This was a cute and adventure-filled story to get children interested and started reading manga comics. I loved the artwork that the story presented, and I enjoyed the characters. I did, however, think that the fast pace of the plot put a damper on what this manga could be. The story was relatively shallow, and there was little to no character development amongst anybody. There were background conflicts (between the girls and their parents, and internally with the girls) that were glanced over and not discussed. All of the characters met and began going on adventures quickly, and the adventures were solved very easily. I understand this is for children, but more substance would have been wonderful. I'm sure the story will get better and we will get more as more volumes come out though.

This is an amazing first volume of a great story. I loved the tv series bibi growing up, and when I saw that they were making a manga with Japanese influences I knew, that I had to read it.

I don’t think these types of middle grade manga are for me. Things are too easy going and instantaneous and nothing but happy go lucky in every aspect. There's barely any substance to any of the “conflicts” and “problems” introduced. Also, bit of a plot twist but she travels to Japan to go to school rather than sightseeing???? Then what was the point of waiting for the vacation when she could have just transferred schools?

Overall, I didn’t like the story much but the artstyle was cute enough to finish through for me.

Thank you Netgalley for providing me with a digital copy for an honest review.

Bibi & Miyu Vol. 1 follows the life of Bibi Blocksberg, who is a popular 13 year old witch in Newton. Bibi is a headstrong young girl and loves to do daring things which may not always turn out the best, but she always makes things better in the end. However, once Miyu arrives to Newton, Bibi is incredibly curious as to who the mysterious Miyu is, after she sees her on a fox.

This is my first proper manga I’ve read, and oh my gosh it didn’t let me down. I absolutely loved it. This manga highlights the importance of friendship throughout the story of Bibi and Miyu, as they tackle travelling to Miyu’s home town and having to fight a demon whilst on their travels. This wasn’t something I was expecting within this story. I expected it to be a lot fluffier and just cute in general, but I did end up enjoying the demon aspect.

I absolutely adored the manga art within this, it was absolutely gorgeous and so very colourful. Another random thing I absolutely loved in this manga was the addition of the table of contents, which I’m a sucker for in any form of book! I loved it all!

I can’t wait to continue reading more manga, especially this series! I need Volume 2 ASAP!

Thank you very much to Diamond Book Distributors and Tokyopop for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

I have received an advanced reader's copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review by NetGalley.

I was first drawn in by the adorable cover of Bibi and Miyu. It's the fantasy and cute adventure I love most about mangas. So naturally, I had to see what magical journey awaited!

Okay, Miyu is the new girl at Bibi's school and has a fox spirit, who is beyond kawaii!! Bibi is suspicious of Miyu because how different she is and senses she's hiding something. We discover Miyu is a witch and quickly makes friends with Bibi where they go on many adventures such as to Japan.
Side note, I would love to go to Japan someday!! I'm not jelly lol your jelly of Bibi >.> ... xD

Anyway, this manga is sweet, fun, magical and filled with happiness. If you need a mental break from the world, I highly recommend picking this manga up. It has that Winx Club and W.I.T.C.H. vibes that will capture you and wish the story never ends. ♡

Do not miss out on the sweet friendship between Bibi and Miyu, cute little fox spirit and magical adventures. I look forward to the rest of the series and definitely buying my own copy soon!

Thank you for this opportunity!♡♡
and apologies for the late review v.v

My tweens clamor for more manga and Bibi & Miyu is going to fit the bill perfectly! There might not be much of a linear story here, but Bibi and Miyu's antics are sure to delight.

I think this would work better as a novel. A girl named Miju is an exchange student to Germany from Japan. She makes almost instant friends with Bibi. Just days later they have convinced their parents to let Bibi travel back to Japan with Miju and be an exchange student. The two girls are connected by magic. Bibi is a witch, and Miju is not well explained. Overall the story was nice and easy to follow, but underdeveloped and at times confusing.

This story follows young witch Bibi and the new exchange student at her school from Japan, Miyu, who seems to be connected to a mythical fox spirit.

*An interesting aspect of this story was a girl wearing a hijab and that's not something you often see in manga. It's nice to see an attempt at diversity, at least. Plus, the art style is lovely.

Overall, this is very a sweet, carefree slice-of-life story with a bit of magic on the side but it wasn't quite my style so I won't be continuing the series.

An interesting balance between the standard schoolgirl manga and magical plots. The over arcing plot is focused on friendship and exploring different cultures. The smaller issue plots are centered on learning magic and fighting yokai. The events seems rather haphazard, lacking in polish.

Ah, more manga. Manga seems to be an ongoing trend for me during the pandemic. It's fun, full of pretty pictures and relatively easy to read. It's the kind of guilty pleasure book that makes me forget about all of the insanity in this world.

Bibi and Miyu first pulled me in because of the absolutely gorgeous, pink cover! It brings joy, whimsy and fun to this TokyoPop title. Covers that look magical like this bring a lot of my attention to it!

Now for some of our characters, that are introduced right at the beginning of the book with little bios: Bibi Blocksberg, a young 13 year old, popular witch, is our lead. Miyu is our other lead, but we don't know much of her as the book starts. Wasabi is adorable. There's a guy named Bernard, which just gave me the Santa Clause vibes - I never hear about characters named Bernard!

And time for the plot: Miyu is the new girl at Bibi's school. She's from Japan, has great hair and is passing out candy to people. But Bibi is suspicious... something is different about this girl! Especially when a small fox creature comes out of nowhere! As Bibi learns more about Miyu, she figures they can be friends. Oh, and lots of adventures happen along the way, like going to Japan!

This story is just loaded with cuteness and fun! The spells that are cast remind me of the fun I used to have watching 4TNZ Winx Club and Magical Melodies (yeah, you can totally place a date on my childhood. I'm a Millennial. Woo). The sweetness packed in this book just made me feel good.

I can see anyone from middle grade all the way up to us good old adults loving this series. It's a fun, quick read with lots of magic and sweetness packed tight in it! It's the feel good book of 2020 that I needed! You don't need to be the typical manga lover to enjoy it either. It's simplistic and lovely!

Overall, this book is excellent! I need more books like this in my life!

Four out of five stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Diamond Book Distributors for providing me a free copy of this book in exchange of an honest review.

A very sweet beginner manga about German witch Bibi who makes friends with Japanese exchange student (and also witch) Miyu. Bibi then goes to visit Japan with Miyu and learn about friendship, Japanese witchery and culture. Great for younger readers as an introduction to manga (it reads left to right, unlike most manga for older readers). The end of the book features a photo tour of Japan that will give interested children more context.

This was such an entertaining and cute read!

The story starts in Germany, where Bibi lives and in the very first chapter, a new girl arrives to her school from Japan. Bibi is magical, like her mother and unlike her father, and, as she soon discovers, Miyu is hiding her own magical secret. The girls become fast friends and Miyu invites Bibi to Japan for school break. Thus, the adventure begins!

This was an incredibly fluffy and cute story, with impressive, well-drawn and cute illustrations, manga-style.

I loved how the differences between the German and Japanese educational systems are also brought up and explored. You can't be anything but impressed.

This is perfect for both dedicated fans to the manga genre and people with no experience in it. For the latter population, this story will introduce them to this genre and will make them love it for ever.

Bibi & Miyu introduces us to Bibi Blocksberg, a German teenager and (secretly) a witch. She's constantly trying to hide her powers and mishaps from others, as magic is a secret.

When Japanese exchange student Miyu joins the class, Bibi has a strange sense about her. Soon they bond over Miyu's background as a yokai-hunter, catching ghosts in Japan. Bibi even visits as an exchange student, staying with Miyu's family.

Natsume has a lovely art style, and I particularly loved her artwork of Wasabi, Miyu's fox - beautiful flowing lines. I also liked the little twist on the anime protagonist being late - instead of Bibi rushing off somewhere, it's her mum trying to get out the door! Bibi and Miyu rely on each other for comfort and support, holding hands or leaning on each other often.

I also enjoyed the endpages, interviewing Vieweg and Natsume about their process to create the manga, from character sketches to a finished page.

While their friendship is very sweet and wholesome, it felt a bit fast - Bibi and Miyu go from just having met and barely speaking to each other, to international travel in a short time! Also, I'd like to have seen more of Taki, Miyu's best friend.

At times the story and dialogue felt a bit too much like exposition about Japanese culture and ettiquette. Readers familiar with manga will most likely already know these things.

For future volumes, I would suggest introducing some context around Bibi's character and her life in Germany - I had assumed she was American until later when she was introduced to the class in Japan!

I would recommend this title for younger manga readers, or kids curious about Japan.

I was provided a free digital copy of this book by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review, so thank you to Netgalley and Tokyopop.


#BibiMiyuVol1 #Netgalley

Thank you to NetGalley, Olivia Vieweg, Hirara Natsume, Tokyopop, and Diamond Book Distributors for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a very quick Middle-Grade manga. There was very little text on each page, which made it go by quickly. The story of Bibi and Miyu's friendship is quite cute, and so is the art. The one thing that bothered me was the swiftness of the friendship. Miyu transfers to Bibi's school in Germany and they become random quick friends. By the way, Bibi is a witch and Miyu is a yokai demon hunter. They barely even meet when Bibi is invited to Japan with Miyu and nobody questions this, it just happens, and it happens quickly.

While the story is adorable, the character and plot development could have much more time taken on them, though I believe a middle school age girl would love this manga regardless.

Overall, cute, quick, and holistically satisfied with this one.

This is a good manga for beginners who aren't familiar with Japanese culture (It reads left to right, and the protagonist is a German visiting Japan, so a lot of the etiquette and customs are explained). The illustrations are generally very cute. I was disappointed in the yokai. The artist went the route of making them look like kid's doodles, but I was hoping they'd be scary and more in style with the rest of the manga. Bibi and Miyu's friendship is cute, and the overall tone is lighthearted. A fun manga for children.

While this is a very cute manga, the story feels a bit underdeveloped. The plot moves way too quickly, and I feel that this manga could benefit from being just a little bit longer. However, the art for this manga is absolutely adorable, and I can't wait to find out what happens next for these characters.

I loved the sound of this manga and it instantly gave me Kiki's Delivery Service vibes so I wanted to pick it up. The art style is vibrant and fun while still having that classic manga style. I did feel that the story moved along really quickly as it was really more vignettes of Bibi and Miyu's adventures together.

I would definitely be interested in seeing where this series go and what other situations they get themselves into.

The artwork of Bibi & Miyu is absolutely stunning--some of my favorite ever. The story is heartwarming and sweet, as well as a fast read. As someone who's read a fair bit of manga, I think this would be an excellent book for younger teens just starting out with manga.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Received an eARC from Netgalley for an honest review.

Personal enjoyment: 3 stars (maybe 2.5)

This is a perfect starting manga for kids or even teens that have never read manga before. It's light and fluffy with a high-stakes adventure that reads like a 30 minute anime/TV show episode. It's really cute, and the artwork is pretty.

Just a note, it reads as a western book, not like traditional manga. I was about 50 pages into it and super confused when I found this out. It also jumps around in the plot. The story flies by with very little development or explanation on anything. Again, it feels more like an episode in a kid's cartoon than anything.

The cover art of this book is stunning, and a good intro to what you will find inside its pages. You'll get to see lots of images and descriptions of Japan--the cherry blossoms are just the beginning! Also, I do like that it's female-driven. My sons were still able to enjoy it even though they didn't identify with all of it. The characters are sweet, the fantasy is fun to imagine, and the friendship is believable. A good and entertaining read.