Monster-Colored Island Volume 1 Review • Anime UK News

Middle school student Kon Chigawa has never left the small island where she was born, and is a loner among her class mates, with no friends to hang out with. One fateful day, she encounters a new girl named Furuka, who accidentally falls off a cliff into the ocean and Kon jumps in after her. The pair wake up in front of a well-known cave on the island, said to be the home of Kaiju, a monster that once terrorised the island. Their fateful encounter not only changes both girls’ lives forever, but also sets off strange occurrences on the island itself…is it Kaiju? Or something else entirely?

Mitsuru Hattori has written over a dozen manga series since he started in the mid-2000s, but his most well known English works include Wash It All Away and Sankarea: Undying Love. He mostly writes comedy with either a ‘coming of age’ or supernatural twist. This series is his second Yuri series overall, and since it’s being published in Young Dragon Age, a quarterly magazine (meaning only four chapters are published in a year) it’s currently only in its second volume, despite debuting in 2018.

Like the publishing schedule, the series itself is also quite slow, but purposely so as it’s set on an island, in a secluded village during the long summer holidays. The slow, methodical pace is purposeful and almost atmospheric or sleepy, like we’re in a dream or fantasy world. This works for the odd things that happen on the island in the second half of the book, making them more impactful when supernatural things start to happen, but it can make the first half of the volume drag a bit in places.

Both Kon and Furuka feel like outcasts in their own worlds: Furuka is from the city, having come to the island to stay with family, but has a harsh attitude that doesn’t align with the close-knit village she comes to. Kon is also alone, and it’s not expressed why she’s an outcast in the village, but it’s heavily hinted at that it’s due to her sexuality, and it’s through both of their confessions that the pair are drawn to each other, and seem to ‘wake up’ the Kaiju that rests in the island.

Although both girls are visually interesting, and have potential to be an emotionally investable couple to follow, I didn’t quite ‘get’ what they saw in each other, aside from the fact that they both ‘like’ girls. In a way, maybe that’s enough; I can imagine that if your world is super small and conservative, that the introduction of another girl who just so happens to also be ‘into girls’ like you, is enough to make you want to know everything about that person as soon as possible. For me, the chemistry isn’t quite there yet, and although the book is very coy with what happens in the last third of the book, it’s clear the girls ‘explore’ each other after the revelation. It’s done in a tasteful way, with very nice imagery, but the build up to it also feels very sudden. Most importantly, it should be noted that the girls are in middle school (which in Japan, is ages 12-15 years old) and there are a few panels where the characters are shown in provocative angles, even if the sex is not seen, that may make some audiences uncomfortable, so be aware of that.

Art for the manga is overall very nice; the island itself is vibrant with glistening waters of the ocean, the details of cramped houses lining the roads, the caves and mountains in the distance, etc. The character designs are detailed too, with Kon’s plain summer look contrasting with Furuka’s more city-girl style. There are a couple of panels however where there’s either too much detail, or too many effects happening over shots that I found it hard to see what was going on. There’s no denying the level of detail here, but I think in some panels it could have been toned down for the sake of readability and following the story.

Eleanor Summers does a great translation; there are no translation notes, but the book ends with notes on the character designs and publication history, which was interesting.

This new Yuri series has potential for a mysterious, intriguing summer love, but the slow pace and ages of the characters may put off readers. If you don’t mind a slow burn of a story, then check out Monster-Coloured Island.