I love the contrast of styles that Thunder 3 promises and it does not disappoint. The retro style of the Small Three to the realism of the other universe and the futurism of the mecha breathe so much life into the worlds. I love The Wizard of Oz (1939) but like many such stories the strange other world very quickly becomes the normal world for the audience. Thunder 3 avoids that – to its benefit. This world always feels at odds with the Small Three, through both the variety of styles and the pacing of their introduction. It’s as much as journey of discovery for the reader as it is the characters.

Unfortunately I found them wanting. There isn’t much characterisation beyond one characteristic. Especially for two of the three. Though I do appreciate that they’re quite cartoonish. Futaba did surprise me. In quite a few ways. I hadn’t expected her to be quite so young. Or to be so saccharinely Hallmark – too good, too pure for this world. Thankfully the shift in genre made this bearable and her guilelessness became fantastically funny in the face of the threats (or lack thereof) bearing down on her. And I’m pleasantly surprised at the prospect that she isn’t just going to be a MacGuffin to be saved.

The constant exclamations of the Small Three as “anime!” is tiring, however. It undercuts the stakes. Futaba was snatched up immediately, and they get to go viral. There is genuine menace to her kidnappers and I wish that had been sustained. I do really like the use of a different font to alienate and distance them, but, again, that undermines them as it’s quite hard to read.

I’m nonetheless still really intrigued by this series. The Small Three’s discoveries about themselves and the way their cartoon physics interacts with the world excites me.

Thanks to NetGalley and Kodansha for this review copy. I leave this review voluntarily.

Three teenage boys get sucked to another dimesion through a video game and get stuck there, because in their world the game is switched off. It’s exactly like their world, with the same people, including themselves, but more realistic, i.e. looks like our world, and it’s been recently invaded by aliens. The baby sister of one of the boys is abducted by the aliens and the boys intend to rescue her. And it turns out, in this dimension, they’re super powerful.

I’m not entirely sure what to think of this. The idea was fun, but the story was very gloomy. It didn’t really lead anywhere either, so there’ll be several volumes of the same. It’s a bit juvenile for adults and a bit lame for pre-teen boys, even if the boys only care about boobs and panties, so I don’t know who it would be best for. I don’t think I’ll read more.

I wasn't expecting a lot from Thunder 3, so it was a surprise that I enjoyed it so much. This is a very fun, entertaining story about 3 boys who end up in an alternative universe where aliens coexist with human beings. However, the boys (who look like anime/manga characters in this more realistic universe) are very strong and powerful there, just like superheroes! This is only the begging of tne series, and God knows how long it will end up being, but I would love to read more of this. Maybe I'll purchase it in the future.

Delightful and bubbly manga art with some minor adult images and themes. I really liked how the art styles mingled for effect.

I absolutely love this cover and the story idea. The way it started with the art style and a big brother being annoyed at his baby sister I thought it would make a good younger audience manga with the classic moral of the story of learning to love your siblings. But it is very much an adult manga, should make that clear in the advertising.

I love that the two worlds are different art styles and that people stay their own art style when traveling between worlds. And the fourth wall breaking. That was clever.

I did not like the boys being gross constantly talking about panties, porn, and drawing boobs. They want to know why no girl is interested in them? Girls don't like creeps. Anyways, those panels were completely unnecessary and for that reason I dnfed at 40 pages.

Disclaimer: I received an Uncorrected Proof Copy of this book from Netgalley for the purpose of reviewing it. No other compensation was offered or requested. Some aspects of the book may change between now and the actual publication. Thanks to Vertical for the opportunity!

Pyontaro Tezuka and his friends Tsubame Azuma and Hiroshi Ochanomizu are middle-schoolers who live in adjacent houses in a cul-de-sac. They’re pretty normal for their age, absent that they’re all on the short side, getting the group nickname “the Small Three.” They are starting to get interested in girls, particularly the one from their school and neighborhood who does guitar busking. She’s not interested back and considers them nuisances.

Pyontaro’s father is a manga creator working on a series titled “Thunder 3.” He’s not a big seller, and may never get into the big time magazines like Jumpy. Pyontaro’s mother is right now a stay at home mom, as little sister Futaba is a toddler. Pyontaro considers Futaba a nuisance who walks in on him in the restroom and steals his underwear, but she admires her big brother.

It’s Valentine’s Day, not that any of the Small Three ever get chocolates from girls. A new handsome transfer student who’s good at soccer arrives at school, but this seems largely irrelevant as you can’t steal attention from someone who never had any. More to the point, homeroom teacher Doc talks a bit about multiversal theory.

The next day, after school, the Small Three visit Doc’s house to play video games. There’s a disc that’s supposed to connect to another dimension, but you need a PS5 to play it, and Doc doesn’t have one. Pyontaro’s family does have a PS5 and the kids borrow the disc.

When the boys get home, Pyontaro’s mother is going shopping and asks them to watch Tsubasa. The graphics on the “movie” on the disc are awesome, but no button pushes seem to do anything. A delivery distracts the boys, so it’s Futaba who discovers that the TV screen is now a window, and things can pass through both ways.

Futaba rapidly discovers that not all the inhabitants of the other world are friendly. Pyontaro and his friends figure out where she went, and arrive just in time to see her abducted by aliens. Now stranded on a parallel Earth, what can the Small Three do to save Futaba?

As it happens, more than you’d expect.

The homeworld of the Small Three is depicted in a simplistic, cartoony “throwback” style, which threw me off as to what the genre was going to be. The alternate world has a more detailed “realistic” style, but visitors from the first Earth retain their own art style, which causes them to stand out considerably. This gives the book a distinctive look.

Appearances aside, the two Earths are very similar, with the same people who behave in the same way. Except that aliens arrived a few months ago on the parallel Earth. The government says they came in peace, but what we see of them indicates they’re kind of jerks, standoffish and self-centered. They live among humans, but don’t socialize with them. Plus, they abducted Tsubasa to run experiments on her. And why do they need all those weapons?

It’s an interesting if somewhat contrived premise to allow our middle-school protagonists to be the ones to need to solve the problem. There’s a bit of mystery about just what’s going on behind the scenes, and if the series follows through on that, it might be one to follow.

Content note: One of the boys is fixated on girls’ underwear, and another draws pictures of boobs. Peril to children. Most middle schoolers should be okay.

Recommended to science fiction fans, particularly parallel Earth buffs.

I saw some people react very positively to the fact that this title was getting an English release. Now that I've read this first volume, I understand that excitement. This is a really strong start to a series that has a lot of good potential to go in some very different directions. Our three main boys feel like a mashup of the retro and modern eras of manga. It has the same feel as a Tezuka story at times, (don't think I didn't notice those last name choices for those boys!) but modern day popular manga titles also exist in universe. And without spoiling the big twist, I think that's intentional. This series is more than it lets on, and so far, it's a wild ride!

"Thunder 3 Volume 1" is a surprisingly cute and fun read. While the art style isn't my usual, I definitely thought it fit the story and the characters. It's definitely worth reading and super cute.

What a fun read! The clashing art styles of the boys going into a more realistic world was a lot of fun to see and I can't wait to see where the story goes in future volumes!

As always, a huge thanks to Kodansha and NetGalley for an advance copy! I'll update the review with a link next week when I complete my review, but I'll just add a couple of remarks here as well.

I wanted to request Thunder 3 because I saw a very enthusiastic "Read this!!" tweet from someone I trust so I wanted to give it a shot. I finished the volume in what felt like minutes, it was so gripping and weird! In a totally good way! It's been a while since I wanted to know what happened in the next volume this desparately.

Love the offbeat humor and the art style, it's also super fun when you can pick up on the otaku culture references. They aren't subtle, really, but still. The setting is fresh and the alien/machinery designs are jaw-droppingly cool. I honestly can't wait for it to officially come out so we can get the second volume ASAP! Highly recommended.

Like stories with a multiverse, these are pretty interesting. We follow 3 boys just living their lives when the teacher gives them a game that is a literal portal into another world. The world looks like what we would call the real world, as they look like Anime characters walking around. It gets a little more wild than that, I will definitely be reading more of this series.

Thank you netgalley and the publishers for this e-book ARC!
3 stars

First off, I have no idea why I cannot find the English version of this on Goodreads, but whatever xD Secondly, this is an interesting manga. I really like the concept (multiverse with the MCs being from an anime/manga-verse of a realistic world but aliens have integrated into society). You get that sorta Superman effect where being in a new world gives the MCs great strength and durability (basically giving them cartoon physics). It's honestly a cute and fun little read. I say interesting, though, because I honestly could have mistaken the MCs as elementary schoolers with their style, and though it seems they're meant to be older, all the panties/boobies/NSFW focuses that were woven into the beginning were just... weird. Other than that, though, yeah, good, cute fun.

This title doesn't seem like a good fit for our collection. Interesting concept, but probably won't circulate here.

This was a cute manga about a boy and his little sister. The plot is really enthralling and I like the different art styles in the different universes. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is actually a REALLY clever manga plot. I don't think I've read anything this original in a while.