OMORI 1

OMORI #1

by OMOCAT, Nui Konoito

Based on the hit indie rpg of the same name, Omori employs the tropes of video games, alternate worlds, and even psychological horror to explore how young people process tragedy, friendship, and forgiveness.

Since the terrible tragedy of four years ago, SUNNY hasn't set foot outside his house. Now, in an attempt to shake him out of his torpor, his family has decided to leave Faraway Town. Three days before the move, Sunny's childhood friend KEL shows up to hang out one last time—but the world outside the young shut-in's door has changed completely, and Sunny's reunion with his old pals goes from bad to worse. Whether by chance or fate, the chain of events that begin to unfold calls up a past they all thought was buried forever...

Genres: Manga, Horror, Graphic Novels

208 pages, Paperback

First published November 21, 2024

About the author

OMOCAT is an illustrator known for a variety of work that ranges from very personal art and comics (Pretty Boy!!) to fanart of various video games and anime. Aside from being an artist, she runs her own website / online store with a very successful clothing line featuring her original artwork as well as collaborations with other independent artists.

Her most recent project is OMORI, a project that has been on her mind since the start of her career.
(- https://omori.fandom.com/wiki/OMOCAT)

Reviews

[kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and Kodansha Comics for providing me with an ARC of this book in return for a voluntary and honest review!

I will say I have previous knowledge of Omori so I knew what I was getting into by reading this manga but it was super enjoyable nonetheless! It was really nostalgic to jump back into this world and storyline - I by no means think that you need to have any prior knowledge of this world to jump straight into the manga, if anything you'll just join the club a slight confusion and intrigue lmao

The art style is insanely pretty but also pretty horrifying - this story is a psychological horror and you can definitely tell that the storyline will be disturbing just from the art style alone! If I had to compare the art to another popular manga I would say its somewhat similar to The Summer Hikaru Died and I mean that in the best way possible!!

Super excited for the second volume of this to be released in summer - I'll definitely be continuing it!

[Mehsi · Rating 1 out of 5]

I received this book from the publisher (Kodansha) on Netgalley in exchange of an honest review.

What a fucking mess. When they said based on the game they mean play the game or else you are fucking confused and have a headache at the end. NOT RECOMMENDED.

Review (reaction + GIF) coming in 14 days on my blog.

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I meant to read this before it came out but with studying for a test and my not so pretty nightmare, I felt it better to wait a week or so.

This is a psychological horror manga. So my sister played the game and said this was really good. I didn’t play the game and I’m simply very confused 🤣🤣

I swear I don’t get how we go from one scene to another. Like it is just me or did you guys also felt your heads become potato reading this? 😅

So what I got was that we alternate from going to the past and the present. This way we can see Omori’s sister - Mari. According to my sister and the description of the book (I went back to it after reading it 😭😭) she’s accidentally killed. So in the present I think it’s trying to show Sunny’s trauma. But then they also show memories of the friend group together. Yeah I’m confused to say the least but at least I really like the art.

Thank you NetGalley and Kodansha comics for the arc.

[ari · Rating 4 out of 5]

as a huge Huge fan of the game, i really enjoyed it. but i can see how it can be a bit confusing for people who haven't played it,, dont give up on it plz!.!.!!! >_< i love the art style and im excited to read more volumes in the future :)

[Curious Madra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks Netgalley and publisher for allowing me to read this manga after its game release!

Now I never played the game but oh boy, it’s really really dark even as a volume 1. You’d really feel for our boi Sunny here with the amount of hallucinations he faces while he’s with his friends and also coming into terms of his sister Maris death. It really does show the mental illness quite well with curiosity and pain that Sunny feels. It reminds me a mix of Higurashi: hear they cry and From the new World animes with making you confused but more interested to find out on seeing more.

[kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m confused but very intrigued. Love the art style but can’t get behind the fact that they’re supposed to be young adults? They still look like children. Anyways, excited to get my heartbroken.

(Ethan, still waiting for that gameplay)

[✨ Flo ✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m not totally into it yet (probably because I haven’t played the game) but it is very intriguing.

[Ari · Rating 4 out of 5]

***Thank you to Kodansha and Net Galley for this ARC!***

I must confess that I’ve never played the original video game this manga is adapting, so all my prior knowledge of OMORI and its plot stems from video essays. I also refrained from refreshing myself on the game’s plot before reading, so I could properly judge the story's clarity.

The manga does a great job of portraying the distinctions between the white space, the real world, and the headspace, even though it’s all in black and white. The non-linear storyline was successfully conveyed through visuals. That being said, don’t expect to finish this book having it all figured out. It’s only the first edition, and it doesn’t leave many questions answered. While that’s not exactly a critique (as this is to be expected for a serialized work), I didn’t really love where the first issue ended. I thought the beginning started off with a strong hook, but the end had me expecting more.

To speak further on the artwork, I was very impressed by the panel composition and character expression. Intense movement was captured very well, and all of the chilling visuals had loose line work that gave it a scribbled dream-like quality. As for the dialogue, I found a lot of it to be flat and on the nose. However, I’m hesitant to truly criticize it, because I’m unsure if it was taken from the game or not. Overall, it was a pleasant and easy read, and I’m sure fans of the original game will enjoy it.

[Stormborn Bookshelf · Rating 5 out of 5]

5⭐️

This was so nostalgic, I am so incredibly happy this manga is finally coming out because I feel there is never enough of Omori in this world 🤍

I absolutely LOVED the videogame, so much I played it three times to not lose any of the many details and when I saw the ARC of the first manga on NetGallery, I screamed.
Thank you so much for gifting me the opportunity to read this one before the release date, I made sure to add it to my wish list and I am 100% going to get each manga in the series 😍

This volume was so similar to the videogame, I was actually really surprised. The drawings are beyond amazing and now I can’t wait to read the second volume.

For those not familiar with the videogame Omori, this volume might seem full of nonsense, but just trust me, you keep reading and you won’t be disappointed!

[Jacob Jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley and Kodansha for this ARC!

Omori is a very interesting and depressing story. The way this story is told through this new medium is excellent. The art style and design choices blend video game design with an almost cosmic horror level of character design that was unexpected. While the story is very intriguing, it may be too confusing to follow for those that are unfamiliar with the video game that this book is based upon. That said, I would still recommend this manga for lovers of horror manga and (obviously) those that played the game.

[Holly Bevans · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

I went into this without having played the game it’s based on, and I do think that influenced my overall experience with the story. Because I didn’t have that background knowledge, parts of the plot felt a bit scattered and I occasionally found myself feeling lost while trying to follow what was happening.

That said, I don’t think this is a bad story at all, it just wasn’t the right fit for me personally. I suspect fans of the game will likely get much more out of it since they’ll already be familiar with the world and characters.

One thing I really did enjoy was the artwork. The illustrations are beautiful and add a lot of charm to the overall reading experience.

After reading this, I’m definitely curious about the game and plan to check it out. I’d love to revisit the story later with that extra context and see if it changes how I feel about it. 🎮📚

[Xirimoya · Rating 3 out of 5]

mmmmm muchas opiniones sobre adaptar a manga este jogo

[Papież Avery · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jest git, ale sposób rysowania tych postaci... nie wiem. Ogólnie jednak nostalgia gry bardzo wpływa na czytanie tego. Mam mieszane uczucia...

[Miosz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the game and decided to give manga a try and yes, it's still good.
Some of the facial expressions the characters have were weird to me, maybe that's just not my style, but it's not something, that will make me hate this book.
My rating is more like 3,5 I'd say.

[★julia✿ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jaka piekna kreska... cudowna.
No a mangi nie ocenię obiektywnie bo oczywiście wiem co sie dzialo w grze, wiec nie wiem jak odbierxe to osoba ktora tego nie zrobila. Mimo ze jest to doslownie adaptacja gry (dialogi te same itp.) to masa rzeczy jest pominieta, bo manga bylaby za nudna.
Moj biedny chlopiec Sunny / Omori... Wlasciwie juz ti jest roznica bo z tego co pamietam w grze nie bylo od poczatku wiadome ze on sie nazywal Sunny. Kocham go, biedny chlopiec. Jedyna postacia ktorej nie lubie jest Aubrey... Kazdy inaczej reaguje na traume i ona akurat zareagowala staniem sie bullym ale jakos jej nie umiem polubic

[Zoe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good art with the story of the game. I really enjoyed it but I also feel that if you don't know the story beforehand it will be extremely confusing to follow/connect the story

[Kata · Rating 5 out of 5]

manga to trochę speedrun gry, ale to nadal omori, więc fajne.

[Mika · Rating 4 out of 5]

*I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.*

Quick Recommendation

This surreal psychological horror manga offers an emotional and intense experience, centering around grief, loss and the importance of friendships in difficult times.

It uniquely blends a cute and colourful world with a darker and more tragic one. The lingering mysterious atmosphere makes one wonder what might happen next and what parts of the story still needs to be unraveld. The tone is shifting from one moment into the next which can feel intense or blends in flawlessly.

Suitable for anyone who wants to read something psychological that isn't always sad but when it does gets sad it will be devastating.

Introduction

OMORI was originally a webcomic but is widely known as an indie game that now got a manga adaption, which I'm happy for. It's a psychological horror story which with its long content (20+ hours of gaming) is very engaging and fun. 'Cause of it's non-linear and fragmented narrative I hoped to experience the main storyline differently by this manga adaption.

I was able to read a preview of the first manga chapter as a Kodansha Reader. It was already amazing and I wanted to find out what happened next!

Plot

One gets thrown into the story right away. It starts off mysterious and steadily moves to tense moments. This manga series doesn't fear to confront the readers with the darkest pasts, secrets and feelings. It will make one feel uncomfortable—one might want to flee and stop—but stopping would ruin the experience. The characters can't sleep at night without replaying the events on repeat like a broken cassette who has long lost its way. Trapped inside one's own house with no way out. Trapped inside one's own head without being able to think clearly.

Friendships aren't always beautiful—they have an ugly side too. There might be sad memories but one can always create more happy ones and overshadow the sad ones—unless they can't be forgotten or fixed.

Themes

Main themes
Guilt, grief, loss, overthinking, friendships, self-isolation, loneliness and self-identity.

Other themes
Promises, dreams, memories, denial vs acceptance, fear of growing up and feeling of entrapment.

Most of the story is revealed through symbolism, so one needs to take attention while reading to catch them, especially the subtle ones. I won't analyse them here but I might do so in future reviews when the story progresses.

Characters

The alternate world is portraying the characters how they used to be. One can see clearly each of their individual coping mechanisms, which were caused by the tragic event. It's really interesting to find out how their past self differs from their current self. In my opinion it reflects their changed mental state caused by trauma well. Especially their changed behaviour which was caused by long-term psychological impact.

Outroduction

After reading the first volume I long to play the game again; it's so much fun! Immediately made me remind back when I first experienced the whole story. I wish I could experience it for the first time again 'cause it evoked so many feelings in me.

Big thanks to NetGalley and Kodansha Comics for providing me with the advanced reader copy of OMORI 1 by OMOCAT and Nui Konoito.

StoryGraph review + content warnings

Started the book: 10. March 2026
Finished the book: 10. March 2026
Wrote the review: 10. March 2026

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who I would recommend this book to: Fans of the OMORI game who are hungry for more content or interested in experiencing the story in a different form
Who I would not recommend this book to: Those who intend to but have not yet played the OMORI game
I would like to preface this review by acknowledging that this manga is an adaptation of an RPG. I recognize that there are all sorts of limitations and challenges when it comes to adapting a work from one format to another and appreciate the amount of thought that must go into a project of this sort. As a huge fan of the OMORI game, I was both excited for and skeptical about the release of this manga adaptation. There’s no denying that with the game as its source material, the bar was set high for this manga and, in my personal opinion, it just didn’t really deliver.
I’ll start by highlighting some of the aspects of the manga that I did enjoy. One touch I really liked is that the chapters are named after particular tracks from the game’s OST. (I even listened to those tracks as I read their namesake chapters, which added to the atmosphere). I liked that a good amount of the dialogue seems to have been lifted directly from the game and also enjoyed other little details throughout the volume that nod to the game (like the confetti surrounding the characters after they triumph in battle).
Now on to some of my criticisms. I realize that with it being an adaptation, some degree of modification and rearranging was inevitable. That said, I feel that the choice to begin the manga in FARAWAY TOWN detracts from the suspense and build-up of the original story. I’m not sure how many total volumes there are expected to be in this series, but I imagine the author was tasked with condensing the story to fit a certain number of volumes. Even so, I have to wonder whether rearranging the story in this particular way was really the only solution. Also, the pacing does feel somewhat off and the storyline disjointed in a way that I feel would be very confusing to readers who have not played the game. By contrast, I feel like a lot of the original story’s impact lies in its very intentional pacing and how it keeps the audience guessing. I was also really disappointed about how little emphasis was placed on WHITE SPACE. There was only one extremely brief scene featuring WHITE SPACE and I don’t feel that it succeeded in conveying its eerie vastness.
I do hold out hope that the manga will improve as it progresses and will be reading and purchasing all of the volumes. Admittedly, because I am such a fan of the game, I may be viewing the manga through a somewhat overly critical lens. One thing I can confidently say, however, is that I would recommend playing the game first so that you can experience the story as originally intended — it truly is a work of art. I would love to someday see an OMORI graphic novel made by OMOCAT/the original team of artists.
I would like the thank Kodansha Comics for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. The above is an honest review and all opinions are my own.

[Tiffany Seward · Rating 2 out of 5]

Manga | Psychological | Core concept as word

Thank you to Kodansha Comics for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

•Plot: OMORI 1, it starts off with the MC having a nightmare. But his nightmare seems to leak into his actual life. His friends have fallen apart over a death.
•What I liked: It’s mostly psychological, but also has some horror elements. I’m trying to figure out if some of the events we see from the children’s perspective, besides the MC hallucinations, are actually real in that universe. There’s a scene with an absurdly elongated ladder, and if it’s actual, it’s as tall as a skyscraper to climb, but if it’s how the kids view climbing, that would make sense for it to feel that long. That scene leads into another supernatural scene, but I’m not fully sure if the MC is just hallucinating. Sometimes the other kids can interact with the same things he sees, so it’s not always a hallucination.
•What didn’t work for me: The children are violent, one carries a baseball bat with nails in it, and the MC arms himself with a kitchen knife that he actually uses on the other violent kid. In the past, they were nice to each other. The pacing was very slow for me. There's is not parental figures present to help manage them. At times, the manga leaves readers in a lot of confusion that I'm not sure they will clarify later.
•Themes / Ideas: Loss, violence. Absent parents, psychological trauma.
•Who I’d recommend it to: If you're interested in reading something borderline horror and mostly psychological. If you don't mind figuring out the meaning or the reason why things are happening, with several things left open-ended.

Overall/Thoughts: It was a little tough to finish this manga for me due to the pacing being slow. I had to set it down and picked it up days later. It’s mostly about the death of someone changing the lives of their friends. Each person handles it differently, but it looks like there are possible supernatural elements mixed with their death. We spend a lot of the story seeing how the others reacted to the death and see how they were before and after it. The ending leaves a strange cliffhanger as if did the death even happened.

[InfiniteLibrary · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thanks to OMOCAT, Kodansha Comics, and Netgalley for a complimentary e-arc of this manga in exchange for an honest review.

Let me disclaimer this review by saying - I went into this book completely blind as someone who hasn't yet played the Omori video game this is based off of. It is something I am interested in playing however as I know it delves into psychological horror which is something I am interested in genre-wise in my video games and books. Whilst this definitely did do the psychological horror elements well, and I got a general idea of the tone and characters in this first volume of the manga series, unfortunately it was a rather confusing read. I feel like this was a manga which assumed you were already familiar with the video game, and doesn't hold your hand at all in this regards. Whilst I was definitely intrigued by the mysteries presented here and did think the art direction worked really well for the psychological horror elements, I felt the plot itself was too vague to be understood by a casual reader.

It's a shame as I know this video game (which I believe was independently made), has had an emotional impact on a lot of people and I was excited to see what it was all about but this first volume of the manga just left me feeling baffled and I really had no clue what was going on a lot of the time. The story seems to follow our main character Sunny (also sometimes know as Omori?), who has become a shut in, years after an incident appears to have happened between a group of childhood friends. The group are all haunted and changed by this incident, but as of yet, the story hasn't revealed exactly what splintered their friend group. I thought the characters were interesting but we didn't spend too long with any of them long enough to get a real feel for them outside of their base personalities. The art felt somewhat childish at times, but this is in keeping with the series' style but i was confused by how it seemed the kids were sometimes referred to as children, and then as being older as they all looked very young.

Not one for me sadly, as I was just very confused reading this manga and will check out the video game instead.

[Ersi Safitri · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up because I was curious—it’s an adaptation of an RPG horror game, which already sounded really interesting.
The first thing that stood out to me was the art style. It looks rough, almost like a sketchbook, but somehow it fits the story perfectly. It gives off this raw and slightly unsettling vibe that I actually really liked.
Story-wise though, I have to admit… I struggled a bit. It felt confusing and quite heavy to follow. At some point, I thought the story might be showing two sides of a character’s personality—but I wasn’t even sure if that was intentional or just my own interpretation.
The story revolves around childhood friends who drifted apart and then reunite, trying to fix something that was lost. It also jumps back and forth between the present and the past, including scenes where they’re exploring what feels like a dreamlike or alternate world.
The idea itself is interesting, but the execution made it hard for me to fully understand what was going on. The transitions between reality and that “other world” weren’t very clear, which made it a bit confusing.
I feel like this might work better if you’ve already played the game. As someone completely new to the story, reading just one volume left me more confused than anything.
Still, I have to say—the atmosphere is really well done. It has this constant uneasy feeling that fits the horror genre really well.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC copy in return for honest review.

[Kaye · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ahead of the publication date!

I don’t even know where to start with this one. I’ve never played the games so I wasn’t sure what to expect when reading this.

Chapter 1 was promising, it felt very much like an introduction to the world and characters and then you get chapter 2 and we’re in what seems like a game world??? Is it related to the real world? Are there effects from one world to another? You never know. The volume seems to follow the pattern of 1 chapter is the real world and the next is the game world and this patters just continues until end of the volume.

The art style was refreshing and I really liked the horror aspect of this but I really couldn’t get stuck into the story or even keep track of the names and characters.

However, because there are 2 different worlds explored and each character looks different in both, it took me a while to get the hang of everyone’s names and why each world exists. There’s also a very obvious mystery aspect to this that doesn’t really go anywhere in this first volume.


I’m not sure if I’d want to pick up volume 2. I just didn’t really like how chop-and-change it felt. I couldn’t really connect with the characters and because the story is inconsistent, there’s really nothing to follow.

[MugofChai · Rating 5 out of 5]

"We're all here to support and protect you. You have nothing to be afraid of as long as we're together" — Hero, Omori

GAH WHO'S CHOPPING ONIONS IN HERE?! Probably Sunny huh? 😭

As someone who's played part of the game, it's so interesting to see the story illustrated here in manga form! I definitely need to finish the game now before the next volumes drop (⁠ㆁ⁠ω⁠ㆁ⁠)

I think the manga really does the game wonderful justice! It truly mirrors a lot of the emotions you have in each arc of the game, from the feelings of uncertainty to the moments when you're empowered and raring to go! I absolutely love the way that Nui Konoito illustrated everything~

Whilst you don't have to have played the game before hand to understand the story, I definitely feel like it adds another element to the enjoyment! And I highly recommend playing the amazing game soundtrack in the background (that's probably what had tears dripping down my face-)

I'm still not ready for the emotional damage to come.. But all in all I really enjoyed this volume and will definitely be back to finish the manga!

Please be sure to check out the trigger warnings before reading, since the story does cover potentially distressing themes.


Rating: 5/5

— Thank you so much to Netgalley and Kodansha Comics for providing an ARC for review purposes! This did not effect my views in any way and all opinions are my own.

[Reine Windsor · Rating 5 out of 5]

First off, I want to Thank NetGalley for providing me an ARC and allowing me to review this book prior to its official release!

As someone who has played the game, the joy I felt seeing my beloved characters in a style that fit them so so well! I did notice, and can appreciate, the order of events compared to the source material, hitting the reader immediately with Sunny's fear and trauma, the more-than-strained relationship of a friend group previously very close, they're really good hooks! I was really afraid of there not being something to really capture my attention as much as it did, even though I would have continued reading regardless due to my familiarity with OMORI alone.

Rereading lines taken directly from the game made me smile way too hard. The translation is perfect and there are no mistakes as far as I know.

It's strange to see an adaptation of a story with so much to give the reader, while also knowing that there's so much more in store for anyone who became interested enough to try out the original game after reading the manga. Though, that's what an adaptation's job is, right? To garner enough of your attention to want to see more, which then points you towards the source material.

I'll definitely be on the lookout for the next volume... And maybe play the game a few times more as I wait.

[Waldkauzz · Rating 3 out of 5]

A tentative yes for interested readers; to people familiar with the game it is adapting as well as new ones.

Omori adapts the same-named, surreal horror rpg about a young boy who, with only a few days left in his hometown, finds himself confronted with the friends he isolated himself from after a horrible accident. At the same time, the reader follows the same but differently behaving characters in a fantastical world. But, the true past begets to be unveiled.

First: The art and its composition are well drawn, especially in tender or horror moments. Secondly, the work manages to adapt a silent protagonist without it being off-putting or disruptive to the story.

As someone familiar with the original story, I enjoyed all the effort in the characters' and the world's depiction, but the story could appear slow and meandering to readers without that prior knowledge. Knowing the full picture (but not the following volumes), I believe this story could be worth the initial confusion to first-time readers, but it asks for the readers' patience.

Thanks to NetGalley, the authors and publishers for providing an ARC for an honest review.

[Bonita. E · Rating 3 out of 5]

As someone who hasn't played the game yet I'm pretty confused what the hell is going on lol.
There's little to no introduction who's who for the characters you just jumped right in in the middle of everything.

So apparently the story divided into two, the present time and the past, or was it different reality in the game? well anyway, 4 years before this everyone was best friends and they had a very close bond until one of them died (for what it yet to be revealed) and they went their separate ways and didn't keep in touch with each other. Omori the protagonist became the shut-in and depressed. Till one day they reunited again and some memories resurfaced.

The story reminds me a lot of the anime Ano Hana, but in a much darker tone. I love the art its both cute and terrifying at the same time time but my small complaint was that Omori look the same, both he in the past and the he in the 4 years in the future while everyone else you can see some thing changing in them.

I think I need to play the game first after this to completely understand the story.

Thanks Netgalley and Kodansha for the ARC!

[Astrophel R · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and Kodansha Comics for an arc. All opinions are my own.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Genre: Horror Graphic Novel
Are There Gay People in this?*: idk and I feel like if I get it wrong the diehard omori fans will be mad at me

I played the first half of Omori years ago but never got around to finishing it, so I am by no means an expert on the game. However, by my recollection this is a pretty direct and faithful adaptation of the beginning of the game. I do think the first chapter of this was a lot harder to follow in manga form, but everything starts to make more sense as you keep reading. The are is SO cute. And Kel is there, my beautiful baby boy in all his glory.

* I count a book as including gay people if any of the main or secondary characters are implicitly or explicitly queer or trans. This does not necessarily mean the protagonist is queer or that there is a queer romance

[ฅ^•⩊•^ฅ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I would have appreciated it even more if I had played the game beforehand. While it’s absolutely possible to enjoy the manga on its own, some familiarity with the source material (or at least a bit of light research) makes the experience smoother. Without that context, certain transitions and emotional beats can feel abrupt.

The manga moves between a surreal dreamscape and a heavier reality, and that contrast carries the emotional weight of the story. The storytelling is intentionally fragmented. You are not given clear explanations upfront. At times, it feels disorienting. I actually read this late at night and genuinely wondered whether I was too sleepy to follow what was happening. The truth is, the confusion is partly deliberate. The structure mirrors the protagonist’s internal state.

Omori is not an easy read and that’s entirely the point. What begins with a soft, almost childlike charm slowly unravels into something far more fragile and deeply unsettling. At first, it doesn’t even feel like horror. The art style is cute, the tone is whimsical, and aside from one quietly disturbing element, it seems almost gentle. But that sense of safety doesn’t last. The story shifts abruptly. Scenes change without warning. What once felt playful becomes unstable, and that instability is where the real horror lies.

This is not a book for fragile souls. Beneath its soft aesthetic, it explores heavy themes like depression, trauma, repression, and self-destructive thoughts.

And despite the discomfort, I genuinely liked it.

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an e-ARC and am giving my honest review! Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity

I never finished the game but I always wished that I did, though it caused some bad migraines so I never went back to it. I was absolutely thrilled to see it was being adapted into a manga format as that's something a lot better for my eyes and for me to digest more! Although I don't remember much from the game, I felt as if I was able to grasp what was happening enough to get the gist. I read some of the other reviews and see that people who don't know the game felt very lost, but I felt as if that was purposeful? That you're supposed to be like Sunny, learning the information as he does, a mystery so to speak. I wonder if that mindset would've helped other readers.

I really liked this, all in all. A very good adaptation and I just adored the art style!!! Absolutely stunning, while still maintaining the pixel feel somehow? I loved how they incorporated the fights, too!! Brilliant. This is a fantastic adaptation with gorgeous artwork and I can't wait for volume 2.