Demon City Blues

As told in the events of Demon City Shinjuku, a devastating earthquake caused by supernatural forces left most of Japan in ruins, turning the Shinjuku district into a zone suspended between the mortal world and Hell. The district has become an isolated slum in which humans struggle to cohabit with monsters and demons every day. In this dark place, a young private investigator specialized in missing people, named Setsura Aki, gets routinely tasked with dangerous missions that pit him against the worst entities of the netherworld.

Setsura Aki (秋せつら, Aki Setsura)

The protagonist of the story, the young, handsome owner of a senbei shop in West Shinjuku who moonlights as a private investigator. He specializes in missing person cases and is considered the best manhunter in the business, although he often finds himself forced to team up with Mephisto to solve his missions. Always clad a black longcoat, his signature weapon is the "devil wires" (妖糸, yokata), a string of 1 nanometer titanium wires which allows him to slice his enemies and perform multiple tasks in combat. He has two personalities, expressed distinctly as "boku" and "watashi", with the latter being much darker. His father, Renjo Aki, was a famous manhunter as well.

Mephisto (メフィスト, Mefisuto)

Known as a "Demon Doctor" (魔界医師, Makaiishi), Mephisto is a mysterious physician and private clinic director in the Shinjuku zone. He is an expert in a wide variety of disciplines, including medicine, chemistry, history, technology and magic, to the point that he is rumored to be able to give life back to the dead (an ability he denies to have). Very much as Setsura, he is skilled at fighting with metal wires, and also utilizes traps and special concoctions. He hates women, though it is revealed he loved a vampire woman.

Mephisto originally appeared in Demon City Shinjuku, and also has his own stand alone novel in Demon Doctor Mephisto.

Ryoko Sototani (外谷良子, Sototani Ryoko)

An obese information broker and shopkeeper. He often introduces Setsura to clients.

Galeen Nuvenberg (ヌーレンブルグ, Garen Nurenburugu)

An old witch from Czech Republic living in the Takadanobaba. She has influence over the community of wizards and occultists of Shinjuku, and is aided by a doll girl and an intelligent crow created by her. Although she is a major character for most of the series, she is murdered during the Demon Princess arc while protecting Setsura.

The series had its first installment published in 1986. It was divided in two blocks: the Nonnoberu short story collection and the longer Chohen arcs, both started the same year and finished in 2012. The latter's Demon Princess arc was published in English speaking countries by Digital Manga in 2009.^[1] Another episode of the series, Maohden, was published in 2012.^[2]