During San Diego Comic Con, I dropped by the Kodansha booth to find the scoop on some current manga that is out, and they passed out their sampler called the Anime Hits! 2017. It sounded promising! It ranged from Aho-Girl to UQ Holder, which gave a wide range of genres to choose from. This blog post is to show my personal opinion on the manga suggested and to give you a quick summary of what to expect from each manga (based off of the chapters provided).
*All ratings below are based off of the chapters provided in the sampler. Personally, I don’t like rating manga/anime, but for this blog post purpose, I will.
Interviews with Monster Girls (Demi-chan wa Kataritai)
Rating: 7
Genre: Comedy, Fantasy, School, Seinen
I’ve always been a fan of the school life genre in anime. It’s always comedic and lighthearted, which could be found in this manga. Interviews with Monster Girls is about Mr. Takahashi, a high school biology teacher, who’s always been fascinated with Demi-Humans, or also known in the manga as, “Demi-chans!” There he eventually meets multiple demi-chans at this school, and ever since then, his life changes.
Personally, I love the art style of this manga, and I’ve been a huge fan of this more I guess, you could say “kawaii” and nice looking. If you are into this same style as me, you will enjoy this manga!
Clockwork Planet
Rating: 7
Genre: Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Shounen
OKAY! Based off of the chapter provided, I have this feeling that I’m going to enjoy this manga. It’s a story about a guy named Naoto who ends up becoming a master to this automation girl named Ryuku. Later he ends up being seen as a terrorist, who gets more wrapped up in this group of terrorists who are more involved with other automation girls…Yes. this has comedy, and it seems that there will be some action involved. I’m going to continue reading this manga, and hope for the best!
Aho-Girl
Rating: 6
Genre: Comedy, Romance, School, Shounen
I’m not even sure how to go about this. xD
Aho-Girl is about a girl named Yoshiko who loves bananas! Like, REALLLYYY LOVEESSS BANANAS! That’s it! HAHA, but really…it’s an enjoyable comedy about her stupidity and love for bananas. It’s definitely an enjoyable read to kill some time and have plenty of laughs.
Welcome to the Ballroom (Ballroom e Youkoso)
Rating: 8
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance, School, Shounen, Sports
This one is hard to say since the chapter they provided in the sampler was already jumped into the manga, but this is based off of what I read.
This story is about a kid named Tatara, who ends up going to a dance studio. This is where he eventually finds his interest in dancing when he tries it out for the first time. He never really enjoyed it, until he saw this video of Sengoku performing. He truly admired his movements and performance, that he understood what was meant by “LOOK AT ME. YOU WILL LOOK AT ME.” From there, it shows his journey into the dance world.
If you guys didn’t know, I use to dance. Seeing that there is a manga/anime based off of anime, rekindles my love for dance. I see the passion that he has in it and seeing other people dance (with passion). It just brings me to this feel of happiness and motivation in everything that I do. If you are like me, I highly suggest this one to check out.
Inuyashiki
Rating: 7?
Genre: Drama, Sci-Fi, Seinen
This manga seems pretty interesting from what I read so far. I don’t understand the story, but all I know is that the dad in this manga is part robot, without realizing it. It just shows him waking up and he starts freaking out because his body starts moving in a way that his body starts transforming into a robot and a weapon of some sort comes out of his arm! HOW CRAZY IS THAT?!
I’m definitely intrigued by this story and want to look into this manga a bit further. MAYBE SOME CRAZY STUFF MIGHT HAPPEN!!
Descending Stories (Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu)
Rating: 6?
Genre: Drama, Josei
It’s weird. It’s really kind of difficult to understand what the story was by the chapter they provided in the sampler. It seems that it talks about a girl and a guy who wants to create stories, and learn from this older gentleman who creates stories. That’s all I took from it.
I understand that it might be better, that’s why I rated it only a 6 with a “question mark.” I feel the potential, but as of right now, it seems like a 6 for me, personally. I will look into reading this manga, and who knows…it might my opinion on this manga might change. xD
Land of the Lustrous (Houseki no Kuni)
Rating: ???
Genre: Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Seinen
This one is another weird one. It’s kind of hard to tell what exactly is going on because one point, you see the main character talking about the land of the lustrous, and before you know it, you see her body fall apart because it’s so brittle. I’m not too sure how to feel about this one, and for that reason, I didn’t even give it a rating yet. -__-
UQ Holder!
Rating: 8
Genre: Action, Fantasy, Magic, Sci-Fi, Shounen
This manga seems so interesting to read! In the chapter provided, it starts of with Tota in front of his friend (I think?). They are both laying on the ground, super bloody and all. They are about to die. In order for Tota to survive, his friend told him to drink his blood. Before you know it, Tota drinks his blood, becomes a monster and defeats this bad guy. Everyone was confused how Tota survived and doesn’t know what happened exactly, but now they are all alive, he saved his friends, and now he is immortal.
It seems that this manga is surrounded with monsters and vampires, so it is definitely an interesting read! I highly suggest it if you are into the action, magical side of anime. I will start reading this manga!
A Silent Voice (Koe no Katachi)
Rating: 9
Genre: Drama, School, Shounen
I’m a huge fan of these Shounen’s, such as A Silent Voice.
This is a story about a kid named Shouya. I guess you can consider him as the class clown. He just messes around and never pays attention in class, but one day, a girl named Shouko transfers into his school. Little that he notices, she is deaf. Because of his boredom, he starts to pick on this girl. Thus begins the story of how their relationship develops throughout the school years at the time and five years later.
If you are into drama, I highly recommend this manga. It’s a great read and you will run through it quickly. And then, watch the film as well. Might as well get hit with the feels TWICE.
I’m glad that I was able to read this sampler from Kodansha Comics. It gave me new manga to read and now, for me to blow more money on manga.. xD
To buy the manga, use the links down below to link you to them on Amazon! 😀
