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Penguin Gentlemen
In a certain secret bar, the "Penguin Gentlemen" work, wearing their long tailed tuxedos. "You say it's cute how penguins waddle around? Hmph. We're not just cute! We're dandy, sexy, and marvelous!"
160 pages, Hardcover
First published February 6, 2020
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218 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 60 reviews
March 25, 2021
Was I expecting a manga that was literally just penguin facts? No. Did I thoroughly enjoy every moment? YES.
October 25, 2020
真的很認真，覺得看完都可以來個隨堂小考的程度！
比起擬人更喜歡企鵝本體，作者的推特也值得一追～
比起擬人更喜歡企鵝本體，作者的推特也值得一追～
March 8, 2021
"Us penguins are cute, cool, sexy, beautiful dandies, and we're overflowing with love, courage, and dreams. We're marvelous creatures!"
I loved this so much!! I love these soft anthropomorphic penguins! Also I am so ready for my next penguin trivia night lolll.
I loved this so much!! I love these soft anthropomorphic penguins! Also I am so ready for my next penguin trivia night lolll.
March 18, 2021
I had the same experience reading this manga as I did reading Moby-Dick. That is, I went in expecting a cohesive linear storyline and then got smashed on the head with the Merciless Hammer of Animal Facts. Not that I'm opposed to animal facts, and I know SO MUCH about penguins now I can already tell these facts would be a hit at parties if I were the sort of person to talk to human people at parties. Anyway, the art was delightful and the entire experience of expecting a story to happen every time I turned the page and being smacked in the face with an additional penguin fact was at least informative, if not entirely necessary.
To be clear: this is not a narrative, this is 160 pages of collected penguin facts. If penguin facts are your jam, you will like this book. If you want to know about the antics of dashing anthropomorphic penguin gentlemen, please note this is an entire book of straight-up penguin facts. PWP in this case stands for Penguins Without Plot.
To be clear: this is not a narrative, this is 160 pages of collected penguin facts. If penguin facts are your jam, you will like this book. If you want to know about the antics of dashing anthropomorphic penguin gentlemen, please note this is an entire book of straight-up penguin facts. PWP in this case stands for Penguins Without Plot.
August 16, 2021
Art is absolutely gorgeous and I love hot older gentlemen (penguins!) Also surprisingly very informative.
April 8, 2022
Cute, informational story. Gives off Heavens Design Team vibes
May 19, 2022
Aw such a cute read! Wasn't expecting it initially but I appreciate the penguin facts~
October 12, 2022
While I was hoping for a lot of penguins-as-humans shenanigans, a whole book of penguin facts is still A-OK with me.
July 2, 2023
i loveeeee penguins aht
February 6, 2025
Tag yourself - I’m Emperor Jr. wildly moving his head bc he’s lost in the park
March 26, 2021
This was a fabulous book that anyone could enjoy~ The art is well-done and the book itself has been published with materials fitting a collectible. The story simply covers some everyday activities of penguins who decided to become humans and live modern human lives (but who can't shake their penguin habits and instincts). I loved finding out in the author's comments at the end that they had a scientific advisor to ensure the penguin facts illustrated here (in extremely amusing half-anthropomorphized form) were accurate. I laughed out loud multiple times while reading this lovely manga, so definitely give it a read when you need some cheer! This is one I'm keeping in my library to read again~
Read
August 10, 2022The art is amazing and is what drew me to this manga, as well as being intrigued as to how penguin facts would be interspersed within a story about anthropomorphic penguin bartenders. It was great! Super informative, with a specific topic of information within a story that usually lasts a page or two. I loved how the passion about penguins shone through in both the story and the artwork, which is in such a beautiful style.
April 19, 2021
Penguin Gentlemen has been an interesting read. I picked it up because the cover was amazing and the premise of anthropomorphic penguins is too good to pass up. While it wasn’t exactly what I was expecting it was still a unique and enjoyable read.
What I expected: A manga about penguins who work as humans at a restaurant trying to be the best gentlemen they could be. Shenanigans ensue.
What I got: An overabundance of penguin facts usually told in two page comics. Shenanigans ensue.
What this manga ended up being wasn’t a let down by any means. I enjoyed learning about penguins. Like all informative books the information got to be a bit too much for me at points so I would have to take a break from reading. To help with that I wish we had gotten a few more slice-of-life comics in between all the information just to change up the pace a bit. I did like the two-page comic format. It worked perfectly with this story so that the mangaka could concentrate on one part of a penguin and condense the information enough so someone less knowledgeable understands everything. The information is given in such an entertaining way it makes most of it easy to remember. This format means that there is no overarching plot but that is fine given that the main purpose is to educate people about penguins in a fun way. While I do understand why there is no plot I do wish we would’ve at least gotten some sort of explanation on how they became humans. It’s the main premise of the manga and the first thing I was curious about so an opportunity was definitely missed there.
There were six penguins the manga focused on: the Emperor, the King, the Adélie, the Chinstrap, the Gentoo, and the African. While each of these anthropomorphic characters personified their penguin counterparts perfectly they also managed to fill in typical manga character stereotypes. Emperor was the gentle giant, King was the narcissistic rich man, Chinstrap was the easily angered gangster, Gentoo was the kind but easily flustered one, Adélie was the lazy one, and African was the young and energetic kouhai. I found all of them to be lovable and have a hard time picking out my favorite. Maybe the Emperor penguin, but that might just be because we got to see him more than the others. The author had an obvious preference for the Emperor and King. We see very little of African which disappoints me.
If this top tier cover didn’t make it obvious enough, the artwork is amazing. The manga begins with about 30 beautifully colored pages before going back into the traditional black and white. All the character designs were wonderfully done. I know there are plenty of people out there who like muscular men so you won’t be disappointed where this manga is concerned. The mangaka managed to create buff attractive men who are still identifiable by their specific physical penguin characteristics. It was always clear to me which character represented what penguin. The mangaka would also draw them in their penguin forms, so if you just love penguins there are plenty of them on each page.
This manga, while not what I was expecting, was still a treat. The art was amazing and the mangaka clearly knew their stuff (sounds like they had a editorial supervisor they really looked up to so I’m happy for them)! The only drawback for me was that it was too informative at times. I wanted there to be more fun moments between the penguins that wasn’t connected to some penguin fact to give me a break from all the info I was taking in. It’s still impressive how much penguin facts they were able to jam in here though, so if you like manga and penguins and hot men I don’t think you could find a better manga for you.
What I expected: A manga about penguins who work as humans at a restaurant trying to be the best gentlemen they could be. Shenanigans ensue.
What I got: An overabundance of penguin facts usually told in two page comics. Shenanigans ensue.
What this manga ended up being wasn’t a let down by any means. I enjoyed learning about penguins. Like all informative books the information got to be a bit too much for me at points so I would have to take a break from reading. To help with that I wish we had gotten a few more slice-of-life comics in between all the information just to change up the pace a bit. I did like the two-page comic format. It worked perfectly with this story so that the mangaka could concentrate on one part of a penguin and condense the information enough so someone less knowledgeable understands everything. The information is given in such an entertaining way it makes most of it easy to remember. This format means that there is no overarching plot but that is fine given that the main purpose is to educate people about penguins in a fun way. While I do understand why there is no plot I do wish we would’ve at least gotten some sort of explanation on how they became humans. It’s the main premise of the manga and the first thing I was curious about so an opportunity was definitely missed there.
There were six penguins the manga focused on: the Emperor, the King, the Adélie, the Chinstrap, the Gentoo, and the African. While each of these anthropomorphic characters personified their penguin counterparts perfectly they also managed to fill in typical manga character stereotypes. Emperor was the gentle giant, King was the narcissistic rich man, Chinstrap was the easily angered gangster, Gentoo was the kind but easily flustered one, Adélie was the lazy one, and African was the young and energetic kouhai. I found all of them to be lovable and have a hard time picking out my favorite. Maybe the Emperor penguin, but that might just be because we got to see him more than the others. The author had an obvious preference for the Emperor and King. We see very little of African which disappoints me.
If this top tier cover didn’t make it obvious enough, the artwork is amazing. The manga begins with about 30 beautifully colored pages before going back into the traditional black and white. All the character designs were wonderfully done. I know there are plenty of people out there who like muscular men so you won’t be disappointed where this manga is concerned. The mangaka managed to create buff attractive men who are still identifiable by their specific physical penguin characteristics. It was always clear to me which character represented what penguin. The mangaka would also draw them in their penguin forms, so if you just love penguins there are plenty of them on each page.
This manga, while not what I was expecting, was still a treat. The art was amazing and the mangaka clearly knew their stuff (sounds like they had a editorial supervisor they really looked up to so I’m happy for them)! The only drawback for me was that it was too informative at times. I wanted there to be more fun moments between the penguins that wasn’t connected to some penguin fact to give me a break from all the info I was taking in. It’s still impressive how much penguin facts they were able to jam in here though, so if you like manga and penguins and hot men I don’t think you could find a better manga for you.
November 8, 2021
Penguin Gentlemen by Kishi Ueno and translated by Julie Goniwich and lettering by Bianca Pistillo. This book was published in Japan in 2020 by Kadokawa Corporation and published in English by Yen Press in 2021. I was a little bit surprised that this was rated teen. Yen Press' page presumably about their rating system appears to be blank. But next to the Teen T there's also an L and an S. Can't say for sure what that means. Language and sex perhaps? I hadn't noticed any, but what do I know? There's some discussion of penguin courting, but it's not graphic... So I don't know.
Content notes for insinuating that european explorers actually discovered things.
I couldn't find out much about the mangaka online. According to the back flap they want to be a penguin in the afterlife.
Keywords that came to mind: suits, food service, buff, chizzled jaws, and boy's club.
The Goodread's summery is "In a certain secret bar, the 'Penguin Gentlemen' work, wearing their long tailed tuxedos. 'You say it's cute how penguins waddle around? Hmph. We're not just cute! We're dandy, sexy, and marvelous!'"
As I said, a random pick (because the manga I was going to review next hadn't come in at the library yet) but promising. TLDR, as at least one person on Goodreads says, it is purely PWP or penguin without plot. Lol.
There are many great aspects of this story; I would even go so far as to say that each part of this book is pretty on point. The ultimate failure, and why I will be rating this book somewhat low, comes with the combination of all the parts. Being a book of penguin facts, where the penguins in question randomly switch back and forth between human form and penguin form that supposedly work in a high end restuarant that doesn't really count for anything because there is almost zero plot. It was just too unnecessarily confusing. Personally, I feel like even just nixxing the penguins are also people for no apparent reason would have rendered it more fine - without detracting from anything else. But I gather that was part of what kicked off this entire publication journey... So, no evolution, just MORE!
The art was ok.
Gender, sexuality and race were all pretty one note. The characters didn't all look exactly the same, but I did feel like there could have been more diversity since we are looking at different types of penguins. That said, having them all look the same did avoid racial caricatures, which could have been another option that would have been worse. And since we all know that gay penguins exist, and penguin courting rituals were an entire chapter, why we had to straight wash everything was a bit meh.
Based off the premise you would be correct to guess that this book aims to focus on fancy things. Although that part loses out the most with the lack of plot. I assume that working in fancy food service is about as miserable and underappreciated as most other food service positions in its own way. That is obviously not even hinted at.
Imminent climate collapse and extinction is not touched on, let alone anything on the ability/disability spectrum.
So yeah, the difference between my expectations and the reality were not a unique experience, but I did end up going a bit harsher then many other reviewers I've seen. Two out of five stars, I thought it was a-o-k.
Content notes for insinuating that european explorers actually discovered things.
I couldn't find out much about the mangaka online. According to the back flap they want to be a penguin in the afterlife.
Keywords that came to mind: suits, food service, buff, chizzled jaws, and boy's club.
The Goodread's summery is "In a certain secret bar, the 'Penguin Gentlemen' work, wearing their long tailed tuxedos. 'You say it's cute how penguins waddle around? Hmph. We're not just cute! We're dandy, sexy, and marvelous!'"
As I said, a random pick (because the manga I was going to review next hadn't come in at the library yet) but promising. TLDR, as at least one person on Goodreads says, it is purely PWP or penguin without plot. Lol.
There are many great aspects of this story; I would even go so far as to say that each part of this book is pretty on point. The ultimate failure, and why I will be rating this book somewhat low, comes with the combination of all the parts. Being a book of penguin facts, where the penguins in question randomly switch back and forth between human form and penguin form that supposedly work in a high end restuarant that doesn't really count for anything because there is almost zero plot. It was just too unnecessarily confusing. Personally, I feel like even just nixxing the penguins are also people for no apparent reason would have rendered it more fine - without detracting from anything else. But I gather that was part of what kicked off this entire publication journey... So, no evolution, just MORE!
The art was ok.
Gender, sexuality and race were all pretty one note. The characters didn't all look exactly the same, but I did feel like there could have been more diversity since we are looking at different types of penguins. That said, having them all look the same did avoid racial caricatures, which could have been another option that would have been worse. And since we all know that gay penguins exist, and penguin courting rituals were an entire chapter, why we had to straight wash everything was a bit meh.
Based off the premise you would be correct to guess that this book aims to focus on fancy things. Although that part loses out the most with the lack of plot. I assume that working in fancy food service is about as miserable and underappreciated as most other food service positions in its own way. That is obviously not even hinted at.
Imminent climate collapse and extinction is not touched on, let alone anything on the ability/disability spectrum.
So yeah, the difference between my expectations and the reality were not a unique experience, but I did end up going a bit harsher then many other reviewers I've seen. Two out of five stars, I thought it was a-o-k.
did-not-finish
August 1, 2023Thanks to Goodreads reviewer Stephanie, I was able to discern exactly what it was that irritated me about this manga: “I had the same experience reading this manga as I did reading Moby-Dick. That is, I went in expecting a cohesive linear storyline and then got smashed on the head with the Merciless Hammer of Animal Facts.” Indeed, I went into this manga thinking I’d be reading a humorous story about penguins, disguised as gentlemen, who ran a social club and got tied up in funny situations. Instead, I got page after page about penguins: breeds, how to tell those breeds apart, habits and habitats, socialization.
At page 81, I paged back to the table of contents (something I normally skip) and gave it a look. When I saw that I was in for more and more penguin facts, I decided I was done. This was definitely not what I was hoping for!
** Since I marked as DNF, I did not give a star-rating. I also do not put the date I stopped reading (8/1/23) in Goodreads as I do not want it to count towards completion of my annual reading goal.
At page 81, I paged back to the table of contents (something I normally skip) and gave it a look. When I saw that I was in for more and more penguin facts, I decided I was done. This was definitely not what I was hoping for!
** Since I marked as DNF, I did not give a star-rating. I also do not put the date I stopped reading (8/1/23) in Goodreads as I do not want it to count towards completion of my annual reading goal.
June 13, 2023
Meet the penguins turned gentlemen who staff a bar in the human world. As you meet each one, you will learn much about their penguin characteristics, habitat, and habits.
So let me tell you a secret, there's very little plot to this. I think Kishi Ueno actually wanted to write a guide to penguins, but the editor said you have to make it creative and voila, this is what resulted. Ok, that's just my guess. Regardless, this is a scientific guide to penguins masquerading as a fantasy manga. It's actually a tricky way to teach you lots about different types of penguins. I love penguins, they're my favorite animal, but even I learned several things about the different types of penguins from this.
Notes on content: About 4 minor swears. No sex scenes. It talks about mating habits but it stops at selecting a mate. The aggressive territorial penguins get into scuffles, realistically. King penguin smokes a cigarette.
So let me tell you a secret, there's very little plot to this. I think Kishi Ueno actually wanted to write a guide to penguins, but the editor said you have to make it creative and voila, this is what resulted. Ok, that's just my guess. Regardless, this is a scientific guide to penguins masquerading as a fantasy manga. It's actually a tricky way to teach you lots about different types of penguins. I love penguins, they're my favorite animal, but even I learned several things about the different types of penguins from this.
Notes on content: About 4 minor swears. No sex scenes. It talks about mating habits but it stops at selecting a mate. The aggressive territorial penguins get into scuffles, realistically. King penguin smokes a cigarette.
May 23, 2021
When it comes to manga, I'm normally very selective for a number of reason. And if I'm honest, I'd been following the artist for a while before I found their book in a local store (didn't realize they made a manga). I would recommend this amazing piece of work to, pretty much anyone, that enjoys reading manga. The best part about this manga is it doesn't explain anything about the characters situation. It's all treated as a normal thing and due to this, it's a very welcoming manga to just jump right into. The entire book is made up of short stories that are about two pages each. While it is a bit silly, it is meant to give you a chuckle while also giving you a bunch of knowledge about penguins. All this is served with amazing art that is incomparable to any art that I've seen before. I plan on keeping this manga on my shelf and rereading it as a new favorite.
June 27, 2021
This book was fine. It was a cute mashup idea to portray penguins as tuxedoed gentlemen working at a…bar, restaurant? Well, a high class establishment. There are lots of penguin facts interspersed with gentlemanly shenanigans, and you can tell the creator has a real love for both subjects.
I wasn’t expecting the gag manga presentation style - it’s not 4-panel, but generally there’s a gag over every 2 pages.
After reading something like Heaven’s Design Team, which has good narrative flow and is laugh out loud funny, this felt clunky to read. There wasn’t really much of a background narrative to the gentlemen and their lives to act as a backbone to the gags and animal facts. And personally, the art style wasn’t really for me either (but I can see others loving it - I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it, just a personal preference thing).
I wasn’t expecting the gag manga presentation style - it’s not 4-panel, but generally there’s a gag over every 2 pages.
After reading something like Heaven’s Design Team, which has good narrative flow and is laugh out loud funny, this felt clunky to read. There wasn’t really much of a background narrative to the gentlemen and their lives to act as a backbone to the gags and animal facts. And personally, the art style wasn’t really for me either (but I can see others loving it - I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it, just a personal preference thing).
March 7, 2021
4.5 / 5
I really enjoyed it! This book is about penguins going on with their everyday lives working in a bar disguised as humans (looking like dandies). A slice of life book and throughout we are also able to learn about penguins and their behaviours, different types of penguins, and just fun facts about penguins in general. The author was able to do this in a fun and entertaining way. So if you like penguins, dandies and cute penguin art, and would like to learn some facts about penguins, I would recommend this book!
Also, I bought a physical hard copy and I loved that the first 32 pages are coloured.
I really enjoyed it! This book is about penguins going on with their everyday lives working in a bar disguised as humans (looking like dandies). A slice of life book and throughout we are also able to learn about penguins and their behaviours, different types of penguins, and just fun facts about penguins in general. The author was able to do this in a fun and entertaining way. So if you like penguins, dandies and cute penguin art, and would like to learn some facts about penguins, I would recommend this book!
Also, I bought a physical hard copy and I loved that the first 32 pages are coloured.
May 15, 2021
I WANT ANOTHER VOLUME!
When I first started reading this, I was like “wtf is this?”, but as I continued getting further and further into the book I kept on wanting more. Was hoping for more story driven aspects between all these beautiful penguins, though those facts were AMAZING to learn.
Everything just flowed including how the facts were presenting. It just wrapped up together nicely.
The art style isn’t my forte, but I’ll be keeping a look out for more books by this author in the future. The mix between human and penguin form was so fun and added an excitement to the book.
Only in manga can you get beautiful older-men and penguin facts 🐧
When I first started reading this, I was like “wtf is this?”, but as I continued getting further and further into the book I kept on wanting more. Was hoping for more story driven aspects between all these beautiful penguins, though those facts were AMAZING to learn.
Everything just flowed including how the facts were presenting. It just wrapped up together nicely.
The art style isn’t my forte, but I’ll be keeping a look out for more books by this author in the future. The mix between human and penguin form was so fun and added an excitement to the book.
Only in manga can you get beautiful older-men and penguin facts 🐧
December 31, 2021
More of a 4.5 star rating; Overall, this one-shot manga was a very fun read and I’ll definitely reread it in the future.
I initially picked up this volume randomly at my local Barnes & Noble since there was 50% off sale for all hardcover books. I went into this thinking it was mainly going to be men hosting a bar or restaurant with a penguin theme, so when I realized the men were actually anthropomorphic penguins I got childishly excited. I wasn’t expecting this manga to have a lot of penguin related facts included throughout and was very happy to learn about penguins all over again. (I essentially grew up on Animal Planet and National Geographic’s and adored penguins as a little kid.)
I initially picked up this volume randomly at my local Barnes & Noble since there was 50% off sale for all hardcover books. I went into this thinking it was mainly going to be men hosting a bar or restaurant with a penguin theme, so when I realized the men were actually anthropomorphic penguins I got childishly excited. I wasn’t expecting this manga to have a lot of penguin related facts included throughout and was very happy to learn about penguins all over again. (I essentially grew up on Animal Planet and National Geographic’s and adored penguins as a little kid.)
June 29, 2023
A great quick read full of humor and penguin facts! This was recommended to me by a friend who said that she really enjoyed it because she learned so many facts about penguins from the book and I would recommend it to those looking to do the same!
I had no idea that penguin behavior and mannerisms are so different from species to species and learning this through the lens of anthropomorphized gentlemen penguins was certainly a new experience!
The art is great, capturing the physical details of the penguins perfectly as well as making the gentlemen penguins very very handsome.
I would have liked a little more plot, but it's worth a read just to learn more about penguins!
I had no idea that penguin behavior and mannerisms are so different from species to species and learning this through the lens of anthropomorphized gentlemen penguins was certainly a new experience!
The art is great, capturing the physical details of the penguins perfectly as well as making the gentlemen penguins very very handsome.
I would have liked a little more plot, but it's worth a read just to learn more about penguins!
July 31, 2022
A one volume manga on a fictional bar filled with penguins who are now human, and goes on to explain differences between many penguin genus, including nesting, mating and other habits through a slice of life lense. With so many colour pages (~30 pages) with a great use of colour and fantastic looking art. The authors notes and comments at the end of the manga are also totally worth reading. Ultimately, this is a great manga and would recommend to anyone who likes to learn trivia, who likes cute things and who just likes slice of life manga.
March 18, 2021
I stumbled upon this manga by happy chance while waiting for my son to select a comic. As someone who considers themselves quite knowledgeable about penguins I have to say the information in this beautifully illustrated book is incredibly accurate! Rather than dispensing information like a textbook every page of the story instead conveys multiple interesting penguin facts in a lighthearted, fun and comidic way. Highly recommend to anyone who loves penguins!
February 2, 2023
This was certainly not what I expected, but it was a good time. It's literally just hot guys reciting facts about penguins. SO. MANY. PENGUIN. FACTS. Somewhere out there exists a person whose two favorite things are hot anime guys and pengwings, and this is for them. Turns out it was somehow also for me? Don't expect any kind of plot or reason. Just penwins.
(I'd love to see this kind of thing with other animals too)
(I'd love to see this kind of thing with other animals too)
September 20, 2024
This gets 100 stars in special category of subverting expectations and tickling my sense of novelty. This is LITERALLY a penguin fact book. Like. A book of facts about penguins. But each fact is accompanied by a silly two-page comic spread of these silly anthropomorphized penguins in a scene about the fact. The characters were charming, the art was fun, the facts were actually very interesting.
I think I'm a penguin expert now.
I recommend this to literally everyone. I laughed a lot.
I think I'm a penguin expert now.
I recommend this to literally everyone. I laughed a lot.
May 7, 2021
So this is not at all what I was expecting, but by no means was it bad.
I was hoping for a bit more of a story about transformed penguins trying to live and work as humans. But what I got was more facts about penguins than I could shake a stick at.
It was a cute read though and actually pretty darn informative!
I was hoping for a bit more of a story about transformed penguins trying to live and work as humans. But what I got was more facts about penguins than I could shake a stick at.
It was a cute read though and actually pretty darn informative!
November 13, 2021
A cute book of penguin facts presented in manga format! I was so sad to learn that this is the only work this author has published so far, because it was such a good read and I wanted more! It's a one-shot, so there's not a million volumes out there to collect. It's a lighthearted, fun, short read. Highly recommend!
May 11, 2022
I really wanted to like this one more. I enjoyed all of the penguin facts and all but it got confusing at times with the characters bouncing back and forth between the human shape and penguin shape so often I lost track of who was who. I also was not fond of the art style. The way the human shape for the penguins were drawn made them look a bit crazed.
July 28, 2022
This is an book that spoke about the various differences of all penguin species depicted as anthropomorphic gentleman servers. While it is definitely interesting, there really wasn't a storyline, more as it depicted the personalities and actions of every penguin species. Other read alike to this story is Nyankees and Sekko Boys.
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