Самая красивая маньхуа этого года! Получила награду на 21-м фестивале Golden Dragon Award за лучшую адаптацию!
По одноимённому роману Ишисы Чжоу, который в 2021 году завоевал серебряную награду премии Chinese Nebula Awards — ежегодной китайской литературной премии в области научной фантастики.
2030 год. Землю накрыла великая катастрофа. Геомагнитное поле пропало, приборы вышли из строя, безжалостное Солнце приблизило всё сущее к гибели. Спустя десятилетия человечество сумело восстановить крохи жизни на планете, которая теперь изменилась до неузнаваемости. Люди соседствуют с коварной природой, а постоянная угроза заражения и мутации предопределила появление судей — тех, кто берёт на себя роль палачей и спасителей, не позволяющих опасным существам проникнуть за стены города. А где-то в Бездне, среди диковинных растений и жутких монстров, живёт маленький гриб, наделённый сознанием. Ему неведомы человеческие беды и горести. Вот только однажды его спору похитили, и теперь, чтобы отыскать её, грибочек должен попасть на базу людей и притвориться одним из них...
Stunning art. So happy to have the English version of this! It’s identical to the CN version ofc but this hardback version is much better quality. This volume covers through half of chapter 5 of the novel- where his “friend” Josie discovers he’s back (Josh in the novel). I don’t know if I would recommend reading the manhua without having read the novels first but I do think it’s pretty faithful adaptation and it was pretty straightforward and easy to follow. It includes a map which is always helpful!
I only looked at the art of the CN version so I don’t know about any translation changes in the manhua but there were a few changes from the PFH novel. Lu Feng is “Supreme Judge” instead of Arbiter and “Trial Court” to Special Court.
Highly recommend getting this if you are a Little Mushroom fan- it comes with goodies including an adorable chili standee of An Zhe and some gorgeous bookmarks, stickers, etc
"My heart feels so heavy. This must be what it feels like to be human..."
I picked this up because the cover immediately caught my eye, and I’m so glad I did. The dust jacket design is absolutely stunning, and the book itself feels so premium and thoughtfully made. It’s one of those editions that feels special the second you hold it. I’m not gonna lie, I usually don’t love most manhua art styles. A lot of them just don’t click for me. But this one completely won me over. It’s not overly artistic or flashy, but the style is clean, expressive, and incredibly effective. The way the artist captures emotion with just a look is unreal. There are panels where a character’s eyes say everything, and I found myself pausing just to take it in.
Going into this, I already knew the story, but seeing it brought to life visually gave it a whole new layer of impact. The atmosphere feels cold and tense from the start, and that quiet sense of danger never lets up. Watching An Zhe move through this world hit even harder in this format. His sincerity and the way he processes human emotions feel so raw and intimate. There are scenes that genuinely made my chest ache. You can see the confusion, the grief, the small moments of realization written across his face. It made everything feel immediate and personal in a way that stayed with me long after I closed the book.
And Lu Feng? He still unsettles me in the best way. Every time he appears, there’s this tightness in the air. He’s calm, perceptive, and unwavering, and the tension between him and An Zhe is electric even when almost nothing is said. So much is happening in a single glance. This adaptation captured the emotional weight, the atmosphere, and the quiet intensity of the story beautifully. I loved experiencing it this way, and I already know I’m going to treasure this volume on my shelf.
Humanity is more than DNA and in this manhua of the novel, "Little Mushroom," by Yi Shi Si Zhou this theme is beautifully explored. The book is published by Aloha Comics and is gorgeous in the quality of the paper and in the hardcovers with dust covers to protect it. The artwork by Yuchi Jinze and Maomao Tou is poetic in a dystopian way, creating a juxtaposition between the hardship of life in this destroyed world and the sensitivity of the little mushroom.
The prologue explains how the geomagnetic field surrounding earth disappeared in 2030, thus making life extremely difficult. All creatures are exposed to radiation, which creates genetic mutations. Humanity is now intertwined with other beings and these xenogens are executed without trial by judges.
The little mushroom is special both in his mushroom existence and in his xenogen form. He is sentient and now can also pass as human in the city. Underlying this hostile setting, exists a silent protest against the literally inhumane treatment of creatures who can no longer pass a human DNA test. The genre is therefore dystopian climate fiction.
The source novel is danmei but in this first manhua volume there is no indication of romance yet. The protagonist, An Ze, meets the supreme judge, Lu Feng, but their interaction is purely professional at this point. There is only a faint indication of foreshadowing in that An Ze manages to survive their first meeting.
i feel like you miss out on some details and emotions of the original story by reading the comic, but it's still pretty faithful and the art is pretty.
I finally got my hands on this. The manhua art was what compelled me to read the novel in the first place, and I must say Aloha Comics edition didn't disappoint. The art is wonderful and so at odds with the darkness of the story, that makes it even more perfect. I liked to see some of the scenes come to life through Chichi's art, which is superb, but as it happened with MDZS, I think you need to have read the novel to fully understand everything that's going on. That said, the art makes everything emotional at other, even deeper level. An Zhe eyes says a lot.
Mir hat der Auftakt in die Geschichte sehr gut gefallen. Die Geschichte ist düster und gleichzeitig niedlich und unschuldig. Ich bin sehr gespannt auf die weitere Handlung und hoffe auf noch viele mehr Hintergründe zu den Umständen.
Little Mushroom hat mich wirklich überrascht. Es geht um einen Jungen, der stirbt, und dessen Körper von einem Pilz übernommen wird. Dieser Pilz macht sich auf die Suche nach seiner Spore, die ihm von den Menschen genommen wurde. Die Geschichte spielt in einer postapokalyptischen Welt mit Distrikten, Stützpunkten und einem strengen Überwachungssystem. Besonders spannend wird es, als der Pilz auf Lu Feng trifft – den gefürchteten Inquisitor, der alles vernichtet, was als infiziert oder mutiert gilt. Ich fand die Story unglaublich fesselnd. Sie ist anders, kreativ und dabei erstaunlich emotional. Die Mischung aus Sci-Fi, Drama und einem Hauch Philosophischem hat mich total gepackt. Der Artstyle ist wunderschön – detailreich, atmosphärisch und einfach ästhetisch. Einziger Nachteil: Der Band war viel zu kurz! Ich hätte problemlos doppelt so viele Seiten lesen können. Trotzdem ist es ein großartiger Auftakt, der neugierig auf mehr macht. Ich bin richtig gespannt, wie sich die Geschichte zwischen dem Pilz und Lu Feng weiterentwickeln wird.
Earth, several decades into future, is slowly recovering from an extinction event. Humanity is fighting for survival, threatened by mutations that affect them as much as flora and fauna.
A scavenger, An Ze, is fatally injured in an abyss where mutation rate is extremely high. As he bleeds to death, his blood flows onto a mushroom that has gained consciousness. The mushroom gets An Ze’s DNA and is able to turn into him. With a body and An Ze’s identification, he heads to a human habitation to find his spore that has been harvested by human scientists.
Human habitation is tightly protected against mutants. The mushroom fears for his life, as mutants are shot on sight without trials or tests by Judges. The mushroom encounters the most feared of them, Supreme Judge, Colonel Lu Feng, who doesn’t kill him for some reason, but takes him to a DNA test. To the mushroom’s surprise, he passes perfectly. The volume ends as the mushroom, who calls himself An Zhe, starts his new life in the city.
This was so lovely. The art is so beautiful I almost forgot to read the story. There is actually more art than text, the dialogue sparce, but it doesn’t slow the story or make it difficult to follow. I haven’t read the original, but I don’t think much what is important was left out. There are 10 chapters in this first volume, so it’ll take a while before the manhua is complete.
5 ⭐️ This story had me hooked from the first page! Looking forward to continue the story – if you like sci-fi, this is a must read for you! Huge plus as well that the art is phenomenal *chefs kiss*
It is very very adorable (I mean the character... the plot. ufff) . Beautiful drawings and an intense plot, I just finished the novel and I want more :)
seeing the novel play out in a visual format is very intriguing. thanks to the visual aids, i am now able to better understand certain mechanics of the world, such as the distribution of facilities in the outer city and the placement of the outer/inner cities on the map. bc of all the information that needed to go into this volume, it could be a little hard to follow the flow of the story after an zhe entered the outer city, similarly to the novel. the concept still gets me though. quite pleased with the outcome, and the art is very lovely, too~~
the novel remains superior (and more detailed ofc) but the art is GORGEOUS! this captures the dark atmosphere pretty well + an zhe pookie is the cutest
It's important to note that this is the manhua adaptation of the two book danmei series, which is definitely the version you should read first. Or if you came through the manhua first, the novels will flesh out so much more of the world and the inner thoughts through really beautiful, complex, devastating storytelling.
But this is such a lovely visual format for a much quicker reread while I'm waiting to see if the Seven Seas editions have a discernably different translation from the original Peach Flower House ones (which I'd adored).
I'm glad that Aloha Comics licensed the manhua; I'd actually bought the original Chinese versions (Volumes 1 & 2) shortly before the announcement, since I figured...well, I knew the story well enough to just look at the beautiful art. But now I get to actually read it! And it's overall a pretty good adaptation.
You do miss a few things...An Zhe's emotions come through loud and clear, which is wonderful, and I loved the page where he realized that the weight of a human heart is a really heavy burden. Some pieces definitely felt rushed through, and sometimes it was a little hard to follow what was going on - the transition from a random human's execution to the covered body of Vance, for example. But I did love how expressive even the bowed line of An Zhe's neck was.
It's very, very easy to see how Lu Feng would get hooked on this little mushroom, because An Zhe is wildly adorable. He's gentle and kind and stubborn in his quest to find his stolen spore, and even though he's not human, he's nothing like the mutated creatures that Lu Feng spends all his time identifying and destroying. He's something different in this chaos of a broken world.
Really loved this first volume - it's nice to see all the visuals come to life, and to revisit the story. My only real complaint is an issue I have with Aloha in general...since I have the original books, I was able to compare side by side and confirmed something I've suspected since I started buying some of their other series (like Link Click) - Aloha prints too dark, and kind of too blue? It's not hugely different in the pages I compared, but the darker shades do make it harder to pick out some details.
Other than that, though, this was a beautiful production job - I didn't need to buy the Kinokinuya special dust jacket and shikishi edition on top of the regular Aloha one but...that's fine. I'll keep them both for now, since it really is such a pretty book, and it's one of my favorite stories.
First and foremost, the art is absolutely stunning. Like, so beautiful that I almost didn’t want to touch it with my bare hands. The Kinokuniya Special Edition itself is gorgeous, and the artwork throughout really elevates the entire experience.
The story pulls you in almost immediately. It starts off fast and doesn’t shy away from setting the tone early; death, survival, and a very intriguing premise right from the beginning. The concept is unique, and I’m already anxious to learn more about the sci-fi elements and how this world actually works.
I’m especially curious about Lu Feng and why he is the way he is, the atmosphere surrounding him, and how his story will eventually connect with An Zhe. Watching An Zhe try to survive in this world is both tense and fascinating, and the mystery introduced toward the end only made me want the next volume immediately.
Overall, this was a beautiful and intriguing start. I’m definitely ready for Volume 2, and I can’t wait for the upcoming novel by Yi Shi Si Zhou, which will likely expand on the world and story even more.
📌 For anyone interested: the physical English edition of the Little Mushroom novel is expected to release August 4th this year, so stay tuned.
I'm so happy we finally have an English translation of the manhua adaptation! The novel is one of my favorite danmei, and the manhua is so gorgeous. I enjoyed rereading this: the art is beautiful, and the translation is quite good. My one criticism is I wish there was an ebook version.
I particularly love the character designs: An Zhe and Lu Feng look perfect, and the scenes work really well to communicate their complex feelings. It's a sad, apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic story about finding hope in strange places, and what it means to have to do difficult things you feel are right, and how that wears on you. Of course, Lu Feng is already interested in the little mushroom, and that changes things :D
If you haven't read the novel, I'd suggest picking that up, since it's wonderful and has more detail (and it's also complete, while the manhua at least as of writing has a dubious future).
The Host with hunger games world building 🤔 that’s what this manhua is giving me and I love it!! First off my true rating I would give 3 1/2 stars! I love it so far the story is slow paced it gives you time to absorb all the beautiful art and colors that really just paints the plot. Chibi An Zhe is saurrrr cute I smile everytime he shows up but lets get to the real reason why I picked this one up 👀🫦 Lu Feng whewwww I just can’t help but love a man in royalty/period dated military fashion. I internally screamed when he showed up I wish I could insert picture here*….yes yes I am excited to read volume 2.
OH IM SO SAT WHAT.. the chibis are adorable, manhuas are always a little confusing for me but i AM planning on picking up the danmei after this so it's alright, i just wanted to familiarize myself with the setting a little bit. the word building is INSANE, i'm very intrigued. #moaned when hubbard showed up on my screen, long haired men will alway do it for me i fear. the art is beautiful i'm very excited to see where it all heads. an ze i miss u, i'll mourn the fact that we never got to know you and an zhe i will baby you forever, u r my kuchu puchu now. LU FENG IS SO GORGEOUS, the art makes him beautiful i love beautiful men i'm having sm fun
I want to give more stars, but there's a big problem with the german edition: In the German edition, a racist term was used in the translation on page 87: "Drecksnxxxx" (dirty nxxxx). It is unfortunate that such a term was used, even though it does not appear in the original. Even if it did, this term should not be used, but rather changed. The translator, Sarah Ozolnieks, did not use this term in her script either; it was inserted without her knowledge, which I find completely unprofessional on the part of the publisher.
I love Little Mushroom and I cannot wait for this to be completed! If you want a dystopian, post-apocalyptic world, with great world building and suspense as well as interesting and unique characters, this is it! A mushroom who has become human goes into the human base trying to find his spore, but is under the watchful eye of the Colonel/Judge who determines if people have become infected by the mutated plants and animals that ravage earth. I absolutely love the MCs An Zhe and Lu Feng! The art style is also gorgeous.