We’ve seen horror manga series about ordinary humans being involved with something otherworldly and potentially dangerous. Yen Press localized The Summer Hikaru Died, after all. Mad Miniscape involves another person pining over something that could kill them. However, there’s a difference here. With this new series, the human heroine seems as scary as the entity she’s encountered.Editor’s Note: There will be spoilers for the first volume of the Mad Miniscape manga below.Asahi grew up with Minoru and his brother Wataru. Except years ago, he died at 15 when a truck hit him. Years later, he came back. Or something claiming to be him came back. Asahi, who basically lives alone since her father is gone all the time working, was startled one summer night after her school’s closing ceremony. Something broke in, ended up forming a face that looked like his when he was alive, started trying to talk, and after it did called her name and said he was back. Image via Yen PressIs it Minoru? Maybe! There are times in Mad Miniscape when this being remembers things about time shared with Asahi when the teen was alive, mentions things about his younger brother Wataru, and recalls other elements of life. However, there are also many, many signs it could be something else! For example, the opening chapter involves a rather horrifying transformation and a single-minded approach to taking Asahi’s life. Not to mention you’d think “someone” who was once human would recall a body involving things like a tongue and throat, but there’s a whole other chapter that shows that clearly isn’t the case.Meanwhile, Asahi is clearly as broken and terrifying in Mad Miniscape as the being known as Minoru in this horror manga. She is well aware this is some unknown, supernatural, dangerous creature. She sees its assaults, shifting, and behaviors. At the same time, she’s as obsessed with it (and Minoru) as it is with her. While it’s trying to take her life, she’s also clinging desperately to it and ordering it to stay in her room. There are the same traces of violence in her as there are in it.There are other things too. They’re too big of a spoiler to bring up here, and I’d encourage you to read Mad Miniscape to see for yourself. But there are times when we do get to learn more about what life was like when Minoru was a live and he, Asahi, and Wataru would spend time together as kids and teens. The interactions involving the three when we’re given a chance to see them when all should have been well and they were all alive and happy feel just as concerning in different ways. Things are bad, broken, and terrifying now. But maybe something wasn’t 100% okay then either? It’s difficult to tell, given the brief peek in this first volume. But it’s enough to plant a seed of doubt.I mentioned The Summer Hikaru Died earlier, and it’s also especially interesting to follow that horror manga that’s also a teen romance while also going through Mad Miniscape. Because the situation is similar! There are two grieving young adults. Each of them seemed to lose someone they loved far too soon. Something otherworldly showed up after their passing wearing that face. But while “Hikaru” presents an entity that genuinely cares about a human, things go differently in Mad Miniscape. Especially given the cliffhanger at the end of the volume.Mad Miniscape is an exploration of grief and romance with a mysterious entity involved, but the human heroine’s just as scary. Everyone seems broken here. It’s difficult to tell if we should be rooting for anyone. And, given the cliffhanger at the end of the first volume of the manga, it seems like fresh horrors await in future chapters.Volume 1 of Mad Miniscape is available now, and Yen Press hasn’t shared a release date for the second volume of the new horror manga series yet. We may earn a commission if you purchase from certain links. Learn more here.The post I Don’t Know Who’s Scarier in the Mad Miniscape Horror Manga appeared first on Siliconera.