Soara and the House of Monsters
Soara and the House of Monsters | |
![]() Japanese cover for volume 1, featuring Soara | |
ソアラと魔物の家 (Soara to Mamono no Ie) | |
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Genre | Fantasy,[1] adventure[2] |
Manga | |
Written by | Hidenori Yamaji |
Published by | Shogakukan |
English publisher | Seven Seas Entertainment |
Imprint | Sunday Webry Comics |
Magazine | |
Demographic | Shōnen |
Original run | November 25, 2021 – present |
Volumes | 4 |
Soara and the House of Monsters (Japanese: ソアラと魔物の家, Hepburn: Soara to Mamono no Ie) is a Japanese fantasy adventure manga series written and illustrated by Hidenori Yamaji. Shogakukan publishes it since 2021 in their magazine Shōnen Sunday S and on their webcomic platform Sunday Webry , and also releases it in collected tankōbon volumes. These have since 2023 been released in English by Seven Seas Entertainment.
The story follows the human woman Soara, who after the end of a war between monsters and humans joins a group of travelling dwarf architects who build houses for various types of monsters. It was nominated for the Next Manga Award for best web manga in 2022 and 2023, and was well received for its artwork of monster houses and its themes of prejudice and understanding.
Plot
Soara and the House of Monsters is a fantasy adventure[1][2] story following Soara (ソアラ), an orphan who has been trained to fight in the war between humans and monsters, but is left without a purpose and home when peace is declared just as she becomes old enough to be a knight. Wandering aimlessly, she encounters a group of traveling dwarf architects led by Kirik (キリク, Kiriku), who renovate and build dream homes for monsters, such as goblins, slimes, and dragons.[2][3][4] Soara is distrustful of monsters, but is moved by the architects' work, and joins them in their travels.[4]
Production and release
Soara and the House of Monsters is written and drawn by Hidenori Yamaji, who originally created the series from a desire to combine the fantasy genre with something relatable to readers. He considered housing as a theme to be simultaneously unusual in fantasy manga, and something very familiar to readers, so he chose to write a story about architecture with fantasy elements. When drawing the artwork, Yamaji focused on drawing houses that not only were entertaining and exciting to look at, but that also were structured in a believable way, that would have made sense for the monsters if they were real. To help reader better visualize the houses, he chose to draw detailed cross-sections of them.[1]
The manga is serialized by Shogakukan since November 25, 2021, both in their monthly shōnen manga magazine Shōnen Sunday S and on their webcomic platform Sunday Webry .[5][6] Shogakukan also publishes the series in collected tankōbon volumes since May 12, 2022,[2] under their imprint Sunday Webry Comics;[4] since 2023, these have been released in English by Seven Seas Entertainment[3][7] and in Chinese by Tong Li Publishing.[8]
Volumes
No. | Original release date | Original ISBN | English release date | English ISBN | ||
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1 | May 12, 2022[2] | 978-4-09-851048-1 | September 5, 2023[7] | 979-8-88843-018-7 | ||
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2 | November 10, 2022[9] | 978-4-09-851354-3 | February 6, 2024[10] | 979-8-88843-382-9 | ||
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3 | July 12, 2023[11] | 978-4-09-852541-6 | July 9, 2024[12] | 979-8-88843-802-2 | ||
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4 | May 10, 2024[13] | 978-4-09853-305-3 | January 14, 2025[14] | 979-8-89160-660-9 | ||
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Chapters not released in collected volumes
The following chapters have not been released in collected tankōbon volumes as of the release of volume 4:[15]
- 26. "Aniki" (兄貴, "Brother")
- 27. "Ōto Hōeisen" (王都防衛線, "The Royal Capital's Line of Defense")
- 28. "Nani ga Tameni" (何が為に, "For What Purpose")
Reception
Soara and the House of Monsters was nominated for the Next Manga Award in the Best Web Manga category in 2022 and 2023.[16][17] It has been nominated for the Japan Society and Anime NYC's first American Manga Awards in the Best New Manga category in 2024.[18]
The manga has been well received by critics.[1][19] Christopher Farris and Rebecca Silverman, both writing for Anime News Network, appreciated its themes of prejudice and understanding how all living things share in basic needs and comforts, without feeling too heavy-handed in its delivery. Farris found it refreshing to see a new take on the fantasy genre, with appealing and "hog-wild" house designs, and fun solutions to their problems, although felt a disconnect in the "before-and-after" visuals due to the monsters' homes often being demolished and rebuilt rather than renovated; Silverman also liked the artwork, calling it a "triumph of fantasy building".[19] The Japanese entertainment news site Magmix also enjoyed the art of the houses, calling them "fantastic and powerful", and good at immersing the reader in the setting.[1]
See also
- Marry Grave, another manga series by Hidenori Yamaji
References
- ^ a b c d e 【漫画】魔物の家は欠陥住宅! 突然の終戦で帰る家がない戦士、スゴ腕建築士に遭遇して?. Magmix (in Japanese). Mediavague. December 22, 2022. Archived from the original on March 24, 2023. Retrieved October 19, 2023.
- ^ a b c d e 魔物にとっての夢のマイホームを造り出そう、異世界建築冒険譚「ソアラと魔物の家」. Comic Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. May 12, 2022. Archived from the original on January 25, 2023. Retrieved October 19, 2023.
- ^ a b Pineda, Rafael Antonio (November 2, 2022). "Seven Seas Licenses Life with an Ordinary Guy Who Reincarnated into a Total Fantasy Knockout, Homunculus Manga". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on November 3, 2022. Retrieved October 19, 2023.
- ^ a b c ソアラと魔物の家. Mangapedia (in Japanese). Heibonsha, Shogakukan, et al. Archived from the original on January 5, 2023. Retrieved October 19, 2023.
- ^ サンデーうぇぶりで新連載続々、「ジンメン」カトウタカヒロの読み切り4作品も. Comic Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. November 25, 2021. Archived from the original on November 3, 2022. Retrieved October 19, 2023.
- ^ 高橋留美子と椎名高志が描く「半妖の夜叉姫」イラストが“シンクロ”、サンデーSで. Comic Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. November 25, 2021. Archived from the original on November 26, 2021. Retrieved October 19, 2023.
- ^ a b Mateo, Alex (September 5, 2023). "North American Anime, Manga Releases, September 3-9". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on October 2, 2023. Retrieved October 19, 2023.
- ^ 索亞菈與魔物之家 (in Chinese). Tong Li Publishing. Archived from the original on May 9, 2023. Retrieved October 19, 2023.
- ^ 【11月10日付】本日発売の単行本リスト. Comic Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. November 10, 2022. Archived from the original on November 22, 2022. Retrieved October 19, 2023.
- ^ Mateo, Alex (February 7, 2024). "North American Anime, Manga Releases, February 4-10". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on February 14, 2024. Retrieved March 27, 2024.
- ^ 【7月12日付】本日発売の単行本リスト. Comic Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. July 12, 2023. Archived from the original on July 12, 2023. Retrieved October 19, 2023.
- ^ "Book: Soara and the House of Monsters Vol. 3". Seven Seas Entertainment. Retrieved October 19, 2023.
- ^ "ソアラと魔物の家(4)" (in Japanese). Rakuten. Archived from the original on April 8, 2024. Retrieved April 8, 2024.
- ^ "Book: Soara and the House of Monsters Vol. 4". Seven Seas Entertainment. Retrieved August 7, 2024.
- ^ Yamaji, Hidenori (November 25, 2021). 1軒目 魔物の家 / 2軒目 ゴブリンの家. Sunday Webry (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Archived from the original on June 10, 2023. Retrieved March 27, 2024.
- ^ 「次にくるマンガ大賞 2022」ノミネート100作品発表 『メダリスト』『あかね噺』『ソアラと魔物の家』など. Oricon (in Japanese). June 24, 2022. Archived from the original on March 21, 2023. Retrieved October 19, 2023.
- ^ Loveridge, Lynzee (June 25, 2023). "Voting Opens for Next Manga Awards 2023". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on June 26, 2023. Retrieved October 19, 2023.
- ^ Pineda, Rafael (July 17, 2024). "1st American Manga Awards Announces Nominees". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on July 17, 2024. Retrieved July 17, 2024.
- ^ a b Farris, Christopher; Silverman, Rebecca (September 20, 2023). "The Fall 2023 Manga Guide: Soara and the House of Monsters". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on October 19, 2023. Retrieved October 19, 2023.
External links
- Official manga website at Sunday Webry (in Japanese)
- Official website (in Japanese)
- Soara and the House of Monsters at Anime News Network's encyclopedia