Take 2 – Extra winter manga minis!

Hey, did you read this month’s manga minis column? There was so much available that I wanted to cover and it’s jampacked with great stuff. So much so that I decided to make an extra winter manga minis column with even more manga reviews! Check them out below!

Rooster Fighter Volume 3 (VIZ Media)

Why is a parody of shonen manga with chickens one of the best manga out right now? Because it’s amazing and does a great job with its foundations, that’s why. Rooster Fighter’s third volume continues Keiji, Elizabeth, and Chicken Little’s journeys to eradicate demons. However, some complications further the characterization of these characters, with some new introductions to boot.

The story smartly chooses to restrict the trio’s movements to a single town due to salaryman neet Ibokura. His viral video of Keiji’s actions previously inspired numerous passerby to try and captured the superpowered rooster and friends. After a fight, Keiji briefly separates from Elizabeth and Chicken Little and meets Morio, a peculiarly docile demon. Meanwhile, Elizabeth and Chicken Little try to save a girl and her grandfather as their town gets rained out.

I enjoyed that the narrative takes its time to drink in the scenery of one setting for these next chapters. The temporary split also gives us two connected storylines to follow, and uses its recurring characters well. From Morio shaking Elizabeth and Keiji’s “kill-all-demons” beliefs to Chicken Little helping immensely, I love the character development here! The other one-shot characters feel important wit their screentime and don’t overstay their welcome. The art style is as grandiose as ever, with some amazing disaster scenes drawn in the last chapters.

This third volume of Rooster Fighter is the best one yet, and I’m waiting for more very cluckin’ soon!

Rating: 5 out of 5 UwUs

Doomsday With My Dog Volume 1 (Yen Press)

Let’s get a little dystopian for our extra winter manga minis. I recommended Doomsday With My Dog in a recent HIDIVE column and praised its wit regardless of its limited animation. Yen Press recently released the manga in the west, and it’s a fun introduction to a comfy apocalypse.

This manga centers around a Shiba Inu named Haru and his master, an unnamed girl with whom he travels. The series is an assorted collection of 4-koma strips which highlight a rather cozy post-apocalyptic setting. The trappings for a scary setting are present (mainly, there aren’t any human survivors other than Haru’s master). However, it becomes a slice-of-life (mainly, there are tons of other nonhuman creatures with whom the duo interacts). In addition, Haru and his master go on wild philosophical tangents about life and their current situations. This reminded me of King of Eden, though it feels less organic here due to how relaxed the setting is.

I appreciate the full color pages for this manga, which isn’t the norm for the medium. The art style is crisp and cute, with some panels rife for being great reaction pictures. However, I still need some convincing for the relationship between the two characters. There is a heartfelt moment in the final story, a parallel universe where Haru dies and the world didn’t end. This is a good foundation for a gag manga, and I’m curious to see where the next volume goes.

Rating: 3 out of 5 UwUs

My Sister, the Cat Volume 1 (Seven Seas)

Coming from apocalyptic slice-of-life, we shift to… furry slice-of-life? My Sister, the Cat is one of the cutest cat-themed manga I’ve read recently. (This is coming from a “A Man and His Cat” stan). There isn’t much to say about it except it’s adorable and I loved every page of it.

Nekota is your average Japanese schoolboy… that lives with a family of anthropomorphic cats. Adopted when his mother died, Nekota is joined by younger feline sister Neneko and her father and mother. In this volume, readers will navigate the cute and cuddly lives of the family. While focused on Neneko and Nekota, both the mother and father cat participate in family hijinks as well. While a lot of the chapters are one-and-done self-contained stories, there’s enough meat on each to make memorable.

Odd furry logic aside (it seems that there’s a few families that have anthro cats and humans living together), this is such an adorable manga. Neneko and Nekota’s dynamic is one of the cutest I’ve seen, and the whole family has this amazing synergy with each other. There are also some emotional moments with Nekota’s backstory without dragging the mood of the manga. It’s also amazing how the story can show Neneko and her father’s emotions perfectly as they’re both non-verbal. This is deserving of all its UwUs!

Rating: 4 out of 5 UwUs

Tatsuki Fujimoto Before Chainsaw Man: 22-26 (VIZ Media)

With this extra winter manga minis, we’re continuing our journey of one of the coolest mangaka right now. Oh hey, another collection of Tatuki Fujimoto one-shots before Chainsaw Man! Like the last volume, this collection features one-shots from the author’s earlier years. While it’s a nice look into the younger mind of Fujimoto, the 22-26 era feels a little less distinct.

Tatsuki Fujimoto Before Chainsaw Man: 22-26 contains four stories new to western readers. Mermaid Rhapsody is about a boy who plays piano for a mermaid while navigating the ravenous nature of the species. Woke-Up-As-A-Girl-Syndrome’s about a man who wakes up as a girl to the shock of him, his girlfriend, and everyone else. Nayuta of the Prophecy puts our protagonist in charge his sister who bring about the end of the world. Finally, Sisters asks the question, “What if your younger sister draws you nude and it wins awards?”

One of these is not like the others. However, it’s not for the reason you think.

The problem I have with this volume is that all these stories are inferior to Fujimoto’s later works. Woke-Up-As-A-Girl-Syndrome? Togata’s arc in Fire Punch is a much better exploration of gender roles. Nayuta of the Prophecy? Chainsaw Man’s redesign is a better starting point. Even Sisters with its goofy take on one-upping each other is more emotional when Look Back does it. (Fujimoto evens says Sisters is foundational to Look Back.) Oddly enough, Mermaid Rhapsody becomes my favorite of these one-shots because there isn’t a distinct parallel.

The art style feels more in line with his serialized work (which makes sense, considering he’s found his style). However, it makes the anthology feel too similar to each other, which doesn’t make for an entertaining read. Also, the last story has some uncomfortably sensitive elements regarding its subject matter, and I felt like both sisters were unlikeable.

If you’re a fan of Tatsuki Fujimoto, it’s worth a read. However, I would recommend the first collection if you could only choose one.

Rating: 2 out of 5 UwUs

Everything is Fine Volume 1 (Webtoon Unscrolled)

To close out our extra winter manga minis column, we’ve got an upcoming Webtoon physical release! I love dystopian thrillers, can’t get enough of them. In addition, I especially love the classic 1950s aesthetic, so something like WandaVision was up my alley in 2021. I was able to check out Everything is Fine from the Webtoon Unscrolled line of titles recently. This is a new initiative that allows popular Webtoons to be published in physical form.

Sam and Maggie are your normal suburban couple with a dog named Winston and a lovely set of neighbors. It’s a perfect, idyllic life.

Except the dog’s dead.

From the first strip, it’s clear that something is amiss. Maggie starts to snap out of her stupor and convinces her husband that something is wrong. (After all, they’re wearing oversized cat heads.) What follows is the duo trying to figure out what’s happening as well as who anyone, including themselves, truly is. While the first few strips take a while to get interesting, the slow start breaks by the end. I enjoyed how uncomfortable the contrast between peaceful cathead suburbia and horrific 1984-esque thought-crime was.

Because I was enthralled with this story, I caught up to the current arc on the Webtoon app. However, this also cemented my opinion that the Webtoon Unscolled edition is inferior to the digital one. The translation from app to book is a messy one, and there’s a ton of white space on the panels. I’m therefore giving a demerit (er… frownie?) of one point to my overall rating. The biggest omission (due to physical paper’s limitations) is the lack of sporadic music when reading certain strips. I went back on the app to read some of the earlier storylines to compare, and didn’t realize this. The inclusion of music during certain events had an unnerving effect that immersed me in the story. You won’t get that in this printed copy, which is a shame.

This collected Webtoon Unscrolled edition is a serviceable way to enjoy Everything is Fine. However, there are some things that make it a slightly worse experience.

Rating: 3 out of 5 UwUs

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