science fiction manga

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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: “Jungle Juice” Vol. 3, by Hyeong Eun & Juder

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

After dealing with Breeder and his cohorts, Nest is preparing for an all out war with the shady organization called Pet Shop. To try and find out more about them, Nest decides to hold a tournament to select the best freshman to be scouts.

The tournament is a decent plot point but it’s clearly designed to have more fun powers on display and get to know the cast more, and it does the job. The cast is diverse and interesting enough and the stakes are high enough to keep things exciting so, this volume flies by. There’s a bit of fanservice but the action is awesome. this series really shines in it’s fight scenes. 4 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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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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