When I reviewed the first volume of Yuritaro's Kaya-chan Isn’t Scary manga for the Manga Guide, I said that it was basically Mieruko-chan but in kindergarten. That holds true for the next three books, as the milder elements are gradually overshadowed by the horror, only deepening that connection. Where volume one primarily took a lighter tone – Kaya's alarming-to-adults behavior played for laughs since we, the audience, know that she's actually exorcising ghosts – by volume four, the series is genuinely scary and more than a bit unsettling.

The horror elements cover a range of scenarios. Perhaps one of the most quietly upsetting is a story in volume two where one of Kaya's classmates nearly drowns in the school pool – or rather is nearly drowned by a ghost. The framing for this piece is that, contrary to what film and television like to show us, most children drown very quietly, slipping under the surface unnoticed until it's too late. As a real and terrifying truth supported by far too many news stories, it's the perfect outline for a ghost story to fill in, particularly one about a preternaturally gifted five-year-old. Not only is the boy drowning in plain sight, yet unseen by the teachers, the only reason Kaya notices is that there's a ghost involved. Without that supernatural piece of the puzzle, no one would have seen, and the boy would be dead. It's an excellent example of taking an everyday fear and dialing it up a notch with a supernatural angle, especially since the only reason the teachers eventually figure out what's going on is that Kaya can't swim. They were keeping an eye on the child on dry land while accidentally ignoring the one in the water, and that was something that very nearly caused a tragedy they couldn't undo.

Volume four, meanwhile, brings us a different story about ignoring children presumed safe in what, for my money, is one of the most upsetting chapters in the series thus far. In this story, a little boy walking to school on a rainy day sees the bloody feet and legs of what looks like a little girl under the rim of his umbrella. It's clear to us that she's a ghost who was probably hit by a car, and when Kaya, herself on her way to school with her dad, enters the scene, she tells the boy that the ghost is telling him to “look up.” The implication is that the umbrella is blocking his view of the road, but the boy is too afraid of the ghost to comply, not wanting to see what's attached to those legs. His fear and refusal bring about what I can only assume is his death, as he cannot see that the walk signal has changed. Kaya and her dad are long gone from the intersection by then, but the story drives home that Kaya is just a kindergartener who has no real understanding of her position. She can only tell the boy what the ghost, who eventually turns around with a haunting, “I give up” – is trying to tell him; she doesn't comprehend the implications. The boy is killed in one of those childhood accidents that people call bad luck or a tragedy…even though Kaya, with more understanding, might have been able to prevent it.

But Kaya's very youth is part of the point. While creator Yuritaro, who used to teach kindergarten before becoming a manga creator, does a great job of capturing that very specific way little kids can be troublesome or creepy, part of what makes the series work is that Kaya doesn't fully understand the situations she finds herself in. She's five; she can make the connection between being held underwater and drowning, but she can't see the same between the bloody ghost and the boy with the umbrella. She just doesn't have the life experience yet. The adults around her do, but they either don't know about Kaya's gifts or aren't equipped to handle them.

That's what makes the increasing presence of adults in Kaya's life particularly interesting. Her father has no clue, though he's clearly trying his best to take care of both his pregnant wife and daughter, and Chie-sensei is only able to do so much, so she focuses more on protecting Kaya from Mobuo, an adult man with an unhealthy fixation on Kaya. Mobuo, whose character design is meant to make us think the worst of him, is a paranormal journalist who knows about Kaya's powers and how they relate to her maternal family, but his obsession with that power gets in the way of his actually helping her. And as for Kaya's aunt and grandmother, well, at this point, I don't trust them at all. She's essentially on her own, trying to make sense of her world as best she can, and maybe that's the scariest part of the series.

With implications of child death and some pregnancy horror, this isn't going to be a series for everyone. Volume four has at least three stories that are quite upsetting in different ways, and Mobuo will also be a deal-breaker for some readers. It's not quite as good as its most obvious sibling, Mieruko-chan, but it's still a fascinating take on the ghost story. If you've ever wondered if some kids see what adults can't, it's worth picking up.