Shadow Lady (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masakazu Katsura. A first full-colored version was published in Shueisha's V Jump from 1992 to 1993. A one-shot chapter was published in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump in 1995. Shadow Lady was then serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump from July 1995 to January 1996, with its chapters collected in three volumes. In North America, the manga was licensed in English by Dark Horse Comics, who published it in 24 issues and later released its three volumes.

Plot

Set in the fictional city of Gray City, a girl named Aimi Komori leads an ordinary, unassuming life as a waitress in a cafe until a small oni named De-Mo attacks her in an alley. Oddly, it brushes eyeshadow on her, transforming her into the daring, flirtatious cat burglar "Shadow Lady". To remain on Earth undetected, De-Mo takes a human form and they pass him off as her little brother. Shadow Lady's crimes befuddle the Gray City police, and a detective named Bright Honda takes it upon himself to discover Shadow Lady's true identity. Bright is also an inventor, and uses his inventions to try to apprehend Shadow Lady, but like the regular police's efforts, he too fails continuously. A Demon Police comes to take De-Mo back to the Demon World and execute him, for the crime of giving the magic eyeshadow to a human. In an effort to spare De-Mo's life, Aimi agrees to use her powers as Shadow Lady to retrieve three Demon Stones hidden in the Human World..

Characters

Publication

Shadow Lady, written and illustrated by Masakazu Katsura, was first published with a full-color version in Shueisha's V Jump in 1992. The chapters from this version were included in the third book of Katsura Masakazu Illustrations 4C, released on August 4, 1998. A one-shot chapter was published in Weekly Shōnen Jump on January 10, 1995. The one-shot chapter was later released, alongside three other Katsura's one-shots, in a single volume titled Zetman on July 4, 1995. Shadow Lady was serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump from July 17, 1995, to January 8, 1996. Its chapters were collected in three volumes, released from January 10 to September 4, 1996. In North America, the manga was published in English by Dark Horse Comics. It first published the series in twenty-four issues, divided in the four story arcs; "Dangerous Love", (7 issues, October 14, 1998 –April 14, 1999); "The Eyes of a Stranger", (5 issues, May 12–September 8, 1999); "The Awakening" (7 issues, October 13, 1999–April 12, 2000); and "Sudden Death" (5 issues, May 10–September 13, 2000). Dark Horse also published the one-shot chapter on October 11, 2000. Dark Horse Comics published the series' three volumes from October 13, 1999 to May 9, 2001.

Reception

In Manga: The Complete Guide, author Jason Thompson wrote: "Shadow Lady shows Masakazu Katsura’s dilemma: he wants to draw Batman -style superhero comics, but his readers demand cheesecake in the style of Video Girl Ai and I"s. The resulting compromise—slapstick action with the protagonist’s clothes constantly getting ripped to pieces—proves only that Katsura wasn’t meant to write comedy, and possibly not action either. The art, however, is beautifully slick, although more cartoony than his other work".