Manga Review: The Girl From the Other Side – Siuil A Run

Hey all, Dani here.

Hello and happy Monday! Once again I’m back with another Manga Monday post, but today’s will be a bit different. During the last Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon, I binge-read through 5 volumes of a manga, and I had such a great time reading them. However, I don’t think I can separate the events of each of the volumes enough to give individual reviews for each of the released volumes. I just devoured them in such a quick succession.

So today I’m going to talk about Volumes 1 through 5 in one review, and then going forward I will review upcoming volumes individually.

Anyway, let’s just jump into it.

Book Details

Story and Art: Nagabe

Publisher: Seven Seas Entertainment, LLC

Summary (from Volume 1)

Once upon a time…

In a land far away, there were two kingdoms: the Outside, where twisted beasts roamed that could curse with a touch, and the Inside, where humans lived in safety and peace. The girl and the beast should never have met, but when they do, a quiet fairytale begins. 

This is a story of two people–one human, one inhuman–who linger in the hazy twilight that separates night from day.

My Thoughts

Rating: 5 stars

This was such an interesting read. So many points at the beginning were just cute and fun, but there was the hint of more under the surface, and possibly darker stuff to come. And it ended up that I wasn’t wrong about that. There was (and probably still is) a lot to come, some of which has been not as light and fun and cute.

I feel like I need to talk about the art style with this series too. It is simplistic, but only on the surface, and I think that it really works for the atmosphere that is being created for this story world. I like the contrast of light and dark. Because of how all the covers look right now, I already know that Volume 6 is going to throw me off big time–the cover has color on it.

But I just adored this story of a little girl left alone, and the monster that looks after her and takes care of her. From the beginning, you know there has to be more to the story, that there is more that this monster/teacher/man is keeping from this cute and innocent child, but it takes a while before you really start to pull the pieces together.

In the meantime, I know I was swept away by the slight whimsy to it all, and by the simple seclusion of their lives. Because the first couple volumes really do have an isolated feel to them. But then you learn more about the world, and the history of humans and beasts, and the world starts to really expand to include more people. You learn more about the beast curse that is spread by just a simple touch, and you learn more about why this girl has been left here all alone.

And yet there is still quite a bit of unknown. Actually, just talking about this series makes me want to read these volumes again. So I may add them to the next Manga Madness Readathon TBR. It only took me probably 20 minutes or so to read each volume so they are very very quick reads, but they are definitely worth the time.

Where to Buy

For this particular review post, I will include the links to the first volume of the series, but you can pick up any and all volumes from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-million, Book Depository, or your local independent bookstore.