The bold colors of the cover and the premise intrigued me: a world where the ocean swallowed up land and turned poisonous, where corporations and a new government seized power amid the ensuing chaos, leaving a large portion of the population to fend for themselves. Neat idea, right?
This premise, however, is only briefly alluded to in the beginning. I was hoping for a more environmentalist angle, but Nocean's setting quickly devolves into just another generic cyberpunk-y dystopian city. Apart from water shortages (which you could swap with any other resource without altering the story in the slightest), you don't feel any impact of the environmental disaster that apparently had changed the whole world. This is a wasted opportunity and a shame because I think it was a very promising idea and could have set Nocean apart from other stories. That being said, I liked most of the character designs and the world had a little of a The Fifth Element-feel to it, especially Atari's "new" apartment - that's a positive in my book.

Other parts were less successful. I felt the overall writing was not too great and the pacing was clunky and rushed. What I really dislike about Nocean, though, are its politics. I want to echo what another reviewer said: the whole "we're just as bad as them if we use violence!"-sentiment expressed in the story needs to die.
The revolutionaries Atari meets are portrayed as relentless bullies who are unnecessarily rude to restaurant staff and, at one point, are ready to kill a child/teen. Nocean portrays revolutionaries as needlessly cruel and mean-spirited, ready for violence even if it doesn't serve their cause. This flat characterization serves as grounds for Atari to dismiss the group as "equally as bad as Systema" and that is a really harmful take in my opinion. An oppressor perpetrating violence and an oppressed people doing it are NOT the same. Saying the two ARE the same simply is a lie, often used to discourage revolution, and here, I feel this idea is even used to conclude that everything is not as bad as it could be.
In the beginning, Atari is living with Iaia and is mad at her for not fighting the status quo, which prompts Iaia to say that there wouldn't be much use anyway, so she rather keeps a low profile. Atari leaves, stumbles upon a group of revolutionaries, concludes that she isn't onboard with their way of achieving change and, in the end, returns to Iaia, this time content with her living conditions and conceding that Iaia was right all along. Though she vows to change the system "the right way" going forward, we don't know what that means and it seems like she is okay with the status quo.

Additionally, the blurb says Atari & Tika become "modern-day Robin Hoods", even though that storyline doesn't come up in this volume. Though, based on what I've read, I wouldn't be surprised if the story concludes just this way: Robin Hood is not a story about enacting systemic change, but about an individual who decides to help out other individuals in a bad system. Nocean seems to me to follow the same notion (haha, puns), and it is just one I don't agree with in the slightest.

4/5

Thank you to the author and the publisher for putting this title as a "read now" on NetGalley.

First of all this graphic novel is super short and this can be a good thing AND a bad thing.

If all this was longer, my rating would have been even higher.
I'll explain why: the drawings for me are beautiful and the story is super captivating.
The fact that this was very easy to complete in a one train sitting without interruptions, it made me able to completely immerse myself in the story and in the world.

I really liked the setting and the whole dystopian vibes, the concept is there, can't say the contrary.
The main character is awesome and acts as a human being, all her actions are how human beings would react in extreme situations like that. What even is the solution? Or the best choice?

So what did I didn't like? The lenght. Yes, it's waaaay too short. It's too rushed, there's no space to explain or to dive deeper into this world, why is it like that, what is really happening? We have basically zero explanations.

It looks like a V2 is on the go so I really hope it gets the number of pages all this deserves!

5 stars for the art style, 2 stars for the story.

What made me interested in this title was the cover, and the art style of the first few pages really captivated me. The story starts with a bang - literally. Our main character and her mother are running away from a group of armed people, until the mother hides her to protect her, and gets shot. Our girl is adopted by a kind old lady, and the story jumps a few years ahead.
We're told mega corporations govern the planet, that everything is controlled, the sea poisoned, water rationed. I really liked how lively the panels were, how rich in details every place was. I just found the story quite boring, truth be told. The main character is a teen, annoying like often teens are. I liked the twist that the 'rebels" are actually not that good tho. But as I said, i have only praises for the art style!

Will i read the next volume? If i find it on here, or at my local library, probably. But I'm honestly unbothered if I never read it again.

This graphic novel is the first in a series exploring a world overcome by climate change. Our main character, Atari, wants to rebel against her society fight for justice. Along the way she meets Tika, a rebel, and together they begin to explore ways to make a change. This was a great introduction to the world and characters, albeit a bit short! However, it was a great setup and I look forward to the rest of the series.

This is a short graphic novel set in a dystopian world where potential climate change has caused the ice caps to melt leaving most of the Earth flooded. People live in the ‘Nocean’ in a sector system where the wealthy are within better areas, with better privileges. Atari sees the injustice all around her and lives in perpetual anger having watched her mother being killed at a young age. She decides to try and bring change by joining a rebel group.

I really enjoyed art in this graphic novel though I found the writing quite hard to read in the beginning. Although the graffiti look of it was aesthetically pleasing. I look forward to continuing this series and having a more in depth look at the World and the characters.

Thank you to the publishers and netgalley for the opportunity to read this in advance.

It was an interesting story, but it was like millions of other similar stories. There wasn't anything really different that made it stand out.

Fue un poco corto, pero me gustó que sea una distopía bastante bien armada y muy bien explicada.
Me gustó bastante el diseño de los personajes y las zonas se parecían mucho a los distritos de los juegos del hambre.

After Atari watches her mother die at Systema's hands, she grows into an angry, dispirited teen. She wants to make a difference, to fight back against Systema and help forge a new future. When she follows a member of the Teardrop gang back to their base, she feels as though she's been given exactly the chance she's been looking for.

This is a great opening volume to the series. Atari's frustration and desperation to make things better is very relatable, and she's a likable (if occasionally foolhardy) lead. Tika could do with a little more development; we meet her and see something of a bond form between them, but I'd like to see it expanded on and delved into in future volumes.

The world building feels very much like an introduction. We dip briefly into the frustrations of life in the city - trapped by the Nocean on all sides - but the city isn't as much of a character yet as I hope it will be.

Overall, a good start. I will definitely be looking out for future volumes of this.

Nocéan is the first in a sci-fi series where the characters exist in a world overwhelmed by climate change. Atari wants to fight for justice like her mother and joins a rebel group. She meets Tika, who is a rebel in her own right, along the way and the two start to figure out how to make a change.

As someone with climate anxiety, I was very on board for an environmental dystopian story and I liked the art, but the plot was too shallow.

The story really suffered because of how short this first installment is. The pacing was way too fast, which in turn makes the character relationships and dialogue feel very unnatural and rushed. We are told a few basic facts about how the society is structured but it's not a detailed description and nothing feels fleshed out, which is crucial for a book about societal unrest. Some of the names were also too on the nose for my liking, like "Systema" being the authoritatian government and Atari needing to visit "Toxi City. "

Atari is the only character who gets any personality or character development, yet her change at the end feels unearned. It's said that Tika and Atari are like sisters a couple of times, but I thought they were going to be love interests after their first meeting and I never got a sibling vibe from their interactions. Systema is a very vague, generic evil government and Ran Corp. is mentioned a few times but not explained at all, I am unsure what the company does or what role they play.

(spoilers)
The Drop Gang is the environmental rebel group Atari joins. It has 5 member but only 2 notable ones. It's revealed about halfway that instead of nonviolent demonstrators, they are actually eco-terrorists. My problem with this is that the characters pull the whole "violence makes you just as bad as the oppressors" card, which is simply not true. It feels the same as when a villain in a superhero movie makes too many good points and has a strong motive so they have to prove their evil by having them hurt an innocent character. Ideologically, the Drop Gang is right and the plan they disclosed to Atari about diverting the water supply was actually a really good idea. I think having Atari and Tika right them off as wholly bad is an oversimplification of what justice and being a revolutionary means. The narration towards the end kept saying that Atari had come to some realization and decided to change the world and fight back the "right way." But all we really see is a return to the status quo that she was so angry about at the beginning.

I do want to know more and have my questions answered, but not enough to read the next book.

Nocean was a really interesting dystopian comic book. The art was really pretty and the story keeps the interest of the reader. It's set in the future when climate change horrifyingly impacted our world, therefore it also touches environmental issues in a non-conventional way. I enjoyed reading it!

Nocean is an inviting visual world, with each page representing story in multiple panels and detailed images. The fantasy/science fiction genre is explored beautifully in this work. Efa's work is well worth the journey through these pages.

This was a really interesting concept and the world mechanics were explained well .I loved the illustrations.

3.5 stars.

Nocean is a promising beginning to a new series about a world ravaged by climate change. The world is interesting (and depressingly similar to our reality) and offers up some solid lessons about community and nonviolence. The characters, especially Atari, Tika, and Iaia, are compelling and sympathetic. The art is pretty solid, both in scenery and character design, but I really didn't prefer how small the text was. It's a really short read, the kind where I do feel like I want to read another volume and see where the story goes before I have too much to say. Regardless, it's a promising opening, I intend to read the next volume, and I'd recommend sci-fi/cli-fi comics fans check it out.

A really lovely comic. I loved the art style and the way the story flowed.
In this we follow the main character Atari after watching her mother be killed by government when she was younger she wants the world they live in to change for the better, but how to go about it she doesn't know yet. Should she join a revolution or fund a different way.
This world is set on earth in the future where the waters keep rising but has become so polluted and toxic that there are now water rations as they can clean and purify it quickly enough. Most of the clean water though goes to the center, the high class rich people as the poor people struggle to survive on very little water. The government is strict, greedy and keeps everyone in their zones depending on their wealth, but something has to change and Atari wants to make that happen, maybe with the help of her friend Tika

I really wanted to like this one a lot more than I actually did. While it is a super cool concept, I felt like the way the characters talked was very stilted and the way that the character's personalities progressed did not feel natural. It felt like our main character made a huge personality shift near the end of this volume, but there was nothing that happened to warrant that shift,

(3.5/5) We all know I love a graphic novel that's based on dystopian/cyberpunk themes and this one is no different. Nocéan takes place in a dystopian future where the oceans are dead, sea levels have risen, and corporations are in charge of everything. While the worldbuilding was a little lacking (though, keep in mind it's the first graphic novel in the set), the concepts were well done, pacing was good, and the art just draws you in. I found the plot to be a bit simplistic, and some nuance and additional depth would definitely be helpful, but overall I thought it was a good first step in the journey.

I actually really adored this art style. It was fun and playful but also the characters are very original and the characteristics and personalities are very set to them. They didn’t merge between characters which was great. I love the action seemed it was a little heavy on the dialogue for me personally, but the world building was great and I loved everything about this mango. I hope there’s more to come and I would definitely read the rest of the series because the main character and their growth, especially with her sister is absolutely phenomenal.

i literally cannot read because of the writing😭 i’m not sure if it’s because it’s online but the font used hurts my eyes and i can’t read it🥲 i might try again another time and re review this..

🌍 𝗡𝗼𝗰𝗲𝗮𝗻 (𝟭. 𝗔𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗶 & 𝗧𝗶𝗸𝗮) - 𝗘𝗳𝗮 🌍

This dystopian graphic novel is set on Earth years in the (probably not to distant) future. The ice melting has caused radical changes in the borders and coastlines of the continents. A new form of government, Systema, controls the cities or “zones” in which people now live but have a massive disregard for how they are living. Two unlikely orphaned girls are ready to fight this system.

I try to read at least one graphic novel a month and this was up there with some of the best ones I’ve read yet. The commentary on global warming and climate change really resonated and the underlying theme of government corruption were very well done. It reminded me a lot of the hunger games series/similar dystopian fantasy series’.

I would definitely recommend this if you’re a fan of graphic novels as you won’t be disappointed. It has great themes, stunning graphics and a fantastic cliff hanger has left me wanting more.

Thank you so much to @netgalley and @europecomics for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

Nocean will be published on 22nd February 2023

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

3.5 stars! The plot of this graphic novel was fairly simplistic. Atari wants to change the oppressive society she lives in. There's an okay amount of worldbuilding, but it feels like the world itself is barely explained and just shown. Like, the oppressive government is literally called "Systema", but you learn nothing about it. You know there are sections you can be in, with the lowest being the slums and the highest being high society. (Sort of how the city in FF7 works) Also, don't really like how black and white some of the stories made the rebels. Kind of lame to make the main character go "No, they're bad cause they used VIOLENCE! We'll change the system without using violence!" There's a lot I could say, but to make a very long story short, that whole bit is just very yikes. Especially when you could tell it was directly pulling from the real world and philosophies on how to change corrupt systems in the real world. Something about how they attempted to simplify everything that could be considered a "heavy" topic, made it feel just a bit too simplified. Almost like they were about to fall off of simplified right into dumbed down. Also, I realized at the end of the novel, this is actually the first novel in a series. But with how the story is written, I don't think I'll care too much to read the next one. I will give props for the art! The art style was fantastic, and the design of the world was so fun to read. The world design felt like an interesting blend of Stray and Cyberpunk 2077.