This week Shonen Jump debut a new manga series by Omusuke Kobayashi titled Psych House. Before this new series Kobayashi has written and drawn several one-shots that were published in Shonen Jump the last few years. Now with Psych House, this will be Kobayashi’s first ongoing manga series. From the teaser of this series and its title we will be in store for another supernatural manga. How will Kobayashi set its series apart? Let’s find out with Psych House Chapter 1.
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer & Artist: Omusuke Kobayashi
PSYCH HOUSE CHAPTER 1 SYNOPSIS
At a high school a student named Nemuru Suya surprisingly appears out of nowhere in the middle of class. During lunch another student named Kotone shows off her teleportation ability, which her friends think is a magic trick.
Later a broke Kotone is approached by Nemuru, who recognizes Kotone’s special ability but she avoids him.
Later Kotone visits her comatose mother in the hospital.
Afterwards, hungry, Kotone decides to use her teleportation power to steal a rice ball from a convenience store. Nemuru catches her and reveals he has special powers to, that are called Psychs.
Kotone makes a run for it and accidently teleports a car above Nemuru. Nemuru suddenly grows in size and catches the car.
Nemuru traps Kotone in his bucket. With no other option Kotone reveals her dad left her and her mom with severe debt and her mom is currently in a coma. Nemuru offers Kotone to stay at the special government house he lives in with others to conduct Psych research.
Kotone accepts the offer and first goes to apologize to the convenience store owner she stole a rice ball from. Seeing how honest she is and that she is in need the store owner gives Kotone some free food.
Nemuru then takes Kotone to the Psych House, which has a giant tree that Nemuru used his powers to make gigantic. End of chapter.
REVIEW
Omusuke Kobayashi keeps things simple for Psych House Chapter 1 by focusing on establishing Kotone and Nemuru Suya as lead characters. Outside of that the general concept of this world’s superpowers being known as Psychs was established. Other than that we don’t necessarily know the direction for this series which held it back from being a breakout out of the gate.
Obviously, the mission statement for Kobayashi with Psych House Chapter 1 was establishing the series lead. He wanted to make sure to have the reader understand the core motivations for Kotone and Nemuru as the series lead. In terms of types of leads both are on opposite sides of extremes in terms of depth of character. Kotone is the one that carries this story with a strong range of character. Meanwhile, Nemuru is kept extremely simple of being a strange blank slate of a character.
It does put into question what tone Kobayashi will lean into. That tone will really depend on which Kotone or Nemuru will be the point of view character. While they could both equally be the point of view character(s) any choice does set a direction and tone.
With Nemuru, he is quickly established more on the comedic side of things. There isn’t much more depth presented, at least initially. Because of that Nemuru, as established in Psych House Chapter 1, cannot carry a series. The novelty of Nemuru can and will wear off very quickly.
Because of that Kotone really needs to be given the reigns as the main lead of this series. Right out of the gate we see Kotone has a range to be able to switch from comedic to serious when needed. It’s a depth of range that does make her flexible to have different dynamics with what is the teased supporting cast.
A key part of what makes Kotone stand out way above Nemuru was her backstory. Kotone already being in a situation where she is alone after her caring mother fell into a mysterious coma, leaving her to deal with the debt her dad left them, made the connection to her story strong. It explains the various decisions and interactions she has throughout this first chapter.
The next chapter of Psych House will be important for the direction of this series. We do learn that the Japan government is at least somehow involved with the Psychs as they sponsor the house Nemuru lives in. That does create a serious direction that Psych House can go. Though given Nemuru and the designs for the other housemates it does appear this will be a more light hearted series. Best case scenario is that Kobayashi can find a balance between the two while getting over the direction this series will have.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Psych House Chapter 1 is a solid debut. This first chapter is certainly carried by Kotone, who does a lot of heavy lifting with her depth of character compared to fellow co-lead Nemuru. The lack of set-up for direction or tone this series will have does leave a lot to be desired. Hopefully the second chapter can solidify the world building briefly touch on in this debut chapter.
Story Rating: 6 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 6 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 6 Night Girls out of 10
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