revolves around the young man's assumption that the creature is a zashiwarashi (座敷童). Zashiwarashi are child-like in appearance and are supposed to bring good fortune to a home that they are found in. However, he eventually learns that the woman is another type of supernatural creature- a gaki (餓鬼). Gaki, are "hungry ghosts", some of the lowest creatures one can be reborn as if you have particularly bad karma. Being reborn as a gaki is one of the worst fates, not only due to their ravenous appetites (they eat dead skin, fingernails, dust, ear wax) they also do not have an opportunity to accrue good karma, and it is unlikely that they can work towards being reborn as a better creature in their next lives.
The male character actually is very similar to Yusaku Godai from Maison Ikkoku, and like Godai fails his entrance exams at the end of the story.
