Manga Review: Kigurumi Guardians, Volume 1, by Lily Hoshino

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Publisher: Kodansha Comics

Release Date: August 2017

Volumes: 3 (Hiatus)

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells. RightStuf.

Volume: 2.

Goodreads Synopsis:

THE CHOSEN ONE
Hakka Sasakura's life is about to turn upside-down. She comes home from a day of admiring her student body president to discover that a mysterious creature resembling a man in an animal suit has taken up residence her home. What's more, she has been chosen to work with this strange being to fight off invaders from another dimension and save the world...and she has to kiss him to do so?! Lily Hoshino, the beloved artist behind Mawaru Penguindrum, offers her cute and twisted take on the magical girl genre. You probably never thought Sailor Moon needed more hot older guys in full-body mascot costumes, but Kigurumi Guardians will bring you around!

Review:

I wasn't too sure what to expect with this volume, but I was surprised with how fun it was.

Sasakura is starting a new school, and she's surprised to arrive home one day and find a weird costumed person there. He can't speak and communicates with little white boards, and she doesn't know what to do with him. The next day, she finds out that her and two other classmates have been chosen to be guardians, and they have to kiss these creatures to release them to fight.

The people/creatures that they're fighting are a little odd, but I don't think we know much about them yet. It was a little farfetched of a story, but I think it works given the odd plot to begin with. It's cheesy, but done in a comedic way, and not too serious about it. Though there is something deeper going on, we only got a couple hints here.

Sasakura and her penguin-guy are cute, and already starting a fun dynamic. The other girl chosen is a prissy popular girl, and I think they'll form an odd friendship, which should be fun. Her boy partner is also quite adorable and sweet, and I like him. One part I really appreciate, though, is that the other student chosen is a boy, and his creature is also male. I don't think too much will be made of it, but they're cute, and I like how nonchalant the boy is about it. I also liked that it was pointed out that they're chosen as partners because they're supposed to be together, destined to like each other in one way or another.

This was a really fun volume, and I'm quite excited to get the next one.