sci-fi

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Lenni Reviews: “Tokyo Alien Bros” Vol. 1, by Keigo Shinzō

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review and suggested for mature readers.

Two alien brothers Fuyunosuke and Natsutaro are living on Earth in order to gain more information about the human race. Fuyunosuke is trying to help Natsutaro blend in to the life he’s built while still maintaining the mission to his superiors.

I was expecting some wacky fish out of water shenanigans and while there is that, there’s this lingering feeling that something is off. And I don’t mean the odd toilet “humor” (I can’t believe I need to say this but: trigger waring for piss drinking). The “brothers” have a classic funny/straight guy dynamic and the art style handles the uncanny eeriness of what these aliens are up to. This isn’t like Villain’s Day Off where it’s fairly light hearted and cute. This made me feel like there was always something lurking behind the scenes. 3.9 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “My Name Is Shingo: The Perfect Edition” Vol. 3, by Kazuo Umezz

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

Marin and Satoru’s run away is foiled and they are separated once again. Satoru visits Monroe who is now self aware and in danger of being demolished.

Trigger warning for dog death and some gory violence.

Now with the kids apart, the focus is now on Monroe and what it’s learning. And what it’s learning isn’t… Great. It’s not the worst humanity has to offer but it certainly isn’t the best. I honestly did not expect the level of violence in this volume since the others never went there. Marin’s parents are their usual useless selves so chalk up another trigger warning for attempted sexual assault and generally shitty parenting. 4 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Fool Night” Vol. 2. by Kasumi Yasuda

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

After electing to under go transfloration and acquiring strange abilities, Kamia makes the decision to make the best of the remaining two years of his life and find real meaning, declining to aid Hourai in investigating a series of murders committed by a spiriflor.

I have to admit, a murder mystery was not where I’d expected this to go but it’s very interesting. It’s already been established that these plants still retain some semblance of consciousness since Kamia can communicate with them but they’re not supposed to be able to move, much less hunt down victims to kill. They have mentioned a possibility of a mutation of some kind but ugh. No wonder there’s a movement against this procedure. And the design of the creature reminds me of Ajin. I like it. 3 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “My Name Is Shingo: The Perfect Edition” Vol. 2, by Kazuo Umezz

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

Satoru and Marin are still teaching the computer, Monroe, until the factory owner gets rid of the staff in favor of the machines, putting Satrou’s father out of work and Marin’s parents want to leave the country.

This volume is fucking wild. There’s the Romeo and Juliet vibe with Satoru and Marin, the machine giving creepy answers, and the adults being absolute dick heads as if they needed to fill in Satoru’s insufferable personality from the previous volume. Then the tone gets super fucking dark and these kids are in real danger. The carefree silliness of a couple of kids playing with a fun machine is smothered by the tension and while I did have whiplash, it’s a compelling read. 4 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Fool Night” Vol. 1, by Kasumi Yasuda

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

In a world where the sun is gone, humanity’s last hope is Transfloration: a process by which human beings are turned into plants to produce precious oxygen for the rest of the population. With a crappy job and a sick mother, Kamiya considers volunteering in exchange for enough money to change whatever life he has left.

This has some impressively creepy body horror and a compelling premise. This is a great first volume; even addressing the moral implications of the Transfloration program. It gets you immersed in the world building and starts toying with the complications and problems with this system right away so, it’s not fucking around. Trigger warning for child abuse and again, body horror. This feels like it’s gonna get wild and I’m ready for it. 4 out of 5.

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Writing Update! Plans going forward.

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So, since my money situation is not good, I am going to be releasing my next book in chapters as I finish them on my Patreon under the $5 membership tier. I am aiming for one chapter a month that’s as polished as I can make it. Be aware, this book is in progress. Once I finally release the completed book, things may be reorganized and absolutely will be re-edited. It’s been awhile since I continued my first series and I’m actually excited to get back to it!

I’m also still working on that dystopian librarian story and brainstorming some ideas for the Djinn, Fruit of the Dead, Go Away Girls, and Gods in the Grey City series. Sometimes it surprises me how many series I have going right now… These are also all available here on my blog if you want to check them out.

Yes, this is ambitious considering I work full time, overtime, looking into remote part time work, and still reviewing books all the while with a teenager but it’s clear that just one job isn’t going to keep a roof over our heads. I’m gonna have to push myself to write as much as possible. Hopefully, you all enjoy it!

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Lenni Reviews: “Mutant Cats” Vol. 1, by Matthew Medney, Alex Arizmendi & Morgan Rosenblum

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

Mutant Labs is hard at work on The Cluster; a project that will provide renewable energy that’s small enough to hold in your hand. The device is composed of a threat that draws power from other universes. Flux and his team are under huge pressure to get it completed in three days and the rush inevitably causes an interdimensional catastrophe (pun not intended but appreciated).

Edgy teenage me probably would have gotten a kick out of this. From the Garbage Pail Kids kind of art to the Bored Ape parodies and frequent foul language; it would be a blast and a half for a brief moment but for me, it garnered a smirk here and there. I didn’t like it but I didn’t hate it either and once it was done, I completely forgot about it until I came back to type up this review. I don’t think it’s “low brow” but it is low hanging fruit in regards to humor even though some of the alternate universe stuff was interesting. 2.5 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Choujin X” Vol. 5, by Sui Ishida

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

Tokio, Ely, and Azuma go to Beast Isles to train, a place owned by the Yamato Mori. They get attacked and taken to see the founder of the Yamato Mori, Sora Siruha.

This volume was really interesting. There’s plenty of action and some funny moments but I don’t know how I feel about this big chosen one prophesy thing. I like the little twist on it but the previous volumes had the theme of maybe the chosen one thing isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Tokio is trying hard to find his way  because he always saw Asuma as a sort of chosen one but he got powers and has to work very hard to be competent; much less a golden child. I dunno, we’ll see. 4 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Takopi’s Original Sin” by Taizan5

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review and is recommended for mature readers. Trigger warnings for suicide, child abuse, and bullying.

An alien, Takopi, arrives on Earth with the mission to spread happiness through the universe. His first subject is Shizuka, a 4th grader with a terrible life. However, Takopi’s misguided and simplistic attempts leave misery in it’s wake.

This is a rough read. I’ve seen people call it “misery porn” and given how much time is spent watching our main cast miserable and hurting only to have a rushed conclusion (that I kinda understand but it still feels rushed to me). I have to agree. I tried to embrace that last crumb of positivity but I felt exhausted by the end of this. If you’d like to try this one out, be aware of the trigger warnings and have something fun to read afterwards. 3.7 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Asadora!” Vol. 7, by Naoki Urasawa

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

The creature appears in Tokyo Bay ready to attack but the crowds from the Olympics keep Asa from getting there to help, losing precious time to stop the monster before it reaches land. Meanwhile, Shota is still struggling with the high expectations with his running.

Even though we didn’t get much progress on whatever’s going on with the kaiju, more of this is about Asa and Shota. Shota is inspired by Asa and not handling it well; twisting it into some dangerous habits and Asa is really coming into her own and becoming stronger. While I do wish we learned more about the monster, the character development is satisfying. 4 out of 5.

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