Nana Yaa

In a fantastical world where chemical-laden waters are mutating any living creature that steps into them, a young boy miraculously can freely swim in the waters *and* gains the ability to turn anything into gold with a simple touch.

This book was really not my cup of tea, but I can appreciate the work the author did with world building. However, neither fantasy nor manga are my preferred types of books, so I'm not going to pursue this series, even though the main storyline is interesting enough. The three main characters are also intriguing, although I felt like it took most of this title to get to that point -- before that there was too little information about each character to make any at all well-rounded or compelling. I also think this book would benefit from full-color illustrations to make the action on each page clearer and so that the main character's Midas Touch could be revealed visibly rather than through clunky text work.… (mehr)

3.5 out of 5 stars

The second volume of Golfisch is being released tomorrow, April 24, 2018 by TokyoPop. After reading Volume 1 a few months ago, I was extremely excited to dig into the next volume. Goldfisch Vol 2 by Nana Yaa is just as fun as the first volume, and a great read for fans of shonen.

Goldfisch Vol 2 picks up right where the first volume left off before going right into a flashback. I’m not going to go into great detail in regards to the plot here in order to avoid spoilers. There are a number of flashbacks throughout this volume beginning right at the start of the story. We get more information on Morrey’s past as well as information about Shelly, Zaka, and Morrey’s father. These were largely well placed, not detracting from the action or pacing of the story.

This volume did feel a bit chattier than the first, something the mangaka herself mentions in the closing pages of the volume, which I thought was interesting. Certain pages were very dialogue heavy, especially during some of the flashbacks. This is to be expect to a certain degree – there is a good amount of information that has to be relayed, things Morrey was ignorant to and needed to discover.

There is a very interesting discussion in this volume about character’s motives and what is or isn’t selfish. Morrey wants to learn about who his father truly was more than anything else. Yet he knows that, no matter what he learns, it was matter in a sense. That part of his life is done, his family is gone, and he should be focusing on his brother – the one person he can save – as opposed to the preoccupation about his father. Morrey repeats that he’s selfish and he shouldn’t be. He has a family that’s he’s cobbled together, and knows that should be enough. And yet, it isn’t. Not really. He yearns for the truth, for closure. It’s something he grapples with, hard, throughout the volume.
I do have to say that while I largely loved this volume as much as the first, I do have a gripe. When the brilliant Shelly gives Morrey special gloves she invented that will allow him to touch things without turning them to gold, his first reaction is to grope Shelly. This was completely out of tune with the tone of the series, and, more importantly, felt extremely out of character for Morrey. He’s always been portrayed as a happy go lucky kid, someone who’s naïve but respectful. This was completely out of character for Morrey.

To be honest, it bothered me even more due to the wasted opportunity. Morrey is a boy that has lost his family one by one and is unable to touch anything or be touched in return. He’s a boy who’s starved for love and has only just found some people he can call family. Just how meaningful Morrey’s first reaction to being able to touch again is lost in the fan-service-y gag. If his first reaction, not second, was to launch forward to hug his friends it would have reinforced the themes of Shelly and Zaka being family and been a very touching moment. However, that meaning was lost amid the bad taste of the out of place, unneeded groping incident left.

The pacing ratchets up once again as the volume comes to a close, leaving off on another cliffhanger. This was another good volume overall. Both Morrey and the reader learned a lot over the course of the volume. I will definitely be reading the third volume in the series. If you haven’t already picked up Goldfisch by Nana Yaa, I highly suggest you do. It is a very solid shonen series set in a fantasy world.

I received a copy of this manga from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This review and more originally found on Looking Glass Reads, a book review blog.… (mehr)

I love shonen. It’s probably my absolute favorite genre of manga. So when I received a copy of a newly translated shonen manga I jumped on it. Goldfisch by Nana Yaa is a great action story set in a slightly dystopian world with endearing characters.

Goldfisch is a story about Morrey, a young boy who has the ability to turn whatever he touches into gold. Of course, this is more of a curse than anything else, leaving Morrey unable to do much without his otter friend to help him. Together with Shelly, a new friend and inventor, Morrey sets off to break this curse. With bounty hunters hot on his trail, Morrey and Shelly must navigate their flooded, ruined world overrun with mutated creatures in order to turn Morrey back to normal once and for all.

The world the story is set in is an interesting one. There is something dark in this world’s past, something that is hinted at but not explicitly stated, at least not yet. Much of the world is flooded, but the water can’t be swam in for fear of contamination. Great beasts changed by this water attack indiscriminately, protecting their lairs from all who dare trespass. People have also been changed, either through a lack of immunity to the water or else seemingly born with special powers, such as the healing abilities certain characters exhibit. It is clear that something happened, something catastrophic, but not what.

Morrey is a great character. He’s enthusiastic, friendly, but sometimes doesn’t think things through. Behind his smiles is a past that isn’t quite as care-free as we might think. The nature behind his powers, the mistakes he’s made, and the knowledge that all might not be as it seemed with people Morrey trusted all come to light.

A rather lighthearted, fun story begins to get darker as the story continues. Bounty hunters are searching for Morrey, and getting rid of his Midas Touch curse is proving to be much more complex than either Morrey or his friends suspected.

The art in Goldfisch was fantastic. The colored pages included at the start of the volume are gorgeous. Plenty of fun, wonderful moments are included. My favorite example is a moment when Morrey physically tears through the page to voice his displeasure at something Shelly says.

A wide range of myth and legends are incorporated Goldfisch. The most obvious is the story of King Midas who turned everything he touched to gold. Plenty of the monsters are simply that – regular creatures that have been somehow changed by the water. Others are based on creatures from myth. I don’t think I’ve ever been quite so terrified by a water nymph, of all things. I always like references to mythology and seeing myth used in new ways, and this manga certainly delivered.

The only gripes I have are with the English translation of Goldfisch by TokyoPop. If you are familiar with TokyoPop’s older titles you will most likely know exactly what I’m talking about. These are the lazy, generally completely avoidable mistakes that have always plagued their releases. ‘Fail day’ isn’t localized, making the dialogue feel awkward. Morrey is misspelled in one place, only having one r while there are two everywhere else. On is misspelled as one in another place. However, this is hardly a fault on the mangaka, but must be addressed nonetheless.

I really, really loved Goldfisch Vol. 1 by Nana Yaa. This is a series I will absolutely be continuing with, and one I hope you will read as well. If you like shonen you will love this manga.

I received a copy of this manga from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This review and more can be found on Looking Glass Reads.… (mehr)