Disney Twisted-Wonderland The Comic Episode of Savanaclaw 1

Disney Twisted-Wonderland: The Manga: Episode of Savanaclaw #1

by Yana Toboso (Story & Characters), Suzuka Oda

ごく普通の高校生・ユウは、部活の大会からの帰り道、謎の馬車に遭遇し、連れ去られてしまう。目が覚めると、そこは“ツイステッドワンダーランド”という異世界で--!? 魔法士養成学校ナイトレイブンカレッジに入学し、学園生活にも慣れてきたユウ。しかし、寮対抗マジカルシフト大会を前に、校内がざわつき始める……。大人気スマートフォンゲーム『ディズニー ツイステッドワンダーランド』の第2章「荒野の反逆者」を、美麗絵師・小田すずかがコミック化!!

Genres: Manga, Fantasy, Comics, Young Adult, Fiction, Shonen, Graphic Novels

170 pages, Comic

First published July 27, 2023

About the author

Yana Toboso (枢 やな Toboso Yana) is a female Japanese manga artist born in Warabi, Saitama Prefecture, Japan and currently resides in Yokohama. She is best known for Black Butler (黒執事 Kuroshitsuji), a popular shonen manga series.

She has also written yaoi under the pen name Yanao Rock (簗緒ろく).

Appearance
Yana Toboso draws herself as a devil with a black body and horns, a white head, and a pointed tail. She has never uploaded a picture of herself, so her actual appearance is unknown.

Reviews

[Katarzyna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love the adaptation but the polish translation made me laugh. Also I love Yuu. She's a badass. It's nice to have a female Yuu for once.

[fran ✮ · Rating 5 out of 5]

leona kingscholar .. nobody will EVER understand you like me..

[Chelsea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well I'm gonna give this a 3 out of 5. It was alright but I felt lost most of the time, I don't know if it was because I probably needed to read the other part of Twisted Wonderland first to understand this world.

Received a free copy via NetGalley.

[Laura A. Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

FIRST IMPRESSION VIDEO HERE: https://youtu.be/8k5iOQVyKJs

"Getting serious about anything changes absolutely nothing."

Ahh this first volume was wonderful!

As a huge fan of the game, I was downright giddy seeing many of my favorite characters have a cameo scene as well as how faithful this "adaptation" was of the game! It really felt like I was playing it all over again but in manga form, which was awesome!

However, the biggest thing that had really remained a mystery for me was: Would I like a female Yu? I hadn't been nearly as excited or on board with the idea, but I confess as soon as I saw Yu doing a judo throw, I was sold! LOL!

In fact, if there was any issue I had with this volume it was that Yu really wasn't involved as I had expected. I know when I reviewed the Heartslabyul manga I mentioned how the artist did a really great job of making Yu a character but also knew when to put him in the background so to speak. When it comes to this Yu, I felt more often than not she was only in the background. After her introduction, she seemed to pop up so little, and never imagined I would feel bummed about that considering my feelings before reading. LOL!

Truthfully, when she has moments of spotlight, it reminded me of when Yu the player has to choose between two prompts because the flow of the manga fits the same beats I remembered when playing the game. That's not necessarily a bad thing since that means the manga is closely following the game, but it left me feeling Yu wasn't really part of the main cast of characters. It seemed more of a convenient character who pops up when the story needs to change directions.

However, one thing I really really loved about this volume is the explanation of overbolt and what exactly blot is! I'm not saying it hasn't been explained well in the game or before now, but I feel the example Crowley gives during his lecture made everything "click" where I was like, "Oh! Yeah, that makes a lot of sense!" So I appreciated that scene a lot!

When it comes to the art, it was REALLY good! If you're a Malleus or Leona fan, there is plenty of eye candy of these two to appreciate! I thought my boy Jack looked really good and am VERY excited to see more of him in the next volume!

Lastly, I think it's important to know that unlike the previous manga series, I DO think you need to be familiar with the game and characters before reading this one. While I think someone could read this and enjoy it, there is not the same setting up of getting to know the previous characters as intimately, making it not quite as enjoyable I think. I confess I'm a little bummed by that because I don't think with the first series you need to play the game to enjoy it, but this one I feel you need the extra context to really get attached to these characters and understand everyone's motivations better.

I'm hoping in the next volume we see more of Yu and that the story will continue to faithfully follow the game! Definitely one I would recommend to Twisted Wonderland fans!

[Patty ༻ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quindi da quello che ho capito Yuu, il personaggio principale, cambia a ogni libro perché rappresenta il giocatore e quindi è diverso per ognuno? É una cosa fighissima (e mi ci devo abituare), anche se mi ha confusa tantissimo appena ho visto che era di colpo una femmina e pensavo di essermi persa qualche pezzo 💀

Btw Leona you gorgeous king 🛐 E Malleus sembra già tanta roba 🙂‍↔️

[Dandy ˙ᵕ˙ · Rating 4 out of 5]

most of the book doesnt focus on the characters of savanaclaw. but it is volume 1, so itll get better from there
the decision to change yuu from a boy in the heartslabyul series to a girl here is kind of odd continuity-wise. story-wise and character-wise, shes a badass, so i dont care

waiting for octavinelle (best dorm) book to drop e.e

[Creature · Rating 3 out of 5]

I do love this franchise but this is my least favorite dorm story. love the characters, ehh plot

[Obsessed-reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

☆☆☆☆☆
Yesss! Female Yuu let's gooooo!
Also really Handsome Leona😔✋️

[Avery Clason · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really good manga and one that I didn’t expect to like as much as I did! I’m familiar with the Twisted Wonderland game and was surprised at the decision to change Yu’s gender for the manga adaptation, but keep everything else the same. I’m curious about the decision behind that considering Yu is at a school surrounded by other men and what that might imply. I really loved the artwork for this manga and it really adds to the dreamy feel of the story. Thank you NetGalley for the arc of this manga!

[Michelle Graf · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley and VIZ Media for the ARC.

Once again, a literal retelling of the story from the gacha game. Saving you time from skipping the many levels to get to the next chapter, and saving me money from not getting sucked into another gacha again. This has made it clear to me that the default protagonist is a girl, in the game it felt ambiguous for the sake of being the player insert.

[Kenya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and VIZ Media for an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Disney Twisted-Wonderland: Book of Savanaclaw by Suzuka Oda had me enticed from the cover and the title! The manga art is very well done and thus made the storyline easy to understand/enjoy. I LOVED Yu! Cant wait to read more in this series!

[Sabi · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 1/2 ⭐️

[lottie · Rating 4 out of 5]

leona 🫀🫀🫀

[~Cyanide Latte~ · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's exciting and a delight to see the manga adaptation of Twisted Wonderland continue to be translated into English for official publication. While the previous "Book of Heartslabyul" manga was done by Koono Sumire and Wakana Hazuki (who I believe also have done the "Book of Octavinelle" manga,) this one is done by Oda Suzuka. Yana Toboso of course, continues to be involved in the creation of the comics.

Right away, the story continues to follow the timeline and plot of the mobile game, picking up where the Heartslabyul story ended. However, our "Yuu" in this manga is different from Yuuken Enma. This "Yuu" is Yuuka Hirasaka, our first girl Yuu and a black belt in judo. It is here we start to see the way the manga specifically approaches the idea of "Yuu" as the self-insertion of the player character, of "you": with each dorm's "book" or story, the "Yuu" is depicted differently, despite the story of the manga treating it each time as if the Yuu present was always the same person throughout past events to present. So while Yuuken Enma was the Yuu of Heartslabyul, the Savanaclaw manga picks up as if Yuuka Hirasaka was the person present for those prior events and the current ones, and that trend continues going forward. Almost like a "different people but the same soul" kind of thing. While this takes some getting used to, it's actually an element I've really come to appreciate in the sense that it's an artistic way of acknowledging the diversity of the game's player base as well as using each Yuu to both mirror and foil the characters, to show how they can empathize with the boys in Twisted Wonderland.

That said, Yuuka here feels more...detached than Yuuken, I feel? In the game, Yuu/the player character are present but you're often very much along for the ride for the events and something of a glorified cheerleader and compassionate self-insert. Yuuken was somewhat more involved and proactive in the Heartslabyul manga, whereas Yuuka seems to be going with the flow here. This isn't to say there's no distinguishing characteristics for her, but she's fairly quiet throughout this volume, not offering up much in the way of conversation or dialogue with other characters. I have to wonder how intentional this is, and if it's meant to signify she's more a person of action than of words.

I won't go overly into detail regarding what's happening here, because I really think it should be read and enjoyed blind if the manga is going to be your introduction to TWST as a whole. (And of course if you've already played the game, I figure you know that happens.)

I'm curious to see how long this ends up being. To my understanding, at some point the "Book of Savanaclaw" manga went on hiatus, though I'm not sure why, and the "Book of Octavinelle" manga began serialization. In fact, I think Octavinelle might be finished by this point, or very close to it? And yet I'm not sure Savanaclaw is? Which strikes me as a little odd, but that's alright. For the moment, I'm happy to wait. I think this might only end up being 2 or 3 volumes long.

[Enairolf]

Dès les premières pages, j’ai été totalement embarquée dans un tourbillon magique et captivant ! Imaginez un univers où la férocité rencontre la magie, où chaque personnage déborde de caractère, et où chaque page vous donne envie d’en savoir toujours plus… C’est exactement ce que propose ce manga signé Yana Toboso ! Si vous aimez les histoires pleines de mystère, d’action et de personnages aussi charismatiques que complexes, vous êtes au bon endroit. Ce tome promet une aventure incroyable au cœur du dortoir Savanaclaw, et croyez-moi, vous ne voudrez plus lâcher ce manga une fois commencé !

Dans ce premier tome, transportée à Twisted Wonderland, Yuka Hirasaka parcourt ce monde extraordinaire bien malgré elle. Alors qu’un grand tournoi magique se prépare, d’étranges événements semblent agiter les élèves de l’Académie Night Raven… Les griffes du dortoir Savanaclaw seraient-elles les plus dangereuses de Twisted Wonderland ?

Yuka est un personnage attachant car elle ne correspond pas au cliché du héros fort et sûr de lui : elle subit un peu ce qui lui arrive, elle doute, elle observe, mais elle finit toujours par agir quand il le faut. On sent qu’elle évolue lentement, gagnant en assurance au fil des épreuves, même si elle reste fidèle à elle-même. Ce tome se concentre sur le dortoir Savanaclaw, une maison dominée par la force, la puissance et l’instinct. Inspirée par Le Roi Lion, cette maison regorge de tensions internes, de jeux de pouvoir et de rivalités. Le meneur du dortoir, Leona Kingscholar, est un personnage charismatique, froid, calculateur, et profondément complexe. On devine rapidement que derrière son attitude hautaine et son mépris apparent se cachent de vieilles blessures, des frustrations et une lassitude envers un monde où il a toujours été relégué au second plan. L’ambiance dans ce dortoir est radicalement différente de celle de Heartslabyul : ici, on parle plus de rapports de force que de règles rigides. Et cela se ressent dans la manière dont les personnages interagissent. Les tensions sont vives, parfois même violentes, et le tournoi magique à venir agit comme un catalyseur pour révéler les vrais visages. Certains élèves semblent prêts à tout pour s’imposer.

Ce premier tome de La Maison Savanaclaw m’a vraiment plu. Il marque une vraie montée en tension dans la série, tout en gardant l’humour et la légèreté propres à l’univers de Twisted Wonderland. Les personnages gagnent en complexité, les thèmes deviennent plus sérieux, et l’univers continue de s’étoffer avec beaucoup d’originalité. Si vous aimez les ambiances magiques un peu tordues, les personnages torturés et les intrigues mystérieuses, vous trouverez sûrement votre bonheur ici.

[Eu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actual rating 3.5-4.0 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and VIZ Media LLC for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Disney Twisted-Wonderland: The Manga – Book of Savanaclaw is a fantasy manga by Suzuka Oda (concept by Yana Toboso). Adapted from the mobile game of the same name, this series depicts the second plot arc of the game, shifting focus from the Alice in Wonderland-themed Heartslabyul dorm to the Lion King-themed Savanaclaw dorm. In this volume, Yu (the narrator stand-in for the player character) is tasked with finding out who is sabotaging promising athletes as the inter-dorm sports competition (definitely not a simplified version of Quidditch) draws near.

Overall, this adaptation feels like an improvement over the previous plot arc. The important world-building details are condensed and explained upfront, so new readers have a better idea of what's going on--they don't need a game tutorial level. Leona Kingscholar and his sidekick Ruggie Bucchi's backstories (as of this volume) also feel more compelling than Riddle's, so I am intrigued by the plot direction this time around. Something I do have questions about was the seemingly random decision to insert a new PC narrator--a female judo star this time--into the story rather than keep the previous ones, especially since it's implied that she, too, has already experienced the Heartslabyul arc by the beginning of this volume. Perhaps it's an attempt to make the PC more universal? Either way, she takes more of a backseat role in this volume, which works out better than previous iterations as this leaves more room to develop the Savanaclaw characters--the real focus of the story. While readers don't have to read the Heartslabyul arc first before reading Savanaclaw, doing so does help identify recurring characters and referenced context.

Readers who like this series may also enjoy: other Disney Twisted-Wonderland adaptations (manga, novels, games), The Lion King franchise, Black Butler and Rust Blaster by Yana Toboso, and other Disney/fairy tale spin-offs, such as Once Upon a Time (2011), and the Disney Descendants series (2015), among others.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my very first foray into the Disney Twisted Wonderland world. I could tell there were previous stories I had not read, as references were made. I had forgotten how a manga book would tell only a part of the story in a single volume. It's more like reading the first 3 chapters of a book instead of getting a full story in a whole book. However, the story is set up well, and I would be delighted to read the next installments to get the full story.

I received an advanced reader's copy from Netgalley and Viz Media. I am grateful to both of them. My primary challenges with the book came from reading it on an electronic device. Being a graphic novel, the drawings are rather important to the story, and there is a watermark on every page that made some of the drawings harder to see and understand than they would be in a book. It also took me about 12 to 20 pages in to realize how the book was formatted. You start in the center of the page and read to the left and down the page, and then read from the rightmost side to the center and down the page. Classic manga formatting would have you read right to left, which this partially does, since in a book you'd read the right page first from right to left and then down and then the left page. It isn’t until the last page of the story that it lets you know that it reads from right to left instead of left to right. By the time you see that, you’ve finished the book. Anyway, it was a bit confusing. Because I’m reading it on an iPad in a landscape orientation, there also was not a clear delineation of the pages.

If you’re into the Twisted Wonderland stories, I believe you’ll enjoy this new series set in that world.

[Barbara Desa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just LOVEEEEE Twisted Wonderland!!!! And this book is no exception! I find it interesting that they took the character Yu and made him male in the first book of heartslabyul, but made her female in the book of savanaclaw, I think it’s trying to keep true to the game where in Yu does not have a specific gender and is referred to by “prefect” or by name, so it gets to have the same protagonist, just different genders. I wish the sport they played was the same and the backstory was the same, just so that we could get to know Yu’s personality regardless of gender, and that can change with the different sports (even if they are similar) but besides that, I really enjoyed that change! I wonder if that will continue for the next books? I loved Grim, Ace, and Deuce, iconic group with Yu. Meeting the characters of the savanaclaw house just makes you feel tough, like you wanna fight them but because they are strong, I don’t know how else to describe it, but it’s in a good way. Seeing Riddle and Trey again and that dynamic between them again was an amazing feature, just everything was awesome!!!

[Azbaqiyah · Rating 4 out of 5]

📖 Manga Review: Twisted Wonderland – Book of Savanaclaw (Vol. 1)

I really love how the Twisted Wonderland manga series keeps things fresh each arc! 💫

In the previous series, we followed a male protagonist in the Heartslabyul dorm, but this time in the Savanaclaw arc, we get a female lead! It’s such a nice touch that gives a new flavor to the same world and story. What’s even more interesting is how the manga mirrors the game concept, where the player decides their own path — it really brings the “interactive fantasy” feeling to life. 🎮✨

This arc focuses on an upcoming tournament, but things take a dark turn when a mysterious accident happens involving one of the students. It’s up to Yuu and her friends to uncover the truth behind it! Along the way, Yuu meets new faces from other dorms, expanding the Twisted Wonderland world even more.

The art is as stunning as ever — full of expression, attitude, and a bit of that wild Savanaclaw energy 🦁🔥. Can’t wait to see how this arc unfolds!

⭐ Rating: 4.5/5 — A must-read for Twisted Wonderland fans, especially if you love mystery, fantasy, and Disney villains with a twist!

[Martin Maenza · Rating 4 out of 5]

VIZ Media provided an early galley for review.

I am a big fan of the Twisted-Wonderland manga franchise. I am glad to see we have a new lengther arc starting with this volume after several collections of short vignettes.

The artwork, once again, is fantastic and blends the manga elements with the Disney mythos seamlessly. The story, while straightforward, does set up some interesting plot elements that should start to pay off in the next volume.

One odd thing is that the main character of Yu has changed genders from male to female with no explanation. I am not really sure what that is all about, whether it has some narrative implications, or if it was just keeping in line with the game upon which this is based in that the main character there ("you") can be either gender. We shall see if this gets addressed at some point.

[Andrea Ambroso · Rating 5 out of 5]

Una nuova saga si apre e sono rimasto un po' destabilizzato dal cambio di protagonista: se la storia precedente rimane invariata, adesso lo studente è una lei, Yuka Hirasaka, forse per sottolineare il fatto che la storia sia tratta da un videogioco e l'avatar del protagonista è diverso perché creato da giocatori diversi. In questa seconda saga si vede al centro degli eventi il dormitorio di Savanaclaw, e mi fa piacere vedere personaggi anche degli altri dormitori; infatti con la scusa del torneo di Spelldrive, l'intero Night Raven College è coinvolto.
Ancora presto per vedere dove sì andrà a parare con la storia ma questo inizio promette bene.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not overly substantial on its own, but I'm glad we're back to longer stories after the Anthology collections.

As a result of those, we've met some of these characters before, but Leona's still intriguing, and the mystery of Malleus continues to grab me. I'm confused as to why Yu is suddenly a woman after the last four volumes, especially since the story goes out of its way to recap everything that happened before so everything else is still canon, but it doesn't make much of a difference overall.

Lovely art too, maybe a bit more detailed than previously. And yes, everyone's still incredibly gay.

[Jillian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay, Ruggie Bucchi is my boy so this is my time to shine. Yes, he's an evil little gremlin- especially during the early part of the story LOL but he comes around in the end. And, I mean, he was doing it from a place of wanting to help his peeps. (Doesn't excuse it, but he's still my little guy in there...)

ANYWAY, this was great. The artwork was grand. Still have no idea why Yu changed, but whatever? It doesn't bother me too much, just left me confused LOL

Also that scene with the Leech twins...those guys are actually the most terrifying guys of Night Raven College. And I stand by that. LOL

[Larissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I still love delving into Twisted Wonderland. The mix of Disney and classic manga is perfection. I can’t wait to see what unfolds with the tournament and to see how Yu fairs considering they have no magic. I also loved meeting some newer characters that really weren't highlighted as much in previous volumes.
Thank you so much to VIZ Media and Netgalley for allowing me an advance copy of this title.

[Samantha Linsenbigler · Rating 4 out of 5]

So I guess you need to finish the heart part of the series before reading this one. Oops. Thankfully it wasn’t that difficult since the only that seems to be the same between this and that one is the small reference to what happened in the last one. Other than that everything including the main character is different, except the name. I actually enjoyed this story arch better than the start of the other.

[Eyla · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this for work so I will admit I didn't read the previous series first, but the concepts of the magic system with blot is really interesting. Shame it didn't come up much in this one, and this volume seemed to be mostly set up, but the art was really pretty and some dynamics are enjoyable.
I think you'd need to already be invested in Twisted Wonderland to really get more out of the series though.

[Elle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This Twisted Wonderland series switches to follow Savanaclaw dorm instead of the previous Heartslabyul and their interactions with Yu & Grim. Though an interesting read, I prefer Riddle to Leona as a featured character and house warden and enjoyed when Riddle and other characters from his dorm popped into the story.

[Bibliohiker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for letting me review this book. I’ve read several of the books in the Twisted Wonderland series and have enjoyed them. You get a more in depth look at certain characters along with the happenings at the school. I’ll definitely be picking up more of these books.

[Kat Ice · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first in the second dorm series- the Scar dorm. I was excited to see a new story line but it fell flat. I still want to see what is to come but it just didn’t do it for me. The characters seemed so snobby and unlikable to me. The plot was interesting- probably the only reason I’m sticking with it. Hopefully the second one is better!

[Jade ? · Rating 4 out of 5]

The art is absolutely amazing and the artist's way of drawing the characters makes them look incredible! Even though the art is pretty great, it can get a bit confusing at some panels making it difficult to understand what's happening.

Also the pacing was a bit weird, but I think that's just me 🤷

Overall it's good but it's kinda confusing to follow.