Wednesday 24 March 2021

Manga Review: Stitch and the Samurai, Vol. 1



About the manga

Title: Disney Manga: Stitch and the Samurai
Series: Stitch and the Samurai, Volume 1
Author & Illustrator: Hiroto Wada
Genres: Manga, Disney
Expected Publication: April 27th, 2021
Pages: 176
Read: March 2021


My Copy

Publisher: Disney Manga
Edition: Ebook
Purchase Location: Netgalley
I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review

My Rating:

Goodreads Summary

While fleeing the Galactic Federation, Stitch's spaceship malfunctions and he makes an emergency landing... not in Hawaii, but in sengoku-era Japan! Discovered by the brutal warlord Lord Yamato and his clan, Stitch's incomparable cuteness is no match for the battle-weary samurai, who decides to bring the "blue tanuki" home with him. Will Stitch's love of chaos turn into a formidable advantage for the samurai's influence? Or will his cute and fluffy form disarm the noble lord's stern façade?


My Spoiler Free Review

Hmm okay, I have to be very honest. As much as I love Stitch (he’s my favourite Disney character ever) and as much as I wanted to love this, it just wasn’t for me. I think young children, maybe around the age of 3-7, would enjoy this (but honestly, I don’t really know a lot about what kids read as I don’t have any kids around me). The story is simple, the art is cute and very well done, and any young child would probably pick up great things from this manga.

However, for adults like me, this is missing some plot and sense to the story. In Stitch and the Samurai, Stitch lands in Japan instead of Hawaii. When Stitch’s spaceship malfunctions it crash lands right in front of a warlord called Lord Yamato, who immediately is consumed by Stitch’s cuteness (who can blame him?). But it goes so far, that he grows obsessed with Stitch, and trying to pet and feed him. This obsession leads him to absolutely ignore the war that he’s actually leading and his samurai don’t know how to handle the situation.

What I had some troubles with, was that Stitch knew the words “Ohana – Family” and there were some other small references to Lilo… But if this is a story about him landing in Japan instead of in Hawaii, how would he know this? Lilo taught him the meaning of Ohana… So this felt a bit more just for sales than for actual story telling, which was a bit of a shame.

Overall I enjoyed this as a quick read, and it truly did make me laugh at some ridiculous parts, but I don’t think I would read this again (however, if this is an on-going series I might pick up the next parts anyways). It’s a nice way to relax after a tiring day, if you don’t want to have to think about too much plot twists and drama.

I'd like to know

Who else has requested a copy of this on NetGalley? Did you enjoy reading it? And are you also as obsessed with Stitch as I am? I'd love to hear your thoughts!