Thunder 3 n.1

サンダー3 [Thunder 3] #1

by Yuki Ikeda

Pyontarô est un collégien dont la petite sœur, Futaba, l’aime plus que tout. Un jour, lui et ses camarades surnommés les “small 3”, décident de jeter un œil à l’étrange disque reçu par leur professeur. Les garçons sont cependant loin de se douter que celui-ci est relié à un autre monde… et pendant qu’ils ont le dos tourné, voilà que Futaba se retrouve aspirée dans cette dimension parallèle ! Pyontarô et ses copains parviendront-ils à retrouver la petite fille ? Et quel est cet étrange univers dans lequel ils ont atterri ?!

Genres: Manga, Graphic Novels, Comics, Science Fiction, Humor, Fiction

224 pages, Paperback

First published October 17, 2022

Reviews

[Elif · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very funny and exciting sci-fi manga!!

[Gabe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Promising premise, but chapters go by quickly without explaining too much-- lots of big panel layouts where it takes lots of pages to express a single action. Maybe worth a library borrow, but not worth paying the full price for admission.

[Johnny il.cacciatore.di.libri]

Divertente e innovativo! Pieno di riferimenti al mondo dei manga e della cultura giapponese! Primo numero che mi ha convinto molto e quindi, per ora, lo proseguirò!

3,5 ⭐️

[Miriam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh mein Gott! So süß!!!!!! Ich liebe Futaba, eine neue Lieblingsfigur! Sie sollte noch viel mehr im Manga vorkommen! Rucki Zucki hopp hopp!

Große Empfehlung!

[✧ Beanie Reads ✧ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you netgalley and the publishers for this e-book ARC!
3 stars

First off, I have no idea why I cannot find the English version of this on Goodreads, but whatever xD Secondly, this is an interesting manga. I really like the concept (multiverse with the MCs being from an anime/manga-verse of a realistic world but aliens have integrated into society). You get that sorta Superman effect where being in a new world gives the MCs great strength and durability (basically giving them cartoon physics). It's honestly a cute and fun little read. I say interesting, though, because I honestly could have mistaken the MCs as elementary schoolers with their style, and though it seems they're meant to be older, all the panties/boobies/NSFW focuses that were woven into the beginning were just... weird. Other than that, though, yeah, good, cute fun.

[Irene ➰ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5

Ho stranamente trovato la variant da 1000 copie nel blind pack, cosa mai successa haha

Parlando ora dell'opera devo dire che mi è piaciuto molto il setting e la trama generale.
Questo primo volume è sì introduttivo, però allo stesso tempo crea una base alla trama importante e già si iniziano a capire le varie dinamiche e l'obiettivo finale della serie.

Originale e particolare al momento, da continuare.

[Skjam! · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I received an Uncorrected Proof Copy of this book from Netgalley for the purpose of reviewing it. No other compensation was offered or requested. Some aspects of the book may change between now and the actual publication. Thanks to Vertical for the opportunity!

Pyontaro Tezuka and his friends Tsubame Azuma and Hiroshi Ochanomizu are middle-schoolers who live in adjacent houses in a cul-de-sac. They’re pretty normal for their age, absent that they’re all on the short side, getting the group nickname “the Small Three.” They are starting to get interested in girls, particularly the one from their school and neighborhood who does guitar busking. She’s not interested back and considers them nuisances.

Pyontaro’s father is a manga creator working on a series titled “Thunder 3.” He’s not a big seller, and may never get into the big time magazines like Jumpy. Pyontaro’s mother is right now a stay at home mom, as little sister Futaba is a toddler. Pyontaro considers Futaba a nuisance who walks in on him in the restroom and steals his underwear, but she admires her big brother.

It’s Valentine’s Day, not that any of the Small Three ever get chocolates from girls. A new handsome transfer student who’s good at soccer arrives at school, but this seems largely irrelevant as you can’t steal attention from someone who never had any. More to the point, homeroom teacher Doc talks a bit about multiversal theory.

The next day, after school, the Small Three visit Doc’s house to play video games. There’s a disc that’s supposed to connect to another dimension, but you need a PS5 to play it, and Doc doesn’t have one. Pyontaro’s family does have a PS5 and the kids borrow the disc.

When the boys get home, Pyontaro’s mother is going shopping and asks them to watch Tsubasa. The graphics on the “movie” on the disc are awesome, but no button pushes seem to do anything. A delivery distracts the boys, so it’s Futaba who discovers that the TV screen is now a window, and things can pass through both ways.

Futaba rapidly discovers that not all the inhabitants of the other world are friendly. Pyontaro and his friends figure out where she went, and arrive just in time to see her abducted by aliens. Now stranded on a parallel Earth, what can the Small Three do to save Futaba?

As it happens, more than you’d expect.

The homeworld of the Small Three is depicted in a simplistic, cartoony “throwback” style, which threw me off as to what the genre was going to be. The alternate world has a more detailed “realistic” style, but visitors from the first Earth retain their own art style, which causes them to stand out considerably. This gives the book a distinctive look.

Appearances aside, the two Earths are very similar, with the same people who behave in the same way. Except that aliens arrived a few months ago on the parallel Earth. The government says they came in peace, but what we see of them indicates they’re kind of jerks, standoffish and self-centered. They live among humans, but don’t socialize with them. Plus, they abducted Tsubasa to run experiments on her. And why do they need all those weapons?

It’s an interesting if somewhat contrived premise to allow our middle-school protagonists to be the ones to need to solve the problem. There’s a bit of mystery about just what’s going on behind the scenes, and if the series follows through on that, it might be one to follow.

Content note: One of the boys is fixated on girls’ underwear, and another draws pictures of boobs. Peril to children. Most middle schoolers should be okay.

Recommended to science fiction fans, particularly parallel Earth buffs.

[LittlePiscesReading]

I love the contrast of styles that Thunder 3 promises and it does not disappoint. The retro style of the Small Three to the realism of the other universe and the futurism of the mecha breathe so much life into the worlds. I love The Wizard of Oz (1939) but like many such stories the strange other world very quickly becomes the normal world for the audience. Thunder 3 avoids that – to its benefit. This world always feels at odds with the Small Three, through both the variety of styles and the pacing of their introduction. It’s as much as journey of discovery for the reader as it is the characters.

Unfortunately I found them wanting. There isn’t much characterisation beyond one characteristic. Especially for two of the three. Though I do appreciate that they’re quite cartoonish. Futaba did surprise me. In quite a few ways. I hadn’t expected her to be quite so young. Or to be so saccharinely Hallmark – too good, too pure for this world. Thankfully the shift in genre made this bearable and her guilelessness became fantastically funny in the face of the threats (or lack thereof) bearing down on her. And I’m pleasantly surprised at the prospect that she isn’t just going to be a MacGuffin to be saved.

The constant exclamations of the Small Three as “anime!” is tiring, however. It undercuts the stakes. Futaba was snatched up immediately, and they get to go viral. There is genuine menace to her kidnappers and I wish that had been sustained. I do really like the use of a different font to alienate and distance them, but, again, that undermines them as it’s quite hard to read.

I’m nonetheless still really intrigued by this series. The Small Three’s discoveries about themselves and the way their cartoon physics interacts with the world excites me.

Thanks to NetGalley and Kodansha for this review copy. I leave this review voluntarily.

[Susanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three teenage boys get sucked to another dimesion through a video game and get stuck there, because in their world the game is switched off. It’s exactly like their world, with the same people, including themselves, but more realistic, i.e. looks like our world, and it’s been recently invaded by aliens. The baby sister of one of the boys is abducted by the aliens and the boys intend to rescue her. And it turns out, in this dimension, they’re super powerful.

I’m not entirely sure what to think of this. The idea was fun, but the story was very gloomy. It didn’t really lead anywhere either, so there’ll be several volumes of the same. It’s a bit juvenile for adults and a bit lame for pre-teen boys, even if the boys only care about boobs and panties, so I don’t know who it would be best for. I don’t think I’ll read more.

I received a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Thomas Hale · Rating 3 out of 5]

A toony slice-of-life manga where a portal opens up into a gritty, photorealistic science fiction world. The cartoon kids who go through the portal have cartoon-physics superpowers on the other side. Giant aliens, enormous firepower, and an indestructible preschooler. It's an interesting setup, and I'm interested to see what the creator does with the premise, though the actual story and stakes aren't grabbing me much at this early stage.

[Sophy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like stories with a multiverse, these are pretty interesting. We follow 3 boys just living their lives when the teacher gives them a game that is a literal portal into another world. The world looks like what we would call the real world, as they look like Anime characters walking around. It gets a little more wild than that, I will definitely be reading more of this series.

[Rubën Rüiz · Rating 4 out of 5]

En cuanto miré la portada supe que era obra de Hiroya autor de Gantz, confirmado desde las primeras páginas, su estilo es inconfundible y sabemos que siempre hace cosas bastante divertidas. Muy disfrutable primer tomo que deja esperando por más :) siempre es un gusto leer a este señor.

[Ya Boi Be Reading · Rating 3 out of 5]

The concept of taking gag characters and putting them into the real world and one that has their real-world counterparts to boot is interesting and leads to some fun ideas. They then add onto this with the aliens which I feel plays into the sci-fi element of the hook well while keeping the story from becoming focused on being one of those multiverse stories. The implications of how stupidly strong and resilient gag characters are (akin to Arale beating Goku) compared to regular humans is fun as well. But the writing and general pacing isn't to me. Everything is just a tad slow. And the writing and layouts just give too much space for everyone to say something. Too often it felt like a page was just everyone's reaction, or someone telling them to do something and then they do a simple action but it takes a whole page. I think part of it is to show off the really detailed art but that sort of style doesn't always appeal to me.
The art style is well rendered but not for me. I do think the mixing of simple gag art with extremely well-rendered art is interesting though.

[Luis Rios · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Small Three, turned into superheroes by mistake, having to save pyontaro's sister from.............aliens(?)

Interesting play of the multiverse theory - love the drawing style changes.

There's something so refreshing and interesting about this take on sci-fi.

LR

[Erin Thompson · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s weird, but kind of fun. The characters don’t have much depth or much personality yet, but mixing two different styles as dimensions is interesting. Does have some entertaining moments. Mostly I just want to know more about the aliens.

[Jin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like the art style and I like the story so far.

[Tori ✼ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok the switch between the cartoon style and realistic style and the general superman/parallel world plots are super cool!

[Alicia · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's a bit of the kitchen sink all thrown into one manga. In this volume, there's Pyontaro and his two friends. Pyontaro's little sister Futaba adores him and he's generally annoyed by her because she steals his boxers when he's showering and tells the family she's going to marry her "big bwudda". But then she's accidentally sucked into/crawls into another world when Pyontaro and his friends put in a disc at home and they go in in order to save her however there's an alternate world but with aliens-- will they find her and will they be able to get back?

It's awkward because there's aliens, some mecha, some humor, but also random shots of boobs that Pyontaro (as a young man is obsessed with), and the friends but it doesn't seem like having two friends in tow is anything special. It's an odd mix that doesn't go very far in storytelling.

[G L]

Only this vol

[Carver Kilgore · Rating 5 out of 5]

very fun! I love the style mixing and I wanna know more about what's going on, a very strong start!!

[Dan P · Rating 3 out of 5]

This series has been hyped up a lot, but I'm not getting much from this first volume. Premise is fun, but there's a lot of wasted opportunity for really good comedic or action beats. I'll give the next volume a shot, but I'm not sure if this is for me

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read the full review, and find more graphic novel reviews, at The Graphic Library.

​Pyontaro is trying to live his teenage life away from his annoying little sister, Futaba, but she’s constantly intruding in the most inopportune times. He and his two friends attend classes where they learn about the multiverse theory and daydream about girls. One day, they take home a strange disk from one of their teachers that opens a portal to another world, a bizarre multiverse where Futaba is captured by aliens! Pyontaro and his two friends go in after her, and they seem to have special abilities and super strength.

Ikeda interestingly blends two art styles to represent the two universes, and creates a sci-fi adventure with ominous aliens that are all unique and mysterious. There was a lot going on in thi first volume in terms of world building between the Pyontaro's dimension and the one they all get sucked into, so unfortunately the character development suffered because of it. The Small Three (the team name for Pyontaro and his two friends) are a little bit blurred together in terms of personality, so hopefully they will get a chance to shine in later volumes and have some nuance.

Pyontaro’s daydreams and notebook sketches often involve crude cartoon nudity, making this title more appropriate for high school audiences.

Sara's Rating: 8/10
Suitability Level: Grades 9-12

[Rumi · Rating 5 out of 5]

promette bene, siamo sul carro