What do you think?
Rate this book
An Invitation from a Crab
Collecting a handful of self-published shorts along with a mix of serialized stories and essays, panpanya's English-language debut mixes art styles and narratives from a range of genres. If you are ever fortunate enough to see a crab strolling through your neighborhood, please follow its lead. By slowing down to a crab's pace and looking around and about in this world, you too may discover life's many mysteries that are hidden in plain sight.
224 pages, Paperback
First published April 30, 2014
13 people are currently reading
319 people want to read
About the author
panpanya
10 books45 followersPanpanya (Japanese: パンパンヤ) is a Japanese manga author. Their real name, age and gender are unknown to the general public.
Panpanya's books are collections of short stories, usually first published in the 'josei' (woman) magazine Rakuen. The stories mix slice-of-life and surrealism and are independent from one another, albeit sharing a roster of recurrent characters. The nameless protagonist, generally seen as a cartoon alter-ego of the author, is a girl of undefined age, sometimes portrayed as a schooler, sometimes as an adult.
Panpanya emerged from the indie doujinshi (amateur) manga scene around 2010. Their professional career started in 2013 with the book Ashizuri Suizokukan (Ashizuri Aquarium). The following book An Invitation from a Crab (2014) received international praises and was translated into English and Italian. All of their subsequent works have appeared in Italian, and some of them in English and French.
Panpanya's books are collections of short stories, usually first published in the 'josei' (woman) magazine Rakuen. The stories mix slice-of-life and surrealism and are independent from one another, albeit sharing a roster of recurrent characters. The nameless protagonist, generally seen as a cartoon alter-ego of the author, is a girl of undefined age, sometimes portrayed as a schooler, sometimes as an adult.
Panpanya emerged from the indie doujinshi (amateur) manga scene around 2010. Their professional career started in 2013 with the book Ashizuri Suizokukan (Ashizuri Aquarium). The following book An Invitation from a Crab (2014) received international praises and was translated into English and Italian. All of their subsequent works have appeared in Italian, and some of them in English and French.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 73 reviews
August 29, 2024
Comfy cosmic horror vibes in the dissociating landscapes of transnational capitalism. A bit of Ligotti, Junji Itto, and Hiroko Oyamada; Silent Hill, Lain, and Nichijou. There're plenty of fun absurdist shorts, which really accentuate the more nightmarish ones. Light, crisp lines suddenly gather into dense architectures; doorways, roads, and passages deform like melting steel; inanimate objects gain bestial qualities. Then it all flutters apart; the alien power of the commodity chain to restructure reality into a pineapple simulacra slips back into the background, and the mc is just walking home with a giant salamander in their arms. It's a bit Daoist, really.
All I know is that I too am a coconut cracking proletariat; I too follow the crab towards its own demise.
All I know is that I too am a coconut cracking proletariat; I too follow the crab towards its own demise.
March 1, 2019
the giant salamander is mood
January 2, 2021
Interessante viaggio surreale in più episodi: mi ricorda un po' la cifra stilistica grottesca di Asano, senza il peso del suo nichilismo.
Le varie storie sembrano non avere un vero senso, ma, navigando tra l'onirico, il distopico e il misterioso, lasciano comunque i semi di una riflessione sulle nostre percezioni, su come assaporiamo e sentiamo il mondo che ci circonda. Non è un capolavoro ma è senz'altro un succoso biglietto da visita per Panpanya.
Le varie storie sembrano non avere un vero senso, ma, navigando tra l'onirico, il distopico e il misterioso, lasciano comunque i semi di una riflessione sulle nostre percezioni, su come assaporiamo e sentiamo il mondo che ci circonda. Non è un capolavoro ma è senz'altro un succoso biglietto da visita per Panpanya.
July 6, 2019
Charmingly surreal with lovely whimsical art and punctuated with the odd insightful philosophical diversion from the author. Very enjoyable overall.
September 22, 2020
This is a collection of 18 short comics (ranging in length from 4 to 39 pages), interspersed with a handful of short texts (each less than a page). Each comic is self-contained, with not even a hint of an overarching plot, but each one does follow the same protagonist, and there are a few other recurring characters. The protagonist, who is unnamed, looks like a little girl, but her* actual age seems to fluctuate depending on the story's needs: in some she* attends school, but in others she* works and drives a car.
The comics are decidedly surreal, running on what some other reviewers have aptly described as "dream logic". The slow, plodding pace and dreamlike feel is fairly consistent throughout the collection, and makes the whole thing pleasurable to read. The actual content of the stories, however, varies considerably. Some – such as "The Pond that Appeared", "The Case of the Giant Salamander" and "The Heart of a Calculator" – are just bizarre, whimsical stories that seem to have no point beyond being kooky and maybe eliciting a few laughs. A couple – most notably "The Perfect Sunday" – engage in simple, mundane philosophizing reminiscent of comic strips like Peanuts and Calvin and Hobbes.
At their best, though, the comics collected here are obscure and mysterious in a way that's laden with depth and meaning, obliquely tackling such topics as alienation of labour, growing up, routine, and shared experiences between unacquainted individuals in public spaces. My favourites all fall into this category, including the two longest comics in the collection ("Innovation" and "Wandering, Wondering") as well as several sublime shorter ones ("Hell", "A Restless Day", "A Story About Fish" and, probably my favourite of all, "Incomprehensible Memories", which beautifully captures a child's subtle horror and confusion about growing up). The short texts interspersed through the book generally fit with these more heady, meaningful comics: they contain the author's thoughtful musings on life, rooted very much in the everyday.
Even when the stories aren't amazing, these comics are worth reading for the art alone. The style varies from comic to comic (and sometimes even panel to panel), but it's always great, and contributes a lot to the dreamlike feel. I particularly like it when simple, cartoonish characters walk through detailed, realistic backgrounds.
In short, this is a noteworthy collection of comics. Some of them are great, some are just OK, but they all show a lot of potential – I'm keen to see what Panpanya is capable of in future, particularly in a longer-form comic.
*At one point a character casually refers to the protagonist with the pronoun "they". In English this reads as a clear indication that the character is gender non-binary, but to my understanding Japanese third person pronouns are always gender neutral, so I suspect that this might have just been a poor translation choice. If the protagonist were intended to be non-binary, I'd expect that to play some kind of role in the stories. If the protagonist's gender were meant to be left ambiguous, I imagine they wouldn't be depicted wearing a skirt.
A note on the English edition published by Denpa:
As much as possible, when writing reviews I try to assess the work itself, not the specific edition I happen to have. However, here I have to mention some edition-specific issues. Firstly, the lettering is ugly: all capitalized, clearly computer-generated, and horribly similar to Comic Sans. It really doesn't fit with the comic's tone, and stands out like a sore thumb compared to Panpanya's detailed, high-quality drawings. Secondly, the translation (and editing thereof) is poor. I can't read Japanese, so I'll probably never know how it compares to the original, but the tone of the translated dialogue seems off sometimes. Moreover, there are lots of occasions where awkward, non-nativelike constructions are used, and there are several straight-up mistakes. The translator's writing, particularly in the prose segments, is just not elegant, and while reading I frequently found myself thinking about how things could be phrased better.
The comics are decidedly surreal, running on what some other reviewers have aptly described as "dream logic". The slow, plodding pace and dreamlike feel is fairly consistent throughout the collection, and makes the whole thing pleasurable to read. The actual content of the stories, however, varies considerably. Some – such as "The Pond that Appeared", "The Case of the Giant Salamander" and "The Heart of a Calculator" – are just bizarre, whimsical stories that seem to have no point beyond being kooky and maybe eliciting a few laughs. A couple – most notably "The Perfect Sunday" – engage in simple, mundane philosophizing reminiscent of comic strips like Peanuts and Calvin and Hobbes.
At their best, though, the comics collected here are obscure and mysterious in a way that's laden with depth and meaning, obliquely tackling such topics as alienation of labour, growing up, routine, and shared experiences between unacquainted individuals in public spaces. My favourites all fall into this category, including the two longest comics in the collection ("Innovation" and "Wandering, Wondering") as well as several sublime shorter ones ("Hell", "A Restless Day", "A Story About Fish" and, probably my favourite of all, "Incomprehensible Memories", which beautifully captures a child's subtle horror and confusion about growing up). The short texts interspersed through the book generally fit with these more heady, meaningful comics: they contain the author's thoughtful musings on life, rooted very much in the everyday.
Even when the stories aren't amazing, these comics are worth reading for the art alone. The style varies from comic to comic (and sometimes even panel to panel), but it's always great, and contributes a lot to the dreamlike feel. I particularly like it when simple, cartoonish characters walk through detailed, realistic backgrounds.
In short, this is a noteworthy collection of comics. Some of them are great, some are just OK, but they all show a lot of potential – I'm keen to see what Panpanya is capable of in future, particularly in a longer-form comic.
*At one point a character casually refers to the protagonist with the pronoun "they". In English this reads as a clear indication that the character is gender non-binary, but to my understanding Japanese third person pronouns are always gender neutral, so I suspect that this might have just been a poor translation choice. If the protagonist were intended to be non-binary, I'd expect that to play some kind of role in the stories. If the protagonist's gender were meant to be left ambiguous, I imagine they wouldn't be depicted wearing a skirt.
A note on the English edition published by Denpa:
As much as possible, when writing reviews I try to assess the work itself, not the specific edition I happen to have. However, here I have to mention some edition-specific issues. Firstly, the lettering is ugly: all capitalized, clearly computer-generated, and horribly similar to Comic Sans. It really doesn't fit with the comic's tone, and stands out like a sore thumb compared to Panpanya's detailed, high-quality drawings. Secondly, the translation (and editing thereof) is poor. I can't read Japanese, so I'll probably never know how it compares to the original, but the tone of the translated dialogue seems off sometimes. Moreover, there are lots of occasions where awkward, non-nativelike constructions are used, and there are several straight-up mistakes. The translator's writing, particularly in the prose segments, is just not elegant, and while reading I frequently found myself thinking about how things could be phrased better.
September 10, 2022
the writing is lovely. if there is any focus at all, it is the daily ordinariness of life, with a tongue-in-cheek sense of humor, softened. it’s all said with a nod to the joy of the everyday moments, the reflections on her walks about, the setting, her written ramblings as you follow her on her rambles about.
in trying to relay this, to write down what this is or maybe what this isn’t, it reminds me of what i’d expect to get in the mail from a quirky man who sends an occasional missive to keep you apprised of the ins and outs of her life, her garden, the day to day of life. nothing, really, is sacred, these thoughts of hers transcribed as though they are simply fleeting thoughts that she must get down on paper before they disappear.
April 18, 2020
One of the most unique manga I've read, both in art style and storytelling. This manga exudes such a relaxing, dreamlike, atmosphere that you can't help but smile as you read it. Most chapters are short and deal with specific concepts and ideas, usually revolving around mundane objects and situations given a surrealistic spin. It's really wholesome, but it also touches on some of those brief surreal experiences we have during our day to day, like when you wake up from a dream that felt way too real so you're not sure if parts of it are true.
July 20, 2025
Honestly one of the most unique mangas I have ever read. It has been living rent free in my head since I last read it 6 months ago. If you like any thing surrealist you need to check it out. I have the feeling that its going to be a graphic that I keep coming back to. 1/17/22
I'm back in the building. 7/19/25
I'm back in the building. 7/19/25
August 15, 2021
I honestly have no idea what I just fucking read ahaahaa... its not at all what I was expecting and I don't know what I'm meant to say on the matter ahah
April 23, 2019
"I'll read this in Japanese," I said. "I read Death Note, how hard can it be?" I said.
Sigh.
Invitation from a Crab is collection of small comics and one-page meandering essays, none of which have a theme and most of which operate on a kind of dream-logic. For example, the first story is the narrator seeing a crab wandering down a side street and chasing after it, eventually learning that it had escaped from a fishmonger, and buying it for stew that evening. On the way, the narrator makes a comment that:
There are a lot of stories without such a message, though. 気味 (kimi, "sensation") is about traveling through a small village in the mountain where koinobori flags were still hanging outside the houses even though it was autumn (they're usually put out for Children's Day in May). The wind stirs the flags, making the narrator feel like they're swimming, and that the night sky is in ocean. She even smells the salt tang of the sea. When she gets home and tells a friend, the friend expects it to be a ghost story but there's no scary ending, other than a deliberately tacked on cliche of "but there was no such village in the mountains."
TAKUAN DREAM was about a man who was hoping to buy takuan but actually bought (he thought) a takuan model kit, and when the narrator makes it, it's some weird mechanical contraption. It turns out to make takuan if daikon are fed into it, and the narrator and her dog/dog friend open up a takuan store and become rich. The chapter ends with:
My favorite is probably "THE PERFECT SUNDAY," where the narrator gets extremely depressed about all the chores on Sunday leading into the week, until her dog/dog friend suggests she get everything done early on Saturday so she can enjoy Sunday. And then she gets so into building machines to do her work for her and scouting out the neighborhood so she can have the most blissful, enlightening, perfect Sunday imaginable that she never gets to enjoy it. And then there's another twist at the ending that turns the entire story on its head, because that's what happens in dreams. Something unexpected happens, and you take it in stride, and it's only on waking and thinking about it that it seems out of place.
I love this kind of surrealism. Reading Invitation from a Crab was like being told about someone else's dreams except good, and once I stopped looking for sense and just submerged myself into the feeling, like in 気味, I loved it. It's a very particular kind of book, but it's an excellent example of that.
Sigh.
Invitation from a Crab is collection of small comics and one-page meandering essays, none of which have a theme and most of which operate on a kind of dream-logic. For example, the first story is the narrator seeing a crab wandering down a side street and chasing after it, eventually learning that it had escaped from a fishmonger, and buying it for stew that evening. On the way, the narrator makes a comment that:
近所ではある道が、カニのせいか、とっても新鮮にかんじるSo, that story has the message that an unexpected event makes you see the familiar with fresh eyes.
"Thanks to the crab, this street in my neighborhood felt completely fresh and new.
There are a lot of stories without such a message, though. 気味 (kimi, "sensation") is about traveling through a small village in the mountain where koinobori flags were still hanging outside the houses even though it was autumn (they're usually put out for Children's Day in May). The wind stirs the flags, making the narrator feel like they're swimming, and that the night sky is in ocean. She even smells the salt tang of the sea. When she gets home and tells a friend, the friend expects it to be a ghost story but there's no scary ending, other than a deliberately tacked on cliche of "but there was no such village in the mountains."
TAKUAN DREAM was about a man who was hoping to buy takuan but actually bought (he thought) a takuan model kit, and when the narrator makes it, it's some weird mechanical contraption. It turns out to make takuan if daikon are fed into it, and the narrator and her dog/dog friend open up a takuan store and become rich. The chapter ends with:
困った人を助けると良いことがあるという話でした。めでたし、めでたしThere's a story that's just the narrator wandering through a park full of tetrapods and wondering about how they got there, a story about a collection of bad omens followed by good omens, a story about returning a giant salamander to the Amazon, and a story about how coconuts could generate power for a whole community, among others.
This was a story about how if you help out a person in trouble, good things will happen. How lovely, how joyous.
My favorite is probably "THE PERFECT SUNDAY," where the narrator gets extremely depressed about all the chores on Sunday leading into the week, until her dog/dog friend suggests she get everything done early on Saturday so she can enjoy Sunday. And then she gets so into building machines to do her work for her and scouting out the neighborhood so she can have the most blissful, enlightening, perfect Sunday imaginable that she never gets to enjoy it. And then there's another twist at the ending that turns the entire story on its head, because that's what happens in dreams. Something unexpected happens, and you take it in stride, and it's only on waking and thinking about it that it seems out of place.
I love this kind of surrealism. Reading Invitation from a Crab was like being told about someone else's dreams except good, and once I stopped looking for sense and just submerged myself into the feeling, like in 気味, I loved it. It's a very particular kind of book, but it's an excellent example of that.
August 5, 2020
This is one of the most unique pieces of media I've ever consumed, books or otherwise. It's a collection of short stories and "essays," I suppose, that follow a logic that doesn't exist outside of this book. Some stories are kind of pointless, while others actually have a message to give, but I wouldn't say the quality varied much from story to story. I also really liked the simply drawn characters planted into a hyper detailed landscape, which often had a bizarre panoramic bend to it.
January 17, 2023
I did not expect this bizarre little manga - with sporadically detailed artistic touches - to be so sweetly philosophical. It’s quirky, yet complex when it wants to be. The intermissions containing notes/random thoughts by the author are arranged in such a way that they compliment the short story either before or after their placement. Delightful, and definitely worth a read.
October 3, 2025
I loved this!!! The art was so good. There's a lot of blending of stylistic elements > warped perspective, texture, simplification < it all comes together really well. The stories were also great; like you know how depressed humor is a thing? This was like anxious humor. Surreal confusing world with weird funny things happening that are weirdly relatable. The little diary entries between the chapters added a lot of depth and often pulled what was going on in a more philosophical direction. Oh also I love the reoccurring Rube Goldberg-esque contraptions and weird objects. at times it reminded me of Shaun tan's the arrival, which has been a favorite of mine since I was a kid. someday ill make a comic with a minimalist self insert protagonist struggling to cope in a weird scary world, and people will find this review and go "oh they were just copying panpanya" and I will go "i was! and also goodnight punpun"
Read
November 7, 2025This was a very strange and surreal manga. I've never read anything like it. Visually, it was arresting. I loved the simple cartoonish people superimposed on a hyper realistic hellish landscape. This somehow managed to be both cute and eerie. The mangaka makes some smart observations on the mysteries of everyday life that I liked. Overall, I have no idea how to rate this but I found it interesting.
March 7, 2022
A strange little collection of stories ranging from whimsical to the bizarre. I usually don't enjoy anything that could be described as surreal, but many of these stories really worked for me. I've found myself thinking about them still, even though I finished this a couple of days ago. The unique art style really fits the tone of this collection. I'm looking forward to reading more by Panpanya.
July 8, 2020
"In these locked-down times, I've most enjoyed media that either reminds me of the best parts of "normal life," or transports me to another world…and An Invitation from a Crab somehow manages to do both. It tells stories of everyday life, but tilted slightly on its axis, like you're stepping into the Twilight Zone."
Full review at:
https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/revi...
Full review at:
https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/revi...
September 11, 2023
Pure magic. The first manga I've seen with an index. Fans of tea stems for example will be pleased to hear they appear on pages 165-166.
Unusual, imaginative, cosy and sometimes eerie short story collection with brief diary/blogpost type essays in between some of the comics. Often seemed to be inspired by running with trains of thought or paying attention to details that most of us probably dismiss as adults. You may well find reading this fires up your curiosity and imagination, granting you powers of Panpanya-vision as you go about whatever it is you do day to day.
Very nicely put together English edition from Denpa.
Unusual, imaginative, cosy and sometimes eerie short story collection with brief diary/blogpost type essays in between some of the comics. Often seemed to be inspired by running with trains of thought or paying attention to details that most of us probably dismiss as adults. You may well find reading this fires up your curiosity and imagination, granting you powers of Panpanya-vision as you go about whatever it is you do day to day.
Very nicely put together English edition from Denpa.
July 11, 2019
This whole book had such a weird dreamy atmosphere, the feeling was like nothing else I have read before!
April 23, 2020
From the nicely designed front cover to the back cover, you’ll note that this is a very quirky release from:
How it looks
The name
The fact that there is a long paragraph on the cover itself.
Also note that the long paragraph is something you might want to read because it kicks off the very first story in the manga.
Also there is a summary of crabs (and why their shells turn red when boiled) when you open the book.
…panpanya’s An Invitation from a Crab is one quirky manga.
This manga combines some doujin stories of panpanya’s and stories published on the web and in print, likely Hakusensha’s Rakuen magazine. All of them revolve around an unnamed protagonist living in the 2-chome area of Japan, and getting herself into the strangest (and mundane) situations. With 18 stories of various lengths, you’ll read a story about the protagonist following a crab (just not a King crab). You’ll read a story about her falling asleep on the train, and what really happens to your body when you realize you got off the wrong stop after waking up.
Then you’ll also get a story where your grandma gives you toys…and they grow more and more difficult to understand as you grow up…?
An Invitation from a Crab’s stories will provide both a ton of jokes and/or sneak (or not sneak) a bit of social commentary around a couple of these stories. There’s one story involving a part-time job at a factory where she has to break coconuts, which fuels the area’s electricity. There’s another story involving what happens when you save a bird from tanukis.
The one I’ll only mostly spoil is THE PERFECT SUNDAY. You know how sometimes preparation and planning is very much a thing we have to do? Well for our protagonist, it’s not something she’s done before. But after a suggestion from her dog to just do her homework so she can enjoy herself later, she finishes her homework. It turns out to be an exhilarating experience to be finished so fast.
But rather than enjoy the spoils of free time, she plans ahead to try and have the perfect Sunday to relax. This manages to lead her to plan too far ahead somehow. That makes sense — you’re definitely going to waste a lot of time when you’re building a machine to create a pleasant mood as you wake up.
Needless to say, your enjoyment of those stories will totally depend on what you value personally. For me, I pretty much laughed at most of them, as the comedic timing, the dialogue, and who she was interacting with — from normal humans to oddly shaped creatures to her dog — is hilarious.
But what will impact your enjoyment — and the commentary within the stories — is this art style. panpanya’s art ranges from simplistic to detailed to super experimental. Like you know most panel boxes are done elegantly in manga? Expect to see those hand drawn and definitely not accurate in this one. There are a lot of really cool uses of watercolor, and characters are drawn with really good detail. You’ll also find some oddly designed characters and some that are drawn fairly simplistically, which might clash with the backgrounds.
That, however, is what makes this stand out. Some of those designs enhance a lot of what the stories are about, which is either laughing at a talking fish supposedly spouting words or our protagonist teaming up with her dog to start a takuan shop. This may not be for everyone, but this manga likely wouldn’t work any other way in any other style. And that’s what makes it a very good unique manga, and not just unique just because it looks different.
An Invitation from a Crab I would say is a refreshing work to read. There’s likely manga of a quirky quality published already, so I won’t say this totally is different from anything else. But it feels like something I haven’t read much of right now. So if you’re in the market for something that can say it’s something new and creative, this work is one you’ll want to have on your shelf.
- Justin
How it looks
The name
The fact that there is a long paragraph on the cover itself.
Also note that the long paragraph is something you might want to read because it kicks off the very first story in the manga.
Also there is a summary of crabs (and why their shells turn red when boiled) when you open the book.
…panpanya’s An Invitation from a Crab is one quirky manga.
This manga combines some doujin stories of panpanya’s and stories published on the web and in print, likely Hakusensha’s Rakuen magazine. All of them revolve around an unnamed protagonist living in the 2-chome area of Japan, and getting herself into the strangest (and mundane) situations. With 18 stories of various lengths, you’ll read a story about the protagonist following a crab (just not a King crab). You’ll read a story about her falling asleep on the train, and what really happens to your body when you realize you got off the wrong stop after waking up.
Then you’ll also get a story where your grandma gives you toys…and they grow more and more difficult to understand as you grow up…?
An Invitation from a Crab’s stories will provide both a ton of jokes and/or sneak (or not sneak) a bit of social commentary around a couple of these stories. There’s one story involving a part-time job at a factory where she has to break coconuts, which fuels the area’s electricity. There’s another story involving what happens when you save a bird from tanukis.
The one I’ll only mostly spoil is THE PERFECT SUNDAY. You know how sometimes preparation and planning is very much a thing we have to do? Well for our protagonist, it’s not something she’s done before. But after a suggestion from her dog to just do her homework so she can enjoy herself later, she finishes her homework. It turns out to be an exhilarating experience to be finished so fast.
But rather than enjoy the spoils of free time, she plans ahead to try and have the perfect Sunday to relax. This manages to lead her to plan too far ahead somehow. That makes sense — you’re definitely going to waste a lot of time when you’re building a machine to create a pleasant mood as you wake up.
Needless to say, your enjoyment of those stories will totally depend on what you value personally. For me, I pretty much laughed at most of them, as the comedic timing, the dialogue, and who she was interacting with — from normal humans to oddly shaped creatures to her dog — is hilarious.
But what will impact your enjoyment — and the commentary within the stories — is this art style. panpanya’s art ranges from simplistic to detailed to super experimental. Like you know most panel boxes are done elegantly in manga? Expect to see those hand drawn and definitely not accurate in this one. There are a lot of really cool uses of watercolor, and characters are drawn with really good detail. You’ll also find some oddly designed characters and some that are drawn fairly simplistically, which might clash with the backgrounds.
That, however, is what makes this stand out. Some of those designs enhance a lot of what the stories are about, which is either laughing at a talking fish supposedly spouting words or our protagonist teaming up with her dog to start a takuan shop. This may not be for everyone, but this manga likely wouldn’t work any other way in any other style. And that’s what makes it a very good unique manga, and not just unique just because it looks different.
An Invitation from a Crab I would say is a refreshing work to read. There’s likely manga of a quirky quality published already, so I won’t say this totally is different from anything else. But it feels like something I haven’t read much of right now. So if you’re in the market for something that can say it’s something new and creative, this work is one you’ll want to have on your shelf.
- Justin
November 18, 2025
I really took my time with this because it immediately struck me as the kind of book you want to savor. It's a little too easy to just tear through a comic as fast as your eyes can read the sparse text, but something like this really makes me slow down and really look at every panel. panpanya's art really rewards this level of attention – every panel feels like something you could wander in for hours.
I loved the variation in visual styles, no two stories feel quite the same visually. The distinctively simple character art swims through landscapes of splotchy watercolor, or scratchy lineart, or in some instances what looks like actual photography composited into the illustration. It's so cool!! In general I just think the background art in here is some of the coolest stuff I've ever seen. It's so gestural in a way that communicates a different kind of detail, like the quality of the light is the most important thing, and the actual shape of the objects being depicted is secondary. I loved how many panel backgrounds are just pure texture with no characters or anything. It's like an attempt to communicate pure emotion through texture, or call attention to the physicality of the page, the minute details in the path of a single line of penwork.
This ambiguity of the visual really connects with the feelings of the stories here. The constant injection of the odd, absurd, and unfamiliar into the everyday dovetails perfectly with the art. Often mundane objects and buildings are depicted as impossibly large and imposing. You feel lost just looking at them. In the way that panpanya depicts them, the howl of a train down the tracks or the shadow cast by a skyscraper can feel more mysterious and fantastical than ghosts or talking fish or a machine that uses a dolphin's brain as a calculator. One of the best depictions I've ever seen of "the mundane is absurd and the absurd is mundane."
The little mini-essays that are sometimes inserted between stories feel so in line with the work itself, little meditations on the weirdness of everyday existence or how things look. There's a lot of attention and care given to light, and texture, breaking down the visual field into its component parts in ways that really enhance the work.
“We live our lives while ignoring even details that we can't believe when we first see them. We live in an animation-esque world.”
I loved the variation in visual styles, no two stories feel quite the same visually. The distinctively simple character art swims through landscapes of splotchy watercolor, or scratchy lineart, or in some instances what looks like actual photography composited into the illustration. It's so cool!! In general I just think the background art in here is some of the coolest stuff I've ever seen. It's so gestural in a way that communicates a different kind of detail, like the quality of the light is the most important thing, and the actual shape of the objects being depicted is secondary. I loved how many panel backgrounds are just pure texture with no characters or anything. It's like an attempt to communicate pure emotion through texture, or call attention to the physicality of the page, the minute details in the path of a single line of penwork.
This ambiguity of the visual really connects with the feelings of the stories here. The constant injection of the odd, absurd, and unfamiliar into the everyday dovetails perfectly with the art. Often mundane objects and buildings are depicted as impossibly large and imposing. You feel lost just looking at them. In the way that panpanya depicts them, the howl of a train down the tracks or the shadow cast by a skyscraper can feel more mysterious and fantastical than ghosts or talking fish or a machine that uses a dolphin's brain as a calculator. One of the best depictions I've ever seen of "the mundane is absurd and the absurd is mundane."
The little mini-essays that are sometimes inserted between stories feel so in line with the work itself, little meditations on the weirdness of everyday existence or how things look. There's a lot of attention and care given to light, and texture, breaking down the visual field into its component parts in ways that really enhance the work.
“We live our lives while ignoring even details that we can't believe when we first see them. We live in an animation-esque world.”
March 20, 2024
This... is extremely dry. Like if Jonathan Katz made a sketch comedy (not Dr. Katz) that was also Yamishibai. Like, the stories are ALMOST slice-of-life, but with at least one sort of peculiar/paranormal element.
For instance, one story has the narrator work a part-time job in a power plant... cracking open coconuts. The narrator then wonders how coconuts become electricity, only to eventually find out .
The creepiest story is when the narrator fell asleep on the train home but heard the "door closing" warning and jumped off... only to find a completely foreign town where the trains have stopped, there's no bus service, and the taxis ALL have flat tires. Just a *little* bit strange.
Also, the cover is a spoiler for the first story (and hard to read, with all the tiny print).
Most unexpected feature: an index of things that appear in the stories... is it supposed to be a reference book? I... guess that's distinctive among fiction, but why?
Recommended for fans of bizarre pseudo-ghost stories? I don't know. It changes topic throughout the book and doesn't have a consistent enough tone for me to get what the author/artist is trying to convey. I'm not sure anyone I know would like it (or at least, not LOVE it but might give a read out of the same curiosity I had).
For instance, one story has the narrator work a part-time job in a power plant... cracking open coconuts. The narrator then wonders how coconuts become electricity, only to eventually find out .
The creepiest story is when the narrator fell asleep on the train home but heard the "door closing" warning and jumped off... only to find a completely foreign town where the trains have stopped, there's no bus service, and the taxis ALL have flat tires. Just a *little* bit strange.
Also, the cover is a spoiler for the first story (and hard to read, with all the tiny print).
Most unexpected feature: an index of things that appear in the stories... is it supposed to be a reference book? I... guess that's distinctive among fiction, but why?
Recommended for fans of bizarre pseudo-ghost stories? I don't know. It changes topic throughout the book and doesn't have a consistent enough tone for me to get what the author/artist is trying to convey. I'm not sure anyone I know would like it (or at least, not LOVE it but might give a read out of the same curiosity I had).
January 14, 2024
One of the most unique mangas I’ve ever read. These short stories are so surreal and the art style really adds to the dreamlike vibe that everyone’s mentioned. I loved the variety in the genres: sometimes funny, sometimes spooky, sometimes strange for the sake of being strange. I also really liked the use of watercolor in this because it really makes moments pop.
This book really does have an identity of its own that I haven’t seen with any other manga. Since it’s a short story collection, not everything was as amazing as “innovation” or “Wondering, Wandering”, but there wasn’t one story that I disliked (and that’s rare for short story collections for me). I liked all of them. I loved the art style and how it can shift from story to story, always doing something different. I was a bit worried going into this since this is the first manga short story collection I’ve ever read, but this was great! Weird, abstract, vibey, it has it all. I really recommend this.
This book really does have an identity of its own that I haven’t seen with any other manga. Since it’s a short story collection, not everything was as amazing as “innovation” or “Wondering, Wandering”, but there wasn’t one story that I disliked (and that’s rare for short story collections for me). I liked all of them. I loved the art style and how it can shift from story to story, always doing something different. I was a bit worried going into this since this is the first manga short story collection I’ve ever read, but this was great! Weird, abstract, vibey, it has it all. I really recommend this.
January 8, 2025
Compilación de varias microhistorias donde una nena atraviesa el mundo que la rodea. Parece que todo lo que piensa se le ocurre como si fuese la primera vez. Las tramas son bastante surreales pero también podrían formar parte de la mente de una joven que intenta entender qué hay frente suyo.
Los dibujos tienen muchísimo detalle en los escenarios (acentuados con una tinta oscura) y, al contrario, los personajes están hechos de líneas muy simples.
Una muy buena es la última historia donde le regalan un delfín calculadora (que supuestamente es lo que usaban las personas antes de inventar las calculadoras de mano) y la niña le pide resolver un problema matemático que tiene a la comunidad científica en vilo.
Primera vez que leo algo de panpanya pero imagino que sus otros mangas irán en la misma línea.
Los dibujos tienen muchísimo detalle en los escenarios (acentuados con una tinta oscura) y, al contrario, los personajes están hechos de líneas muy simples.
Una muy buena es la última historia donde le regalan un delfín calculadora (que supuestamente es lo que usaban las personas antes de inventar las calculadoras de mano) y la niña le pide resolver un problema matemático que tiene a la comunidad científica en vilo.
Primera vez que leo algo de panpanya pero imagino que sus otros mangas irán en la misma línea.
November 24, 2020
Relax e riflessioni con momenti a volte profondi e a volte leggeri.
Il tratto di Panpanya scorre veloce non donando perfezione stilistica quanto regalando emozioni.
Le piccole cose, i dettagli.. questo è ciò che vuole trasmettere e ci riesce appieno. Non è un fumetto per ridere o piangere, eppure è un fumetto che entra nel cuore, che si risfoglia molto volentieri e che soprattutto si presta a vedere alcune delle sue storie rievocate nella memoria.
Delicato, spensierato e innocente, offre un punto di vista nuovo senza filtri, un po' magico, un po' fantasioso come quello dei bambini.
Il tratto di Panpanya scorre veloce non donando perfezione stilistica quanto regalando emozioni.
Le piccole cose, i dettagli.. questo è ciò che vuole trasmettere e ci riesce appieno. Non è un fumetto per ridere o piangere, eppure è un fumetto che entra nel cuore, che si risfoglia molto volentieri e che soprattutto si presta a vedere alcune delle sue storie rievocate nella memoria.
Delicato, spensierato e innocente, offre un punto di vista nuovo senza filtri, un po' magico, un po' fantasioso come quello dei bambini.
November 28, 2022
this was very strange book about a young girl and her daily encounters in a bizarre world that is created by the author. All the short stories have a very unique and enjoyable plot. Initially, when I bought this book I thought that it must be something really weird with no storyline and nothing would make sense. But after reading the first few stories I realised that every story was based on a well thought concept and even the unusual and dream like scenarios were made to make sense by the author. It’s a well written book with a great art style.
March 17, 2019
Not necessarily a collection of short stories, this author puts her random thoughts into a manga with characters such as talking dogs and calculating dolphins. I am grateful to the author for visually playing out her existence/random thoughts. Part of a family book club, I look forward to hearing what the other reader has to say about it.
April 12, 2021
Wow, this comic is way more entertaining than I thought. I randomly found this in a bookstore and was kind of weirded out by the cover, but saw that it had great reviews.
Definitely more random-themed short stories, but super fun to read. The blurbs from the author are so heart warming and inspiring. I love the giant salamander & the calculator dolphin ideas. Definitely will read again!
Definitely more random-themed short stories, but super fun to read. The blurbs from the author are so heart warming and inspiring. I love the giant salamander & the calculator dolphin ideas. Definitely will read again!
January 13, 2022
This is a cute little book of some fun and whimsical stories. Really, I get the feeling that panpanya is an entirely new and unique voice because there isn't anything exactly like this. I really loved the art because the characters are drawn in a simple, yet supremely expressive way while the backgrounds are uber detailed. Good stuff
February 28, 2023
Love love love love this collection. Amazing drawing. I love the contrast between simply drawn characters and detailed background. Some stories can be better without the “then I woke up and found out they were dream” thing :(
My favourite stories are perfect Sunday, the pineapple one and the pond one.
So glad I picked up this book at bookstore today!!! 素晴らしい
My favourite stories are perfect Sunday, the pineapple one and the pond one.
So glad I picked up this book at bookstore today!!! 素晴らしい
July 23, 2022
I quite liked this book. Some of the stories were social commentary for sure (maybe all of them were and I'm not good at analysis :p), while others were strange in a good way. A quick read, but a good one.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 73 reviews