Manga Review: Sheeta’s Little Big World Vol 1 by Yuki Kamba

Hey all, Sam here.

I do believe it has been a little while since I’ve had a Manga Monday post, and it just so happens that I stumbled upon one on NetGalley that sounded absolutely adorable…and thankfully I was approved to read it. Now, don’t worry. There’s not too much longer until this volume is released to the world. The expected publication date is next week. September 23rd in fact, so if this sounds like a fun story to you, then make sure you pick up your own copy (or ask your library about getting it in).

I’m not going to take too much time here in the intro. The Write Brave Challenge started today and I’d like to get my writing in before work (since I technically get off work at like 3am, which is tomorrow, not today). Let’s get started.

Sheeta and Nala live happily inside a hollowed-out log with their fellow “littlefolk,” who stand no taller than a blade of grass. When Nala runs off one day to investigate a mysterious smoke signal, Sheeta must summon all his courage and wits as he sets off in pursuit. Rats, ants, weasels, giants… The wide world is full of dangers, but the plucky Sheeta will stop at nothing to find his friend.

My Thoughts

Rating: 3 stars

There is something cute and cozy about this story, but there are also hazards and dangers. Sheeta was left at this hollowed-out log when he was very young, and has been waiting for his dad to return ever since. It has been years and he still hopes his dad is coming any day now. Sheeta’s best friend Nala thinks that Sheeta’s dad seems super cool and wants to go out and explore the world and be adventurous too. So when they see a smoke signal one day, Nala thinks this must mean that Sheeta’s dad is nearby, and wants to leave the log to find out. He’s convinced to wait but by the next morning he’s gone.

So despite not really wanting to go out and adventure, Sheeta feels like he has to try to find his friend. Away from the hollowed-out log there are rats and ants and weasels and other people. Sheeta runs into one new thing after another, and he is not prepared for this exciting life of new things.

Honestly this story made me think of stories like “The Borrowers” or a bit of movies like “Honey I Shrunk the Kids.” But at the same time, while a lot happens in this volume, it also feels like nothing really happens in this volume. Yes, Sheeta meets a couple new people, and encounters new creatures and dangers, but this also very much feels like a first installment of a series where the creator is trying to figure out the characters and the world and the story.

I read it quickly, as I do with pretty much any manga I pick up, but I can’t say that I was as invested as I am in most of the stories I read. There were so many hints at revelations of information and so many introductions of potential future plot and character threads. But it felt like other things were given up on way too soon. Like Sheeta meets an adult hunter character, who just so happens to be looking for Sheeta because he thinks that’s a way to get to Sheeta’s dad…and so Sheeta says that he is Nala, trying to pretend that Sheeta is still back at the log….but only a couple pages later that little lie/trick is already dropped because it is revealed that he is in fact Sheeta.

I wanted to like this so much more than I did. There were nine chapters in this volume, with each one only being a handful of pages, and it felt like each one was a new encounter with something that was new to Sheeta in the big wide world, but it was also over again just as quickly.

It was still really cute though, so I’m glad I read it.

---

All right, well that is all from me for today. Thank you so much for stopping by and I’ll be back soon with more geeky content.