Today is another collection of short reviews for NetGalley ARCs, mostly manga but also a couple Western graphic novels.
I received free ARCs of these books from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.
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Author: Rosie Knight
Illustrator: Oliver Ono
Rating: 5/5
Published by IDW and available August 20, 2024, Monster Island Summer Camp is every kaiju fan's dream, getting to be friends with Toho's iconic monsters. The setup of a summer camp being magically connected to Monster Island is fun and a hearty dose of nostalgia for the Showa series. It's nice to see disability representation in the form of multiple characters, not just one. The plot is intriguing and leads to a great climax and makes me hope for this to be a series. Bonus points to illustrator Oliver Ono for managing to make Manilla cute and not terribly ugly as he was in the old movies. The whole thing is a treat for fans of Godzilla, like myself.
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Author: Makoto Shinkai
Illustrator: Denki Amashima
Rating: 2/5
Published by Kodansha and available September 24, 2024, this is the first volume of the manga adaptation of the 2022 film of the same name, directed by Makoto Shinkai, most famous for Your Name. Full disclosure that at the time of this writing I haven't seen the movie, just read this first volume of the manga. It definitely feels like it's based on something and I think readers will get more out of it if they've seen the movie. On its own it didn't grab me and in parts was confusing, like I was expected to already understand everything happening. It probably works better in movie form.
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Author: Andrew MacLean
Illustrator: Jake Smith
Rating: 4/5
Published by IDW and available September 17, 2024, Godzilla: War For Humanity is a collection of episodes published separately. I just couldn't resist another Godzilla comic (see my comments about Monster Island Summer Camp). And what a Godzilla comic-- this will definitely please G-fans with deep cut references to MOGUERA, Jet Jaguar, and several other classic kaiju. The art is really colorful and expressive and reminds me of the alt comix style rather than the traditional realistic American art. The drawback is that some of the panels are a little hard to follow and the plot sometimes moves a little too quickly and I think the "war for humanity" title could be expanded upon more within the themes, but overall it's a fun adventure. Bonus points for including more obscure kaiju like Gorosaurus and Manda. Man I'm a nerd.
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Title: Vampire Otaku's Love Bite Vol. 1
Author and Illustrator: Julietta Suzuki
Rating: 4/5
Published by Viz Media and available October 1, 2024, Vampire Otaku's Love Bite asks the age-old question "What if a vampire was an otaku (someone obsessed with something, generally Japanese media)?" Hina Arukado (Arukado is the Japanese spelling of Alucard), is a Romanian vampire obsessed with a vampire anime who moves to Japan to live her otaku life. Hijinks ensue. This first volume was a cute introduction to what should prove to be a fun series that will appeal to fans of either the weird and the wonderful (the vampires) or the self-referential humor and commentary on that other mysterious recluse (the otakus). Hina’s experiences will feel relatable to members of fandom. The art is cute and expressive and the characters all look unique, so this should please shoujo fans.
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Author: Hono Natsuna
Rating: 4/5
Published by Kodansha and available August 6, 2024, Pupposites Attract is something I've never read before-- a dog manga (I've read plenty of cat manga). This is a cute romance centered on two dog owners and their very different dogs and approaches to dog ownership. Dog fans will enjoy the look into human-canine relationships and romance fans will like the growing relationship between the human leads. Ideally, the audience will enjoy both aspects. It's also nice to find a josei series in the wild like this, since the josei (adult woman) demographic is often overlooked.
Title: Hirayasumi Vol. 2
And, perhaps most importantly, the dogs depicted are absolutely adorable and feel like you could reach through the panels to pet them.
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Author: Keigo Shinzo
Rating: 5/5
Published by Viz Media and available August 20, 2024, Hirayasumi Vol. 2 is the followup to a book I reviewed previously. I really loved the first book in this series, so I was excited to get to review the second. I'm pleased to say it's just as good as the first, perhaps even better. This is a series about a laid-back character in a world of stress and anxiety and Hiroto's calm rubs off on the reader, even as it manages to influence the characters around him. The art is unique and all the characters are well-written, and this volume expands on the supporting cast as they experience anxiety, marital strain, and grief. One interesting feature of this series is the text narration, which is uncommon in manga, but here moves the story along and gives insight into the characters. It's an iyashikei (lit. "healing", a genre that focuses on soothing and healing the reader) and moves at a day-to-day pace that we all need from time to time.
