This book was okay. I liked the premise, but the main character failed to grab my attention. It would likely appeal more to people who love music.

I was kind of with this one, until the female character I liked left and they introduced the weirdo dominatrix mom who seems to get...."excited" when her one son plays music and whips and chains her other son? What the heck was THAT??? Also, they keep one of the worst characters but get rid of one of the best? I hope she comes back down the line or this is going nowhere I like.

DNF @ 75%

I tried so hard to make it through this one but I was so bored throughout most of it. I’ve been reading pieces of it while on my girls trip, so I thought it would be the perfect thing to read on my phone while waiting in line/for our food.

I just don’t think this manga is for me. This music element was kind of boring and once we got through the first half of the manga, I was just done. The second half was boring and not interesting at all. I couldn’t keep reading it. I wish I could have.

I received a copy of this in exchange for an honest review

Super cute begining to this new series! I really enjoyed the illustrations and the characters in this. I'm hoping the rest are just as compelling because I'm highly looking forward to picking them up!

I am strongly biased on this one because I absolutely loved the anime adaptation and I couldn't wait to read manga for this one. This might not be a series for everyone because it focuses on shamisen players (traditional musical instrument) and it won't probably pick your interest right away (that's why it's better to watch anime first to experience the beauty of shamisen and then read manga).

That said, story follows Setsu, a shamisen prodigy, who is trying to find his own playing style after the death of his grandpa, who also was his teacher and famous shamisen player. First volume is merely introductory. We get to meet our main cast, Setsu's family and neighbours who'll end up having an important role further in the story.

Artstyle is not your typical average shounen one either and won't suit everyone but I liked it. I've already purchased following volumes and can't wait to get on journey with Setsu.

I enjoyed this manga story with the main character that was Setsu. And also the rest if the characters to.

Setsu grandfather has past a way. He decides to go to Tokyo to find himself and also the sound of the music that his grandfather left behind. But when he gets to Tokyo he becomes lost with all of the lights and different ways to go. So when a young woman finds him being robbed she decides to help him.

This way a fun manga to read. It has quite a few parts that had me laughing at the characters. The art work was quite good too.

I received a complimentary copy via Netgalley. This is my honest unbiased opinion.

Those Snow White Notes is about Setsu, a 16 year old shamisen player who ran away from his home in a small town after his grandfather's passing. I thought the story of Yuka was more interesting than Setsu's, and would've preferred to read about her instead. Setsu doesn't really have much going for him character wise, he's mostly quiet and sad, making him kind of boring. I think the story might get more interesting in the following volumes, but this one was just okay.

I really enjoyed this story!!!!! It gives me Nana vibes: young adults (and musicians) lost in the world, trying to figure out their path. The art is gorgeous and gives off an early 2000's quality.
I'm not exactly sure how to describe what made this manga so good but it's very enjoyable. The lack of happy endings is what makes the story feel raw and true to human nature.
Highly recommend!

Those Snow White Notes by Marimo Ragawa
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

I received a copy of Those Snow White Notes from Kodansha through NetGalley in exchange for a honest review. I really enjoyed this first volume! I ended up liking this volume more than I thought I would! I look forward to reading more of this series! I found the characters to be likable! I highly recommend this series!

Thanks so much to Kodansha and NetGalley!

The manga had an interesting premise which prompts you to pick it up. Sadly, it couldn't live up to my expectations. We start of with our main protagonist leaving home to Tokyo after his grandfather's death. He wants to go there because he hates the sounds there. That's where we met a woman called Yuna. She is a failed actress who works part-times as a hostess. After her fighting some people, she brings the unconscious protagonist to her home. And that's where everything went wrong for me. First of the plot went way too quick which made the characters feel like strangers without any depth. Many things that they did were also really questionable.
The thing that kind of set me off the most was Yuna a 22-year-old kissing Setsu who is freaking 16. I just felt really uncomfortable with that.
I would rate it a 2.25/5

Those Snow White Notes, Volume 1, by Marimo Ragawa is a manga style graphic novel recently translated into English. When Setsu's grandfather died, so did Setsu's "sound"—his unique creative spark. Grieving, he goes to Tokyo to find himself, but manages to become totally, literally lost on his first day. Only a chance meeting with Yuna—aka Yuka, the hostess—saves him from being robbed. At first glance their lives seem totally different, but they're both striving for their dreams—hers, of being an actress, and his, of developing his talent with the shamisen—and it could just be that life in the raucous, unfeeling urban sprawl of Tokyo could just be what binds their fates together.

Those Snow White Notes is a story that started rather rough for me, but did capture my attention. The first few pages had me uninterested- so I took a break and switch reading material. But, I am glad that I came back to it. When I gave the book a second chance I was introduced to a variety of characters that had me interested and engaged in their interactions. By the time the volume was over I was disappointed that I did not have more to read about how these people would all continue to interact and how some of the newer characters would play into the story. The art was hit and miss for me- some of it was perfect- capturing the emotion of the music on the page- but some of the character features just did not work for me. However, that is all about personal preference not the skill or quality of the work.

Thanks to Marimo Ragawa and Kodansha Comics for making this book available via #Netgalley.

I really watched to read the manga nice I enjoyed the anime. Here we follow Setsu who has always wanted to play the Shamisen as beautiful and inspiring as his grandfather did. The death of his grandfather who played both the role of his mentor and master took a toll on him. He felt he was losing touch with his sound. He leaves the care of his older brother and makes his way to Tokyo in hopes of finding his own sound. Hoping to perfect the craft of playing the Shamisen. Once he gets to the city, he quickly realizes that it is more than he had prepared for and he is met with robbers. He is saved by Yuka who is living in Tokyo with her boyfriend Taketo. She takes him in after he got injured in a scuffle. This is when he meets Taketo and they somewhat bond over their love for music.

Things seem to be going well until his mother shows up in the picture and all his plans seem to go awry. She insists he comes live with her and goes to high school. When he gets to school he is invited to join the shamisen club. Honestly, the story is a bit all over the place and unfortunately, this book took a dive after the first few chapters for me. I did quite enjoy this volume and I cannot wait to read the others.

2.5/5 stars
Unfortunately, I didn't really connect with this volume. Whilst I loved the music element and the scenes/art that occurred whilst playing, the overall pacing was really fast and the story jumped around a lot which led to me being really, really confused.

There also wasn't really any character that I felt invested in (other than Yuna but alas she left halfway through this volume) so I think that may be the main reason I didn't really enjoy this.

I do think that if you enjoy comedy mixed in with serious plot lines and music then you may enjoy this, but yeah, this just wasn't the read for me.

I was close to DNFing this, but I don’t like to do that with manga so I pushed through, and I can’t say this is enjoyable. It had a plot in the beginning, but then it diverged into something else that lost track of what the story was suppose to be.

I thought this was going to be a NANA like story, but this is a forgettable one at that. Such a shame. The first chapter had promise.

Those Snow White Notes is surely interesting! The cover isn't the best possible though, which is a shame, since the content is weird and entertaining. Setsu plays shamisen, but when his grandpa dies, he kind of loses the flame. At the same time he has hard time not sounding like his grandpa, but to find his own shamisen sound. Thus he escapes Aomori and moves to Tokyo to meet this gravure girl called Yuna and an oddball band. Then add his weirdo brother and even weirder mom and you have it! It's still hard to say where this is going and somehow this reminded me of Murakami's Gravitation. Those Snow White Notes is a combination of music, explosive 1990s humor and perhaps even drama. So, perhaps not for everyone, but I was entertained.

The art isn't fully stable yet and sometimes over the top and all over the place too. Ragawa packs too much into the story this early on, but perhaps this gets better along the way. This is quite a long series actually. The shamisen is surely the best part though, since it's traditional (it originates from China) and this is shounen. I really love it when a series like this gets published, we surely need something different!

Really interesting story so far. Curious to see how it unfolds over more volumes. Loved the art.

I think the musical elements were really fun overall too.

Story is up too a promising start.. However the plot can be a little lackluster at time but it is save by a strong protagonist who I'm interested to see where the story will take them.

This title was a little average. A teen boy's grandfather dies and he decides to go from the country to the city to start a new life. His grandfather taught him how to play a tsugaru shamisen, a very specific Japanese musical instrument. There seemed to be an animosity over the boy's skill when the grandfather died but he still left with his instrument. He met a girl who thought he was homeless and kind of disrupted her life. She was an aspiring actress but was having a lot of trouble. I think the content with her storyline makes this title more appropriate for adults. I didn't particularly like much about this story.

These Snow White Notes is an amazing manga which brings together music, love, comedy and family together under one roof. The protagonist of this book is so adorable. I liked the story alot. The art style is pretty good as well. I can't wait to read the next volume of this manga.

There is a full length review forthcoming on my site, MangaLibrarian.com and on my YouTube Channel! I go in depth on my analysis there.