A manga has to grab me with both its art style and its story before I feel like investing hours of my time in a series. If a manga has older characters, or does something a little different, I am even more interested.
The newly published Sasaki and Peeps Volume 1 fulfilled all of those desires. Hence why I grabbed it as soon as it was published by Yen Press earlier this month.
The art work is superb, the story is quirky and fun, and the main character is not a teenager but middle-aged.
What is Sasaki and Peeps?
Sasaki and Peeps (aka 佐々木とピーちゃん, Sasaki to Pii-chan) is a manga based on the light novel series written by Buncololi and illustrated by Kantoku.
It tells the story of 40-year-old Sasaki. A lonely office worker with a low-paying job, who heads to a pet store after his co-worker adopts a cat, and he notices how happy that makes him.
The problem for Sasaki, however, is that he can’t afford to buy or take care of a larger pet like a cat or a dog. That’s why, when a sparrow starts calling to him “Pick me, Pick me”, he purchases him and takes him home.
After all, sparrows are inexpensive to buy, and cheap to take care of. Right?
Well, until he discovers the sparrow (now named Peeps) is actually the reincarnation of Piercarlo, a sage from another world. A sage who wants to live his best life in his new world.
A life that, with the help of Sasaki, Piercarlo will allow him to travel between Sasaki’s world and his original world, while benefitting both of them.
Well, at least that was the plan until…
The Sasaki and Peeps manga series was written by Buncololi, and illustrated by Pureji Osho.
Volume 1 of the English language version is currently available via Yen Press in both Trade Paperback and in digital download form, with Volume 2 hopefully coming out soon.
If, like me, you enjoy something quirky, with cool artwork and an interesting story and characters, I think you will enjoy this one.
Oh, and if you prefer light novels, the original Sasaki and Peeps novels are published by Yen Press as well, with three volumes out in English so far.
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