About the Mangaka

Sorry folks, this is another I couldn’t find anything on. Suzunari seems to be Iwami Shoko’s first foray into serialisation. If you have any info, hit that contact me button!!

About the Manga

Suzunari is cute, the character Suzu is awesome, and the manga as a whole is Kawai!!

Much Like Sunshine Sketch which I reviewed earlier, and S.S Astro that’s upcoming in a few hours, this is a 4-panel series.

I wasn’t all that keen on 4-panel manga to be honest, but after reading this and the above mentioned S.S. Astro, Sunshine Sketch, and Shoulder-a-Coffin Kuro, I’ve grown to really like them. Though I admit they do take a bit of getting used to.

I read an initial review over at Okazu, that had me cringing and wondering if it was going to be bad. The ‘yuri twincest’ thing had me more than a little worried I’ll admit.

However I think I got a different manga to her cause after having read volume one I don’t see any twincest. Though after reading through her post again I’m thinking she missed several elements that were mentioned with in the volume.

One thing to bear in mind with this volume is that it’s crammed full of cultural references that are left intact (thankfully!!) and are explained in the glossary at the back of the volume.

You also need to bear something else in mind, Suzunari is a mishap. It was never meant to be a full volume or even two volumes.

I think that this unexpected long running (it was only supposed to be in three issues apparently) took some time to adjust to.

However while Iwami’s writing is a bit unfocused at times, everything we need is provided.

One thing I love is the art, which is awesome to say the least. The characters are all excellently well drawn, and given the limited space she (I’m guessing Iwami is a women, it feels like a woman’s drawing lol) manages to keep things going concisely.

I do wish her story had been more focused, since towards the end you realise you have a load of questions and possible answers, but nothing firm.

Also, sorry to disappoint those of you hoping for twincest, it’s not there (twincest of course being an incestuous relationship between twins).

Iwami’s story is interesting, and I have to admit I was surprised that she got through the entire first volume without giving anything away. Though as the volume progressed certain things became apparent.

Click the spoiler if you want to know

Suzu is, at a guess, the spirit of a cat Kaede gave her ‘treasure’ to as a child. And said she was sorry because her parents wouldn’t let her take a kitten home.

A God seems to grant the Suzu’s wish to be a human so she can be with Kaede.

Although she’s human now, she still has cat ears, and some of a cats traits, namely she’s very affectionate, especially over Kaede

I wouldn’t really consider their relationship a yuri one, yet, though it has the potential to become one. Personally I think that would spoil the story a bit if it did go down that road. I like the soft shojo-ai feeling the series has at the moment.

Yen did and excellent job on this release, the translation was great, as was the editing. Best of all though no guttering!!! It’s great to read a volume without having to damage the book in the process.

They left the colour pages in as usual, which is great cause they’re awesome!!

The funniest bit for me was at the beginning when Suzu is looking at panties for the first time, and puts them on her head, and as she walks off God wonders if she did something rash >.< For some reason this bit had me in fits of laughter.

One of Erika’s complaints were the accepting parents, and I admit parents like that are annoying. However these types of parents have been used in manga across all the genre’s. One of the more recent one’s I read with similar parents was Rosario + Vampire, they’re pretty much a staple of manga.

At the end we have the obligatory message from the mangaka, and then five pages of translators notes (which you’ll find yourself referring to quite a bit!!)

Followed by a Suzu/Kaede kiss, and a preview of S.S. Astro.

My only problem with this volume, is the type of manga it is. 4-Panel manga all seem to be really thin, around half the size of normal manga; so you read them in next to no time. For these types of manga I sort of wish they’d put two volumes together. But that’s not likely to happen

this one goes on my Essential Read list just because it has a nekogirl in it!!! Well, that and because I genuinely thing it’s an excellent read and well worth buying.

Where to Buy

As always, for the Brits you can head on over to the Book Depository, Waterstones, or the Little Brown Web Store.

For you Yanks and Canadians, head on over to Amazon.com and Amazon.ca