REVIEW: Panguan: The Twelfth Gate Vol. 1

I’ve been waiting for Panguan since last year’s Anime NYC when the entire panel room lost their mind to the announcement. Did I know what Panguan was? No. Did I trust a room full of danmei lovers? Absolutely. The people never steer me wrong.

Somehow I was so caught up in the hype for Panguan that I didn’t realize it was by Mu Su Li, the author of Copper Coins. I absolutely LOVED Copper Coins (I still owe you my review of volume three, I’m so sorry.) and just as easily as Copper Coins ensnared me, Panguan has me in a chokehold.

About Panguan: The Twelfth Gate

Panguan: The Twelfth Gate is a danmei series by Mu Su Li, author of Copper Coins: Tong Qian Kan Shi and Three Hundred Years of Longing. It is published in English by Seven Seas Entertainment. Taking place in the modern era, Panguan: The Twelfth Gate follows Wen Shi, a panguan who has just been reborn for the twelfth time. Panguans are in charge of helping souls cross over into their next life.

This twelfth birth, something is different. Wen Shi is missing parts of his soul and as a result, he has an incessant hunger. Enter Xie Wen, a failed panguan from the same sect who is covered in the only thing that satiates Wen Shi’s appetite – dark miasma. As luck would have it, Xie Wen is suddenly every where. He rents the empty room in Wen Shi’s home, and appears in all the cages panguans are tasked with dismantling. Why does this man feels so familiar to Wen Shi, and why does he seem to know Wen Shi in a weird way?

My Thoughts

There is just something about how Mu Su Li writes that tickles my brain in the perfect way. This is only the second series I read of hers, but I was instantly back at home. Mu Su Li threads so many people and elements into a story, it’s easy to feel as if you’re in a daze. But that’s what makes it such a fun reading experience. Am I getting one over the characters with what I know or is the story getting on over on me?

While the story is fun, it is also incredibly creepy at points. There are no details spared, especially when describing the cages and the distorted figures within them. Paired with the incredible illustrations by St, I had goosebumps more times than I can count. The story finds a way to balance how scary and complex the unknowns of death are, with the real fears of leaving the ones on the mortal realm too soon. Death is such a difficult thing for me that some of the moments had my heart aching.

This first volume sets up the world of Panguan but just barely scratches the surface of what is really going on between Wen Shi and Xie Wen. Well, we do know what is going on now but that exactly happened before? Watching Wen Shi navigate this twelfth life without his soul feels akin to reading a book with pages missing. But then when Xie Wen says little things or acts a certain way, it makes my heart skip a beat. Xie Wen, what are you hiding!? And still, there are things they both don’t know and I’m hoping they discover those things together.

What I Loved

(This next part includes story specific spoilers so stop here and come back after you read Panguan: The Twelfth Gate Volume 1)

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The First Cage

“I suppose it’s human nature to be greedy,” he said slowly. “Only now do I see how much still binds me to this world.”

Panguan: The Twelfth Gate Vol.1

Leave it to Mu Su Li to write another heart-wrenching story arc for a side character. From the jump, I was endeared to Xia Qiao. He’s young and a little clueless, but it’s obvious he’s taking this role left upon him by Shen Qiao seriously. When he gets taken into the cage with Wen Shi and Xie Wen, I instantly thought to myself “the little boy is Xia Qiao somehow.” And I was right! But I never could have predicted that he was a puppet made alive by Shen Qiao.

This part of the story made me weep! Even now, revisiting it to make sure I’m representing it accurately has me in tears. There’s so much here about loving someone so much, even if that person is a puppet, and willing them to life. And after willing Xia Qiao to life, Shen Qiao poured so much love and adoration into him, raising him like a son. Even as a panguan, knowing what he knows, he still left behind a cage because he was so worried about Xia Qiao. As a parent, this part hits the deepest parts of my heart and soul. Because there is nothing else you want than for your child to be well-equipped in the world, and you don’t want them to suffer any hardships.

As I wrote above, I have such complicated feelings about death and dying, and that has only been multiplied after having my son. So reading this arc, where a parent can’t let go because they’re worried about their child? Someone check in on me, I am not okay!! But as I sit here in tears over this, I love the consolation it is to read something like this, knowing my feelings are universal. We all worry about what will happen to our babies after we go on.

The Familiarity

Is it a Lisa review if I don’t mention CLAMP? Let’s be serious!! This story has a CLAMP-ness to it that resonates deem within my soul. The mystery, the hot guy who seems to know more than he lets on, the ever resounding notion of fate? A friend had told me this had xxxHolic vibes all over it and they were not wrong! Which means that I’m not delusional, even if everything always leads me back to CLAMP.

But it isn’t just the art and the mystery, it’s the feeling that I feel in my heart! What I love most about xxxHolic and the reason it’s been my favorite series of all time is the impression it’s made on me. Throughout the manga, each arc has just given me so much perspective and insight. It’s shaped a lot of who I am. And when it comes to the stories we are encountering with the cages, I can’t help but to feel the same. There’s so much in these pages about life, loss, and grief, it’s almost overwhelming. I’ve felt so many things so deeply, and this is only volume one! I can’t even imagine what’s to come in the next three volumes.

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Where to Buy Panguan: The Twelfth Gate

Thank you, Seven Seas Entertainment, for the ARC.