Robotics;Notes was actually quite good for a scifi manga. This version is an omnibus that contains volumes 1-2. The whole series is six books long. Kaito and Akiho are friends and in robotics club due to Akiho's big sister, who was into robotics and now works in the field too. The two friends want to continue her work, enter a robotics competition and eventually build the big robot that awaits in the hangar. But, they need the money for that. So, a good and interesting plot that actually takes time to move and evolve, which is great. Akiho is super annoying though as she has a sister complex and she's whiny too. Kaito too is somehow stuck in the past and the sister is nowhere to be seen. This is such a shounen series, which annoys me, but it's still quite good. Such a contradiction.

The art is OK, but nothing amazing and the manga is from 2012, so the art style is somewhat lacking due to its age. Interesting that this has been translated and published in English now. But, there aren't enough short scifi series, so it's good that this is finally available.

tl;dr
A lot of information is packed into the beginning, but the piece shines, largely due to a very likable female protagonist.

Thoughts
Robotics;Notes is based on a visual novel, and that means there's going to be a LOT of stuff packed in, in an attempt to merge enough information from all the different playthroughs of the game. The manga manages this pretty well, although the front end is fairly information-dense, largely by necessity. There's the robotics club. There's the Anemome Incident. There's the online game Kill Ballad. There's Aki's absent sister. There's the mysterious "popular anime" that aired ten years ago (random coincidence: the Robotics;Notes anime aired about ten years ago). There's a strange girl who stands on rooftops. There's a lot to cover. Thankfully Aki's enthusiasm is catching, and it's easy to keep turning pages to cheer for her success. She's the core of this manga, moving the story forward by sheer force of will. Kaito acts as a decent snarky foil, content to spend most of his days playing online games, but willing to rise to an ambitious challenge, given the right motivation. Other characters all look fun, given their brief introductions, and I look forward to getting to know them better in future installments. Art is nice, very closely matching the style of the games, with a couple fun panels and some cool looking robots.

Robotics;Notes is part of the science adventure series alongside Steins;Gate and Chaos;Head, but I'd classify this one as probably less dramatic than the other two. Then again, with an opening scene like that, who knows where we might go?

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to NetGalley and Udon Entertainment for this ARC.

This is Volume 1.

I started off a little confused but then realised its related to a different series. The art was pretty good and the story was progressing slowly but nicely. I liked the notes and explanations of different terms, which was helpful.

In this manga we follow the robotics club at Chuo Tanegashima High School, which only has two members, passionate Aki and uninterested Kai. Aki wants the school to up the robotics club's budget so that they can complete a rebuild of a huge robot that her sister started but the school won't give them anymore money. Aki comes up with a plan to win a robotics competition where they fight robots. With Kai as the pilot they may stand a chance against groups with a larger budget and better robots. Will they be able to win and keep the robotics club alive?

This was a really great manga but this first volume was pretty long. I felt like it could have easily been split into two volumes. That being said, I did really like the story and all of the characters. I will most likely be checking out the second volume because now I have to know if they are going to rebuild the giant robot.

Thank you to NetGalley, 5pb, and Keiji Asakawa for the opportunity to read this manga in exchange for an honest review.

At nearly 400 pages, Robotics;Notes volumes one feels like a two-in-one (maybe it is?). The manga is based on a visual novel and features two high school students in a robotics club. Aki wants to follow in her sister's footsteps and win a robotics challenge, but she also wants to build an actual mech-suit (like a Gundam). The story of making their way to a first competition is enjoyable and wholesome, though more about how the robots work would be very interesting.

There seems to be a larger cast of characters to make their way into the story as the story progresses into further volumes, and the promise of seeing high school students realistically build a giant mech suit is fun and promising. An enjoyable read for manga lovers and mech enthusiasts.

As a huge fan of the science adventures series i loved this entry! Following a new set of characters with a new awesome plot: robots! I'm sure excited to see where the robotics notes series takes us next

Thank you NetGalley, for providing me with this arc in exchange for my honest review.

Chuo Tanegashima high school has a Robotics Research Club. It has 2 members and not enough funding.

Aki is its super enthusiastic, overly motivated member, she’s not always very realistic in her thinking but her positivity and excitement made me root for her.

Kai is the other member but he isn’t doing much, he’s only interested in playing his favorite game called Kill-Ballad. He’s made it to the top 5 best players and is only a member of the club because Aki and he are childhood friends and he promised her big sister, to look after Aki, after she left.

Aki keeps trying to recruit a second year student but he keeps saying no and we soon learn of his surprising ulterior motives for doing so.

Aki dreams of finishing a life sized robot, her big sister started building but her dreams are almost shattered when the
vice-principal of their high school tells them they have to win a certain tournament to prevent the club from being disbanded and to get more funding.

The stakes are high and Aki is motivated for 2 but Kai’s gaming skills might come in handy in an unexpected way!

I flew through this manga, this was my first manga that involved robots and I loved it! It started a bit slow but I got to know the characters well that way and it made the tournament even more engaging because I really wanted them to win!

Scattered throughout this graphic novel, are characters specs, where I got to know more about each character in a fun and cool way and also small lists of explanations of fictional and real words. They were such a nice addition!

I really enjoyed my time with Aki, Kay and their robots and I’m excited to read what happens next!

Thanks to Netgalley for a copy for an honest review

I enjoyed reading ‘Robotic; Notes Vol 1.’ It was good and will be looking forward to reading the next volume.

The illustration looked good and were clear.

Rating 4 Stars

This story is part of the Science Adventures series and I'm very happy with the direction the story is taking. I also loved the reference back to Chaos;Head when she says "whose eyes are those" it sent literal shivers down my spine as a longtime fan of the series. It is a little slow at first but when you compare the manga to the time it takes to get through the visual novel it makes complete sense. There's some mystery elemental buildup in the first half of the book that leaves you wanting to read more so you can find out what happened.

Has amazing art but the story moves a little slow. Knowing this is connected to Stien's Gate hopefully that just means it builds up slowly similar to that series.