Really strange and imaginative and engaging. I'm not sure how much I actually liked it, but the story was unique and heartfelt enough that I'm going to continue on.

Look, sometimes you just need a comforting, adorable cartoon mascot and his friend to explain to you what mindfulness is, and how to achieve it.

This is a short, cute comic that is a good introduction to the concepts of mindfulness and self-reflection. It doesn't go too in depth, but I didn't really expect it to; Gudetama just wants to explain what being mindful means, and the various ways you can be mindful to help alleviate stress and tension in every day life, and then take a nap afterwards.

This is a good intro for middle grade and young adult readers who are interested in the topic, or may benefit from being introduced to it.

I received this as an ARC for review from NetGalley.

An odd little graphic novel with some interesting world building, good art, and not the greatest execution. 2.5 rounded up to 3 stars.

It's 2068. Post-apocalypse, Pan is a small community that survives on foraging the dead world around them, farming rice, and trading. When a militaristic force from the land of Fortuna show up to take over, the people of Pan are forced into a trial to save themselves from being swallowed up by the more powerful Fortuna. Aster, the main character, wasn't born in Pan and thus is ostracized by the people of Pan, but she's still tapped to join the small group fighting for Pan. Because she's super talented at what they end up having to do. (And what they do?

Spoiler

Is play epic dodgeball. I'm not joking. It's literally dodgeball.

)

The world building is fun, if a little confusing and hard to believe; 2068 is not so far off into the future that people who survived a world-ending event wouldn't know about drones and different types of machines. It's hard to swallow the idea that the people of Pan find everything about Fortuna's "futuristic" technology completely alien. I assume that the world ended pretty close to our current time, since there are tanks and cities to scavenge and radiation is a huge problem. I just can't believe, then, that survivors would completely forget everything about our modern world in the way that it's presented in this story.

Suspension of disbelief aside, I found the actual world building great. (If the graphic novel didn't tell me it was 2068 when it started, I could fully believe this world existing in, say, 2168.) Following Aster and her friend Wallis throughout a typical day was a great way to see this post-apocalyptic world and to understand what their lives are like. They forage, they trade, they try to survive on what little they have. The art direction is fantastic; there are great panels and transitions that really show off what the world is like.

Pacing is the largest problem I had as we move on, however. We barely have time to settle in to the world before Fortuna shows up to demand subservience (and crops) and Pan is forced into fighting against them to survive. The change from slow world building to rapid fire plot movement gave me whiplash, and after that it moved at a breakneck pace until the end. Aster is great at what she does, they lose, they win, the final battle happens, some characterization takes place in there somewhere, and then the book ends and everything is wrapped up.

Setting the story and pacing problems aside, the art is great. Using watercolor gives it all a hazy tone that makes it easier to step into the world. The character work is SO good; almost everyone is their own person, with their own distinct look and feel. I think the dynamics of the action scenes could have been done better; they felt more like snapshots of moments than fluid movement, but I enjoyed it overall.

Ultimately I think this is a very fun idea that needed better execution. Given more time to breathe, it could have been a very good fleshed out story with more characterization to make us love the characters and the world.

I received this as an ARC via NetGalley.

The art in this is so, so good. I mean, SO GOOD.

The small family of Xinyue, Qiliu, and their mother Ren Niang travel along the great Silk Road as aweto seekers. The aweto is a plant that has near-magical healing properties, and grows on slumbering earth deities called chadolos that bless the earth around them, allowing villages to farm and thrive. I was a little shocked to see that this meant this small family are viewed as people who terrorize these small villages, as essentially they ruin their land; it was all to easy to fall into step with enjoying seeing them mid-seeking, learning who they are and what they're doing.

On one such aweto trip, Xinyue finds a baby chadolo that latches onto him and he ends up taking care of. Unfortunately, the best hunters of the village they just ruined are after them for their thievery and after the baby chadolo in hopes to let the baby earth deity restore their land.

While the story could be a little confusing at first, once I untangled it and got a grasp on the world and what was going on, it was magical. The story itself is a little lacking, but I think that some of the oomph is lost in translation. However, it's more than made up for by the art, which is in turns lush and dreamlike, and brings Miyazaki's work to mind. Watercolor art can often feel static for me, but I think Nie Jun gets around that by creating some very dynamic action sequences.

This is very much a first volume setting up the greater story at large, and I'm invested. I hope there is more coming, and I hope it's translated soon. I'd love to continue this story when I can.

I received an ARC of this for review from NetGalley.

An absolutely wholesome story about finding out who you are, being true to yourself, and figuring out how to be brave enough to let everyone else see the person you truly are on the inside.

Super cute art, and I miiiiight have teared up a little at the incredibly sweet love story.

This is perfect for younger teens, especially LGBTQ+ teens, who are still struggling with who they are and who they want to present themselves as to the world.

SPACE GAYS SMASHING THE SPACE PATRIARCHY! HELL YEAH!!

Cosmoknights is a space gays found family sci-fi adventure that moves at a quick pace, includes various forms of gender expressions and love, and has some super fun worldbuilding. Being able to meld the medieval themes of jousting for the hand of a fair maiden with all the drama and vibrancy of robot gladiators makes for a good time.

The art is fantastic, with each character fully realized and separate from the others. The color palette is stunning, a really nice wash of moody and soft oranges and blues. The ONLY issue I had with the art was some of the action; it didn't feel as dynamic as it could have been.

Overall, I loved this and I'm real mad about that cliffhanger beacause I WANT BOOK 2 NOOOWWW.