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Island in a Puddle #2
Island in a Puddle, Vol. 2
NO SECOND CHANCES
Tension mounts as Minato, who's mind was mysteriously swapped into the body of a wanted man on the run for murder, tries to figure out his next move. Stranded, alone, he starts to formulate a plan to get to his younger sister, who's now in the care of the man whose body he swapped with, without suspicion. However, it's not only the police after the man whose body he now occupies—a shadowy organization called the Dodokai is closing in, too...
Tension mounts as Minato, who's mind was mysteriously swapped into the body of a wanted man on the run for murder, tries to figure out his next move. Stranded, alone, he starts to formulate a plan to get to his younger sister, who's now in the care of the man whose body he swapped with, without suspicion. However, it's not only the police after the man whose body he now occupies—a shadowy organization called the Dodokai is closing in, too...
208 pages, Paperback
First published October 23, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
July 20, 2022
Stuck in the body of a brutal criminal, Minato is trying to get back to his original body. Meanwhile, Kuromatsu, said criminal, is trying to keep from blowing his newfound cover. But the two of them are about to get a bit of a crash course in how the other half lives.
Even a crappy, barely functional home is home and Minato wants to get back to his more than anything, especially for his sister’s sake. Poor Nagisa gets a lot of emotional stuff this time out, both from her new useless brother and their absentee mom. It does help showcase how caring Minato is, when he does a small act of kindness despite being on the lam.
For his part, Kuromatsu gets a taste of a regular school life, which is anything but normal for him, so at least he also gets to suffer some while poor Minato is stuck in his very wanted body. There are definitely some hints that Kuromatsu’s upbringing was even worse than Minato’s, which is saying something.
This is a mighty fine read and it keeps heaping on the complications, as Minato’s attempts to fix things seem to lead him further and further from home. It’s not quite the equal of a good Naoki Urasawa, say, but it’s close.
Lots more players enter the picture and you get all the moves and counter-moves you want from a genre piece like this. While it’s a little difficult keeping everybody straight with the time between releases, it’s still easy enough to get pulled along with the crazy twists and turns (we learn Kuromatsu’s nickname and, boy, does that ever turn out to be linked right to the cliffhanger - poor Hinato).
One thing I could do with less of though is ‘suspense via coincidence’ and the story using some really creaky old cliches. There’s a point where one character winds up connecting the two stories, but it’s a bit of a stretch that there just happens to be a tie like that connecting the main characters (economy of storytelling and all that).
4 stars - this is very much a middle volume of something that is building to something. It lacks the novelty of the first volume and it’s mostly setting up all its ducks for the climax to come down the road. What’s here is good, but it’s just a step on the journey rather than the big swings of the destination.
Even a crappy, barely functional home is home and Minato wants to get back to his more than anything, especially for his sister’s sake. Poor Nagisa gets a lot of emotional stuff this time out, both from her new useless brother and their absentee mom. It does help showcase how caring Minato is, when he does a small act of kindness despite being on the lam.
For his part, Kuromatsu gets a taste of a regular school life, which is anything but normal for him, so at least he also gets to suffer some while poor Minato is stuck in his very wanted body. There are definitely some hints that Kuromatsu’s upbringing was even worse than Minato’s, which is saying something.
This is a mighty fine read and it keeps heaping on the complications, as Minato’s attempts to fix things seem to lead him further and further from home. It’s not quite the equal of a good Naoki Urasawa, say, but it’s close.
Lots more players enter the picture and you get all the moves and counter-moves you want from a genre piece like this. While it’s a little difficult keeping everybody straight with the time between releases, it’s still easy enough to get pulled along with the crazy twists and turns (we learn Kuromatsu’s nickname and, boy, does that ever turn out to be linked right to the cliffhanger - poor Hinato).
One thing I could do with less of though is ‘suspense via coincidence’ and the story using some really creaky old cliches. There’s a point where one character winds up connecting the two stories, but it’s a bit of a stretch that there just happens to be a tie like that connecting the main characters (economy of storytelling and all that).
4 stars - this is very much a middle volume of something that is building to something. It lacks the novelty of the first volume and it’s mostly setting up all its ducks for the climax to come down the road. What’s here is good, but it’s just a step on the journey rather than the big swings of the destination.
February 20, 2024
Another great volume! The story telling here is great, I seriously have no idea what’s going to happen and I am on the edge of my seat the whole time. You know a manga is good when you forget you’re reading and can actually see everything happening as the story goes on.
February 27, 2024
It’s Nagisa’s birthday, but the killer Kuromatsu, in Minato’s body, doesn’t know that. Despite being a wanted man, Minato (trapped in the killer, Kuromatsu’s, body) leaves a cake for his sister and a hopeful note. Minato tries to figure out how he can keep his sister the safest, and he determines he has to stay away from her while trying to figure out what Kuromatsu may have done to warrant the police and monsters to be after him. Meanwhile, Kuromatsu struggles at school and navigating who is Minato’s friends. He also recognizes someone the kids know as “Detective,” someone who has worked criminal jobs with Kuromatsu.
Sanbe loves his tragic characters. Not only are the kids' lives horrible because of their absent mother, Minato-in-Kuromatsu finds another woman in a terrible situation, who helps him but is being physically abused by a man she recently met and can't seem to shake. Good on little Minato for helping her out of that situation, but there is so far no redeeming adults in this story. While we're watching Minato and Nagisa's childhood be ruined by abandonment, Kuromatsu-in-Minato thinks to himself how these kids still have a decent life, so it really made me wonder how horrible Kuromatsu's childhood was. Definitely don't pick this up for readers who need some happiness in their life! I'm not sure I would classify this as murder-mystery like Sanbe's beautiful Erased is, but there's definitely some mysterious elements to what's going on with this body-swap and some of the other hitmen.
Sara's Rating: 8/10
Suitability Level: Grades 9-12
Read more graphic novel reviews at The Graphic Library.
Sanbe loves his tragic characters. Not only are the kids' lives horrible because of their absent mother, Minato-in-Kuromatsu finds another woman in a terrible situation, who helps him but is being physically abused by a man she recently met and can't seem to shake. Good on little Minato for helping her out of that situation, but there is so far no redeeming adults in this story. While we're watching Minato and Nagisa's childhood be ruined by abandonment, Kuromatsu-in-Minato thinks to himself how these kids still have a decent life, so it really made me wonder how horrible Kuromatsu's childhood was. Definitely don't pick this up for readers who need some happiness in their life! I'm not sure I would classify this as murder-mystery like Sanbe's beautiful Erased is, but there's definitely some mysterious elements to what's going on with this body-swap and some of the other hitmen.
Sara's Rating: 8/10
Suitability Level: Grades 9-12
Read more graphic novel reviews at The Graphic Library.
October 15, 2023
(note: re-read after collecting the whole series)
I still love Sanbe's style and pacing; this is a really gripping story that, even on a re-read, I wait on pins and needles to know what happens next.
Four stars because I *still* can't believe an eleven-year-old with nothing in particular going for him other than fear can outsmart literal murderers.
This is also one of the few print books I've read that mentions COVID-19, even after all this time. I don't remember if I read it before or after the first one (I thought) I read that mentioned COVID, but that one certainly stood out for having mentioned it. This one, the mention is only in the autobiographical "author's note" comic, which I might have at the time dismissed as not part of the narrative, where ROYNL went ahead and integrated COVID into the story.
Anyway, Island in a Puddle is a good but not great series. It stands up as a thriller, but not as one of my all-time favourite stories.
I still love Sanbe's style and pacing; this is a really gripping story that, even on a re-read, I wait on pins and needles to know what happens next.
Four stars because I *still* can't believe an eleven-year-old with nothing in particular going for him other than fear can outsmart literal murderers.
This is also one of the few print books I've read that mentions COVID-19, even after all this time. I don't remember if I read it before or after the first one (I thought) I read that mentioned COVID, but that one certainly stood out for having mentioned it. This one, the mention is only in the autobiographical "author's note" comic, which I might have at the time dismissed as not part of the narrative, where ROYNL went ahead and integrated COVID into the story.
Anyway, Island in a Puddle is a good but not great series. It stands up as a thriller, but not as one of my all-time favourite stories.
August 5, 2022
Volume 2 continues the body swapping thriller in a interesting but uneven way.
We have our lead kid who's in a grown man's body trying to figure out how to get close to the people he cares about but without being arrested since he's in the body of a murderer. On top of that we have the murderer inside the little kids body plotting his next move while also being a scumbag.
While it's still entertaining it doesn't feel like a lot of ground was covered here. Nothing really changed in the dynamic between the two leads. I'm wondering if this will be too padded to hit hard, but we shall see.
We have our lead kid who's in a grown man's body trying to figure out how to get close to the people he cares about but without being arrested since he's in the body of a murderer. On top of that we have the murderer inside the little kids body plotting his next move while also being a scumbag.
While it's still entertaining it doesn't feel like a lot of ground was covered here. Nothing really changed in the dynamic between the two leads. I'm wondering if this will be too padded to hit hard, but we shall see.
September 13, 2022
Kuromatsu (in Minato's body) is struggling to appear normal since he doesn't know anything about how Nagisa normally acts or even where he goes to school. But his childlike body does give him a good disguise when he finds out that the Tsubaki guy he was working with is actually a cop and when he has to go back to his hideout for some things.
Meanwhile, Minato (in Kuromatsu's body) is struggling to find a way to get his body back while dodging cops and other underworld figures who want him dead. Fugitive life is difficult if you don't have friends. Also, there's some weird memory glitches happening on both sides to add to the suspense.
This series has 5 volumes.
Meanwhile, Minato (in Kuromatsu's body) is struggling to find a way to get his body back while dodging cops and other underworld figures who want him dead. Fugitive life is difficult if you don't have friends. Also, there's some weird memory glitches happening on both sides to add to the suspense.
This series has 5 volumes.
October 4, 2024
This is the second volume in this series. This series is about a criminal and a kid switch bodies and have to figure out how to go through life to possibly switch back.
I really enjoyed the first one but this one didn’t live up to it. I enjoyed this volume but it definitely was not as good as the first one because it seemed like filler. This makes me hopeful for the next one!
I feel as if this volume could have been so much shorter and added to the next one. Most of the plot seemed pointless. Even so I still enjoyed this volume and I’m excited to see where it goes in the next one.
I really enjoyed the first one but this one didn’t live up to it. I enjoyed this volume but it definitely was not as good as the first one because it seemed like filler. This makes me hopeful for the next one!
I feel as if this volume could have been so much shorter and added to the next one. Most of the plot seemed pointless. Even so I still enjoyed this volume and I’m excited to see where it goes in the next one.
February 23, 2025
Gile sih
Ketegangan mulai datang dengan identitas yang ketuker.
Mantab sih baca vol 1 itu kayak ga nemu psikologisnya dimana. Baru di volume ini mulai naik karena kedua tokoh sama-sama dihantui kecemasan dan ketakutan.
Lingkungan baru menjadi ancaman mereka siaga. Dan teka-teki makin kesini makin ...
Volume 3 lanjut yuk
Ketegangan mulai datang dengan identitas yang ketuker.
Mantab sih baca vol 1 itu kayak ga nemu psikologisnya dimana. Baru di volume ini mulai naik karena kedua tokoh sama-sama dihantui kecemasan dan ketakutan.
Lingkungan baru menjadi ancaman mereka siaga. Dan teka-teki makin kesini makin ...
Volume 3 lanjut yuk
September 17, 2024
i don’t really think this manga is quite my tempo so i haven’t decided if i want to continue it…
it’s very violent packed and it has a super dark theme. it makes me feel sad :(
i guess that’s how you know the author/illustrator is doing their job lol! i just don’t know if it’s for me…
it’s very violent packed and it has a super dark theme. it makes me feel sad :(
i guess that’s how you know the author/illustrator is doing their job lol! i just don’t know if it’s for me…
June 27, 2022
Things are getting more complicated with each chapter.
August 2, 2022
Cant wait for the other three volumes. I know it is gonna be good. Sanbe always has good twists/endings!
August 6, 2022
I’m getting incredibly anxious for this poor child & his sister omgggg
August 6, 2022
More please.
August 8, 2022
Not as great as the first one but still loved it
July 16, 2024
Fast-paced & engaging.
This volume is a real page turner!
This volume is a real page turner!
July 23, 2025
purée j'ai peur
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews