Dinosan, vol. 1

ディノサン [Dinosan] #1

by Itaru Kinoshita, Shin-ichi Fujiwara (supervisor), Jesús Espí (translator)

Tras descubrir en 1946 especímenes de dinosaurios supervivientes en una pequeña isla, su imponente presencia se convirtió en uno de los espectáculos más maravillosos del mundo, pero tras un accidente, la fascinación del público hacia ellos perdió fuelle. En estos momentos de horas bajas, Suzume Suma empieza a trabajar como cuidadora en Dinoland Emoshima, un parque zoológico de dinosaurios sumido en dificultades económicas...

Genres: Manga, Graphic Novels, Dinosaurs, Science Fiction, Comics, Fiction, Animals

192 pages, Paperback

First published September 9, 2021

Reviews

[Bookishrealm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ahhh! My little dinosaur heart is so happy! I didn’t know what to expect, but when Shae explained that this is was great for fans of Jurassic park, I knew that I had to try it out. It was amazing and the cliffhanger at the end had me blown away. I loved that a paleontologist was consulted for the creation of this story and that they were able to add notes at the end of each chapter. The story lends itself to more character than plot development, but it felt like the perfect set up to a new series. I’m intrigued by the power play the may or may not exist between this cast. Looking forward to picking up volume 2!

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

This manga is co-authored by an actual paleontologist so it was educational on top of entertaining! In addition to the manga story, there were full-page articles regarding facts about dinosaur anatomy and the professor's own theories on the subject.

The story rewrites history, on an Earth where an island of dinosaurs survived extinction. Then geneticists were able to resurrect more dinos and they became popular zoo attractions. At first dinosaur zoos were a huge hit, but a major, undisclosed disaster (presumably à la Jurassic Park) resulted in a loss of public interest. And now the parks are losing money and understaffed.

The manga takes a realistic viewpoint of the parks. It does show a dinosaur eating a deer carcass, fair warning. You watch dinosaurs hatch from eggs and be treated for medical conditions and everything felt plausible.

The main character's father was the geneticist that figured out how to bring dinosaurs back, and there are some that disapprove. She has always loved dinosaurs and always knew she wanted to work at a dino zoo. She's green, but as her dream finally comes true, you watch her put her heart into caring for the animals and helping her coworkers, slowly winning them over, one by one.

I just have to say, the male characters in this manga are really hot. I don't know why they're drawn like the prettiest of bishounen but they are. And I'm not complaining. lol The girls are cute too, but they don't look like idols the way the guys do.

I enjoyed every aspect of this manga and I can't wait for more. I'm debating keeping a second set to gift to my dinosaur-obsessed little nephew in about 10 years.

[Krystal · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cute, fun manga that only has a dino park in common with Jurassic Park. This is much more chill.

It really is just the story of a girl who has just started working at one of the smaller dino parks in Japan. They're struggling a little to make money but our naïve heroine seems to be up to the task of saving the place across the series.

The dinos show up pretty quickly and there are fun dinosaur facts peppered throughout the story. We have some great characters with the potential to meet more, and some interesting ideas about what might come from trying to help the park perform better.

There obviously wasn't a lot in this first volume other than introducing characters (including dinos) and setting the scene, but there's a great little teaser at the end that will leave you wanting more. I'm definitely curious about where this series will go.

Plus, I came for the dinos and this manga delivered so I guess I'll stick with it for a while.

[Laura A. Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was really good! (Even though I was surprised by how scientific it was even if in hindsight the blurb obviously says that. LOL!)

While it's focused on dinosaurs, I think one of the most eye-opening things about this volume is an inside look into a zookeeper's life. A friend of mine went to school to be a zookeeper and thought it really cool to see behind the scenes compared to what visitors see in public. Honestly never imagined how hard it is to be a zookeeper (or in this case, a dinokeeper) and think Suma's excitement and "reality check" were very engaging as well as what I could imagine being relatable.

Speaking of, she is such a wonderful heroine to follow! She really helps brighten things when on page and absolutely love her love for dinosaurs! That love gushes off the page in her words and expressions and was totally here for it, especially when Kaidou can be so grumpy! LOL! I DID like him though as well as the other dinokeeper! (I can't remember her name at the moment!) It was interesting seeing why they love and/or work with dinosaurs and the different views they both had. One of my favorite chapters was definitely when Suma works with the other female dinokeeper in helping to "revive" an exhibit. Such good chapters!

Overall, this was a very unique manga! The art is extremely luscious and often felt like if I reached out to touch the page, I could actually feel the texture of the dinosaurs, which was super cool! (Definitely have never experienced that before!)

I think if you love dinosaurs or want a fun scientific-like read, this would be a good one to check out!

[I' · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yes.
This is another thing!!
To be fair, this was an easy win for me. Give me dinosaurs and I will be happy.
I really like the art style and the main characters concept. They may be quite typical and not very innovative but they are very sweet and introduce the story and the concept easily.
The series also has a specialist as consultant, so as much of the information and designs are as accurate as possible. Between chapters, there a lot of additional information and curiosities about the things covered in the chapters.
One that I will certainly keep my eye on for future releases!

[Matti Karjalainen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lapsuuden ensimmäisiä toiveammattejani oli paleontologi ja olen näin vanhemmitenkin tuntenut jonkinmoista kiinnostusta dinosauruksia kohtaan, ihan siinä mittakaavassa, että lukulistalleni päätyi myös Itaru Kanoshitan "Dinosaur Sanctuary, vol. 1" (Seven Seas, 2022). Ja nytpä sain sen myös syntymäpäivälahjaksi. Onnea minä!

Vuonna 1946 dinosaurukset nimittäin löydettiin uudelleen syrjäiseltä saarelta, eikä sen jälkeen tarvittu kuin hieman jalostustyötä ja geenimanipulaatiota, jotta niitä alettiin tuoda eläintarhoihin. Ja siitä päästäänkin tähän päivään, jolloin Suma Suzume -niminen nuori nainen ottaa ensimmäisiä askeliaan Enoshiman dinosauruspuiston uutena työntekijänä. Eläintarhalla ei mene kovinkaan lujaa, mutta Suma käy hartiavoimin työhön ja hissukseen homma alkaakin toimia - kunnes käy ilmi, että viisitoista vuotta sitten on tapahtunut jotakin tavattoman kamalaa.

"Dinosaur Sanctuary" alkaa varsin leppoisana dinopuiston arjen kuvauksena, mutta loppuun saatiin kunnon cliffhanger, joka onnistui koukuttamaan ainakin minut. Saurustelua on pyritty kuvaamaan niin realistisesti kuin mahdollista, mistä kertoo sekin, että lukujen välistä löytyy konsulttina käytetyn paleontologin kommenttipalsta.

Sarjakuvan taide on keskimääräistä komeampaa. Vahvat kolme tähteä ja kakkososa lukulistalle!

[Natalie H · Rating 4 out of 5]

January 2024
Paperback edition
Manga
Forbidden planet purchase

It was alright. A book that I got roped into because I picked it up 3 for 2 and there were only two Rooster fighter books. Dunno. Free book. The dinosaurs were cool and this one was actually sad. A failing dino place where one incident undisclosed so far turned humans against dinos. To be fair, what did they expect? It's a much softer version of jurassic park. The FMC is happy go lucky out to try her best, but the ending revelation didn't surprise me. I might continue but its not one that makes me click buy happy.

[Rod Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

What if Jurassic Park was about the zookeepers who took care of the dinosaurs . . . and none of them died? Boring, right?

(Well, okay, one guy did die, but fifteen years prior and offscreen with no gore.)

Dino fans will probably enjoy the educational aspects as each chapter educates about a different creature. The rest of us will probably let our minds wander as we read about good-intentioned caretakers doing their jobs thoughtfully and earnestly.

I have one more volume on hand from the library, so I'll give it a go, but I'm not optimistic about the stories picking up.

[Lucille · Rating 3 out of 5]

Très sympa ! Un parc de dinosaures où on suit les soigneurs, dont une jeune fille qui fait son premier jour et une backstory se dévoile petit à petit sur son père décédé

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gonna start this by saying I'm not a huge dinosaur girlie, never was, my preferred animal always had to be horse-related, but you can't help but be interested in dinos at some point in your childhood. I think if you've got even a smidgen of that interest in you then you should check out this series. It may seem like just a fluff slice of life, but it's got some drama and a smidgen of action too. Also the art style is really good, it's balancing the cute and open art style that usually goes with manga, but also has the dinosaurs in realistic detail right in the middle of everything else. I also love that the mangaka has a researcher with them to fact check the series. I can't wait to read the next volume! Really like the MC too. She's cute!

[Anke Struik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Story itself was a bit superficial but give me dinosaurs and I am happy. It was cute, feelgood, easy to follow and so pure. Lots of credits for the correct facts, I had a great time

[Preethi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Surpassed all my expectations.

[Noelle Haycraft · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was more of a 3.5 than a straight 3. I think this manga has a lot more potential in future volumes, with all of the foreshadowing that was done in this first one. I think we're looking at a slow burn with our main dinosaur keepers, so can't wait!!

Also, if you were a dinosaur kid, then this manga is definitely for you. Happy Reading!!

[Amy Fernández García · Rating 5 out of 5]

Es la historia que siempre quise leer. Si este manga hubiese existido en mi infancia, habría sido una niña muy feliz, pero mi versión adulta no se queda corta.
Tanto como amante de los dinosaurios como auxiliar de veterinaria, me ha flipado. No sólo por la parte de los dinosaurios, que, por una vez, no son tratados como máquinas de matar de forma gore, sino como las criaturas maravillosas que son, como lo son todos los animales. Diría incluso que roza lo cozy, no sabía lo mucho que necesitaba este manga hasta que me hice con él.
Lo que me ha terminado de enamorar es la forma tan realista (en el buen y el mal sentido), que me ha hecho volver a mi época de prácticas. Y ver a Masaru el triceratops tumbado como un michi. Es que me quiero tatuar ese momento.
Los fragmentos del cuaderno del paleontólogo le terminan de poner la guinda al pastel, porque como decía, una de las cosas que más disfruto es que se nota que ha habido un buen trabajo de fondo para asegurar que el comportamiento de los dinosaurios, así como su cuidado, manejo y hasta enfermedades sean lo más realistas posibles. Es una aunténtica joya y si eras esa niña obsesionada con los dinosaurios como yo, estás tardando en leerlo.

Además, el arte es una maravilla. Me he enamorado por completo de este tomo y necesito el siguiente YA.

[The Rev. Dr. Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 ⭐️
TLDR; young girl with passion for dinosaurs never grew up and became a dinosaur zookeeper in her twenties. And main villain seems to be capitalism, as it should be.

What a cross over of interests for me. Wanted to be a zoo keeper growing up and fucking loved dinosaurs. So you shouldn't be surprised to hear that this didn't quite live up to expectations, but is a great start for what I think could be a stellar series.
The art is great, I wasn't expecting a lot given I haven't read the author before, but it was lovely and the dinosaurs look sick. It was also amazing to hear the depth of collaboration between the scientific consultant and the author to get the dinosaurs and science right. Really appreciated this aspect.
One reservation is the story and the plot is pretty one note until the last 3 chapters. If they continue with the commentary on the ethics of resurrecting extinct species and the struggles with keeping the money flowing into the park, I think I could be hooked. I just need more of the characters' stories and not just oh no, the AC broke and we need to fix it. I need more than just episodic issues. They have a lot to work with I really hope they use it.

[Paula · Rating 4 out of 5]

A terrific introduction to what will hopefully be a great series! I appreciate the amount of love and care that was put into getting not only the depictions of dinosaurs in the series correct, but really making them feel like actual characters and living beings. It's too easy to portray dinosaurs as just "terrible lizards" when there's so much more too them than just that, as is the case with any living creature. I feel the creators of this series did their homework and put a lot of effort into showing the dinosaurs as more than just big terrible lizards. The interspersing of Dinosaur/paleontology facts throughout the manga especially helps those understand more of what happens within the book as well- excellent idea!

I can’t wait for the next volume in the series!!

[Michael McCormick · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love dinosaurs! Who doesn’t? This is not only entertaining but also educational! They actually consulted Shin-ichi Fujiwara who got his doctorate at university of Tokyo and whose specialization is functional morphology and vertebrate paleontology. He breaks down a lot of info in between chapters (dilophosaurus one was my favorite!)and I really enjoyed those just as much as the story. The story is really interesting. Basically a zookeeper that works at Jurassic Park but that feels like im down playing how interesting it is but I don’t want to spoil anything! If you like dinosaurs and/or manga, trust me you’ll love this!

[Bek (MoonyReadsByStarlight) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slice of life-ish but it's about a dinosaur zookeeper. Cool notes from the paleontologist they consulted! Book 2 will probably go into background they've been alluding to, so I'm excited. Definitely will continue and want my own copy!

[James DeSantis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was really fun! Basically a zoo but with Dinosaurs. Really fun to learn about different species, and love the interactions with the humans. I hope the light nature, but some dark undertones, continue further with the characters.

[Blake the Book Eater · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute little manga! Jurassic Park if it was actually focused on the dinosaurs as animals.

I loved the more scientific approach, especially with the characters being zookeepers! It’s refreshing to see dinosaurs just be treated as cool animals versus evil killing machines.

[Katie❄️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

How can you create these creatures, breed them, and then start shutting parks down due to lack of visitation. Like they are a dime a dozen to see? Them being so boring that no one goes to see them doesn't seem possible.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is actually my second time re-reading this but I apparently never added it the first time.

I adored the first volume of this manga, it’s a great start to a new story and the characters are very distinct. I think if you like dinosaurs, there is no reason you wouldn’t love this.

It’s got little Informative snippets and it’s also full of dinosaurs so what’s not to love. I love the art style and I can’t wait to continue the series.

[ZindagiForEva · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like a cozy Jurassic Park, very cute

[Jessika Hoover · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I first heard of this manga, I knew I had to read it—it sounded like a manga made for Jurassic Park fans! And it was SO STINKIN’ CUTE, I loved it so much. The art was amazing, and the story just hit all the right wholesome notes. It’s a little episodic/slice-of-life, so keep that in mind because I know not everyone loves that type of manga. It was more than just a cute story though—it was so fun for a science nerd like myself to read. Shin-Ichi Fujiwara acted as a research consultant for this manga, and the research notes, attention to accurate details, and cool scientific tidbits about dinosaurs made my nerdy little heart sing. I genuinely cannot wait for the next volume of this story to come out—especially after that last chapter! 😱

If you are into manga and looking for something a little different that’s simply just a FUN read, I’d highly recommend this one!

[James Baldwin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adorable

Pretty damn cute slice of life manga. Excellently rendered dinosaurs, and it manages not to be a Jurassic Park ripoff.

[Marcus · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5

[kaitziez · Rating 2 out of 5]

There were some cliche toxic boy tropes in this that really irritated me. It's super close to being a two-star... Update: I have marked it down to two stars, this was BAD enough that I kept being annoyed at it. Did not deserve three stars.

[Aura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was one of those dino-crazed kids who spent considerable amounts of their time wondering what the world would be like if there were still some dinosaurs around and we could go see them in a controlled environment such as, say, a zoo or something, so this series' premise sounded like targeted advertising when I first read it. The child in me is beside herself: this was a wonderful read and I loved it right from the first chapter.

I love that Kinoshita decided to set the story on Enoshima, a town near Kamakura about an hour's train ride from Tokyo - I've visited the island once before and being able to imagine the story taking place there just adds to the experience. The art is nice, especially when it comes to the dinosaurs themselves. It's obvious that a lot of love and care went into researching them and learning to illustrate them well. The human characters are intriguing and fun, but not in a way that steals the spotlight from the dinosaurs, all of whom also have their own distinct personalities and quirks. I also really liked the little info columns scattered between the chapters, shedding some professional research spotlight on the subject! It's hard to say anything about the plot based on the first volume, but beneath the daily hustle and bustle of a zoo there are clearly some bigger plot points at work, too. Overall I think my favourite part of Dinosaur Sanctuary is that the world feels real, with real problems regarding the care of gigantic animals (and how humans would likely try to tackle the obvious hazards of such work) and the moral questions regarding bringing back long-extinct species, including the health issues it might cause for the animals themselves. A very promising series so far!

Bonus: we get to see a Triceratops laying down like a cat with his legs tucked underneath him. What more could you ask for?

[Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

Obviously Dinosaur Sanctuary was always fated to be, at best, the 2nd best piece of fiction about a dinosaur theme park, but even so this book is really great.

In fact, it doesn't really retread any of the familiar ground from Jurassic Park. Instead of raising the moral questions that Crichton's work did, Dinosaur Sanctuary mostly looks at the idea of dinosaur park from a logistics standpoint, i.e. what is it like having to maintain the assorted dinosaurs' general well-being on the day-to-day? And more importantly, how do you maintain funding for the park and generate public interest in a world that has grown bored of dinosaurs?

Side note, it's neat that the author of the book has assistance with the dino science aspect of the series from a bona-fide paleontologist, Shin-ichi Fujiwara.

[Max Freese · Rating 3 out of 5]

learned a lot about dino poop