Title: One Piece, Omnibus, Vol. 1 Author: Eiichiro Oda Genre: Manga Publisher: Viz Media Source: Purchased Format: Paperback Release Date: December 1, 2009 Rating: ★★★★★
Goodreads Synopsis:
Get Ready to Set Sail!
As a child, Monkey D. Luffy dreamed of becoming King of the Pirates. But his life changed when he accidentally ate the Gum-Gum Fruit, an enchanted Devil Fruit that gave him the ability to stretch like rubber. Its only drawback? He’ll never be able to swim again–a serious handicap for an aspiring sea dog! Years later, Luffy sets off on his quest to find the “One Piece,” said to be the greatest treasure in the world…
The treasure trove of high seas adventures just got bigger with this collection of the first three volumes of One Piece!
Review:
I decided to try this manga to see what all the hype was about and it didn’t disappoint! It was a cute pirate story with many laugh out loud moments! I’m so glad I finally read it. Now I’m excited to watch the tv show adaptations!
Have you read One Piece, Omnibus, Vol. 1? What did you think of it?
Title: JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Part 7 – Steel Ball Run, Vol. 1 Author: Hirohiko Araki Genre: Graphic Novel, Manga, Historical Fiction Publisher: Viz Media Source: Publisher Format: Hardcover Release Date: May 27, 2025 Rating: ★★★★
Goodreads Synopsis:
A multigenerational tale of the heroic Joestar family and their never-ending battle against evil!
The legendary Shonen Jump series is now available in deluxe hardcover editions featuring color pages! JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure is a groundbreaking manga famous for its outlandish characters, wild humor, and frenetic battles.
Riders from around the world gather in the Wild West for the race of the century! Johnny Joestar, a former jockey paralyzed from the waist down, comes to spectate, and momentarily regains the ability to walk while watching a duel fought by Gyro Zeppeli. Desperate to learn more about this power, Johnny joins the race alongside Gyro and embarks on the most epic and bizarre race to ever cross the American frontier!
Review:
This was quite an original manga! I’d never read any of the JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure stories before this one, so I didn’t know what to expect. This was a fun story, with many horseback riders racing across the U.S. in 1890 for a 50 million dollar prize! The graphics were very detailed, but sometimes it was difficult to figure out what was happening with so much happening in each panel.
Steel Ball Run, Vol. 1 is an exciting manga!
Thank you Viz Media for providing a copy of this book as part of a paid campaign!
Have you read JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Part 7 – Steel Ball Run, Vol. 1? What did you think of it?
Title: Dogsred, Vol. 1 Author: Satoru Noda Genre: Manga, Young Adult Publisher: Viz Media Source: Publisher Format: Paperback Release Date: March 18, 2025 Rating: ★★★★★
Goodreads Synopsis:
Ice hockey action from the creator of Golden Kamuy!
Rou once chased figure-skating glory. Now he chases redemption in the ice hockey rink.
After winning the national championship, 15-year-old figure skater Rou Shirakawa was on his way to the Olympics. But with his mother’s tragic death on his mind, he threw it all away in an outburst of rage. Banned from figure skating, he and his sister move to Hokkaido. When he meets some local kids at the skating pond, they convince him to be a stand-in player for their soon-to-be-disbanded hockey team. The team has never won a game, and they’re up against the local champs—but if they’ve got to go down, they want to score at least one goal before it’s all over. Rou hasn’t got a clue how to play ice hockey, but he sure knows how to skate!
Review:
In this manga, a promising young figure skater, Rou, gives up his future of skating at the Olympics after his mother passes away. Even though he doesn’t want to figure skate anymore because it reminds him of his mother, he still skates on his own and some kids talk him into playing hockey with them. I liked that Rou didn’t completely give up his passion of skating. He found a different way to skate in a new sport. There were some hints of what’s to come at the end of the story, of Rou possibly joining a hockey team.
Dogsred, Vol. 1 is a great start to this manga series!
Thank you Viz Media and Bookinfluencers.com for providing a copy of this book for a paid campaign!
Content warnings: death of parent (off page)
Have you read Dogsred, Vol. 1? What did you think of it?
Title: Beyblade X, Vol. 1 Author: Homura Kawamoto, Hikaru Muno, Posuka Demizu Genre: Manga, Young Adult Publisher: Viz Media Source: Publisher Format: Paperback Release Date: January 14, 2025 Rating: ★★★★★
Goodreads Synopsis:
Who will rise to the top of The X in the ultimate Beyblade showdown?!
Bladers are ready to battle it out! They’ve set their sights on the top of The X tower and prepare to fight their way to victory. With new technology and powerful opponents entering the arena, Beyblades are pushed to their extremes as they race through a new era.
Amateur Blader Robin Kazami is left without a team after a crushing defeat. Things start to look up when he runs into former Beyblade champion Jaxon Cross, who is on his own journey to fight back to the top of The X tower under the alias “Blader X.” This unlikely duo teams up and vows to rise to the top of Beyblade!
Review:
This was such a fun manga! It’s about kids who compete in Beyblade tournaments. I didn’t play with Beyblades much as a kid, but a lot of my friends did. This book reminded me of playing during recess in elementary school. I think this book will make adult readers nostalgic and introduce young readers to the game!
Beyblade X, Vol. 1 is a great YA manga!
Thank you Viz Media and Bookinfluencers.com for providing a copy of this book as part of a paid campaign!
Have you read Beyblade X, Vol. 1? What did you think of it?
Title: The Stories of Edgar Allan Poe (Manga Classics) Author: Edgar Allan Poe, Stacy King Genre: Manga, Horror, Short Stories Publisher: Udon Entertainment Source: Publisher via NetGalley Format: Ebook Release Date: October 17, 2017 Rating: ★★★★★
Goodreads Synopsis:
The Stories of Edgar Allan Poe is a brilliant collection of some of his best-known stories: The Tell Tale Heart (a murder’s haunting guilt), illustrated by Virginia Nitouhei The Cask of Amontillado (a story of brilliant revenge), and illustrated by Chagen The Fall of the House of Usher (an ancient house full of very dark secretes), illustrated by Linus Liu and Man Yiu
Also included in this collection are The Mask of the Red Death (horrors of ‘the Plague’), as illustrated by Uka Nagao, and the most famous of all his poems, The Raven (a lover’s decline into madness), illustrated by Pikomaro.
Best read in a dimly-lit room with the curtains drawn, Poe’s brilliant works come to life in darkly thrilling ways in this Manga Classic adaptation.
Review:
This is a manga collection of some of Edgar Allan Poe’s best short stories. They include: The Tell Tale Heart, The Cask of Amontillado, The Raven, The Mask of the Red Death, and The Fall of the House of Usher.
These stories are some of my favourite short stories. They are all descriptive and have lots of imagery that translates well to illustrations. I loved revisiting these classic stories and seeing them illustrated for the first time.
The Stories of Edgar Allan Poe (Manga Classics) is a great manga adaptation of his classic horror stories.
Thank you Udon Entertainment for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
What to read next:
Jane Eyre (Manga Classics) by Charlotte Brontë, Stacy King
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, Stacy King
Have you read The Stories of Edgar Allan Poe (Manga Classics)? What did you think of it?
Title: Anne of Green Gables (Manga Classics) Author: Crystal Chan, Kuma Chan (illustrator), L.M. Montgomery Genre: Manga Publisher: Manga Classics Source: Publisher via NetGalley Format: Ebook Release Date: September 1, 2020 Rating: ★★★★★
Goodreads Synopsis:
Siblings Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert were planning to adopt an orphaned boy to help out around their farm, Green Gables – instead, they got Anne Shirley. A plucky redheaded girl with a vibrant imagination, Anne turns first Green Gables and then the rest of Prince Edward Island on its ear.
Manga Classics® is proud to be the only authorized manga adaption of Anne of Green Gables by the Heirs of L.M. Montgomery, with a foreword by Kate McDonald Butler – granddaughter of the original author!
This volume presents a faithful recreation of this classic kids novel, from the Lake of Shining Waters to the Dryad’s Bubble!
Review:
Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert are adult siblings who wanted to adopt an orphaned boy to help around their house. When Matthew goes to pick up the boy, he finds a girl named Anne instead. They aren’t sure if they want to keep her, but they soon realize they can’t send Anne away. Anne’s imagination keeps them on their toes, but they eventually become a loving family.
I haven’t read Anne of Green Gables since I was a child. It’s a fun Canadian classic. Reading this as an adult, I appreciated Anne’s carefree attitude. There were a few scenes which seem absurd for a children’s book today. One of Marilla’s friend told Anne she was ugly when she first met her. Then Anne had to apologize when she snapped at the woman. I can’t imagine an adult being that rude to a child when they first meet them. There was another scene where Anne accidentally gets her friend drunk when she comes over for tea. This was a funny misunderstanding, but not appropriate for a modern children’s story.
One interesting part of this book was that it had a foreword from the granddaughter of L.M. Montgomery. Her heirs authorized this adaptation of the story, which makes it extra special. I’m glad that they appreciated the way this book has been adapted into a new form.
This is a great Anne of Green Gables adaptation!
Thank you Manga Classics for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
What to read next:
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
Pride and Prejudice (Manga Classics) by Stacy King, Po Tse (artist), Jane Austen
Have you read Anne of Green Gables (Manga Classics)? What did you think of it?
Title: Fangirl, Vol. 1: The Manga Author: Sam Maggs, Rainbow Rowell, Gabi Nam (illustrator) Genre: Manga, Young Adult Publisher: VIZ Media Source: Purchased Format: Paperback Release Date: October 13, 2020 Rating: ★★★★★
Goodreads Synopsis:
The manga adaptation of the beloved novel by #1 Bestselling author Rainbow Rowell! New York Journal of Books
Cath is a Simon Snow fan. Okay, everybody is a Simon Snow fan, but for Cath, being a fan is her life. Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath just can’t let go. Now that they’re in college, Cath must decide if she’s ready to start living her own life. But does she even want to if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?
Cath doesn’t need friends IRL. She has her twin sister, Wren, and she’s a popular fanfic writer in the Simon Snow community with thousands of fans online. But now that she’s in college, Cath is completely outside of her comfort zone. There are suddenly all these new people in her life. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming boyfriend, a writing professor who thinks fanfiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome new writing partner … And she’s barely heard from Wren all semester!
Review:
Cath writes fanfiction for her favourite fantasy series about Simon Snow. When she goes to university, she brings her favourite Simon Snow memorabilia. Her twin sister also started at the same university, but she wants them to have some distance and meet new people at school. Cath misses her sister and she lives with a grumpy roommate. Her roommate doesn’t understand her obsession with Simon Snow and has a boyfriend who is always around. Cath starts to feel settled in her writing classes when she gets a writing partner. Though Cath loves writing fanfiction, she soon finds out that that kind of story won’t work in her creative writing class.
I loved Fangirl when I read the novel a few years ago. Anyone who has been involved in any kind of fandom can relate to Cath’s obsession with Simon Snow. She uses her Simon Snow fanfiction as a way to express herself. She even has a fan base of her own, with thousands of people reading each of her chapter updates.
This is a great adaptation. At the end of the book, it said that it was part one of four, so I’m hoping there will be three more parts in this series. Since this was a manga adaptation of Fangirl, it was almost like a kind of fanfiction, even though it’s an official adaptation.
I really enjoyed this manga!
What to read next:
Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
Carry On by Rainbow Rowell
Have you read Fangirl, Vol. 1? What did you think of it?
Title: Spy x Family, Vol. 2 Author: Tatsuya Endo Genre: Manga Publisher: VIZ Media Source: Publisher via NetGalley Format: Ebook Release Date: September 1, 2020 Rating: ★★★★★
Goodreads Synopsis:
An action-packed comedy about a fake family that includes a spy, an assassin and a telepath!
Master spy Twilight is the best at what he does when it comes to going undercover on dangerous missions in the name of a better world. But when he receives the ultimate impossible assignment—get married and have a kid—he may finally be in over his head!
Twilight must infiltrate the prestigious Eden Academy to get close to his target Donovan Desmond, but does his daughter Anya even have the academic prowess to get in to the school? But perhaps the truly impossible mission is making sure Anya becomes a school scholar and befriends Donovan’s arrogant son, Damian!
Review:
Twilight is a master spy who has created a fake family to infiltrate an exclusive private school. Twilight’s daughter, a secret telepath, was sent to the private school so she can become friends with his target’s son. However, she has a big fight with the boy on the first day. This mission is much harder than Twilight expected.
This was another fun spy story in this series. This story jumped right into the action, since all of the characters were introduced in the first one. The story in this book seemed to have a faster pace than the first one, probably because the action began right on the first page.
Twilight’s daughter, Anya, was adorable. She can read people’s minds, but her parents don’t know that. Sometimes she would get overwhelmed by listening to her parents’ thoughts and their conflicting feelings. Though she had these complex thoughts, she was still just a little girl. When she got her new uniform she had to run around the park and show it off to everyone there. She was a sweet little character.
This is a great story. It ended with a cliffhanger, so I’m excited to see what happens next.
Thank you VIZ Media for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Title: Not Your Idol, Vol. 2 Author: Aoi Makino Genre: Manga Publisher: Viz Media Source: Publisher via NetGalley Format: Ebook Release Date: September 1, 2020 Rating: ★★★★
Goodreads Synopsis:
A psychological suspense series about a girl who has given up her life as an idol after being assaulted by a fan.
After that day, she stopped being a girl. In the wake of an assault, Nina Kamiyama, a former idol in the group Pure Club, shuns her femininity and starts dressing as a boy. At high school she keeps to herself, but fellow student Hikaru Horiuchi realizes who she is. What secrets is she keeping? The shocking drama starts.
“This is exactly why she got herself stabbed by a fan.”
Heartbroken Nina Kamiyama is a former idol. She’s decided to live her life by keeping her past identity a secret, but her situation intensifies when another discovers who she really is. Who can she trust?
Review:
Nina Kamiyama is a former pop idol, who left the group Pure Club after she was attacked by a fan. She disguised herself as a boy and started attending a regular high school. At the end of the last volume, someone threatened to reveal her identity. Her friend Hikaru had some photos of her in his bag, so Nina’s friends think he can’t be trusted. Another student at their school, Miku, is also threatened with someone sending her secret photos of her walking down the street. Miku doesn’t feel safe walking by herself, so she gets Hikaru to walk her home. However, he can’t protect her all the time.
This was an intense story. The themes of sexual assault were introduced in the first volume, but they became much more prominent in this volume. Nina is still recovering from the post traumatic stress of being attacked by a fan. Hikaru’s sister was sexually harassed by her teacher, but when she spoke up, she wasn’t taken seriously. Other students were randomly attacked as well, but they were shamed into keeping it a secret. This is a disturbing reality for many girls.
The sexual exploitation of girls was also an important part of the story. When Nina was in the pop group, Pure Club, they had to pose for lingerie photos to give out the male fans. They were young girls and it was extremely inappropriate to put them in these revealing outfits and positions. This has happened to many young female performers, and still happens today. These kinds of photos also make men think they have permission to do whatever they want to the young women. This story showed the aftermath of putting girls in these kinds of situations.
This is a great story!
Thank you Viz Media for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Title: Komi Can’t Communicate, Vol. 2 Author: Tomohito Oda Genre: Manga, Contemporary Publisher: VIZ Media Source: Library Format: Ebook Release Date: August 13, 2009 Rating: ★★★★
Goodreads Synopsis:
The journey to 100 friends begins with a single conversation.
Socially anxious high school student Shoko Komi’s greatest dream is to make some friends, but everyone at school mistakes her crippling social anxiety for cool reserve! With the whole student body keeping their distance and Komi unable to utter a single word, friendship might be forever beyond her reach.
It’s time for the national health exam at Itan High, and the excitement of eye exams and height measurements have fanned the flames of competition for the unremarkable Makeru Yadano. She’s determined to beat the class idol Komi in the health test, and Komi’s total obliviousness to their impassioned duel just feeds Makeru’s determination. As the epic battle heats up, how will Komi handle her first rival when she’s barely made her first friends?!
Review:
Komi is still on her quest to have 100 friends. She also still can’t communicate with others, so making new friends is a challenge. Komi is idolized by other students, such as Makeru who wants to “beat” Komi in the health exam at school. Along with her few friends, Komi goes outside of her comfort zone to meet new people and have new experiences.
Komi does a variety of things she’s never done before in this story. She goes to a ramen restaurant, where she faces the challenge of having to order her food without speaking. She also goes shopping for clothes, which she has never done before. Even though these outings were outside of Komi’s comfort zone, she was still open to trying new things.
It’s interesting to see how other people interpret Komi’s lack of communication. Most people thought Komi wouldn’t speak to them because she was entitled and popular. They didn’t realize that she can’t speak to them. Komi is actually extremely shy and can’t speak. She didn’t think she was better than everyone else, which is what they interpreted from her silence.
I enjoyed this manga!
What to read next:
Komi Can’t Communicate, Vol. 3 by Tomohito Oda
Not Your Idol, Vol. 1 by Aoi Makino
Have you read Komi Can’t Communicate, Vol. 2? What did you think of it?
Jill's Book Blog 