Ahh, I really loved this, it was whimsical and fun, and beautifully drawn.
I really like the characters, particularly the skeleton and the vampire, and I enjoyed their dynamic a lot!!
I absolutely adore the style, and I’m really looking forward to more volumes as I love the blend of comedy and paranormal

In the afterlife, there’s Heaven for the good people and Hell for the bad folks? But what if you did some bad things, but weren’t enough to warrant eternal damnation? That’s what Limbo is, where not much happens and spirits can live on peacefully. This is apparently tough on Detective Bonzo Scalobania, the main character of Shuji Takeya’s Hella Chill Monsters. The reason: he lives/lived for cases!

Now stuck doing menial jobs in Limbo, Bonzo is filled up with anxiety due to the lack of excitement. His bloodsucking assistant Vampy Vinegret tries to tell him to look at the bright side of the afterlife, but the itch to solve cases lingers about. Fortunately, life in the world of Hella Chill Monsters is anything but ordinary, be it preparing for a fancy dinner party or watching some nursery school kids. That’s because, well, there’s nothing normal with being dead!

Taking care of kids results in a monster appearing on the beach. A daytime trip to the movies for Vampy is just asking for him to be burned every time. An outdoor party has Bonzo be the target of a strange assailant (who also winds up joining his team afterwards). Even finding two pets who have vanished from their owner’s home brings forth some wild hijinks for Bonzo and Vampy.

Despite it being a Japanese manga, Hella Chill Vampires has a very Western approach with its visuals. It brings to mind a classic Hanna-Barbera cartoon from the 70s, with just a hint of Osaka Tezuka for good measure. The characters are very expressive, even if half of their face might be rotting off (or they don’t have one to begin with). It’s the biggest highlight of Takeya’s manga, as it brings for an original and rubbery look to a world that constantly focuses on making their characters look too detailed.

Storywise, the narrative could use a little cleaning up. Although the stories end on some surprisingly good jokes and high notes, the journey to the punchline can sometimes be uninspired. Only when Takeya thinks outside of the box — be it when shoving Vampy’s conundrum regarding the movie trip or Bonzo helping to make sure some kids get picked up from school — does it feel like the plot is having fun with its world and characters. When a joke does work, the series can be laugh-out-loud funny.

There’s a lot of promise to be found in Hella Chill Monsters. How the afterlife works is pretty original, and the characters are all likable. But less than half of the time, it feels like Takeya has no idea what to do for these characters, making its debut volume a little challenging to get through. With that being said, when Hella Chill Monsters is entertaining, it’ll kill its audience no problem!

Too frantic and silly for my taste. Neat look to the cast, but I think I'd like them better as t-shirt designs or something than attempts at characters. Couldn't follow what was going on. Cute but too disjointed.

I really liked this title! I loved the distinct character designs of our titular skeleton, vampire and a whole other assortment of other limbo residents. The story is in fact, very chill, which was delightful. It leans into a more slice of life comedy vibe, and that's cool! The art and character choices make it stand out in the genre. If you love things like the Nightmare Before Christmas or What we do in the Shadows, this might be a good fit for you!

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for this ARC inexchange for an honest review.

The art was fun and I liked it pretty much, it reminds me of Tokidoki's cartoons art style a bit. For the stories, there were some parts that made me smile mainly when the Zombie appeared but, all in all, it was okey. Somehow it wasn't easy to follow what was happening in some panels. That was an original spooky and funny manga to read.

Hella Chill Monsters (vol.1) wasn't for me.I enjoy horror and humor separately but together just wasn't a good mix for me. This has its audience but it isn't me. The arstyle is very cool

Rating: 4.5 leaves out of 5
Characters: 4/5
Cover: 4.5/5
Story: 4.5/5
Writing: 5/5
Genre: Humor/Paranormal
Type: Manga
Worth?: Yes!

First want to thank Netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this in exchange for an honest review. I know I gave it a 4.5 but I am rounding it to a well deserve 5. Between the cute stories and the cute art I was finding myself enjoying every page. Those last few pages were my favorite as well.

3 stars.

Thanks to NetGalley for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This goofy fantasy manga has some really fun ideas, but the side stories struggled to hold my attention because of kind of a lack of cohesion. While manga don't Need to have a broad, sweeping plot in mind, this one lacked even a solid character development over the course of the volume. I expected the story to be about Bonzo more or less finding a kind of peace (or even moving towards that) with his very boring life in Limbo, but instead he (and the other characters) exist in a kind of limbo where they don't really grow or change over the course of the chapters.

I may check out future volumes as they are translated, but overall, kind of a disappointing opening to what could be a wonderful series.

This review is brought to you by Netgally allowing me to review this book.

This was very cute and the managa itself was drawn beautifully. The vampire "Vampy" is my favorite character as she just has a no crap taking from anyone kind of of attitude and thats my kind of attitude. I am new to the Manga world and I am grateful I was able to read and review.

I am a bit older so it didnt not hold my attention the enitire time, however I will be purchasing and letting my daughter enjoy this as it is right up her ally. I will be picking up the second VOL to continue this cute journey of the Hella Chill Monsters

2/5
I liked the art in this manga… but that’s about it.
The stories were okay i guess. They felt kinda all over the place and were hard to follow.
The art was nice, the character designs are cute, but they’re all kind of similar so again, it was hard to follow in some places.
It’s a cute little book, definitely intended for younger audiences (which i’m not) so maybe that’s why I didn’t enjoy it much.

*Thank you to Netgalley, the author, and publisher for letting me read this ARC for my honest review*

This was such a cute and cozy slice of spooky life manga to kick off my Autumn TBR! I love the art style, I love all of the characters, but Vampy is my absolute favorite! As a fellow introvert I relate to wanting to stay inside to game or read and not being bothered with trivial tasks, lol. Couldn't help but laugh during his quest for sunscreen or calling himself a "modern vampire". Bonzo, on the other hand, is a skeleton detective in Limbo, and is always trying to find cases to solve. He has a hard time doing so, as Limbo is a very chill place. When he's not doing that, he's cooking or cleaning. I can't wait to see what happens next for Bonzo and his detective team! I will be purchasing a copy for my own personal collection, and plan to read the next volumes when I can.

Hella Chill Monsters v1 is a manga of 6 chapters, following a detective agency in limbo which is run by a skeleton and features his friends, a zombie and a vampire. As there isn’t much need for detectives in limbo, they often end up doing other jobs like cleaning and babysitting!
The first two parts of the story were good, I enjoyed the story and the art is fun. However in part 3 I started to lose interest and was skimming by the end. I’ve given three stars based on the start that I enjoyed and the fact that I think younger readers would definitely enjoy it more than I did.
With thanks to Netgalley for a free ARC in return for a fair review.

This was more fun to look at than read. The drawing style has a lot of Western influences.

I'm not a super huge fan of slice of life though. I think the drawing style suits slice of life, but I wish there was something more to this.

Definitely puts me in the mood for Halloween.

Fun manga with small stories of limbo and a detective his vampire friend etc. i like the design and art of the manga. some stories are more interesting than the others but overall i think it's a funny story

This is so adorable to read! I loved following our skeleton detective, Bonzo, who does more housework than investigating stuff and his roommate, Vampy, and the other side characters! I loved following their adventures, especially when the Limbo Kids are included. I highly recommend this one and I can't wait to read the next volume already.

I loved the way these monsters were written. Almost making it mundane, all the various creatures living in limbo. The relationship between Bonzo and Vampy was super cute, and I loved that each chapter was like a little separate story of its own. The illustrations were really well done as well.

This hilarious manga is about the mundane life of a skeleton detective in limbo. This was so funny and adorable. The world created in this manga looks so cool, I’d love to see more of it. I love the whole concept of the world as well. The character designs are really well done too and I love the character references included at the end.

I don’t think I could choose a favourite character design because I loved them all so much. Bonzo’s body shape being drawn based on Yuzuru Hanyu was such a fun surprise as he happens to be my favourite figure skater so that was super cool to see!! I will be buying a physical copy of this and recommending it a lot. I can’t wait to see more volumes!

TW/CW - Demons; Kidnapping; Fire/fire Injury; Fat shaming

Really cool art style and I really enjoyed the characters.

Vamp was my favourite

Definitely a cozy read for me and did drag abit at the end.

Thank you to Kodansha and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Hella Chill Monsters, Volume 1 by Shuji Takeya is a wonderful monster manga that would make the perfect Halloween read! The story revolves around Bonzo Scalobania, a skeleton detective looking for a case. He works with his assistant Vampy Vinegret and a zombie bounty hunter named Nero Lichman. This description may make the book sound like a detective / police procedural, but it's actually more of a slice-of-life or comedy manga. Besides the aforementioned detective, there really aren't any hallmarks of the mystery genre in the story.

Overall, Hella Chill Monsters is a delightful monster comedy that will appeal to fans of the webcomic Devil's Candy by REM or the slice-of-life comedy manga Play It Cool, Guys. One highlight of this manga is the unique art style, which was what attracted me to the cover in the first place. The manga-ka has a really unique art style that was super interesting and cute. I did take off 1 star, because I felt like I didn't get really get the humor sometimes. I was expecting it to be a bit funnier. If you're intrigued by the excerpt above, or if you're a fan of comedy manga in general, I recommend that you check out this book, which is available now!

Really fun art style and love the light humour and setting.
The slice of life style writing is wholesome and story is full of life.
All the characters have a unique style.
It felt almost like an animated series how fluidly each panel ran into the next and each chapter was a new concept.