Reviews

Super Mario Manga Mania by Yukio Sawada

shetef's review

emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

pridiansky's review

adventurous lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

1.5

I found this in a Goodwill and grabbed it because I thought it would be cute. Upon further reading, I realize why the Mario Manga hasn't been published in the US and they've only released a "best hits" version for here. It's just very... strange. It's a gag manga with tons of puns and there are a ton of exaggerated facial expressions, but in a way I do not find appealing. It's aimed at kids, so it's meant to be goofy, but this is unabashedly meant for Japanese readers and reminds me nothing of the games. It was interesting to read once, but I can see now why someone would have donated it. 

poopeejohnson's review

4.0

Pretty wild but funny

bookishshadeofmagic's review

adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

abitofcourage's review

adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.5

sonud's review

adventurous funny informative lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

It's a fun book with a collection of the authors favorite chapters from a long running series,  and tho a lot of it was fun and the final mari-old story was a very good read, the feeling that I was missing most the story and connections to the chapters that were chosen kinda ruined a bit of my enjoyment, I enjoyed it in the end but I really hope they do a complete story next time not best moments

vinceyface's review

1.0

Swing and a big miss for me. I REALLY wanted to enjoy this, I was so hyped to get proper English translations of the various Mario manga... but boy howdy is this... not great. I can see kids enjoying it, but I can also see them being bored by it. Instead of giving us full translations like the Legend of Zelda manga, we are treated to a best of collection. Chapters are missing the context of their full story (though they do have a small note from the author to contextualize them), the jokes are SO plentiful but also feel like they're missing something in the shift from their original Japanese to a comparable English version.

I think the biggest issue for me is that with just small snippets nothing has room to breathe. Reading these chapters is exhausting, it's rapid-fire nonsense with no context and no pacing. I want to like this, I really really do, but this is just bad.