Summary:

Kaina and his people do a decent job of surviving high in the trees, seeking out some sort of life in this dying world. Naturally, they’re not all that used to visitors, believing themselves some of the last survivors.

When a visitor does arrive, much to their surprise, Kaina and his people quickly learn how wrong their assumptions are. Not only are there other survivors, but they’ve found a safe place to live.

Review:

I wanted to love Kaina of the Great Snow Sea Vol. 1. The title and cover made it look like this story would be my ally. While I agree it has a lot of potential, it failed to suck me in before I finished the first volume.

The premise is compelling - a small, isolated village doing everything possible to survive. They have every reason to assume they’re the last surviving village, so imagine their surprise to learn that there’s at least one other. Cool, right?

It’s definitely a problem with execution, not premise. The world didn’t feel all that fleshed out despite telling us the stakes (again and again). Likewise, I didn’t feel all that attached to any of the characters, including the titular character.

Overall, I’d say that Kaina of the Great Snow Sea Vol. 1 was worth the read, but it is not a series I’ll be continuing. Great concept and potential but slightly disappointing results.

Highlights:
Fantasy & Sci-Fi
Action Manga
Dying World

Will I continue the series? Nah

Tsotomu Nihei gets to do some fun Nausicaa-esque low tech future sci-fi with a lot of neat character design and some intriguing set up. Definitely worth your time.

Thanks Netgalley for the early ARC!

This manga was a very interesting fantasy story, sometimes sad and bleak. Struggled to get into the story at the beginning, but halfway through it picked up a lot of steam. If you enjoy Nausicaä or To Your Eternity, you will enjoy this.

Highly recommended.

Thanks to NetGalley for the eARC of this book for my honest review.

This book is a dystopia/ science fiction manga that I honestly loved. This world building reminded me a lot of Nausicaa by Hayao Miyazaki. If you enjoyed that story I would recommend this one! The village that Kaina lives in is atop of a canopy of trees. They have not seen any humans in a long time so it comes as a surprise when another human from a different village shows up.

This story shows a lot of promise and I hope to continue the story in future volumes. I am curious to see how the world builds up.

i enjoyed this read. a fun read that a variety of age groups will enjoy. thank you netgalley and tsutomu nihei

Kaina Of the Great Snow Sea is a adaption of the anime of the same name. I love how unique it is, the art is beautiful and the story is really interesting, its a great fantasy manga.

Kaina lives in a snowy world on top of a canopy that spreads across the trees. He often wonders if there are other people beyond the canopy as he struggles to take care of the aging villagers around him.

Then one day he finds an injured young woman in a airborne contraption and suddenly he and the villagers realise that they are not alone in their world, but the young girl talks of her own home underneath the canopy which is beset by invaders, and Kaina realises that this is his chance to be involved in something bigger than his own village and something that could change his way of life forever.

I thought this was a great first volume. I wasn’t keen on some of the artwork because it was slightly confusing but I definitely want to read the next volume! Lots of excitement for the story ahead.

NetGalley Review

Star Rating: ★★★★☆

Interesting and fun read. Glad I gave it the chance.

Like always though, read it and decide for yourself

This was a tricky one for me. I love the vibes. It's very reminiscent of Nausicaa but there is just something missing for me. I think at least part of it is that there's just so much action from the beginning without any time given to character or plot development, so I was just kind of lost/wasn't invested in the story until page 100. Then it started to catch my interest, but ended shortly thereafter. I would probably hold off on recommending this one to anyone until I have an opportunity to check out volume 2 and see if any of my concerns are addressed. I am interested enough to read volume 2 though, so that's a good sign.

An enticing and mysterious new world setting where nothing is as we know it, and strange creatures bring this story of future survival to life in an incredible way. A new manga favorite for sure!

I had no idea this manga was already an anime before I requested to read it, so I had no preconceived notions as I dove into the story. Kaina of the Great Snow Sea is a simple story, one we’ve seen a few times before. A dying population, isolated and alone, thinking they’re the last of their kind, only for a new mysterious stranger to arrive. It reminded me of Children of the Whales, and Snowball Earth, mostly because of it being winter and I read that one recently. But I’m a sucker for these kinds of plotlines so I dove right in and thoroughly enjoyed every second of it.
Kaina’s small community of elderly are heartwarming, and while I didn’t get much of a read on Kaina himself, I’m hoping that his character fleshes out in further volumes. I did enjoy how unique the world was, and all the interesting monsters. I do have to wonder though, with these sorts of stories, how they manage to supplement their diets since they always only ever eat meat due to it being snowy and all.
I did rather like the art’s sketchy style, which is very similar to Yoshitoki Oima’s style. It gives a nice feel of being windswept in these cold climates. This volume is a nice little introduction to the upcoming story, though I felt it was a little too short. We hardly get any sort of read on the princess or her people, and it feels more like the first ten minutes of a film than anything. But that will just make me want to read the next one!
Overall, I found Kaina of the Great Snow Sea vol. 1 to be an intriguing introduction to what I’m sure is a great series, perfect for fans of Studio Ghibli’s Nausicaa, Children of the Whales, and To Your Eternity.
NOTE: I received a complimentary copy from the author for review purposes only. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

The story and the artwork are very enjoyable, I only wish there was a little more world building so I had a better foundation to work with.

First thank you to to NetGalley, the Author and the Publisher for an ARC.

This was a bit bleak. The world was poorly developed and nothing was explained, nor made it any sense.
The art was a bit monotonous and it gave me headaches if I read it in long periods. Which is stupid because this book is only 160 pages, which means I usually read it in one go.
What I did love was the potential for war and action scenes, I love me some great adventure and blood and gore... 🙈
So for me it wasn't a complete disappointment.
I am grateful to have had a chance to read it before buying it though!

This is a shorter manga series. It takes place in a dystopian-esque world, where humanity is almost extinct in now completely snow covered world. It follows our main character who seeks out someone, and finds someone else, and from there journeys with him and traverses the snow covered land with him, and learns more of the world she lives in.

My thanks to NetGalley and Kodansha/Vertical Comics for an eARC of this book to read and review.

This was bleak. The world was developed, but poorly. Nothing was explained, nor made any sense. I guess the reader is the same as the characters in this world, as they don't know about their past and how humanity got to the state they were in now.

The artwork didn't wow me, the world-building such as it was made no sense, the characters were maybe the best part, but they didn't grab me enough to care to read the rest of the series. Also, how does getting stabbed in the shoulder KILL someone? I can see if the sword they were stabbed with had poison on it, if they had a huge amount of blood loss, from shock (but these are battle-hardened warriors, I would think they could handle themselves), but the death was almost instantaneous, there was no time for shock or poison to set in unless the poison was incredibly fast acting, but no one said the handy for the reader, "Hey, they use poison on their blades, don't get even a scratch!".

I can see me recommending this to manga readers who like to learn about the world slowly as the characters do and who enjoy bleak landscapes and really depressing post-apocalyptic settings.

2, this did nothing for me but I didn't hate it, stars.

While I really loved the graphics and the general concept of this book, I felt a little confused. Some of the images aren’t immediately comprehensive and the plot is a little slow and doesn’t cover much ground on book one. I do really like the premise though and am intrigued by the main characters. I would definitely give book 2 a try!

Rating: 5 leaves out of 5
-Characters: 5/5
-Story: 5/5
-Writing: 5/5
Genre: Adventure, Fantasy, Scifi, Shonen
-Adventure: 5/5
-Fantasy: 5/5
-Scifi: 5/5
-Shonen: 5/5
Type: Manga
Worth?: Yes

Want to thank Netgalley and publishers for giving me the chance to read this book.

I really loved this manga! It is something new and I'd like to see where the story goes. How will the fight what is making their kind dwindle down.

Unfortunately, there was a lot of necessary world building and set up in this volume, which didn't leave much room for character development at all.
The art was fine, but nothing overly exciting. Post Apocalyptic dystopian isn't really my favorite genre, so this was a case of "it's me, not the book".

Definitely recommend for those that are fans of dystopian and survival stories.

Tsutomu Nihei, celebrated for his visionary takes on science fiction and fantasy, delivers his most accessible and exhilarating work yet with *Kaina of the Great Snow Sea*. Drawing inspiration from classics like *Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind* and *Castle in the Sky*, Nihei crafts a world that is as imaginative as it is immersive, blending coming-of-age themes with high fantasy and adventure.

At the heart of this epic narrative is Kaina, a young man living in isolation atop colossal orbital spire trees. His village, a dwindling remnant of humanity, believes they are the last survivors in a world buried beneath an impenetrable snow sea. The story ignites as Kaina and his companions discover that their world is not as desolate as they once thought, setting off a chain of events that could alter their fate and that of the world below.

Nihei’s intricate and grandiose world-building is brought vividly to life through Itoe Takemoto’s stunning character designs. Takemoto, known for her work on *The Beast Player*, infuses the characters with a depth and visual richness that complement Nihei’s complex storytelling.

The anime adaptation of *Kaina of the Great Snow Sea* has already garnered significant acclaim on Crunchyroll, further elevating the series' profile. With its compelling blend of adventure, fantasy, and introspection, *Kaina* stands poised to become a modern classic, captivating both new readers and long-time fans of Nihei’s work.

Kaina of the Great Snow Sea has an interesting premise and is very dystopian feeling. The world in which it is set is unusual and very intriguing. The first volume is pretty much just introducing the main characters and a bit about the world. Really not very much happens in this volume, but it sets up things to start moving in the next volume.

We don’t really see much of the characters personality’s yet for me to have feelings about them one way or the other.

The idea behind this manga seems interesting enough, but not enough happened to really make me invested in reading the next volume.