ソアラと魔物の家 5 [Soara to Mamono no Ie 5]

ソアラと魔物の家 [Soara to Mamono no Ie] #5

by Hidenori Yamaji, 山地ひでのり

魔物の家を造る、その真の意味とは？

魔物の家を造る旅、その旅の端緒となる
ドワーフ国での幼きキリク達を描く過去編。

ドワーフ国に人間軍の脅威が迫り、キリクも戦いの渦中へと
巻き込まれていく。その先にあったのは、出会いと別れ。
そして、舞台は再び現在へ。

異世界建築冒険譚、激震。

Genres: Manga, Fantasy, Adventure, Magic, Graphic Novels

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 10, 2025

Reviews

[S46354595 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am slowly falling in love with this series. If you like the technical descriptions in Dungeon Meshi, Drifting Dragons, or The Dragon, the Hero, and the Courier, this is a great series to try. This is my favorite kind of manga.

Soara and the House of Monsters Review

5/5 stars

I picked up this manga on a whim because I saw it at the library and it looked cute. There are currently two volumes out, with a third on the way. There will be no spoilers. Granted, that will make this quite short, but hopefully you get enough to determine if you’d want to start this series. Enjoy!

This is a relatively new manga about a girl named Soara who spent her whole life training to fight monsters, only to find out that the monsters have just signed a truce with the humans and they will no longer be at war.

While trying to figure out what to do with her life, Soara ends up running into these dwarves who are architects who build houses for monsters. She doesn’t trust them at first, because she’s not sure that the peace treaty will last very long.

But after seeing them create such beautiful houses that are perfectly suited to the monsters who will inhabit them, Soara eventually agrees to help them. She’s sort of the hired muscle for their group, but might eventually learn about architecture as the series continues.

In the first few volumes, they build a couple of houses for different monster species, and work through some of the difficulties they have getting to know each other. The architecture is really where this series shines. Every house is designed specifically for each monster, and the creative ideas are so fun to read about. It kind of feels like dream architecture, but it’s actually drawn out and tangible!

And then everything changes when they receive a mysterious letter from the king of the monsters, asking them to come back to his castle for some unknown reason. I won’t tell you why, as that’s spoilers, but what I will say is this adds a whole new layer to the world building and plot I was not expecting from a kind of cute, goofy series about magical architecture.

I honestly had a lot of fun with these two volumes, and I can’t wait for volume three when it comes out later this year. I’m always on the hunt for fantasy or sci-fi manga that aren’t just your typical shonen, because those start to all feel the same after a while. I’ve never read anything like this in manga or book format, and I’m super glad I found this series. I cannot recommend it enough!

Have a nice day/night everyone!

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

To preface, volumes 1-3 of “Soara and the House of Monsters” were abundantly cozy, and volume 4 took a small step aside from the cozy vibes while slowly revealing the dwarves’ backstory. In comparison, this volume is mostly grim as we truly see and understand Kirik’s past and the heartbreak that shaped him into the builder he is today. I will say that it became more lighthearted as the book reverted to present day towards the very end.

[DJL · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh, this volume was heart-breaking.

[Steph · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 Stars

[Mara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Volume 5 brings us the end of Kirik's flashback arc, which shows why he turned away from the human-monster war to build houses. It's a good look at the core of his character. As silly as Kirik can be, his resolve to peace and building things to support that peace is born from the traumas of the war. I like how this series treats serious matters with gravity, and reserves the jokes for the lighter things.

I look forward to the next volume and the next arc!

[Aaron Meyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

We continue our look back into the origins of Kirik and crew and what a story it is. Very impactful and a bit sad. Also we get to see how connected everyone is even that far back in the past. I like the house building and all but I sure wish we had more like this volume.

[Basic Liver · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing addition to the SHM series. It is by far the most gruesome volume as the previous violence was plenty more played down and comic, but here as the Dwarven nation does battle with the human army all censoring is left by the wayside to tell the always compelling message that War is Hell. It expands on the characters of Kirik and Niko very well and makes them both more relatable and feel more real as characters, while giving us a glimpse as to how they became the way they are now. The book has many twists and turns that paint a devastating narrative about intent and revenge. Thankfully, the entire book isn't doom and gloom, as it picks up in the final chapters and becomes rather wholesome. An amazing addition, I am still incredibly interested in the series after reading.

[Ephemera · Rating 5 out of 5]

I cried reading this book.