REVIEW: ‘Sachi’s Monstrous Appetite,’ Volume 1

Sachi’s Monstrous Appetite Volume 1 is a new monster girl title from Kodansha Comics. The series is illustrated and created by mangaka Chomoran. Monster girl meets a human boy in a cute series filled with delicious eats, monsters, and potentially, a budding romance. Ajani Oloye is serving as Sachi’s Monstrous Appetite’s translator. Additionally, Brandon Bovia is handling the lettering for this volume. The editor for Sachi’s Monstrous Appetite Volume 1 is Haruko Hashimoto. Finally, Adam Del Re handled the cover for Kodansha’s edition of this series.

Sachi’s Monstrous Appetite Volume 1 follows the titular tall girl -and high schooler- Sachi and a third year, junior high school student Funatsugi Makie. Makie likes Sachi and frequently uses his cooking skills to win her heart. When he makes her a special treat, it looks like Sachi might “like-like” him back. However, Sachi has a big secret: she’s actually a shapeshifting monster who likes Makie because of how he smells. Unfortunately…she’s not the only monster in town.

I honestly wasn’t sure what to expect when I picked up Sachi’s Monstrous Appetite Volume 1. The cover tells a specific story. Readers see short king Makie and tall girl Sachi embracing. Makie is in an apron and is holding a bento. Meanwhile, Sachi looks like she might actually eat him. However, don’t judge Sachi’s Monstrous Appetite Volume 1. The story’s a lot deeper than that!

Like I said above, Sachi is a monster. This fact is revealed pretty early on in Sachi’s Monstrous Appetite Volume 1. A lot of the plot centers on her true identity, but it also focuses on Sachi and Makie hunting monsters. In fact, that quickly becomes a central part of the story as more and more monsters want to eat poor Makie.  In fact, poor Makie has always been able to see monsters. As a child, they were cute and small. Now that he’s older, the monsters are much more… monstrous. So, it’s kind of fitting that the girl he falls for is a monster herself. It’s even more fitting that she wants to eat him!

Sachi’s Monstrous Appetite Volume 1’s art is charming. The backgrounds are lush, and the monsters are well designed. Similarly, Makie and Sachi are drawn with a lot of care. Makie is really cute, as is Sachi. However, none of the characters hold a candle to the manga’s real star: the food. The food looks so, so, so good! When it’s drawn -thankfully, it’s drawn often- it’s mouthwateringly good looking. I’m thinking about the Nikujaga -that’s meat and potatoes- featured in an early chapter. I’m also thinking fondly of the prawns featured on one of the splash pages. The only thing that can rival the food is the lettering, which is honestly, just as good looking as the ramen Sachi has later in the volume.

I’ll be candid: I’m a Brandon Bovia fan. I really, really love his lettering and think that it showcases manga lettering at its finest. Bovia always brings his a-game to every series he touches. Thankfully, this volume is no exception. The lettering here is some of Bovia’s best work. Sometimes, the sound effects even escape the word bubbles, adding emphasis to reactions and emotions. Even still, the regular dialogue between Sachi and Makie still looks crisp and clean. Consider me a ride or die Bovia fan.

Additionally, Ajani Oloye’s translation is out of this world good. Both Makie and Sachi have a lot of character. I think that’s thanks to Oloye’s hard work in developing a solid voice for both of them. Honestly, it feels like this manga was written in English first instead of in Japanese first. It’s just that darn readable and enjoyable! Then again, I think that’s the goal of all manga in the end. And editor Haruko Hashimoto’s skills really bring together Oloye’s translation with Bovia’s lettering. It’s clear that Hashimoto wields a keen eye when going over her work. That awareness only served to make Sachi’s Monstrous Appetite Volume 1 all the more enjoyable. Truly, this feels like my dream team of manga localizers. I’m already hyped for Sachi’s Monstrous Appetite Volume 2.

In the end, Sachi’s Monstrous Appetite Volume 1 is a really incredibly first volume. Both Sachie and Makie are quite likable. When paired with a solid translation, superb lettering, and stellar editing, the series becomes something special. There’s a lot of room for growth in Sachi’s Monstrous Appetite Volume 1. I hope that the following volumes capitalizes on that and gives readers a really unique and interesting story. 

Fans of the monster girl genre will find a very genuine story between its covers. I highly recommend that fans of series like Burn the Witch, and even The Promised Neverland, pick up this first volume and give Sachi’s Monstrous Appetite a try. Hopefully, you’ll find yourself feeling as stuffed as Sachi is!

Sachi’s Monstrous Appetite Volume 1 is available now.