Story Summary
The book Baku contains two short stories, Baku and Mephisto.
Baku - The story of a teenage boy named Takeshi who finds out that he is the reincarnation of a nightmare eater, called a baku. Takeshi's mother dislikes him because she knows he's not her real child. Takeshi has some loyal friends from his past life, Nekomata and Fuyuko, who arrive to awaken Takeshi to his previous life as a baku. But enemies from Takeshi's past life still want to kill him and it's up to Nekomata and Fuyuko to protect Takeshi until he awakens.
Mephisto - This story is about a young half demon half human boy named Mephisto. He lives with his twin sisters, his father's friend's son, a house spirit, and a hamster. In his spare time Mephisto helps troubled spirits find peace.

My Opinion
I like both these stories. Baku reminded me of other stories by Hakase Mizuki (like Ororon and Demon Flowers) in that the main characters had people out to kill them. Mephisto was a nice simple story about a boy who exorcises spirits. If you're a Hakase Mizuki fan, I'm sure you'll enjoy the short stories in Baku.

General Information
Author: Mizuki Hakase
Volumes: 1
Genre: Fantasy/Drama
Age Rating: 13+
Years Run in Japan: 2002-2003
Japanese Publisher: Shinshokan
US Distributor: Tokyopop
US Release Year: 2007
Made into Anime?: no
More Manga by the Author:
- Asian Beat (Tokyopop)
- Demon Flowers: Kuruizaki no Hana (Tokyopop)
- The Demon Ororon (Tokyopop)