Two months after I moved to Tokyo, a ghost started ‘haunting’ my apartment.

Iku Kurihara has recently begun his studies at a university in Tokyo. Instead of delving into college social activities, he chooses to immerse himself in his otaku passions. Meanwhile, he starts experiencing sightings of ghosts, including a young man haunting a pedestrian bridge near his residence. Surprisingly, this ghost, who retrieves a comic Iku had left behind, is eager to engage with him. Allowing the ghost entry into his apartment, Iku learns his name is Mimori Seo. Mimori appears friendly, eager for conversation, and can even interact physically by handling a comic and ringing the doorbell. These visits become routine, but each night at 23:45, Mimori is compelled to return to the bridge to relive his fall. As their bond deepens, Iku finds it increasingly difficult to watch Mimori leave every night. Unable to bear it any longer, one night he embraces Mimori, physically preventing him from returning to the bridge, and is astounded to find he can actually touch him, announcing, “I won’t ever let you die again.”

Thoughts on mortality trouble Iku, partly due to his connection with his single mother and suppressed guilt stemming from his youth. Engaging with Mimori aids Iku in working through these emotions. Alongside, Iku tries to uncover Mimori’s past with little progress until a casual exchange with a colleague at his part-time convenience store job. Recognizing Mimori in a picture on her phone surprises Iku, prompting him to utter, “I figured I should visit his grave,” which stirs anger and earns him a slap from her. This leaves Iku questioning her relationship with Mimori and the cause of her anger.

The narrative of 23.45 explores wish fulfillment, creating an almost perfect relationship between Iku and Mimori, hindered only by Mimori being a ghost. Their compatibility seems fated, yet tragically timed, preventing a real relationship. However, is it truly out of reach? Ohana’s writing, marking her English debut, perhaps manipulates typical ghostly qualities by granting Mimori solid form, unlike typical ghosts in stories like Asahi Mogami from Phantom of the Idol, who are intangible and cannot hold hands, pick up items, or ring bells.

But 23.45 is also a story of redemption and the possibility of change brought about by love. The other prominent strand is the portrayal of Iku’s mother which Ohana feeds into the main narrative, a little at a time. It starts with a recurrent disturbing memory of Iku’s in which a woman (we only learn later she’s his mother) is telling him, “I didn’t mean to. I just, you know, made a little mistake” which feels as if it’s going to build into something traumatic… The mother/son thread is interwoven with the Iku and Mimori thread, both showing how Iku (something of a solitary otaku) begins to change as he works through his conflicted feelings about his mother and develops feelings of a very different kind for Mimori.

Ohana’s art is attractive and expressive (especially considering that this work was first published in 2015 and styles change so fast in manga) and she utilises a wide range of different panelling and graphic effects to bring out the supernatural elements of the story. We see everything through Iku’s eyes which helps to bind the story elements together, as well as lending him a thoughtful and sometimes poetic voice as he reflects on what he – and Mimori – are experiencing.

The translation for Vertical is by Mei Amaki and reads well; no letterer is credited but the lettering also works well to convey the characters’ thoughts and conversation. There’s a colour page at the beginning which, like the cover art, shows off the mangaka’s pleasing use of subtle shades. The story is rated 16+. There are no translation notes but there’s a charming bonus story and two 4-koma called They Aren’t Dating. The mangaka also supplies an illustrated two-page Afterword which is well worth reading as well as presenting Iku’s favourite 2D character ‘Reanimated Magical Girl Nina’. The sequel 23.45; Re is due out in July.

23.45 turns out to be a thoughtful and touching Boys’ Love story, attractively illustrated and an excellent introduction to Ohana’s works for English readers.

Read at free preview at the publisher’s website here.

Our review copy from Vertical was supplied by Turnaround Comics (Turnaround Publisher Services).