“CORE EXPOSED”

Outer space, the far future.

A lone seed ship, the Sidonia, plies the void, ten centuries since the obliteration of the solar system. The massive, nearly indestructible, yet barely sentient alien life forms that destroyed humanity’s home world continue to pose an existential threat.

Nagate Tanikaze has only known life in the vessel’s bowels deep below the sparkling strata where humans have achieved photosynthesis and new genders. Not long after he emerges from the Underground, however, the youth is bequeathed a treasured legacy by the spaceship’s coolheaded female captain.

Meticulously drawn, peppered with clipped humor, but also unusually attentive to plot and structure for the international cult favorite, Knights of Sidonia may be Tsutomu Nihei’s most accessible work to date even as it hits notes of tragic grandeur as a hopeless struggle for survival unfolds. (Cover and synopsis from Goodreads.)

I didn’t have many notes for either of these mangas, so I’m just going to write mini reviews of each, where I share what I liked and didn’t like about each.

What I Liked:

• Pretty cool premise.
• I really like the artwork!
• Some really crazy parts. In a good way.

What I Didn’t Like So Much:

• A lot of this story was confusing. Cool, but confusing.
• Some crazy and pretty unrealistic parts. I mean, it’s sci-fi so obvs you have to suspend your disbelief but some parts just seemed a bit too convenient.
• VERY CONFUSING.

My rating for Knights of Sidonia 1 by Tsutomu Nihei:

4 stars. I was confused a lot but the premise was really cool. I love sci-fi so it really appealed to me.

Title: Black Butler, Vol. 1
Author: Yana Toboso
Series: Black Butler #1
Publisher: Yen Press, an imprint of Hachette Book Group, Inc.
Publication Date: 2007
Pages: 192
Format/Source: Paperback Manga/Library 

Age Group/Genre: Young Adult/Fantasy, Supernatural

In the Victorian ages of London The Earl of the Phantomhive house, Ciel Phantomhive, needs to get his revenge on those who had humiliated him and destroyed what he loved. Not being able to do it alone he sells his soul to a demon he names Sebastian Michaelis. Now working as his butler, Sebastian must help the Earl Phantomhive in this suspenseful, exciting, thriller manga. (Cover and synopsis from Goodreads.)

What I Liked:

• Bonus Points for characters playing pool! (50,000 points)
• It definitely got more interesting as it went on. The first couple of chapters (or whatever it is divided by–I can’t remember) were very boring, IMO.
• Good artwork, although Ciel looks like a girl at times. Which is fine, just confusing at times.

What I Didn’t Like So Much:

• Slow pacing at the beginning.
• Very cutesy. I don’t mind a bit of cutesy-ness but this seems like too much.
• Kind of weird before you realize what’s going on. And after I realized what was going on, I’m not sure there was enough to get me to pick up more volumes.

My rating for Black Butler, Vol. 1 by Yana Toboso:

3 stars. I don’t know if I’ll pick up the other volumes, but it did get more interesting towards the end of this volume.