#kaiju girl caramaliese

[icfammpodcast]

HENRY READER: KAIJU GIRL CARAMELISE VOL ONE-FOUR! -Part One-

KAIJU GIRL CARAMELISE

By: Spica Aoki

So I've been a reader of this series since June of 2019 and since than this series has been a "Must pick up" whenever I see the English volumes of this comic available for purchase. Kaiju Girl Caramelise is a Shojo manga about a young woman in high school who's challenges of high school life are further complicated due to a "genetic condition" that rapidly changes her body to a fearsome appearance when experiencing emotional extremes. She thought she had it all under until she started being the romantic interest to the most popular guy in school; which now reveals that she is actually a "daikiaju" or giant monster!

This premise alone was apparently, from Spica Aoki's own account, something that was spitballed when after working in 8 years in magna, didn't know what to do for their editor. The editor loved the idea and despite this being released into a "boy's magna" this Shojo (young woman manga)'s success is due to the belief of the editor, Spica's own talent and some success on the Twitter platform. KAIJU GIRL CARAMELISE has been running since 2018 in the Seinen manga publication Monthly Comic Alive (2019 in English by Yen Press). It has become a popular magna and for those who enjoy giant monsters / daikaiju genre aka "Kaiju" . One familiar with the genre might find this as a high school relative to the 2016 film COLOSSAL which starred Anne Hathaway who was linked to a giant monster in Seoul. The differences is why Anne Hathaway and the monster existed at the same time, while in this comic, our lead is the monster.

So lets get into it shall we! Unlike my previous Henry Reader Review, this is a series overview with a more focused review for the recently released Volume 5 (Jan 2022).

VOLUME ONE: "Today I learned that I'm a teenage giant monster?!"

"LOVE IS NOTHING BUT TERROR" is how we are introduced into this story as we witness a flashback of our lead, Kuroe Akaishi, have her first love confession that reveals not just her first taste of rejection, but reveals to the reader the extent of of Akaishi's "condition".

In high school, Kuroe, now a social outcast, prefers to avoid social situations incase her "condition" advances. As the story progresses, Kuroe begins to have an unlikely bond with the most popular guy in school, Arata Minami. As the two retreat away from folks (Kuroe doesn't want to deal with people and Arata being Mr.Popular wants some space where he isn't overwhelmed.) As their bond grows and Kuroe meets someone who actually cares about her despite her quirks, she also learns that her heart isn't as closed as she once thought.....

The first volume hits the normal beats you would find in a classic Shojo manga where the outcast girl is trying to process her feelings while also dealing with the good ol' classic teenage problem: Body dysphoria. I gotta say, Aoki does a great job of presenting the teenage dread of their ever changing body and using the plot device for Kuroe's genetic condition makes it doubly fun and oddly more relatable.

Eventually and unexpectedly (to Kuroe at least) Arata takes her out to eat the exclusive pancakes at the famous "Cafe Serizawa" . Which of course is a fantastic easter egg for the first volume, since Professor Serizawa was the man with the plan in the classic 1954 giant monster film, GOJIRA.

Eventually, the date goes surprisingly well and because of this...in the tune of one of my favorite Nickelodeon cartoons: "There was a great big flash, everything just changed, her molecules got rearranged! When she first woke up, she realized, she was a hundred meters high and glowing red spines!"

And thus, HARUGON IS BORN! After Harugon's first appearance, Kuroe tries to learn more about what exactly is going on with her but with little success. As she tries to navigate and distance herself from Arata, she soon learns its going to be a little harder than she thought when Arata just up and outs asks her out much to her surprise which then summons her Harugon form once more!

To end this overview I want to just introduce...well I would say favorite character but honestly I love the characters in this series and while at present the characters are hitting the normal beats of a Shojo manga, I gotta admit...Aoki brought to life one of my favorite things about this manga: Manatsu Tomosato aka "THE KAIJU SADIST"!

We'll get more into her and more as this review continues but just letting you know that volume 1 has an ICFAMMPod Grade as such:

Story: 5/5

Human Characters: 4.5/5

Creature Concept: 5/5

Creature Design+Execution: 5/5

Enjoyment: 5/5

Overall Grade: 24.5/25

SOLID A

Make sure to check Part 2 for info on the other volumes. Wanted to give one a bit of a focus! Also make sure to check out the following links to learn more about the creator of this fantastic series Spica Aoki and where to purchase this manga and check out the series yourself!

Spica Aoki's Twitter:

Yen Press Kaiju Girl Caramaliese Page:

[icfammpodcast]

Henry Reader Review: KAIJU GIRL CARAMELISE VOL 5

KAIJU GIRL CARAMELISE

Written by: Spica Aoki

January 2022 marked the release of the fifth installment of the highly popular shojo manga, KAIJU GIRL CARAMELISE! The story continues as Kuroe continues to balance high school life and the fact that if she feels too much emotion, she will turn into the 100 meter tall giant monster (daikaiju) HARUGON! Before I go into this, I forgot to mention in our review for volume 4, Spica Aoki stated that she has been using the soundtrack of GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS (2019) as inspiration when working on this series, which is neat since Harugon's design has some influences from the design of Godzilla 2000. This volume is jammed back with world lore as well as high school turmoil that adds some stakes to Spica Aoki's characters in a way that keeps this series from stalling. So lets get into it with the volume's start off with a startling flashback....

We have a flashback showing younger days for Kuroe's mom and her "uncle" as they were biology students admiring the fossil remains of the earth shattering discovery that is: A Giant Monster. This eventually leads to Kuroe's mom finding the eggs that would later become Kuroe and as we soon find out...Kuroe's younger sister. The stakes get high though when Kuroe's uncle tries to alert the authorities about it but surprisingly...Kuroe's mother might have some strong feelings about being a mother to monsters.

Back on the mainland however, Kuroe deals with the fact that someone saw her use her "beam weapon" due to frustrations she is having with her current relationship with Arata strained due to his rising popularity in the media and her own insecurities about their relationship. This eventually leads to the the classic "shojo misunderstanding" with another man...but I gotta admit....the introduction of Daichi Yoneyama, who despite appearances...is a 5th grader.

While this does tread familiar ground with Shojo in general to allow the introduction of an "another interest", due to Daichi's age it creates a new "friend" for Kuroe. To be honest though, I understand that we need to get to the misunderstanding situation that leads to the insecurities of Kuroe and Arata's relationship coming to a head...its kind of uncomfortable the relationship betwen Daichi and Kuroe. While it is just "we are friends" and it showcases the conflicting misunderstanding for Arata....I am not sure if Daichi is the best way to create that conflict. I was almost thinking he was another "daikaiju child" but him being an...attractive 5th grader def has some issues when it crosses the ocean to English readers. I get that this is more for comic effect but it seems to somewhat derail the story a bit to get the classic "Shojo Misunderstanding Emotional Break Up".

I do note though that once this scene starts and Arata and Kuroe talk about their situation and Kuroe considers that they need to break up...its a very good and well written scene. Again I feel like Daichi kind of detracts from the situation, but Spica Aoki shines in showing the ups and downs of a relationship between a popular prince and a lonely monster.

After their break up, we get a fantastic sequence of Kuroe's friends Tomosato and Rairi who do a fantastic job of telling Kuroe that even though she may have a "monsters heart", it's not a bad thing. For their friendship is powerful cause of Kuroe's kindness, understanding, and willingness to be close to them. This though shatters a bit when Kuroe misunderstands a situation with Arata with his famous actor co-star (who might know Kuroe is a daikaiju) have an intimate scene for their movie. Kuroe reacts poorly to it though is surprised she hasn't turned into a monster. That is quickly interrupted as Kuroe finally meets her little sister...a giant monster that looks like Harugon and a bat and the manga ends for a to be continued as we now know that vol six will lead Kaiju Girl Caramelise to have its first GIANT MONSTER FIGHT! I also love that we now get a call back to the first words of the manga...LOVE IS NOTHING BUT TERROR!

I also want to note that Spica Aoki adds a really cute short story about Kuroe and Arata's first video chat date and not to spoil anything, but its super cute.

I throughly enjoyed this volume to be honest and its pacing continues to be its strength. While I'm not the biggest fan of Daichi, I do understand his role of having Kuroe be surrounded by folks who enjoy that she is "monster like", Daichi's age gimmick seems to me miss a beat to an otherwise compelling volume.

ICFAMM GRADE:

Story: 5 out of 5

Human Characters: 4 out of 5

Creature Concept: 5 out of 5

Design and Execution: 5 out of 5

Enjoyment: 4.5 out of 5

Total: 23.5 out 5

SOLID A

Don't forget to follow Spica Aoki herself on Twitter at:

And if you want to pick up the manga itself, Volume Five (as well as the previous volumes) are available at the YEN PRESS website: