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R to L (Japanese Style)

When Noboru recycled a plastic bottle, he never thought he'd get a devoted PET in return!

Nine-year-old Noboru does the responsible thing and recycles a plastic bottle. But little does he know that the bottle is about to come back to life as PET, a robot with a mission: to pay Noboru back for recycling him! The only problem is that PET's sense of ""helping"" isn't quite in touch with reality. Combining the visual appeal of manga with the episodic comedy of web comics, Leave it to PET!'s adorable characters deliver wacky humor in bite-sized installments!

Nine-year-old Noboru does the responsible thing and recycles a plastic bottle. But little does he know that the bottle is about to come back to life as PET, a robot with a mission: to pay Noboru back for recycling him! The only problem is that PET's sense of ""helping"" isn't quite in touch with reality. Combining the visual appeal of manga with the episodic comedy of web comics, Leave it to PET!'s adorable characters deliver wacky humor in bite-sized installments!

192 pages, Paperback

First published April 7, 2009

18 people are currently reading
462 people want to read

About the author

Kenji Sonishi

82 books10 followers
Also written as そにしけんじ. Is a Japanese manga-ka (comic book artist).

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Community Reviews

5 stars
104 (59%)
4 stars
34 (19%)
3 stars
21 (12%)
2 stars
11 (6%)
1 star
4 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 23 of 24 reviews
Profile Image for Brendan Oshida.
40 reviews
January 5, 2017
These were one of the first Japanese style books I read, and granted it was in fourth grade, but they made me laugh until I cried! Highly recommend
Profile Image for Paola.
9 reviews
February 15, 2022
Funny, I read it because of Jayden Animations YouTube video recommendation.
410 reviews
August 10, 2018
3.5 stars. The art is not very good, but it doesn't need to be, it's pretty utilitarian. I have not read enough children's manga to have a good handle on what they're like generally, but my limited experience seems to suggest that they're much more interested in really weird jokes, incompetence and a bit of physical abuse. Leave It To PET! has less abuse but a lot of incompetence and bizarre jokes. In fact, most of the chapters are essentially elaborate punchlines.
Profile Image for Noelle.
477 reviews4 followers
March 27, 2025
This is one of my first mangas and definitely one of my favorites. Even though it’s for kids, I still laughed at a lot of the gags. I remember how many times I reread it back then, and it was so nice to revisit it. It’s hilarious!
Profile Image for danny.
1 review
April 29, 2020
it looks cool and awesome.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
2 reviews
Read
May 13, 2020
I can't even read the book, so what do YOU think?! This fake website...stupid
Profile Image for Nick.
356 reviews3 followers
December 3, 2020
Adorable and quite funny at times. I’d recommend it to lovers of kids graphic novels.
9 reviews
June 14, 2021
My favorite mange series as a kid. Each sequel gets better too. The most I've ever laughed in my life I think.
Profile Image for Erin Reilly-Sanders.
1,009 reviews25 followers
September 9, 2010
While I like the concept and the episodes of this are funny, the book seems very repetitive and this is only the first book of four volumes. One of the problems lies in that each chapter can stand alone and doesn't build upon or even relate to previous characters so that there is no over-arching narrative. The other problem is that each character follows precisely the same formula- Noboru gets in trouble, calls on Pet for help and then Pet makes things worse. Often the chapters don't even seem to end concretely. I also object to the lack of introduction or story set up in the first chapter of the first volume. It's just very clunky to have Pet show up and do his normal thing. However, this has a nice easy reading level and the dialog isn't too stilted and the pictures are fun and cartoony. Kids will probably get a huge kick out of the humour and be more amused than I was by the repetitious joke. I got about halfway through and decided that it was pointless to read the rest of the book.
Profile Image for Caleb.
310 reviews
May 5, 2009
This is a charming manga from Viz's new-ish kids line, featuring super-cute character design and pretty funny gags (I actually laughed out loud once). It reminded me of a simpler, more all-ages version of Sgt. Frog to a certain degree. PET is a super-robot made out of a recycled plastic bottle that has sworn to protect the nine-year-old boy who originally recycled him to repay the good dead. Hilarity ensues.
Profile Image for Sunnyvale Librarian.
265 reviews6 followers
Read
October 25, 2013
You know about recycling, right? Instead of throwing your water bottle or juice container in the trash, recycle it in a special bin. In Leave it to PET!, Norobu Yamada does just that, only to find that the bottle returns to thank him for recycling him. Follow Norubu and PET! on their adventures by reading this book and the sequels.
Profile Image for Nancy Jo Lambert.
1,070 reviews113 followers
August 5, 2012
The PET manga series is really fun and smart. I like that there are activities embedded in the story, the illustrations are well done, and the adventures are about recycling! This is a super fun series that kids and manga fans can really enjoy.
Profile Image for Jen.
1,358 reviews1 follower
February 24, 2014
Thanks to Farhan and Carmela for recommending this book to me! It was the first book I read from back to front and from upper right to lower left. :) PET tries so hard to be helpful when Noboru needs him. PET never can quite get it right, despite his best intentions!
Profile Image for Meredith.
421 reviews95 followers
June 1, 2010
When 9 year-old Noboru innocently recycles a bottle, he has no idea that the bottle will return to him as a "helpful" robot, intent on assisting him in the most useless ways imaginable.
1 review3 followers
September 10, 2010
It is very funny and I also like it because it doesn't do the same thing again and again.
Profile Image for Jiwon Chang.
7 reviews
June 18, 2012
Funny comic book with a recycled robot who wants to help his recycler.
Profile Image for Kirsten.
6 reviews
October 10, 2015
My 7 and 10 year old kids find these books hilarious. This was the first manga they read.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 24 reviews

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