Kotegawa's unsettling manga Anne Freaks
was a dark trip into a world where adolescent friendships result in a loss of identity. In this book, she uses the familiar thriller convention of a cell phone with a mysterious caller on the other end to explore a similar theme. On her way to school, popular but superficial high schooler Chiko picks up a lost cell phone. Before she can turn it in to the police, it starts ringing. The voice on the other end tells her when and where suicides are going to occur, and that she is the only hope of stopping them. A reluctant Chiko and her bookish friend Bando start off on an all-night quest to save lives, racing against the clock and taxing their own endurance. Bando seems emotionless at first, but as the deaths pile up, she gets more animated, excited by the novelty of the situation. Meanwhile, Chiko learns that caring for someone other than herself is difficult—but rewarding. While the ending doesn't quite live up to the premise of exploring the emotional price of thrill seeking, this is still a fast-paced, suspenseful story delivered with Kotegawa's sharp, stylish character designs and inventive storytelling. (Oct.)
