Karakuri Circus

からくりサーカス

426 chapters

43 volumes

1997 – 2006

In "Karakuri Circus," Katou Narumi is afflicted with Zonapha Syndrome, a rare condition that stops his breathing unless he can make others laugh. Having abandoned his Chinese kenpo training, he returns to Japan and takes up clowning, but struggles to be humorous. Narumi's life shifts when he meets Saiga Masaru, a young boy who has recently inherited a fortune, and shares a genuine laugh with him. Learning that Masaru is being hunted by assassins wielding enormous, eerie puppets, Narumi decides to protect him. They soon encounter Shirogane, a girl who controls her own puppet and claims she was sent from France by Masaru's deceased grandfather to guard him. Their paths cross and diverge, weaving two tales: one of puppets and one of performers, bound together by sorrow and joy. The bizarre circus of living dolls spreading Zonapha Syndrome, the human puppets called the Shirogane, and the puppeteers driven by an eternal vendetta orchestrate this dual performance.