Story Summary
A story about a young man named Shinjyurou Mamiya, an embalmer who works in Japan. But Japan isn't like Western societies where embalming a corpse is very common, it is actually frowned upon my many Japanese citizens to preserve a corpse. Shinjyurou runs into a lot of people who look down on him for his career choice, but he is able to bring peace and closure to the families and friends of his clients. Shinjyurou often has women at his side because he needs warm human contact, especially after work. But inside he actually cares for his landlord's daughter, Azuki, and won't allow himself to use her like he uses other girls. And so the story goes, tragic and heart wrenching stories of death and loss, and with Shinjyurou's help, people are able to cope and more easily accept the death of their loved ones.

My Opinion
I love Mitsukazu Mihara's story telling, and the stories in The Embalmer are often quite sad. Many of these stories bring me to tears, but in the sadness there is the closure of being able to say goodbye to your loved one who looks as if they are resting peacefully. If you're up for the occasional pain, The Embalmer is a great work of Mitsukazu's.

Live Action
In October of 2007 a 12 episode live action version of The Embalmer, called Shigeshoshi, premiered on Japanese Television. The show definitely has its differences from the manga. Shinjyurou is more of a goofball, not a cool as in the manga. And Azuki is a nurse who doesn't seem to know Shinjyurou very well. The tv show is actually pretty corny, but worth watching if you are a fan of the manga.
Some clips are available on YouTube.

General Information
Author: Mitsukazu Mihara
Volumes: 4
Genre: Drama
Age Rating: 16+
Years Run in Japan: 2003-2005
Japanese Publisher: Shodensha
US Distributor: Tokyopop
US Release Year: 2006
Made into Anime?: no, but a live action tv series
More By the Author:
- Beautiful People (Tokyopop)
- Doll (Tokyopop)
- Haunted House (Tokyopop)
- IC in a Sunflower (Tokyopop)
- RIP: Requiem in Phonybrian (Tokyopop)