Dark Gathering is a Japanese horror, suspense, and battle manga series written and illustrated by Kenichi Kondo, serialized in Shueisha's Jump Square since March 2019.
It follows a haunted college student, a genius ghost-hunting girl, and an occult-loving childhood friend as they capture dangerous spirits and prepare to fight a mysterious evil entity.
The series blends supernatural horror with action-driven battles between ghosts, gods, curses, and captured evil spirits.
Its title refers to Yayoi Hozuki’s method of collecting powerful ghosts and forcing them to battle even stronger supernatural threats.
As of February 2026, the manga has 19 collected volumes in print.
By February 2026, the series had surpassed 2.65 million copies in circulation.
Keitaro Gentoga is a young man with an extreme spiritual medium constitution.
Whenever he visits a haunted place, something supernatural happens without fail.
In middle school, Keitaro and his childhood friend Eiko Hozuki were caught in a curse that left lasting marks on both of them.
Traumatized by the incident, Keitaro became a shut-in, afraid that his presence would endanger others.
With Eiko’s support, he gradually reenters society and enrolls at university after passing the entrance exam at the top of his class.
To further rebuild his social life, he begins working as a private tutor.
His first student is Yayoi Hozuki, Eiko’s young cousin.
Yayoi is a child prodigy with an IQ over 160 and the ability to see both the living world and the spirit world.
Yayoi’s parents died in an accident a year and a half before the story begins.
During that accident, she saw her mother’s soul taken by a mysterious evil spirit she names Kuubo.
To rescue her mother, Yayoi captures dangerous ghosts, seals them in dolls, and trains them into weapons.
Keitaro, who naturally attracts spirits, becomes the perfect bait and partner for her terrifying hobby.
At first, Keitaro wants nothing to do with the occult.
However, he eventually resolves to face the supernatural so he can break the curse on himself and Eiko.
Together, Keitaro, Yayoi, and Eiko travel to haunted locations across Japan.
Their goal is to capture stronger spirits, uncover the truth behind Kuubo, and survive enemies who are far more organized than ordinary ghosts.
Keitaro Gentoga
Keitaro Gentoga is one of the main protagonists.
In the anime, he is voiced by Nobunaga Shimazaki, with Aino Shimada voicing him as a child and middle school student.
Keitaro is a first-year student at Reio University and comes from a family connected to Shinto practice.
His spiritual constitution is so strong that he attracts ghosts automatically.
He cannot normally see spirits, but he can sense their presence.
If the spirit is powerful enough, he can detect it from about one kilometer away.
Because of the curse from his youth, the nerves in his right hand grow strangely over the skin.
He hides this with a black glove.
Keitaro longs for an ordinary life, but Eiko notices that he is also drawn to fear.
This contradiction makes him one of the series’ most interesting characters.
Yayoi Hozuki
Yayoi Hozuki is the other central protagonist.
In the anime, she is voiced by Yuu Sasahara.
Yayoi is an elementary school student with double pupils, allowing her to perceive both the human world and the spirit world.
After losing her parents, her spiritual perception sharpened dramatically.
She is calm, blunt, highly intelligent, and almost fearless in front of ghosts.
Her expression rarely changes, but she becomes visibly excited when the occult is involved.
Yayoi captures evil spirits by sealing them into dolls and making them fight for her.
She prefers capturing powerful ghosts rather than destroying them outright.
Her ultimate target is Kuubo, the entity that took her mother’s soul.
To beat it, she builds an army of ghosts strong enough to challenge even divine beings.
Eiko Hozuki
Eiko Hozuki is Keitaro’s childhood friend and Yayoi’s cousin.
In the anime, she is voiced by Kana Hanazawa.
Eiko is cheerful, socially skilled, and extremely capable with science and technology.
She once represented Japan at the International Olympiad in Informatics.
Despite her scientific talent, she is obsessed with mysteries that science cannot explain.
Her fascination with Keitaro’s spiritual nature is both affectionate and deeply unsettling.
Eiko loves Keitaro intensely and later becomes his girlfriend.
However, her affection includes a stalker-like tendency to hide GPS trackers, recording devices, and cameras in his belongings.
Like Keitaro, Eiko bears a curse on one hand.
She wears a white glove and studies the curse scientifically in hopes of breaking it.
Ai Kamiyo
Ai Kamiyo is a high school student from the prominent Kamiyo family of Kyoto.
In the anime, she is voiced by Rina Kawaguchi.
Ai appears to be a cheerful, fashionable girl, but she has a terrible supernatural burden.
Her star-shaped pupils mark her as a future bride sacrifice to the Taoist god Tai Sui Xingjun.
Her family has long prospered through a contract with this god.
In return, selected daughters are offered as sacrifices when they reach the age of 20.
Ai’s “bad luck” is actually caused by the divine energy surrounding her.
Men who approach her are often harmed, because the god treats them as rivals.
She first meets Keitaro as his second tutoring student.
Her situation becomes the trigger for the Kyoto arc and the operation to kill a god.
Toko Awamiya
Toko Awamiya is Keitaro’s grandmother and the priestess of Awamiya Shrine.
In the anime, she is voiced by Fumi Hirano.
She performs doll memorial services and has enough spiritual power to treat Keitaro’s cursed right hand.
For Keitaro, she is also a spiritual mentor.
Namiko Shami
Namiko Shami is an elderly and well-known psychic.
She becomes involved after the death and possession of her twin sister, Nagiko Shami.
Namiko is aggressive, sharp-tongued, and deeply angry at the ghost that stole her sister’s body.
She recognizes Yayoi’s talent and becomes one of her important allies.
Kyusaku Tamamura
Kyusaku Tamamura is a Kyoto-based psychic who calls himself a “cursed-object dealer.”
He looks suspicious, lazy, and disheveled, but his knowledge of spirits and curses is genuine.
He was once connected to Mei Kamiyo, a previous sacrificial bride of Tai Sui Xingjun.
His desire to free her soul leads him to cooperate with Yayoi.
Sachiko Shirakawa
Sachiko Shirakawa is an elderly woman Yayoi met in the hospital after the accident that killed her parents.
She could see spirits and taught Yayoi many basics about charms, spirit behavior, and ghostly survival.
Her influence helped shape Yayoi’s early methods.
She later dies of cancer after encouraging Yayoi to find happiness.
Kuubo
Kuubo is the mysterious evil spirit that serves as Yayoi’s ultimate target.
It appears as a large, floating, egg-like spirit and behaves like an unborn or infantile entity.
Kuubo caused the accident that killed Yayoi’s parents and took Yayoi’s Mother’s soul.
It later grows stronger by consuming other spirits and even divine beings.
Although named after a figure associated with the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons, the series’ Kuubo is a separate entity.
Yayoi simply borrowed the name for something she could not yet understand.
The Possession Faction
The possession faction consists of evil spirits that take over living human bodies.
They operate behind the scenes and appear connected to Kuubo’s creation or growth.
They place cursed objects at haunted locations to mutate spirits and prepare vessels.
Their members include Oswald, Nankobo Tenkai, Dorothy Flamsteed, and Taneko Ota.
Oswald
Oswald is a blond man in a black formal suit and bowler hat.
His body has been taken over by an unknown spirit.
He behaves politely and convincingly enough to fool other psychics.
This makes him especially dangerous, because he can move through human society without suspicion.
Nankobo Tenkai
Nankobo Tenkai is a skeletal, wheelchair-bound old man missing his right arm.
He is knowledgeable about forbidden rituals and spirit manipulation.
He was involved in the “Annunciation House” incident, where a family was led into horrifying occult practices.
His connection to the historical monk of the same name remains unclear.
Dorothy Flamsteed
Dorothy Flamsteed is a girl in Yayoi’s school who dresses in Gothic Lolita fashion and carries a Western doll.
Her true identity is an evil spirit from the doll that trapped the real Dorothy’s soul inside it.
Compared with other possession faction members, she is childish and careless.
This makes her easier to provoke, but not harmless.
Graduates
“Graduates” are the strongest spirits under Yayoi’s control.
They are powerful enough to affect nearby homes even while sealed, so Yayoi keeps them isolated.
Many are born through a ghostly survival system similar to a spiritual poison jar.
Weaker spirits devour each other until only an overwhelmingly strong one remains.
Graduates are sealed in large dolls and summoned using specific command phrases and true names.
Most are hostile even to Yayoi, so using them is always risky.
Transitional Spirit and Shinno
The spirit first sealed in an alien doll begins as a cooperative but incomplete ghost.
It only mutters that it wants “one more battle.”
After repeated combat, it evolves into a Graduate-class entity called the Transitional Spirit.
Its true identity is later revealed to be the spirit of Taira no Masakado, one of Japan’s great vengeful spirits.
Upon awakening, it is also called Shinno.
It wields crushing gravitational power and becomes one of Yayoi’s strongest forces.
Wicked Sutra High Priest
The Wicked Sutra High Priest is a grinning monk-like evil spirit sealed in a bear doll.
His power is a cursed sutra that forcibly sends listeners to hell.
Even if his head is severed, the sutra can continue through electronics or other mouths.
Because he will attack allies if given the chance, using him requires careful preparation.
Patriotic Prison Demon Sergeant
The Patriotic Prison Demon Sergeant is the ghost of an old soldier.
He is one of the few broadly cooperative Graduate-class spirits.
In life, he possessed enormous vitality and could not pass on easily even after death.
Evil spirits gathered around him, turning his presence into a danger to others.
His ability is a weakening prayer that spreads battlefield suffering, hunger, fatigue, wounds, and sleeplessness.
Those trapped in his field can suffer as though for centuries without dying.
Soul-Sipping Courtesan
The Soul-Sipping Courtesan is the ghost of a beautiful courtesan from the Edo period.
She is sealed in a fox doll and is both elegant and vicious.
In life, she was betrayed, disfigured by disease, and consumed by resentment.
As a spirit, she became obsessed with beauty.
Her ability releases butterfly-like flames that drain spiritual energy.
As she absorbs power, her beauty and curse become stronger.
Self-Slashing Child of a Thousand Souls
This spirit originated at a haunted castle ruin.
She appears as a young woman connected to the women who died during a castle’s fall.
Originally, she was a relatively benign spirit who showed visitors memories of the past.
A cursed object planted by the possession faction drove her into a violent state.
After Yayoi removes the curse, the spirit regains herself and gives Yayoi a fragment of her power.
She is unusually cooperative and can attack with countless cutting arms.
Beheaded Feast Skull
Beheaded Feast Skull is the ghost of a brutal serial killer from the Old Old F Tunnel.
He wears a grotesque form and enjoys hunting and mutilating victims.
After being defeated by the Demon Sergeant, he chooses service over endless suffering.
Yayoi seals him with nails so he feels the pain of his victims.
He remains dangerous, cruel, and opportunistic.
Black Asura of the Lunar Eclipse
Black Asura is the ghost of a young boy murdered after severe abuse.
He carries a sketchbook and is constantly hungry.
His ability erases parts of a target by blackening them in his drawings.
The erased mass becomes meatballs that he eats to grow stronger.
After Yayoi learns his tragic past, she treats him with more sympathy than most captured ghosts.
He gradually becomes more cooperative and extremely powerful.
Tai Sui Xingjun
Tai Sui Xingjun is a Taoist god and the supernatural force bound to the Kamiyo family.
In the anime, he is voiced by Mitsuki Saiga.
He appears as a pale childlike figure but has overwhelming divine power.
He has taken generations of Kamiyo women as sacrificial brides.
Yayoi launches the Kyoto operation to weaken and capture him.
After his defeat, he forms a new contract with Yayoi and Kyusaku to fight his own greater main body.
Female Ghost in the Phone Booth
The Female Ghost in the Phone Booth is the first major ghost encountered in the story.
She is the spirit of a murdered sex worker who haunts a phone booth and kills those who use it.
Yayoi uses Keitaro as bait, then captures the spirit after destroying the booth with purification tools.
The Especially Malevolent Doll Beneath the Treasure Hall
The Especially Malevolent Doll Beneath the Treasure Hall is a dangerous doll enshrined below Awamiya Shrine’s treasure hall.
It attempts to take over Keitaro’s body.
Yayoi defeats it by using a sacred blade.
S Tunnel Spirit
The S Tunnel Spirit appears as a woman with long black hair and a white dress.
Her hair can physically and spiritually bind targets.
Although not as strong as the Graduates, she is extremely useful.
Yayoi often uses her hair like a flexible sacred rope.
Anna Misaki
Anna Misaki was a cheerful supernatural exploration streamer.
She was murdered by the ghost of the Old Old F Tunnel.
As a ghost, she helped lure new victims into the tunnel.
After being captured, she is turned into the core of Eiko’s Infinite Repair Doll system.
Abe no Seimei
Abe no Seimei appears as the spirit of the legendary Heian-period onmyoji.
He looks like a young man in shrine clothing and has a presence so vivid that Yayoi initially mistakes him for a living person.
He predicts future events and helps Yayoi because the Kamiyo family’s problems are partly tied to his own past.
He gives Keitaro the shikigami Zenki and Goki.
Zenki
Zenki is a massive spirit associated with the sun.
He manifests when Keitaro’s life is in immediate danger.
He wields a blazing blade and burns enemies apart.
His true name is Amaterasu no Wakemitama, a divided spirit of the sun goddess Amaterasu.
Goki
Goki is a beautiful but ruthless spirit associated with the moon.
She appears when Keitaro’s soul faces destruction.
Her curse inflicts blindness, suffocation, freezing, and madness in stages.
Her true name is Tsukuyomi no Wakemitama, a divided spirit of the moon god Tsukuyomi.
Early Haunted Sites
The opening arcs introduce Keitaro, Yayoi, and Eiko through a string of haunted locations.
These include the phone booth ghost, the shrine doll, a cursed video, a suicide circle at university, and the S Tunnel.
Each case reveals a new rule about ghosts and a new side of the main trio.
Keitaro learns that running away forever will not save him or Eiko.
God’s Bride
Ai Kamiyo’s introduction reveals that some supernatural threats are not merely ghosts.
Her “guardian spirit” is actually Tai Sui Xingjun, a god-like being preparing to claim her as a bride.
This arc expands the scale of the story from haunted sites to divine contracts and inherited curses.
It also sets up the conflict with the Kamiyo family.
Tokyo Haunted Spot Tour
Yayoi begins collecting spirits powerful enough to fight gods.
Key locations include H Castle Ruins, Old Old F Tunnel, Annunciation House, and Old I Watergate.
These arcs introduce several Graduate-class spirits and the possession faction’s larger plan.
They also show how brutal Yayoi’s methods can be when she weaponizes one horror against another.
School Ghost Stories
At Yayoi’s school, Dorothy manipulates events around a sealed room and a dreamlike game of tag.
The ghost involved was once a kind teacher who died after being falsely accused and bullied by his students.
Yayoi defeats the corrupted ghost while allowing his original soul to pass on.
The arc also introduces classmates such as Daisuke Gonda and Yoko Nakiri.
Kyoto Arc and Operation Regicide Pentagram
The Kyoto arc centers on the plan to defeat Tai Sui Xingjun and save Ai.
Yayoi creates a reverse pentagram using five major haunted sites across Kyoto.
This operation is called the Regicide Pentagram.
Its purpose is to weaken the god by turning the whole city’s spiritual flow into a giant curse mechanism.
The chosen locations include F Park, Kubizuka Daimyojin, T Tunnel, A Dam, and a section of National Route 1.
The final battle takes place near the Kyoto Imperial Palace.
The arc features major enemies such as the A Dam spirit, the fungal curse at Kubizuka Daimyojin, Shishimura-sama, Marbas, and Shuten Doji.
It also reveals the true identities of Zenki and Goki.
Spirits and Energy
In Dark Gathering, spirits need energy to remain in the living world.
Most fade after roughly 49 days unless they gain power in some way.
They can survive by feeding on other spirits or staying in places with strong spiritual energy.
This is why many long-lasting spirits are evil, predatory, or tied to powerful locations.
Evil Spirit Capture
Yayoi captures spirits by sealing them into dolls or other vessels.
Because possession spirits synchronize with objects, a sealed doll can function as both prison and tool.
She can also make captured spirits absorb damage meant for her or her allies.
This system is central to her survival.
Spiritual Poison Jar
Yayoi’s most frightening method is a ghostly poison-jar process.
She places multiple spirits under conditions where they devour one another.
The last spirit left becomes far stronger than before.
These survivors become “Graduates.”
Kotodama and True Names
Words have special power over spirits.
By combining a command with a spirit’s true name, Yayoi can direct its actions.
Graduate-class spirits are given names that define their existence.
This makes summoning them possible, but not safe.
Infinite Repair Doll
The Infinite Repair Doll is Eiko’s invention based on Yayoi’s vessel system.
It uses a slime-like body and a bound spirit to create a decoy that repairs itself after damage.
This makes it an essential protective tool against curses and possession attacks.
The prototype later develops into a mass-produced defense system.
Graduates’ House
The Graduates’ House is a remote property used to store dangerous spirits and cursed objects.
It is located near Lake Sayama in Tokorozawa, Saitama.
The house was originally the cursed “Annunciation House.”
After exorcising the main threat inside, Eiko purchases it for 100 yen.
Haunted Site Danger Ranks
Haunted locations are ranked by danger.
The highest known levels are SSS, SS, S, A, and B.
S-rank locations can trap victims or curse them across distance.
A-rank locations can inflict curses severe enough to make life unbearable.
Dark Gathering is written and illustrated by Kenichi Kondo.
It began serialization in Jump Square with the April 2019 issue, released on March 4, 2019.
The series is published by Shueisha under the Jump Comics label.
As of February 4, 2026, 19 volumes have been released.
An anime television adaptation was produced by OLM.
The first season aired from July 10 to December 25, 2023.
It ran for 25 episodes over two consecutive cours.
The anime aired on Tokyo MX, BS Asahi, Kansai TV, AT-X, and other networks.
The first season covers the early story through the preparations for the Kyoto arc.
A second season was announced in October 2025.
The second season is set to continue the story in Kyoto.
The anime is directed by Hiroshi Ikehata.
Series composition for the first season is by Shigeru Murakoshi.
Character design is led by Shinya Segawa.
Music is composed by KOHTA YAMAMOTO, Shun Narita, and Yusuke Seo.
Animation production is by OLM.
Yayoi Hozuki is voiced by Yuu Sasahara.
Keitaro Gentoga is voiced by Nobunaga Shimazaki.
Eiko Hozuki is voiced by Kana Hanazawa.
Ai Kamiyo is voiced by Rina Kawaguchi.
Toko Awamiya is voiced by Fumi Hirano.
Other cast members include Aya Hisakawa, Taku Yashiro, Masashi Ebara, Miyuri Shimabukuro, Shinichiro Miki, Yoko Hikasa, Saori Hayami, Yoshitsugu Matsuoka, and Atsuko Tanaka’s contemporaries in supporting supernatural roles.
The first opening theme is “Kakuriyo” by luz.
The first ending theme is “Haiiro” by Kana Hanazawa.
The second ending theme is “Intaglio,” also by Kana Hanazawa.
The first season was released on Blu-ray in six volumes.
The releases cover all 25 episodes of the first season.
The first Blu-ray volume was released in October 2023.
The sixth volume was released in March 2024.
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