An eerie manga that mixes fantasy and horror set in the countrysides of Japan. For fans of stories with lonely girls who crave affection and where the beauty is also the monster.

Everyone in town knows the story of the mermaid.

She lives in the lake, alone.

The townsfolk say she eats pets. They say she lures people into the water. They say she’ll turn you into a monster.

But the town is peaceful. The town is happy. The water is sweet. No one ever leaves.

And as the lives of the town’s girls ebb and flow around the girl called “Chitose,” the mysteries of the mermaid in the lake drift to the surface, revealing something older, lonelier, and far stranger waiting just beneath the water…

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Content Warnings: Mature themes, references to animal death

This is a very unsettling, slow-paced story about a town where everything seems wonderful, but there’s something underneath the surface–something uncanny and not quite right.

There’s an old myth in the town where a lone mermaid lived in the lake. As long as everyone kept to themselves, things were fine…until the mermaid, starving, ended up eating a human.

The villagers attacked the mermaid and drove her down into the depths of the lake…where she has supposedly remained over the years and years since the story originated.

The manga takes the points of views of different characters, one of them from a different time period, all revolving around the mysterious girl named “Chitose,” who looks just like a mermaid.

The first chapter, “Ichika,” has probably one of the creepiest things happen. When Ichika and her sister first move into town to live with their grandmother, everyone in the town tells Ichika that her eyes are different. They are depicted as solid and black.

Meanwhile, everyone else’s eyes are lighter and almost have a weird circular pattern to them. I can’t quite describe it, but they are sort of creepy.

Anyway, Chitose befriends Ichika and one day, Chitose and Ichika are walking along the bridge overlooking the lake. Chitose jumps off the bridge and Ichika quickly follows, and the two land in the water, with Chitose taking on her mermaid form and dragging Ichika down.

We don’t know what happens to Ichika when she is underwater with Chitose. We don’t know if she’s going to drown or die or what. Then, Ichika reappears as if nothing has happened. Except…her eyes have changed.

That’s probably the most spoilery I’ve ever gotten in my reviews, but I had to share it because it exemplifies how creepy this manga is. Everything seems right, but it isn’t. Chitose seems like a nice girl, until…she isn’t a girl. We get glimpses of her past, but not enough to get her full story. The whole manga feels like you’re tightrope walking, except someone on the end of the line is holding a lighter. There’s this sense of impending doom from the Ichika chapter onward.

I am really, really curious about this one. This would be a type of slow-burn horror that focuses more on dread and uncanniness, so it might not be for everyone, but this one is right up my alley. I really like how weird it is.

4.5 out of 5 stars.

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I received a digital ARC directly from TOKYOPOP, the publisher, and am happy to leave a review of my own accord.

There, Beneath the Water Vol. 1 is currently available digitally at a wide variety of retailers online. It will be available in print November 10 from booksellers online and in person, or you can purchase directly from the publisher.