Soara and the House of Monsters

Soara and the House of Monsters
Stylized illustration of a young woman and a cross-section of a monster house built inside a tree
Japanese cover for volume 1, featuring Soara
ソアラと魔物の家
(Soara to Mamono no Ie)
GenreFantasy,[1] adventure[2]
Manga
Written byHidenori Yamaji
Published byShogakukan
English publisherSeven Seas Entertainment
ImprintSunday Webry Comics
Magazine
DemographicShōnen
Original runNovember 25, 2021 – present
Volumes4

Soara and the House of Monsters (Japanese: ソアラと魔物の家, Hepburn: Soara to Mamono no Ie) is a Japanese fantasy adventure manga series written and illustrated by Hidenori Yamaji. Shogakukan publishes it since 2021 in their magazine Shōnen Sunday S and on their webcomic platform Sunday Webry [ja], and also releases it in collected tankōbon volumes. These have since 2023 been released in English by Seven Seas Entertainment.

The story follows the human woman Soara, who after the end of a war between monsters and humans joins a group of travelling dwarf architects who build houses for various types of monsters. It was nominated for the Next Manga Award for best web manga in 2022 and 2023, and was well received for its artwork of monster houses and its themes of prejudice and understanding.

Plot

Soara and the House of Monsters is a fantasy adventure[1][2] story following Soara (ソアラ), an orphan who has been trained to fight in the war between humans and monsters, but is left without a purpose and home when peace is declared just as she becomes old enough to be a knight. Wandering aimlessly, she encounters a group of traveling dwarf architects led by Kirik (キリク, Kiriku), who renovate and build dream homes for monsters, such as goblins, slimes, and dragons.[2][3][4] Soara is distrustful of monsters, but is moved by the architects' work, and joins them in their travels.[4]

Production and release

Soara and the House of Monsters is written and drawn by Hidenori Yamaji, who originally created the series from a desire to combine the fantasy genre with something relatable to readers. He considered housing as a theme to be simultaneously unusual in fantasy manga, and something very familiar to readers, so he chose to write a story about architecture with fantasy elements. When drawing the artwork, Yamaji focused on drawing houses that not only were entertaining and exciting to look at, but that also were structured in a believable way, that would have made sense for the monsters if they were real. To help reader better visualize the houses, he chose to draw detailed cross-sections of them.[1]

The manga is serialized by Shogakukan since November 25, 2021, both in their monthly shōnen manga magazine Shōnen Sunday S and on their webcomic platform Sunday Webry [ja].[5][6] Shogakukan also publishes the series in collected tankōbon volumes since May 12, 2022,[2] under their imprint Sunday Webry Comics;[4] since 2023, these have been released in English by Seven Seas Entertainment[3][7] and in Chinese by Tong Li Publishing.[8]

Volumes

No. Original release date Original ISBN English release date English ISBN
1 May 12, 2022[2]978-4-09-851048-1September 5, 2023[7]979-8-88843-018-7
  • 1. "The House of Monsters" (魔物の家, Mamono no Ie)
  • 2. "The Goblins' House" (ゴブリンの家, Goburin no Ie)
  • 3. "Traveling Companions" (旅は道連れ, Tabi wa Michizure)
  • 4. "The Slime's House" (スライムの家, Suraimu no Ie)
  • 5. "The House of Forbidden Love" (禁断の恋の家, Kindan no Koi no Ie)
2 November 10, 2022[9]978-4-09-851354-3February 6, 2024[10]979-8-88843-382-9
  • 6. "From Architects to... Pirates?" (建築士→海賊…?, Kenchikushi → Kaizoku...?)
  • 7. "The House of True Love" (真実の愛の家, Shinjitsu no Ai no Ie)
  • 8. "The Demon Lord's Castle" (魔王の城, Maō no Shiro)
  • 9. "The Demon Lord's House" (魔王の家, Maō no Ie)
  • 10. "The Precious Home" (大切な家, Taisetsu na Ie)
  • 11. "The House on the Horizon" (目指すべき家, Mezasu beki Ie)
3 July 12, 2023[11]978-4-09-852541-6July 9, 2024[12]979-8-88843-802-2
  • 12. "The Cats of the Lost Woods" (迷いの森と猫, Mayoi no Mori to Neko)
  • 13. "The Cats' Resolve" (猫の心意気, Neko no Kokoroiki)
  • 14. "The Strongest Kitchen" (最強のキッチン, Saikyō no Kitchin)
  • 15. "The Cats' Restaurant" (猫のレストラン, Neko no Resutoran)
  • 16. "Building a Foundation" (築かれていくもの, Kizukarete Iku Mono)
  • 17. "The Green Gnomes and the Earth Giant" (緑の小人と土の巨人, Midori no Shōnin to Tsuchi no Kyōjin)
  • 18. "The House of Green and Earth" (緑と土の家, Midori to Tsuchi no Ie)
4 May 10, 2024[13]978-4-09853-305-3January 14, 2025[14]979-8-89160-660-9
  • 19. "Kowashita no Ka?" (壊したのか？, "Did You Break It?")
  • 20. "Hajimari no Hanashi" (始まりの話, "The Story of the Beginning")
  • 21. "Hajimari no Futari" (始まりの二人, "The Two People in the Beginning")
  • 22. "Ōto Nite" (王都にて, "In the Royal Capital")
  • 23. "Sorezore no Kachi" (それぞれの価値, "The Value of Each")
  • 24. "Honmono" (本物, "The Genuine Article")
  • 25. "Yakkaimono" (厄介者, "Burden")

Chapters not released in collected volumes

The following chapters have not been released in collected tankōbon volumes as of the release of volume 4:[15]

  • 26. "Aniki" (兄貴, "Brother")
  • 27. "Ōto Hōeisen" (王都防衛線, "The Royal Capital's Line of Defense")
  • 28. "Nani ga Tameni" (何が為に, "For What Purpose")
  • 29. "Tsukutte Kita Mono" (造ってきたもの, "What We Have Been Building")
  • 30. "Wakare" (別れ, "Parting")
  • 31. "Kizukitai Mono" (築きたいもの, "What We Want to Build")

Reception

Soara and the House of Monsters was nominated for the Next Manga Award in the Best Web Manga category in 2022 and 2023,[16][17] and for the Japan Society and Anime NYC's first American Manga Awards in the Best New Manga category in 2024.[18]

The manga has been well received by critics.[1][19] Christopher Farris and Rebecca Silverman, both writing for Anime News Network, appreciated its themes of prejudice and understanding how all living things share in basic needs and comforts, without feeling too heavy-handed in its delivery. Farris found it refreshing to see a new take on the fantasy genre, with appealing and "hog-wild" house designs, and fun solutions to their problems, although felt a disconnect in the "before-and-after" visuals due to the monsters' homes often being demolished and rebuilt rather than renovated; Silverman also liked the artwork, calling it a "triumph of fantasy building".[19] The Japanese entertainment news site Magmix also enjoyed the art of the houses, calling them "fantastic and powerful", and good at immersing the reader in the setting.[1]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e 【漫画】魔物の家は欠陥住宅！ 突然の終戦で帰る家がない戦士、スゴ腕建築士に遭遇して？. Magmix (in Japanese). Mediavague. December 22, 2022. Archived from the original on March 24, 2023. Retrieved October 19, 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d e 魔物にとっての夢のマイホームを造り出そう、異世界建築冒険譚「ソアラと魔物の家」. Comic Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. May 12, 2022. Archived from the original on January 25, 2023. Retrieved October 19, 2023.
  3. ^ a b Pineda, Rafael Antonio (November 2, 2022). "Seven Seas Licenses Life with an Ordinary Guy Who Reincarnated into a Total Fantasy Knockout, Homunculus Manga". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on November 3, 2022. Retrieved October 19, 2023.
  4. ^ a b c ソアラと魔物の家. Mangapedia (in Japanese). Heibonsha, Shogakukan, et al. Archived from the original on January 5, 2023. Retrieved October 19, 2023.
  5. ^ サンデーうぇぶりで新連載続々、「ジンメン」カトウタカヒロの読み切り4作品も. Comic Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. November 25, 2021. Archived from the original on November 3, 2022. Retrieved October 19, 2023.
  6. ^ 高橋留美子と椎名高志が描く「半妖の夜叉姫」イラストが“シンクロ”、サンデーSで. Comic Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. November 25, 2021. Archived from the original on November 26, 2021. Retrieved October 19, 2023.
  7. ^ a b Mateo, Alex (September 5, 2023). "North American Anime, Manga Releases, September 3-9". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on October 2, 2023. Retrieved October 19, 2023.
  8. ^ 索亞菈與魔物之家 (in Chinese). Tong Li Publishing. Archived from the original on May 9, 2023. Retrieved October 19, 2023.
  9. ^ 【11月10日付】本日発売の単行本リスト. Comic Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. November 10, 2022. Archived from the original on November 22, 2022. Retrieved October 19, 2023.
  10. ^ Mateo, Alex (February 7, 2024). "North American Anime, Manga Releases, February 4-10". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on February 14, 2024. Retrieved March 27, 2024.
  11. ^ 【7月12日付】本日発売の単行本リスト. Comic Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. July 12, 2023. Archived from the original on July 12, 2023. Retrieved October 19, 2023.
  12. ^ "Book: Soara and the House of Monsters Vol. 3". Seven Seas Entertainment. Retrieved October 19, 2023.
  13. ^ 【5月10日付】本日発売の単行本リスト. Comic Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. May 10, 2024. Retrieved September 29, 2024.
  14. ^ "Book: Soara and the House of Monsters Vol. 4". Seven Seas Entertainment. Retrieved August 7, 2024.
  15. ^ Yamaji, Hidenori (November 25, 2021). 1軒目 魔物の家 / 2軒目 ゴブリンの家. Sunday Webry [ja] (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Archived from the original on June 10, 2023. Retrieved November 2, 2024.
  16. ^ 「次にくるマンガ大賞 2022」ノミネート100作品発表 『メダリスト』『あかね噺』『ソアラと魔物の家』など. Oricon (in Japanese). June 24, 2022. Archived from the original on March 21, 2023. Retrieved October 19, 2023.
  17. ^ Loveridge, Lynzee (June 25, 2023). "Voting Opens for Next Manga Awards 2023". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on June 26, 2023. Retrieved October 19, 2023.
  18. ^ Pineda, Rafael (July 17, 2024). "1st American Manga Awards Announces Nominees". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on July 17, 2024. Retrieved July 17, 2024.
  19. ^ a b Farris, Christopher; Silverman, Rebecca (September 20, 2023). "The Fall 2023 Manga Guide: Soara and the House of Monsters". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on October 19, 2023. Retrieved October 19, 2023.