I've only recently became a fan of the graphic novels.
Beautiful illustration, mis of different cultures and folklores.

A decent enough story with decent enough art, but it didn't really stand out in my opinion. The story is your basic Chosen One getting magically whisked away to another world, where she suddenly discovers she has hidden powers. Shows promise, but definitely has room for improvement too.

#SaigamiVolume1RockportEdition #NetGalley

As for the story I can´t say much because the version I had on my phone was barely readable. It was really pixelated and you could only guess the words and silhouettes. Therefore I can´t really judge the story, but from what I could guess it looked good. Sadly couldn´t read it properly.

Ayumi is a teenage girl who feels that her life is over even before it's begun. Her father walked out on the family, and her mother has little for Ayumi but drunken criticism and cutting remarks. The only release Ayumi gets is by reading manga and putting herself in a magical universe found in the story.

Then Ayumi does become part of a magical universe with powers she barely understands and works to control. While she's someone who counts in this world, there's a threat building on the horizon, and Ayumi may be the difference between defeating the evil and the entire world succumbing to such. Can Ayumi overcome her own demons in time?

I came away from reading Saigami, feeling that this is a good start and hoping that the story builds on the first volume but doesn't revisit overused tropes.

Recommended 3.5/5 stars

I felt that this was a strong first volume story. World building tends to be more the focus in the beginning of a series like this, but this was not boring and there was some humour to carry it along. The world was interesting and the supporting characters were fun.

However, I found the main character a little irritating, though there is plenty of room for growth, and I did like the attempt to convey how debilitating it can be to live with mental health issues as a teenager (I guessed depression but this was not explicitly mentioned).

The story itself felt familiar so far though; it is one that is very well used. This isn't really a bad thing though. The art style felt quite classic, unfortunately the eARC quality didn't really do it justice. I wished that there were more colour as well.

All in all it was a good start. I saw that this manga is U.S based and focuses on diverse characters, so hopefully there will be evidence of that as the series continues.

This was a 3.5 for me.

Thank you NetGalley, the publishers and the author for my eARC access.

Thank you to NetGalley, Quarto Publishing Group, Rockport Publishers, Seny, and Saturday AM for the opportunity to read this manga in exchange for an honest review.

I had never heard of Saturday AM before and was curious as to their line of manga publishing. It is a U.S. based company that published manga artists from around the world, with influences from original Japanese anime and manga.

Saigami: one who can access magic from the astral plane.

Ayumi questions the events of her life, often feeling useless and unwanted. When she finds herself in Aesztrea, she refuses to continue feeling useless, joining Sean and his dragon, as well as his friend Reyji on an adventure. They certainly don't believe Ayumi when she claims she is from another world, but when Sean's older brother, Sam, investigates, he finds some truth to her tale, as there may be someone out there who can help her get home.

When Ayumi exhibits a strange power of her own, friendships may be torn apart. On top of that, a strange new threat seems to be following the party. At least magic can destroy the "incantations" of darkness on their trail, but what deeper evil lay behind these attacks?

The art is pretty cute and I love the dragons. An excellent start to a fantasy series featuring a female protagonist taken to another world. I have high hopes for the character development, and the possibility or romance, as the story continues.

Thank you to netgalley, the publisher and the author for allowing me access to this book to read. I have seen this online so I was intrigued to be accepted to read this as an eARC.

This was such a good manga the characters where great and the art style was fun to read. The characters and the world is what draws you into the story and makes you want to read more. Athough there was a little bit of information dropping sections which were a little boring this was expected for the first in the series. I thought there were loads of open ended questions and things that happened that could be very good in the next mangas in the series so I cant wait to read more from this artist in the future in this series.

I would defiantly recommend checking out this book if you have not already.

3.5 Stars

The first Volume of this Manga was interesting enough, but it feels like a story I've read before. Its got a very Fushigi Yuugi vibe of being sucked in to another world and finding out you have magical powers. Thats not necessarily a bad thing but it has been done a lot before in the world of anime/manga. The art style gives me early Fruits Basket feelings or Ouran HSHC, a very early manga style but not a bad one. I will say in this ARC some of the panels and pages were too low quality to see that clearly but the text was clear on the pages so I was able to read it despite that.

I think this story has a lot of room to grow and could become something really cool. Volume 1's can always be tricky when trying to get your plot off the ground and bring in your characters and important details but overall the pacing was pretty good and the setup was done well. It just feels too familiar to so many other things so I hope the creator puts in some unique touches so this can really stand out and succeed!

Thank you NetGalley and Quarto Pub. Group- Rocketport for ARC read Saigami Volume 1 in return for my honest opinion. The manga novel is rated T for teens. It was more tween age appropriate. The first chapter was babyish. I found myself rolling by eyes and struggling to keep reading.
Ayumi is a young girl with a lot of issues. She feels worthless, unwanted, alone, and helpless. Her mother drinks and belittles her. Her father left when she was younger. She receives a mysterious letter from him and he’s requesting them to meet.
Looking for her Dad, Ayumi gets transported into a fantasy world with dragons and magical humans. The story picks up momentum as she is befriended by two characters that hold these powers (can control elements). They call themselves Saigami. Ayumi joins them as they travel to a city. Without spoilers - she learns (herself) along the journey.
The illustrations are humdrum like the story line.