Kaina lives on the canopy above the great Snow Sea, hunting for his village and trying to survive despite being potentially the last bit of civilization to exist. However, the holes in the canopy are getting larger and when a strange girl is found it becomes known that there's actually humanity down below.

Kaina of the Great Snow Sea feels very Princess Mononoke/Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind light. It also reminded me a great deal of The Edge Chronicles. The art is at time very sparse and grand while having shots and scenery that's very polluted with detail. It's not afraid to go slightly grotesque to build the atmosphere. It's also a super quick read even for a manga. I enjoyed the first volume and would like to see more of where the story goes.

If I had to use only one word to describe this it would be "confusing".
The art stile didn't really work for me as I couldn't tell what was happening, especially in the fight scenes.
Also, I was expecting some introduction to the world, as this is a first volume, but there was very little of that, and I felt like I was just lost in the story.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for a digital ARC in return for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kodansha for the chance to read this volume.

Some great world building right off the bat from Nihei. Much cleaner lines and panelling than I’m used to versus the Blame manga but I enjoyed the art style.

Interesting premise here. I look forward to seeing how it develops over subsequent volumes. If you hate bugs I’d probably avoid it though.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kodansha for the e-book copy!

Kaina of the Great Snow Sea is a Sci-fi fantasy following Kaina who lives atop a canopy over the great snow sea with the remaining survivors of civilization. Everyone believes that no one would be able to survive in the snow sea due to monsters and strenuous conditions. One day they are proved wrong when a girl emerges from the sea seeking the sage who can save her people. I think this was a solid setup for what's to come in the plot. However, I kind of found this to be a bit too slow and not interesting. I know there is an anime adaptation and that may be something I check out. I just don't think the manga will be the best route for me when it comes to this story. I do think fans of dystopian Sci-fi will like this series and find the story worth checking out.

✨𝐌𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒 𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐈𝐓:
Kaina Of The Great Snow Sea is about Kaina and the older villagers who live with him in a small village on the canopy. They always thought they were the only humans in the world, just as their ancestors told them. But then Ririha shows up in a bizarre way, and they’re all pleasantly surprised to see another human like them.

I love how the villagers are so concerned about Kaina. He’s truly lucky to have them. But Ririha has her own nation to save too. This sounds really, really promising. It’s exactly the type of manga I’ve been looking for. The unique plot and characters are already drawing me in. I also love the potential for war and action scenes.

Overall, I highly recommend this if you love dystopia, science fiction, and adventure.

✨𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐈𝐅 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄:
📌 ACTION-PACKED CHAPTERS
📌 A HINT OF ROMANCE
📌 NO SPICE

🖥️ GOODREADS REVIEW: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6731877277

💻 BLOG REVIEW: https://kimthebookdragon.wordpress.com/2024/08/06/manga-review-kaina-of-the-great-snow-sea-volume-1-by-tsutomu-nihei-itoe-takemoto/

Kaina is the only young person remaining in the group of survivors living on the top of one of the orbital spire trees. Everyone else is believed dead. But then he rescues Ririha, a girl who lives on the Great Snow Sea. Ririha is looking for The Sage who is supposed to live in a Great Tree who is able to provide water that is lacking in the world below. This volume sets the stage for the adventures to come! My wife has downloaded music from the anime, and I wanted to see what the story was about.

Thanks Netgalley and Kodansha Comics for the chance to read this title!

Very good start to what could be an amazing series. I understand the problems the people face, what the older and younger people want, and that there is something not normal happening all in one volume. I can't wait for more to be released.

Arc Copy...loved the art style rich in details and vastness with depicting this strange alien world. Narrative wise, interesting and curious what happens next. Very much a promising start to the series.

I received this DRC from NetGalley.

This is all in black and white, and some images don't have a lot of contrast, so some of it was a bit unclear.

Mostly, this made me wonder if snow in this world is not made of water?

Other than that, it seems like an interesting world. I just wish the artwork was more defined so I could enjoy how creative it is.

3.5 stars
Kaina of the Great Snow Sea
I will start off by saying there are points where it reminded me of Gachiakuta or Plunderer- both have worlds where it's believed there is no one living below. Also had a moment where I thought of Eden Zero, where it gives the feeling the villagers force the main character to leave- believing its for their own good. It is a quick read with many panels not having many speech bubbles. So far we know very little about Kaina or Ririha and little about their world. I enjoyed it but felt like there could have been more set up in volume one for the continued series.

In a world with little water and hunting flies for food, Kaina lives on top of the canopy with the last surviving village- who are all elders. These elders worry about Kaina's future on each they are all gone, since there is no one around his age. One day when Kaina was out hunting, a Floater appears carrying 3 individuals. When he investigates there is only one survivor, he saves her and later learns she is looking for the Great Sage to save her people. Unsuccessful with finding the individual, Ririha needs to get back to her people, but there is no way back down to the Great Snow sea from the canopy.

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 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️