I really like the premise of this series, and anything compared to Nausicaä will immediately get me curious, but it wasn't as engaging as I had hoped. While the art is appealing and the concept of the world is intriguing, the landscape was very sparse in spite of the detailed "spires" that much of the plot surrounds. A sparse world combined with a slow to start story didn't give the series a solid start for me. This is only book one though, so I am curious to see how things develop. There was one panel depicting a city built into the roots of a spire that indicated future potential for more atmosphere and visual interest.

Thank you so much for Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review! I am always looking for new stories to devour in visual format and this manga was a nice surprise!
While I did enjoy reading this story the reason I give it 3 stars is because 1: it is being compared to Nausicaa my all time favorite manga and Ghibli movie (so basically a bar no one can reach),
2: the first novel is very introductory where you only just scratch the service of who our main characters are, and what the world is.
We follow a boy living "top side" in a very small community. A princess living at the bottom being threatened by a neighbouring kingdom. And both societies are threatened by the environment. This is very much an environmental driven story where the world is in turmoil struggling with water decline and fighting to survive due to the Great Snow Sea. While definitly interesting and relevant in today's climate change I am not sure this is a series I want to continue as I really would prefer rereading Nausicaa for now.

Thank you to NetGalley, Tsutomu Nihei, and Kodansha Comics for the E-ARC!

I want to start by saying that the art style in this manga is absolutely stunning. The amount of detail in each panel is amazing. The character designs, locations, and even the shadings are beautiful.

In this first volume, we're presented with three different villages. There's the village on top of the canopy, and two in the Snow Sea below, Atland and Valghia. The village on top of the canopy believed they were the only remaining survivors in this world, until Ririha, a girl from the Snow Sea, made her way up. Her city of Atland is under threat of extinction from Valghia. I can't wait to explore this world more in future volumes and see the differences in lifestyles between these different villages.

This world seems very unique and I really enjoyed this first volume! I'll definitely be continuing with this series!

This story has some potential, but this first volume didn't fully hook me. The story feels like an odd blend of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind and APOSIMZ, but with the tone leaning toward something that would easily appeal to Middle-grade readers. This first volume only gives you a bare-bones understanding of the world and introduces who I assume will be our two main characters for the rest of the series. The main characters are very trope-heavy, though it feels like they are being kept simple so they can have character growth throughout the story. There are a few moments that almost made me curious enough to want to continue the story, but it wasn't quite enough by the end to solidify my interest. The art style is very simple and reminds me a lot of APOSIMZ. The giant bug creatures are drawn VERY realistically, to the point I was getting a little grossed out. Didn't realize the bugs would have THAT MUCH detail, good God.

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

This reminded me a bunch of Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. The story and the art style was reminiscent, even the characters were similar as well. This was also a very short comic so there wasn't a bunch to review for the most part. I like the art and the story has promise. I would continue reading to see what happens next but I have no strong feelings for the comic at this time.

This is the first full on sci-fi manga that I have read which was interesting as the themes that I am used to in a full novel can be interpreted in a different media. I liked some of the aspects of the art style however I am a fan of some colour in manga as this helps me to visualise the story better, I enjoyed the message of the two different races and how they think that they are the only ones on aa planet and when Liliha find her self in the canopy lands with Kaina they both find out how wrong they are. I think this volume did a good job of setting up the world and allowed us to get to know the characters and start to see where this is going to go. I will be continuing with this series and can not wait until the next volume comes out.

A great start to a new manga series.

This is like the end of the world type story, our main character is in what they think is the last village left. Dreaming about there being something more under the canapé. While a girl is looking for the great sage under the canapé as they are trying to stop a war, and ends up on top of the canapé. It's an interesting story and I definitely want to know what will happen next.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for this digital ARC!

Not gonna lie. I loved the art for the people, but... I never understood what was going on. I kept waiting for the world building to start making sense, but it just didn't. I think it has a lot to do with the sort of "white room" going on with the art. Almost literally. There was sooooo much white everywhere. I get it's a snow environment, but I just couldn't figure out what was what. There was apparently an above and below the snow sea, but there were just so many *things* that just seemed to be doing stuff. It could be bad execution on the backgrounds, or it could be bad world building. I'm honestly not sure.

The story itself isn't bad. It's actually decently interesting. I probably would read more of this as it was updating on, say, my shounen jump app, but that's only if I could really understand what's going on with the world outside the base plot.

So yeah, it's not for me. Hopefully others can understand what I cannot.

I originally intended to watch the Kaina of the Great Snow Sea anime while it was airing but I never got around to it so I was pretty happy when I saw the manga here.

The premise is what drew me in - snow sea and trees are not something you usually see in a post-apocalyptic world setting. The art style was nice and it complemented the story well, but I felt like this volume was a bit too short to properly introduce the characters. Similarly, it felt too short to make a proper judgement on the series as a whole but I will say that I'll be keeping an eye on further releases.

Thank you to Netgalley for a copy for an honest review.

I really enjoyed reading this and will be picking up a copy as soon it releases. 💕
It was well written and I really enjoyed my time reading it.

Rating 4 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and Itoe Takemoto for an Advanced Reader's Copy of this title!

I was really drawn to the premise of "Kaina of the Great Snow Sea", which gave the vibes of a post-apocalyptic survival setting, with two distinct worlds, resource conflict, and warring between rival kingdoms. While these themes were represented in the first volume, I don't think that they have been presented in a way that is compelling enough for me to seek out the second volume. I think the art style is beautiful and the premise has the potential to be very interesting, but the presentation of characters and conflict so far has not played into something that compels me to ask more.

On further investigation, it seems that this series was an 11-episode anime and movie first, then was adapted into a manga in the last year. I would definitely give the anime/movie a try to see how the manga holds up as a comparison, as I know sometimes taking a story from one format into another can change how it is presented. I will not likely seek out the second volume of this manga without first watching the show.

The world and the magic system are fascinating and so imaginative, it felt really immersive. I liked the characters and the illustrations. This was good but wasn't really for me

This was a very enjoyable read. The plot and world building was fairly unique, the ‘snow + canopy’ is not something i’ve seen replicated much before.
The characters designs are really nice, the choice of outfits and even the art style in which this manga is drawn is different but I think pretty fitting. I only take some issue with the shading, its quite light particularly for non snow things but not something you shouldn’t pick up this book for.

Hi Brian and thank you NetGalley.

This is very much like Nausica of the Valley of the Wind! I have always said snow environment based post-apocalypse type stories are super under utilized. Very cool idea!

This first volume is a solid start to a very visual sci-fi series that teeters on a kind of natural post apocalyptic setting . The way the art shows off the world and the creatures in it is a treat, unless you dislike bugs! As I was reading. I found myself getting curious about the wider world. This volume answers very few questions, but it gets the gears going for our two leads to go on a grand adventure, and I'm curious to see where it actually goes.

I picked this up because Nausicaa is my favorite manga and this is said to have Nausicaa influence. I definitely see where Nihei pulled from Nausicaa in the post-apocalyptic world, especially with the giant insects and special gear needed to go out on the Canopy. Unlike Nausicaa, however, this was a miss for me.

Kaina is our MC who lives in the last remaining village on the Canopy. He's also the only young person left. Every other village died out due to lack of water, and this village faces extinction. We don't get a lot of worldbuilding before a second MC is introduced, Ririha. She's from a small nation in the Snow Sea and is looking for the Great Sage to save her home from an invading nation. When she discovers this sage does not live on the Canopy, she has to return home with the help of Kaina. Both characters felt very flat and underdeveloped. I feel like the author needed to spend more time on making us invested in their stories before setting them off on their adventure together.

The art is okay. I liked the clothing differences between those living on the Canopy and those living below in the Snow Sea. Unfortunately, everything is very gray, making it look like a bad scan without a lot of contrast. It would look much better if the mangaka chose to use bolder blacks and whites to make the features pop.

Thanks to Netgalley and Kodansha for the ARC.

Interesting premise and the story kept me entertained but there is nothing compelling me to find out more about their world or continue with the series. Good for those who enjoy dystopian stories with good artwork.

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC!

My first Japanese comic! It took me a minute to get used to reading right to left, but it wasn’t hard to adjust to. The story sucked me right in! I caught on with the strange world that was built and I’m very excited to read the next part!

I recommend for fans of anime style comics and dystopian settings.

-- 1/5 Stars -- ★☆☆☆☆​

Trigger Warnings for Kaina of the Great Snow Sea 1: Death, killing, survival

Kaina of the Great Snow Sea 1 is the first volume in the series by Tsutomu Nihei and Itoe Takemoto. In this volume we meet Kaina and his village, all of which struggling to survive with a lack of water and resources. In comes Ririha, a princess from the Snow Sea, an area previously thought to be unoccupied by Kaina's village on the canopy - the only surviving village.

This upset me so much. The premise, the cover art, the description, it all made me so hyped to read this. I was even looking into watching the anime with subtitles (I'm a dub girly). Let me just say, I hated this. The art style is all grays with no real use of a stark black or a stark white. Due to this, we lose all sense of depth in this world. Beyond that, what even is this world? None of the rules were explained. This felt as if Nihei said, "hurry up and get to the love interest, we have nothing without her." This volume would have been much better served ending with the addition of Ririha, not throwing her in almost immediately.

Well, you have to try new things. I would highly recommend picking up any manga just to see if you like it. This one was sadly a bust for me. Thank you to Tsutomu Nihei, Netgalley, Vertical Comics, and Kodansha Comics for an advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

I'm a Tsutomu Nihei-phile so I couldn't wait to check this out. While his works generally favor style over substance, I love his style, so I'm generally hooked. This series is a manga adaptation of an original work anime, and the artist isn't Nihei himself, but I was still happy with the first volume so far.

The story felt similar to how Children of the Whales started - a post apocalypse wasteland (desert in Children, ice in Kaina) with an isolated society of people, limited supplies, legends and mysterious technology or artifacts from the past, etc. But soon, something happens and the MC(s) learn more about the world around them. I've read complaints that the anime doesn't answer many questions, and maybe the same thing will be true for the manga, but I was definitely hooked with the mystery of the world and the world building in general. Kaina and Ririha explore the wasteland, climbing and descending the orbital spire trees, on their epic adventure. Looking forward to seeing what happens next.

I was the most wary of how the art would turn out, given I love Nihei's style so much and he wasn't the mangaka on this series. But the artist does manage to capture Nihei's style very well, albeit not quite as detailed and rich as his usual background art. There's a few violent scenes where people get shot that look quite bad, sort of like a sketchy spray of blood that seems crude in comparison.

Overall, a compelling mystery and I look forward to reading volume 2.

Thanks to Netgalley and Kodansha for the opportunity to review this ARC.