Suzume by Makoto Shinkai, Denki Amashima

3.99 AVERAGE

remembermenever's review

4.25
adventurous hopeful inspiring
Having fallen in love with the film version of Suzume, I was more than excited to read the manga. And it doesn't disappoint! Sure, there are some changes made, mostly due to chapter formatting, but it translated well to the page. The art is very beautiful and captures the essence of the film.

Very much a great read.

heathersloane12's review against another edition

4.0
Suzume was a very sweet manga. While the core of the story is pretty straight forward, the main character is so likable, you can’t help but root for her. This manga has a good combination of sunshine and grumpy and who doesn’t like the crazy feeling of watching a girl try to conceal her talking chair. I personally would have liked a little more deep content, which the story starts to get to, toward the end of the volume. I would happily read more volumes of this story and look forward to seeing how it develops.

jeckehecke's review against another edition

4.0
*I received an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for the free graphic novel.*

I have not watched the movie yet, so bear with me. I loved the wondrous story in this graphic novel even though I was partly confused. I was a bit disappointed that Vol. 1 was so short but that was to be expected. The aesthetics are amazing, I can't wait to watch the movie really!

4 stars

stormysky's review

3.0
adventurous hopeful mysterious slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No
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januaryt123's review

5.0
adventurous funny mysterious fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

jamiefox's review

5.0
adventurous hopeful fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

katelin00's review

4.0
adventurous funny mysterious fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No
Suzume is on my to-watch list on Netflix, and after reading the first volume, I am definitely going to move it up the list. Suzume is a high school girl who encounters Souta, a man looking for some nearby. After giving him directions, she then becomes concerned for his safety and follows him. This leads her to a random door within the ruins and she sets off a chain of events that has her chasing after a magical cat that could bring disaster to the world.

I loved Suzume. She's caring and energetic and was a joy to read. I loved her interactions with Souta and the other side characters as she travels through Japan chasing the cat. Her tragic backstory and connection to the chair really pulled at my heartstrings. The chair is amusing and brings some comedic relief to some tense situations. I wasn't sure about it at first, but then I really enjoyed that little twist. 

The art style is beautiful. The first couple of pages are in color and they were gorgeous. I always enjoy it when a manga has some color pages and sometimes wish the entire manga was colored. I can't wait to watch the movie now. I don't think I'll be able to wait for the additional volumes to come out, but I'm excited to see where the story goes from here. 

Thanks to Netgalley and Kodansha for the ARC.
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chloefrizzle's review

3.0
I love this movie! This manga is a very faithful adaptation of it. I feel like in a way it's too faithful, because part of what makes the movie great is its motion, physicality, and sound effects. The manga tries to copy these faithfully, and it ends up just feeling confusing and cluttered in the attempt. I wish that the manga had leaned in instead to some of the strengths of its own medium.

Thanks to Netgalley and Vertical Comics for a copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

quirky's review against another edition

5.0
If you have seen Suzume as a movie, the manga beautifully captures its essence with captivating illustrations and essential plot points. The characters are likeable, interesting, and relatable, and it reminds me of what I like about the film - creativity, intensity, and brevity.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing a free ARC for review!
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katharine_opal's review

4.0
When I picked this up, I didn't realize it was a manga adaptation of the movie. I haven't watched the movie, and I've only seen trailers and random clips, so I can't fully compare the two just yet. A plucky teenager named Suzume accidentally meets a handsome stranger on the way to school, and it leads to her going on an adventure of a lifetime. The plot pacing for the first volume is a bit off. It starts off slow and slowly ramps up, but somewhere in the middle, it feels like the pace just slams to a stop before jerkily starting up again. I assume this pacing works better in the movie, but again, can't compare. I really adored the art, however. The art was honestly the high point of this story for me!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!