Dinosaur Sanctuary, Vol. 3

ディノサン [Dinosan] #3

by Itaru Kinoshita, Shin-ichi Fujiwara (Contributor), John Neal (Translator)

THE NEWBIE LOOKS FOR HER DINO HOME.

Suma Suzume, the newest keeper at struggling Enoshima Dinoland, has reached the end of her three-month orientation period. It’s time for a new challenge: working alongside each of the department heads to find her permanent place on the staff! First on the list is Igarashi Keisuke, and Suzume will learn what makes him tick as they care for the park’s pachycephalosaurs and stegosaurs.

Genres: Manga, Dinosaurs, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Comics, Young Adult, Slice Of Life

204 pages, Paperback

First published September 8, 2022

Reviews

[Matt Glaviano · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have no idea how to rate these. It'd be like rating a feather floating on the breeze.

What does it say about this series that three members of my family read this volume in a day? We fought over it - petty, pathos wringing, guilt trip inducing fought over who got to read it first (I was last).

Why? What are we getting out of this?

Some speculation:
1. They're dumb. Mindless flyover entertainment. Perfectly absorbing to the point of being instantly forgettable. A chef's kiss to the weekend special - you pop it in your mouth and it practically chews itself.
2. Characters. Just kidding.
3. DINOSAURS. The strength of the series is the dino art. It might all be factually inaccurate 20 years from now, but in the NOW it's gorgeously rendered and worth staring at.
4. Personal bonus points for the zoo/park setting. Right up my tiny, niche alley. Mad props to this volume for the detachable park map, rendered in near perfect actual park map detail. When I stand before St. Peter recounting my myriad sins in this life, at least half should be given a pass simply because I did NOT tear out this map and hang it in my locker. Only because I'm a grown ass person who doesn't have a locker. Still - my self control is admirable.

I look at the cover and think it's a picture of a boy band that includes a Spinosaurus.

Possible names for the band:
Crush-Tacious
Spynzz 2 Men
Bar3Onyx

Yeah, I got nothing. If you have better human/dinosaur hybrid boy band names, let me know.

[I' · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just love these ones.

I am a simple human, you give me cute dinosaurs and scientific explanations and I am in. Very much. This is one that I am recommending to all ages as it is very cool and informative. I am enjoying how they are not only giving character evolution to the human characters but also the Dinos so you can enjoy fully the experience.

[Rod Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

This slice-of-life look behind the scenes of a Jurassic Park-type zoo -- but without all the fatalities -- is very educational, but it can also be a bit dull. This time the main character works with a new dinokeeper who cares for the park's Pachycephalosaurus. The big plot developments are revealing how the dinosaur keeps bumping its nose at night and how the dinokeeper left his previous job . And then we have a side story about a couple of school girls having a little falling out over their love of dinosaurs.

A nicely-executed snooze-fest.

I'm not going to seek out the next volume, but I'm not ready to avoid it either if it turns up in the library catalog.

[Blake the Book Eater · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel like this manga is just the coziest thing. Taking care of dinos and learning about them is so wholesome. And I love that the characters are earnest and not cynical at all. It reminds me of when I was younger and I loved visiting zoos and aquariums to learn about the animals.

[James DeSantis · Rating 4 out of 5]

As always, super enjoyable. I liked the one story about childhood friends going one more time together to see dinos before one moves. Learning about dinos too, ones I know about but never researched much, and the way they act, eat, and sleep is all great. Art is really good to boot. Very enjoyable manga so far.

[Anke Struik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dammit, why is this so cute and wholesome

[Rachel Holtzclaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

can't imagine a world where i don't rate one of these 5 stars

[Halcyon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Do you like slice of life stories? Do you like dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals? Did you enjoy Jurassic Park, but wanted to see what it would be like if everything was fine and no dinosaurs killed people? Do you like dinosaur media in which dinosaurs are actually depicted as genuine animals with their own awesome traits and personalities, and not just randomly wandering about and killing stuff? (Shout out to the many dumb 'documentairies' that seemed obsessed with making dinosaurs duke it out with each other instead of showing how they lived. I did not care for the fighting one bit as a kid.)

Do you enjoy gorgegous, lush art filled with details? Do you enjoy it when paleo media at least tries to be as updated as possible on how we currently think extinct animals looked and possibly behaved?
Do you enjoy dinosaurs that are way too adorable? A triceratops that loafs like a cat? And old, adorable senior Tyrannsaurus? Do you like learning some facts sprinkled inbetween a manga's pages?

Do you miss those halcyon days you would spend hours tinkering with prehistoric animals in Zoo Tycoon 1 and 2? Or when you try to run an ethic dino zoo in those newer Jurassic Park zoo builders?

In short, if you anwser many questions with a hard, resounding YES then you might really like this manga :D!

It's a nice slice of life filled story. In this volume the human characters get some more screentime, another one's backstory shows that marine reptiles are also kept and you get to learn about the awesome shellfish and crab eating mosasauroid Globidens. Also loved the facts that some herbivores were given the spotlight! Also the little bonus manga with Daisy and her mate being jealous?? Precious!

[Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5

Volume 3 of Dinosaur Sanctuary and Suzume has made it out of her probationary period and is now learning as part of a team. We meet a pachycephalosaur who keeps being startled and hurting himself, the restructuring of the Dinoland's enclosure and a friendship based around a spinosaurus.

- Same cosy but scientific premise. We also get to know the keeper's background a little more and the world building keeps on improving.

- I love the artwork of the dinosaurs. They're so well done and filled with personality and charm.

- The snippets at the end of the chapters are, as always, very informative. I like how they explore how research comes about and is published, helping to enlighten readers to that process.

As wonderful as always. Cannot wait for volume 4.

[Loveland · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish michael crichton could have read this

[Kaitlynne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is such a cute little dinosaur series. I keep waiting for it to take a dramatic turn a la Jurassic Park... suuuuurely it won't 🤣

[Ashley (Red-Haired Ash Reads) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Series: Dinosaur Sanctuary #3
Rating:3 stars - I liked it

In this volume, Suzume has reached the end of her three month orientation and is now working with the department heads to try to find her permanent place among the staff. Her first assignment is taking over the zoo's social media to try to bring in more visitors, which we don’t really get any update on yet, so hopefully we will see what happens with that in the next volume.

This volume mainly focuses on a pachycephalosaurus named Hachibei who keeps getting hurt and moving dinosaurs to different enclosures. Hachibei’s story was a bit of a sad one because he had recently lost his mate and just kept hurting himself and they couldn’t figure out why. Suzume ends up helping Igarashi figure out what is going on, which was both a physical issue and an issue with his enclosure. It was a cute little story and I like learning more about another dinosaur and getting to know Igarashi.

The zookeepers are also moving around dinosaurs to different enclosures in this, which is interesting because they are huge animals that can be dangerous. They are moving Daikichi the triceratops out of his enclosure because he was getting too aggressive with another male who had one over a female and moving in Momiji the stegosaurus. We don’t get to see them in the new enclosures, but I assume that will be revealed in the next volume.

This ends with giving us a flashback of Igarashi Keisuke and why he left Blue World (basically a Sea World but dinosaurs of the ocean) and came to Enoshima Dinoland. Like I said, I like that we are getting more backstory on the other characters and it isn’t all focused on Suzume and the dinosaurs. I can’t wait to read the next one.

[Borja · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tercera entrega de esta versión cozy, corazón calentito, de Parque Jurásico. La historia no va a ninguna parte, apenas pasan cosas, pero el dibujo (especialmente los dinosaurios) me tiene ganado de momento. Ya veremos hasta cuando.

[Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't know why I didn't think there were more people that worked for the park, but I'm glad we're getting to see more of the other departments and learn about them. Igarashi might be my favorite department head, but I have a soft spot for aquariums so he got me there.

[Autumn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love how fun and informative this series is. I love how we learn about different characters & different Dinosaurs in each volume

[kristyn ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ · Rating 5 out of 5]

hachibei being jealous when daisy is having her spa day 😭

[Jack · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mosasaurs!!!! Ichthyosaurs!!!!! Pachycephalosaurus!!!!! SPINOSAURUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun read and quick read. The dinosaurs are really interesting and well thought out. Its really cool how much they can guess and assume about dinosaurs and how they live/lived. I'm enjoying it.

[dells ♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

love seeing new characters and dinos brought in each time

[edy · Rating 5 out of 5]

the two pachycephalosaurus made me tear up a little

[Adam Kiewel · Rating 4 out of 5]

These are very light reads, the problem being that theres really nothing driving the story forward. still, they're fun reads and they really bring the story to life. im tempted to give them all 5 stars, simply because it's something I really haven't seen before

[Jonah · Rating 4 out of 5]

While the beginning of this series introduces dinosaurs in a way I find stupid the rest of the series treating the existing dinosaurs as zoo animals really highlights the actual real life care of zookeepers.

[Edee Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐️

I am really loving this manga! It’s cozy, it’s slice of life, it’s absolutely loaded with thoughtful details! This volume also has 2 sections of colored pages — one a map of the park(!) and the other the beginning of an impactful chapter!

I’m not even a dinosaur stan, but I adore how each has their own personality and backstory — and having cared for horses my whole life, I feel the authenticity of caring for large animals. My only wish is for a bit more of the plot to focus on the staff and their interpersonal relationships — I know so much about each dinosaur and I feel like I don’t know the staff as well, even though we do get some progress with Suzume and the vet in this volume.

[Shaunna MacDonald · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disappointed to put 3 stars for this volume. I felt too disconnected between the chapters with not enough Dinoland story building. I’m all for a good back story but I felt there were too many for one volume and so early in the story development.

[blueygurl2016 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. The Pachy plot was enticing but that was pretty much all I cared about in this volume. Everything seemed like it was just there to take up page count.

[Sunread26 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chronique complète :
https://sunread26.wordpress.com/2024/...

Extrait :
Enfin voici le troisième tome ! Il s’est fait désirer celui-là ! Après un report, je peux donc enfin le découvrir et vous partager mon avis à son sujet. Comme toujours, il y a pas mal de choses à découvrir. D’ailleurs, ce tome finira par partir aussi vers une nouvelle direction, notamment les animaux marins. Après tout, il y avait les dinosaures sur terre, mais qui avait-il sous l’eau ? Cette série est vraiment bien réalisée, même si je trouve qu’il y a assez peu de soigneurs pour l’ampleur de la tâche, j’imagine que c’est comme pour la série « Une saison au zoo », seuls quelques soigneur sont mis en avant pour ne pas s’étaler.

Alors, je ne suis pas spécialiste sur la gestion des zoos lambda (même si j’adore Planet zoo), mais je n’imagine même pas la complexité pour gérer un zoo avec des animaux disparus et gigantesque comme les dinosaures. Les moyens financiers, humains et matériels nécessaires doivent être impressionnant, sans oublier l’espace aussi. Les dessins de la série sont juste magiques à mes yeux, les dinosaures sont tellement bien détaillés, il ne manquerait que les couleurs. Mais là on partirait sur un terrain un peu plus glissant, car comme pour les plumes, tout n’est pas encore découvert concernant les dinosaures, comme la couleur de leurs écailles. J’ai beaucoup aimé les explications sur les Pachycéphalosaures. L’information concernant le Dracorex, le Stygimoloch et le Pachy n’est pas inutile du tout. En fait, ils étaient considérés comme trois espèces différentes, mais il pourrait s’agir en réalité de la même espèce, mais avec un âge différent. Le Dracorex serait donc un jeune, là où le Pachy serait un adulte. Un peu comme la gente masculine qui perd ses cheveux en vieillissant (pour une bonne partie), le Dracorex lui, obtiendrait un crâne dur de plus en plus grand avec l’âge. Même si on peut dater les os, il est assez difficile de le définir précisément, ou même de dire s’il s’agit d’un adolescent ou d’un adulte, surtout pour des espèces aussi vieilles et qui n’ont plus d’équivalent aujourd’hui. Si on arrive à déterminer avec plus de précision pour des squelettes humanoïdes, c’est parce qu’on a des exemples pour établir une sorte de base.

Keisuke sera le personnage mis en avant pour ce tome, ainsi que pour le prochain, je pense. Avant de venir dans ce zoo, il a été dans un zoo pour animaux marins disparus (un Marineland pour espèces disparues quoi). Malheureusement, son ancien travail ne lui plaisait pas, être soigneur lui plaisait, mais ne pas pouvoir partager avec les visiteurs semblait le rendre malheureux. J’ignore si cette organisation a pour but de faire le lien avec certains parcs aquatiques qui ne pensent qu’à l’argent, mais en tout cas, c’est plutôt réussi. Dans le cas présent, c’est même un peu poussé à l’extrême avec des aquariums sans aucuns noms ou fiche explicatives sur ses animaux. Je me demande même comment il fait pour fonctionner, personnellement un aquarium sans explications, c’est nul. On pourrait croire que Dinoland compte aussi des espèces aquatiques, mais ce n’est pas le cas (en tout cas, pour ce qu’on nous a montré jusqu’à présent). Dinoland a plutôt des espèces hybrides comme le Spinosaure qui était piscivore et pouvait nager avec sa longue queue (même s’il peut aussi se nourrir de petits dinosaures ou ptérosaures). Je doute qu’il soit aussi fort que dans les films Jurassic Park, face à un T-Rex. Toutefois, il pourrait très bien s’en prendre à des humains, puisqu’il peut chasser des petites proies terrestres.

[...]

[Meduss142 · Rating 4 out of 5]

¡Hola hola! ❤️
Una de mis grandes debilidades en esta vida son los dinosaurios. Tal vez no sepa el nombre de cada especie ni su correspondiente etapa prehistórica al dedillo, pero creo que algo me defiendo.

La reseña de Dinosan, de Itaru Kinoshita, atrajo mi atención y… ¡quiero leer ya el tomo 5!

🦕🦖🦕🦖
En Dinosan, seguimos a Suzume Suma, una joven que acaba de empezar a trabajar en Dinoland Enoshima, un parque zoológico de dinosaurios que ha tenido mejores días. “¿Por qué? ¡Sería increíble poder ver dinos hoy en día!” pensarás. Pero como todo en esta vida, una cosa se pone de moda y a los tres días uno se olvida de ella. Este es el caso de los dinosaurios de este mundo, que fueron descubiertos en 1946, superviviendo en una pequeña isla, por lo que en la actualidad, ya no son ninguna novedad. También cabe destacar que su popularidad ha caído en picado debido a una misteriosa tragedia del pasado que oscureció mucho su imagen…
A pesar de ello, Suma se propone hacer justicia a estas espectaculares criaturas y conseguir cambiar la visión que se tiene de ellas.
🦖🦕🦖🦕

Es una serie manga que me ha encantado. Los dibujos son muy realistas y cuentan con un montón de detalles. La historia me parece original y muy interesante, es todo un señor proyecto que me alegro de que haya salido adelante. Todo el material que vas a leer, se basa en las recomendaciones de un profesor del museo de Nagoya, Sin-Ichi Fujiwara, especializado en morfología funcional y la paleontología de vertebrados. Por lo que muchos de los dinosaurios que aparecen en este manga son en base a descubrimientos científicos actualizados y verídicos😯🌌

¡Quiero ver más dinosaurios nuevos! Y tengo la teoría de que las 24 especíes del parque serán el número de tomos de esta saga. Es una corazonada. ¡Mil gracias a todos los que han hecho que esta maravilla llegue a mis manos (y a @jurassicfan95 por hacerme descubrir un montón sobre los dinos ;) ).

[寿理 宮本 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another adorable slice-of-life-but-DINOSAURS story! Their financial troubles make me a bit self-conscious about the fact I've only been to zoos a handful of times, though (regardless of your feelings on zoos in general; I do feel like having a safe place for endangered animals is important for ensuring their continued existence).

I don't have a lot to comment otherwise that wouldn't just be summarising the stories (which makes a dull review); the interesting parts have to do with problem-solving (Why is the Pachycephalosaurus injuring himself in the same place over and over?/What can we do to keep visitors coming back, especially during colder weather?), while the purely informational parts are good but not exciting to describe. There's also a neat fold-out full-colour pamphlet at the beginning of the book! (Also, four full-colour pages at the beginning of the second chapter, which is a nice surprise!)

The part that baffles me is Igarashi's old workplace ("Blue World"—a walk-through aquarium) keeping the "entertainers" and the keepers separate, that the people who know the most about the animals in their care can't educate the visitors. It's one thing if it's DisneyWorld, where the staff who meet the visitors are supposed to be in-character, while other staff have to stay out of sight. Animal caretakers would be the ones who know the specific animals best, though!

Still a fun read, and easy enough for newcomers to understand! (I mean, the important backstory is already provided at the beginning: In 1946, dinosaurs were discovered to still be alive, and now there are dinosaur zoos all over the world. The rest isn't that important to understand the current stories.) Recommended for dinosaur lovers!

[Becky B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Suma Suzume has made it through orientation and now she gets to experience more departments. The park needs to figure out why a pachycephalosaurus keeps re-injuring himself and Suma is on the case. They need to move some of the dinosaurs around, but a certain stegosaurus is being stubborn about getting in the moving crate and Suma is determined to figure out why. And we learn about the background of some of Suma's co-workers.

This is my favorite Dinosaur Sanctuary book so far. I like that Suma has now been accepted into the fold, proven she deserves to be there, and she's putting her smarts and stick-to-itiveness to work in figuring out little mysteries of the animals' behavior. Igarashi-san's back story about working at an aquarium that was all about the experience vs education was interesting and felt like it was based on someone's experience. There are essays by the consultant paleontologist in between stories and I mostly skimmed over them, but the one on how you should be reluctant to fully embrace new theories about dinosaurs was very interesting.

Notes on content:
Language: I think 7 minor swears? I don't remember exactly.
Sexual content: None
Violence: A dinosaur injuries itself by banging its head against a wall.
Ethnic diversity: Characters are Japanese
LGBTQ+ content: None specified
Other: One of the back stories has to do with friendship drama and an impending move.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume might be my favorite so far. The stories themselves, while brief, are gentle, often bittersweet glimpses of the lives of dinosaurs and humans alike. They touch on many of the same themes of wistful nostalgia found in the earlier stories while introducing a lot of new characters. In the first story, we see a whole group of the leaders of various sections of the park debating strategy. Suzume's desire for visitors to find their own favorite dinosaurs and form personal connections with the animals is, I suspect, a big part of what Kinoshita is attempting (and accomplishing) as the manga's author.

I should make a few comments about the art in this series. It is particularly excellent to see dinosaurs and other ancient animals rendered in an appealing and accurate way. As research consultant Shin-Ichi Fujiwara notes in one of the end-of-chapter scientific discussions, the approach the manga takes is a more conservative one in regards to how dinosaurs are depicted, with the goal being to use the information that currently has the most supporting information. Whatever research might show in the future, the drawings are quite stunning. There are quite a few underwater scenes in this volume that really show a particular grandeur.