Wow. This was dark, twisted but intriguing. Misato is treated so poorly and its so tragic and sad everything she goes through but the story keeps you reading and interested. I would love to continue the series but please, keep in mind its not a light read. Dark, interesting, sad, angering.

A baby not supposed to be born but saved by a doctor who couldn't kill. A glimpse of a life well-lived... stolen in a blink of an eye. What is the value of living when no one around wants you?

Roar: A Star in the Abyss 1 begins the story of Misato, that baby, as she starts her life.

Since this first volume covers many years, character development is a bit weak and time jumps are large. The story itself, is alright but as far as I can tell, there is nothing exceptional about it. Still, the story flows well and is easy to understand. I recommend it to only mature readers as their is some nudity.

Misato wants to be an actress. Surprisingly, she's actually really good at it. Unfortunately, her world comes crashing down because of a fire. Now, thrown into a house where everyone seems to hate her, how will she ever dream again?

I like this. I'm interested to see how this plays out. It is difficult to assign stars to something that is obviously incomplete (this is just Vol. 1). I may continue this.

The story feels like the early 2000s korean melodrama but I am intrigued with the plot. I like the background story of the MC, her happy childhood with her doting parents and close friend, Junya at the small island before a tragic event leading to the death of her beloved parents and her being whisked away by a woman who claimed she was her birth mother to the city. The drawings and illustration are gorgeous.
However, there are some parts that feels choppy especially the storyline pace and how some characters were introduced and portrayed especially the villain(s) in the story.

I don't know but this is a bit bothering me. My only issue is with the translation. Some of the informal word choices, like using “ya” instead of “you”, pulled me out of the story a bit. It didn’t match the tone of the dialogue or the serious themes, and I wish the translation had been a bit more polished.

What a heart wrenching story!

Roar tells the story of Misato, who grew up on a remote island with parents who cared and a best friend she defended. When she's cast as a simple extra, her whole world comes crashing down. A woman claiming to be her mother whisks her away to world she is desperate to escape.

This short manga had me crying! Misato just wants to live her life and receives nothing but suffering in return. This first volume is just the tip of the iceberg, and I can tell things are only going to get more dramatic from here.

The title was one of the first things that attracted me and I loved the moment it came up in the manga. A literal cry of pain, anguish and so many emotions when classified as a roar feels so powerful.

Little Misato's life is a happy one, she practices karate along with her best friend Jun and always defends him from bullies. Her life takes an amazing turn when she's selected as a child actor and her acting is so real and powerful, the director decides to keep the single shot practice scene in the movie. Misato now famous faces off with the bullies even more but when she hears of a rumour of her being adopted, it breaks her heart and she confronts her parents. Her mother gets angry at her and Misato decides to spend the night at Jun's house. Her life takes a tragic turn when her house with her parents inside, burns down the same night, turning everything into ashes, including her life.

A mysterious woman claiming to be her real mother snatches her away from the tiny island and her best friend and she, her daughter and the negligent father make misato's life a living hell. She finds solace with their 2nd sickly child and as they grow up, they decide to run away.

However their plans are foiled, everything falls apart and Misato escapes the house alone, and sings into the night while tears flow from her eyes.

This was a very touching and tragic tale and I definitely can't wait to read volume 2. Everyone should give this one a read, trust me.

3.5 stars

This manga took me on an emotional rollercoaster. Misato is a compelling protagonist, but the first volume mostly focuses on her early life, and even that is presented somewhat vaguely. I wish the author had provided a bit more background to help ground the story, though I’m hopeful we’ll explore that in more depth in future volumes. I’m especially looking forward to the promised revenge arc.

Wonderful manga if you love drama and having your heart strings tugged at the very beginning and throughout the book. I have been in a reading slump for manga for a while and Roar got me over it.

Thank you for this ARC.

Unfortunately this comic/manga wasn’t for me. I finished the whole thing hardly. i am sure the upcoming volumes will have a better plot and the main character will get a better life, but it is a no from me for now. It was gut wrenching to read, and I didn’t really liked the plot.

Thank you for the ARC.

At first, I wasn’t really liking the comic and where it was going. I also thought the hick-ish (for lack of a better word), was annoying, distracting & unnecessary (still think it’s unnecessary), but by the end, I was engrossed. I think we could have started at the end and then had flashbacks of the beginning/backstory (so the beginning was slow). I also still have no idea why she was taken by her birth mother. And why her dad tried to get rid of her (so confusing).
However, I will continue the series because by the end, I was fully invested.

Though there was an intriguing story, there were too many issues. The execution made it hard to follow. It was choppy and the pacing and story become too confusing too quickly. Though I enjoy the art style, it is hard to look past the fact that I just quite couldn't make sense of it. There is potential, but it would need better pacing and telling of the story. Overall was not my favorite and most likely will not be continuing.

This was a heartwrenching story that I cannot wait to continue reading through the series. There’s so much mystery built in to the basic premise of the story but I adored the character growth and where the plot was going and how all of these different characters all intermingle into each other’s lives. An absolutely intense read and definitely has some darker themes, but give the story a chance. I can definitely see this building to something amazing.

The concept of the story was familiar yet intriguing and touching. The illustrations were amazing and I could visualise them come to life while reading it. Even at times I found myself trying to act the scenes while reading aloud like Misato did. I am excited for the next volume.

Misato is a girl who lived a seemingly normal life on an island before making herself known in a show as an extra. From then on, she is soon taken away from the life she's known and moves in with another family, only to have to deal with more drama and other events. My heart hurt so much for her and those she cared about--they deserve so much more. This first volume deals with her childhood and how she ended up where she is now. I liked the art too and I do look forward to continuing this manga!

Roar: A Star in the Abyss
-released
-volume 2: September
-revenge, drama, thriller, mystery
-Netgalley & Kodansha ARC read

Between the art and the telling, the series aims to tug at your emotions- that is for sure. When you think things are going somewhat ok for Misato, something comes up to take a turn for the worst. You either like or hate the characters there is really no inbetween.
I enjoyed reading this one so far, the first volume focuses on Misato’s childhood which is setting up for the plot to understand why she wants revenge. She does have a traumatic childhood with finding out she was adopted, her parents caught in a fire, and taken away from her childhood friend into a home that abuses her. We do get glimpses of her birth, which raises some questions. Why did she need to be hidden?

I feel like the house fire was due to the fact someone saw Misato acting in a show and came to handle the “issue”. When the lady appears to take Misato “home” claiming she is her mother creates more mystery, because why does she dislike her so much. I think this lady might have a grudge against Misato’s real mom- who knows if we’ll ever discover who it is though.

The premise for this series is very mysterious and interesting. There's a lot of interpersonal drama and strong emotional moments. It's definitely using this first volume to set the scene and build the character relationships and backstory, which I personally appreciate, but that of course means it hasn't gotten into the major revenge plotline yet. I really like when a series takes the time to plan for its long game, so I'm hoping it leads to well-developed payoff. I look forward to read the next installments in the series.

2.5. If my library gets the next volume I’ll check it out but right now it’s giving trama. And I don’t truly understand a lot of these people’s motivations. They created and instigated ( and I think started the OG fire but that is not said in anyway shape or form it’s my educated guess). And I like that the main character seems like a survivor emotionally, but I am not necessarily sure I’m invested.

What an interesting first volume - I absolutely have to continue this series (and watch the live action)!

Years ago Misato was a normal young girl living by the ocean with her parents and only friend. She stood up to bullies, took karate and enjoyed her life. One day she's encouraged to be an extra on a TV show being filmed in their hometown and secrets start to surface. After a tragedy, Misato is taken from her hometown and forced to live with a new family that claimed they would be giving her a better life all the while abusing her. 10 years later she's determined to escape the abuse and make it on her own. Her star shown bright as an extra on that set so many years ago and someone was watching and hoping to discover her.. will she succeed and get revenge on the family who took everything from her?

The first volume of Roar: A Star in the Abyss is a solid start for a drama series. Most of the first installment focuses on the events prior to our main story. Therefore, there are lots of infodumping and foreshadowing about our main character's past. Misato has a very traumatic childhood with a lot of terrible people in her life but she still tries to find meaningful connections despite her struggles.

Overall, I liked the subtle hints of her even more dramatic heritage and how she is getting closer (unconsciuosly) to the entertainment industry. But I felt the "villains" were too cartoony sometimes, and I would have enjoyed it more if the snippets of her past had more connection storytelling-wise. I think the second problem can be just a classic symptom of telling the "prequel" part of the main story so this can improve in the second book. I usually have to read at least two volumes of a new manga to decide whether I want to continue the series or not, so it is too early for me to give a definite yes or no to the whole series.

I received an arc of this book thanks to Netgalley and Kodansha Comics.