I don't know why but I wasn't expecting that kind of a story! I was way more interested in Minato's story with his little sister and child neglect, and I wasn't expecting some kind of paranormal stuff going on. So I'm a bit sad we didn't got much of the childs' story with their mom and more about it, but I hope we'd get them later on the next manga in the series. I do like the body switch tho and it's interesting to see both sides of thinking!

It was really short but still a few things happened and we didn't wait too much to get into it. But as it's short, I'm still frustrated of not getting far enough, but that's understandable!

I'm not sure if I like the illustration style, sometimes I like it and sometimes I don't. However I do like the fact that the mother didn't even have eyes on her, to show off how erased and transparent she is.

Island in a Puddle is the story of a violent gangster who switches bodies with an 11-year-old during a lightening storm after murdering and robbing a young mother. The boy and his little sister are victims of child neglect and don't have enough food and are abandoned by their mom for weeks at a time. The boy now has the face and body of a criminal wanted by police and mobsters, but still needs to make sure his little sister is taken care of. It ends in quite a cliffhanger and I'm looking forward to the next volume. The artwork is fantastic.

Huge thanks to NetGalley, Kodansha and the author for providing an e-ARC of this manga in exchange for an honest review. All of the opinions expressed in this review are my own.
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As a new story from the creator of Erased (which I absolutely loved) I was super excited for Island in a Puddle!

It definitely lived up to my expectations in many ways:
- the unexpected directions the plot takes despite me knowing who the author is
- the setting is aptly mysterious and ominous, something Sanba specializes in
- the characters are developed gradually, with new aspects of their personality revealed over time (this hypes me up even more for the next volume!)

Needless to say, I'll definitely be continuing this!

Overall rating: 5/5 stars

Rating: 3.38 out of 5
-Characters: 3.5/5
-Cover: 3/5
-Story: 3/5
-Writing: 4/5
Genre: Seinen/Crime
Type: Manga
Worth?: Yeah

First want to thank Netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this in exchange for an honest review! When I saw that it was from the creator of Erased I just had to put in a request. I never read the manga but I did watch the anime and absolutely loved it (except for maybe a few things at the end.) Either when I got accepted for this I was beyond happy.

Needless to say as I began to read it some of that excitement went away. I would like to say first that if this was to turn into an anime I would 100% watch it. Given that the manga, at least the first volume, is okay. I am not the biggest fan of the art style but it isn't horrid. It is something I get over once I am in into the story. As for the story itself Kei takes on elements from Erased in a way and I enjoy that. It is a completely new spin though so I was shocked.

Even with being shocked though I found that I was kind of dreading going back into reading it but once I got into the story again I was okay. The story went by quicker than I thought it would which is why I am so mixed on this. Lol. I liked reading it but once I stopped and stepped away it took a good chunk of energy to talk myself into reading more. It isn't a bad story at all. It's pretty darn good. Maybe I just didn't read it in a fast enough pace.

Either way the manga is worth the read. Would I pick up volume 2? Probably, lol.

From the creator of Erased. Living alone in a tiny apartment, elementary schooler Minato does his best to take care of himself and his little sister, Nagisa. With dad out of the picture and his mother hardly ever home, Minato shoulders all the responsibilities of the household. On a rare occasion, their mother comes home for his sister's birthday. They head out to the amusement park and before he knows it a storm is headed their way. Minato's mother is putting them both on the ferris wheel with a handful of money before disappearing again. In another one of the Ferris wheel carts, a pair of wanted criminals are hiding. The man murders the woman, but in that moment lightening strikes the Ferris wheel. Minato and the criminal switch bodies, leaving the criminal with his little sister and Minato with a dead body!

An exciting drama, this looks like it will be a game of cat and mouse. Will Minato be able to save his sister from this criminal wearing his face? Looking forward to the next volume.

This manga wasn’t my favourite. I don’t tend to like the body swapping trope but I wanted to give this one a chance. It was interesting but ultimately I didn’t really care for the “villain” character so his scenes were just frustrating to get through.

The overall plot didn’t really capture my attention either so I don’t have any inclination to continue on with this series. Loved the cute dog though!

2/5⭐️

This book just starts and it's already pulling at your heartstrings. I was very surprised by the drastic direction it took, because for one moment I forgot I was reading a Kei Sanbe manga. But then it just goes in a surprising way which makes Sanbe's book to be so uniquely good.

I must say I found this volume to be up there with his other stuff. I will be continuing the series.

Kei Sanbe has a good knack for delivering solid mysteries with supernatural twists. His previous series Erased showcased his strengths as a writer and artist, on top of bringing for complex characters that shined throughout the series. Sanbe returns with a new tale filled with murder, mystery, and supernatural elements, in the form of Island in a Puddle. But can lightning strike twice?

Island in a Puddle places its focus on siblings Minato and Nagisa, whose mother has a habit of leaving them behind for long periods of time. After a long day at school, their mother returns to bring them to the nearby theme park. But what starts as a nice reunion once again turns into a long goodbye, as the mother leaves while Minato and Nagisa ride the Ferris Wheel. Then, as the rain falls hard, lightning strikes their compartment.

Minato comes to, only to find himself in a different compartment alongside a dead woman. The lighting results in him switching bodies with wanted criminal Tomohiro Takita. Realizing that Nagisa is in danger, Minato attempts to follow her and Takita. But with posters and news stories plastered all over with his face — on top of having to ditch a dead body — Minato’s quest to save his sister and get his real self back will be one difficult task to complete.

There’s a lot to digest in the first volume of Island in a Puddle. The story begins with harsh elements, as Minato and Nagisa are fending for themselves in their apartment. A ray of hope is present in the form of neighbor Futaba, who acts as a big sister to the siblings when their mother is not around. The whereabouts of their dad is also unknown, to the point where his existence is barely mentioned. Even before the body switch, Minato and Nagisa are already deal with with plenty on their plate.

When Minato switches bodies with Takita, the trouble escalates ten-fold! Watching him run away with a dead body on his back showcases a lot of intensity, with every place he goes and every door he opens tightening the proverbial noose around his neck. The fact that Minato also has to deal with both his sister and neighbor now being close to Takita also adds a lot of pressure, as there’s a chance he can commit crimes in his body. All of this is showcased with nonstop intensity, with every new piece of info Minato finds out only shoving him deeper into a hole he can’t crawl out of.

Every moment of Island in a Puddle is presented with dark undertones and sharp visuals. With the exception of Futaba, the characters look exhausted, as if life has sucked the youth out of even the young children. Their eyes are sagging, and their clothes look tattered, in ways that make it clear these people have been living a hard life. When an action scene is presented, it isn’t as much exciting as it is stressful to watch unfold, especially when you know Nagisa’s now in presence of a killer.

With everything Minato and Nagisa have gone through, it was clear that Island in a Puddle wasn’t going to be a happy story. Then again, seeking happiness from a Kei Sanbe work will take some time, as fans of his work will tell you. Its first volume does a solid job setting up the pieces on its narrative board. Now we just have to wait and see how Island in a Puddle strategizes itself, and hope the outcome plays in Sanbe’s favor.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this manga to review! I had never read anything by Key Sanbe before but I had heard such good things and it didn't disappoint. I loved this book! It was a quick read and it left me want more. There was a lot of plot set up in this volume and a great twist in the story. I enjoyed the art style of the book and the panels are clean and easy to read. The two main characters are brother and sister which are left by there mother most of the time. I will definitely be picking up the next volume!

Island in a Puddle is a crime mystery manga that follows the body swap trope. I truly enjoyed the art style and the set-up of the story. I’m interested in seeing where the story goes as additional volumes are published. Thank you to Kodansha Comics & NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is going to be a wild series. Minato and Nagisa are neglected children. When they go to an amusement park with their mother, they get caught up in a crime. I won't give anything else away, nor the particulars. Honestly if you liked Erased, you'll probably end up liking this. It's gritty and dark with just a hint of fantasy. I feel like the less you say about a thriller series, the more impact they have.

Other than that, the drawings are alright. The story is pretty fast-paced for an introduction. Give it a try!

An interesting art style with well drawn characters and backgrounds, particularly given all the rain in some scenes. I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect from this one, it initially pulled on my heartstrings and then it took a surprising turn that immediately piqued my interest. It’s a body swap story involving the fallout from the heist and some Yakuza, so you have an elementary school kid swapping bodies with a gangster.

While there could be potential to make it humorous and light hearted, this volume does the opposite so it’s a serious read and not to be taken lightly so far given that it deals with dark themes like child neglect and a bit of murder.

I did enjoy this volume more than the author’s other work, Erased, and I’m quite curious about what’s going to happen next but there was a lot of build up and things didn’t quite start to get interesting until towards the end.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for this ARC.

I enjoyed this volume so much! I could not put it down at all! The concept of it is so cool and the execution of it was perfect. The suspense had me on the edge of my seat!! The pacing of it was also great, nothing felt too slow or too fast.
It was really interesting seeing Minato swap bodies with a wanted criminal and how he dealt with it. The ending was crazy, and I cannot wait to see what happens next!
It'll be interesting to see how he'll find his way back to his sister.
I love the bond between Minato and his sister, I always enjoy reading a good sibling bond!

I definitely cannot wait to read the next one! I also loved the art a lot!

Kind of a dark read involving an elementary school kid that needs to learn to survive as a criminal and keep his sister alive. The story was kind of starting to get interesting, but not enough to get me to continue with the series. The art was okay, but not great.

I have to say, I do love opening a book, getting really into it, and then checking the author to see it's someone I've read before! I requested Island in a Puddle without realizing it'd been created by Kei Sanbe, the brain behind Erased, which is one of my favorite series. Island in a Puddle follows a young boy named Minato who cares for his younger sister Nagisa in the face of their neglectful mother. Often leaving for weeks before sweeping back in with cash and food and leaving again, Minato tries his best to keep Nagisa in high spirits and keep her fed. But when lightning strikes at an amusement park, he finds his entire world turned upside down.

I enjoyed this first volume and really wanted more by the end! I liked the ruthlessness of Kuromatsu's character as well as the pacing and setting, and I'm really looking forward to seeing more. The cliffhanger made my heart jump, and I'm really interested to see what kind of character Minato will become under huge pressure! I think this will be great for fans of Erased, since it has similar elements (a boy protecting his family, supernatural-fueled mystery, misunderstandings and struggle) while standing on its own as something new.

While I have never read Sanbe's previous work, Erased, I have heard many great compliments about it, so I was really interested in this book. However, I rarely read more than the first bolded tagline in the description of a suspense/mystery manga, so I went into this completely blind.

From the very start, there is a dreary and dismal atmosphere to this story. We begin with rain, something all three of our main characters mention disliking, and this carries on throughout much of the most shocking and/or depressing scenes. The manga opens with our main character, Minato, and his younger sister Nagisa, as they start to wonder when their mother will return home. The picture of child neglect rapidly forms between their nervous glancing at the calendar, the last package of ramen as dinner for two, and an apartment full of trash and dirty dishes. With only their slightly older neighbor having begun to catch on to what's happening, it's obvious Minato has been forced to look after Nagisa like a guardian rather than a sibling.

Even when their mother does return out of the blue, Minato has a difficult time feeling hopeful or secure. As a child who has been forced to mature so early, he's already picked up on the signs that his mother isn't planning on sticking around for long once again. It was painful to watch as his mother treated him and his sister to a sudden trip to the amusement park and showed them with treats, all while knowing something nefarious must be lurking beneath the surface of their mother's half-concealed expression. As of this volume, we have no idea why she chose to abandon them, nor if she knew about what would happen on the ferris wheel.

It was at this point in the story that I was completely surprised for the first time. I was not expecting a sudden lightning strike leading to a body swap, and especially not into an adult criminal who had just murdered someone! The POV switch that shows how the man had led up to this point in order to connect the two plotlines was interesting enough. A pretty basic heist-gone-wrong filled with betrayal, so far. However, having Minato and him swap places mid-way through his plan to retrieve the cash, and having just murdered a woman, made things much more interesting. I was also satisfied to see that Minato's thinking wasn't out-of-character for a child his age. He panics and originally tries to go to the police before realizing that his new body is a wanted murderer, but he also isn't a stranger to hiding the truth and acting natural before now. While this situation is a much more extreme version than he's used to, Minato has been forced to survive days or weeks without reaching out for any support before now, and that's why his quick (if not sometimes sloppy) thinking is still realistic for me.

Art-wise, the style isn't completely to my taste. Some of the proportions can be a little wonky, but the backgrounds are charming enough and expressions are done well--as are the paneling and inking needed for this kind of suspenseful atmosphere.

I'm really excited to see how this story will play out in future volumes! Thank you for giving me a chance to review this book.

Tense and dark with a lot of story potential.
It's not my preferred genre, but the story and art are well-done. I can't help but simultaneously anticipate and dread the next few volumes, because they will clearly be good but definitely unhappy.

Island in a Puddle vol.1 held my interest from the very beginning. I didn't read the story description before I started reading so the I initially thought the story was headed in one direction before it took a totally unexpected (to me) turn.

I already enjoy the dynamic between the brother and sister characters and I'm really keen to see how this story develops.

The illustration is very good and the panels are clean and easy to follow.

I'll be following this series from now on.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for supplying me with a free digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

New seinen manga from the writer of Erased. All about the criminal underworld in Tokyo we follow Minato has he fights to keep his little sister alive.

Not at all what i expected at all!! Good twist very suspenseful had me on the edge of my seat. Excited to see more how this story progresses, will be continuing this series I feel. 😊

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC copy in exchange for a review

I was really intrigued with this book since the end of the first chapter. At first it took me a while to understand what was going in but it hooked me pretty quickly. I read this in one sitting.

I always like stories of an older sibling doing anything to protect their younger sibling. The story is a bit dark and not usually the type of stories I lean towards, but I did enjoy it a lot. I’m not sure if I will continue the series, but it’s worth the read if you enjoy darker stories.