Natsumi Mukai

In this, the first collected volume of Natsumi Mukai's popular manga series, crow-winged Cooro searches for other outcasts like himself, Anima who can assume the caracteristics of a particular animal at will. Along his journey, he collects the sometimes-merman Husky, a large bear-like protector named Senri, and a cute little girl named Nana who can manifest the ears and wings of a bat. Each of the four stand-alone chapters in this manga recounts a quickly-resolved adventure on Cooro's show more journey and concludes with him collecting another companion. While bearing all the hallmarks of a high fantasy quest story, Cooro's mismatched band of anima seem to have no particular purpose or goal and are constantly becoming entangled in the problems of whatever village they come across. The very last scene in the last chapter hints at an evolving story arc, but this volume seems mostly concerned with assembling the players and establishing their back stories (even if, in some cases, this just means alluding to a "dark past").

The illustrations in this manga seemed more coherent than most. The stylized faces and intricate body decoration seem fairly typical of the genre and were here effectively employed to describe people with fantastical, sometimes frightening, attributes. Unlike in some mangas, this artwork was clearly intended to be seen in black and white and so lacks some of the smudgy grayscale of other series.

Fun, humorous, and full of action and adventure, this manga series will appeal to ages 10-14. While rated teen for some violence and suggestive humor, I think it would be appropriate for slightly younger audiences. Furthermore, the themes of alienation and discrimination that the anima face will dovetail well with the emerging self-awareness of the tween set. show less

It seems that the Senri arc just won't end, not that I'm complaining. At the beginning of the book, I was sure that we would be learning more and more about Husky. Apparently we'll have to wait for that. Senri is my favorite character, but I'd like to learn more about the other characters.
This book also goes into the theories behind slavery. It discusses how people thought, and still think, that whomever they enslave would be worse off without them. No matter how kind the master,a slave is a show more slave.
The series never ceases to draw me in, and I can't wait for the next book. show less

+ Anima is a fantasy manga series about a group of children who possess different animal traits, referred to as +anima. In a world that is often mistrustful and cruel to other +anima, Cooro, a boy with black wings like a crow's, travels the world encountering others like him.

Like many stories about people who are outcast because of special abilities, this series deals mainly with the group of +anima trying to find a place where they belong, and deciding whether they would give up their show more powers if they had a choice. While some chapters dealing with other people's prejudice against the +anima can get rough, the tone of the series is still fairly upbeat, making this more of a fun adventure for tweens and teens than a thought-provoking study on identity. show less

Nui! is about Kaya and her stuffed animals. Kaya just turned 16 but she still loves her stuffed animals as if she were six. What Kaya doesn't know is that her stuffed animals love her just as much. When Kaya gets in trouble, her animals come to her rescue, brought to life by her love. Also, when she really needs or wants too, she can turn them human but, only for a while.

Nui! was the first graphic novel I have ever read and I was surprised how well I liked it. I really just picked it up to show more check out the drawings and structure but the story really drew me in. I'll definitely read volume two. show less