The Fall 2022 Manga Guide

Skygrazer

What's It About? 

The temptations of three hormone-fueled boys, space detectives, robots, fairies, and a series of mysterious murders—though seemingly unconnected, the common thread between them is the maze-like apartment complex known as the Skygrazer. To unravel this enigma, a spunky rookie detective named Saeko Sakuraba is on the case, but she may just find all the twists and turns of this labyrinthian dwelling to be a real pain in the neck…

Skygrazer has story and art by Masakazu Ishiguro, with English translation by Ko Ransom, and Vertical Comics will release thing single-volume manga physically on October 25.

Content Warning: sexual assault

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Is It Worth Reading?

Jean-Karlo Lemus

Rating:

Skygrazer takes place in a science fiction world where robots exist and censorship laws have led to the censorship of pornography. The stories initially seem to be unconnected goofy one-offs, until all of the disparate characters are brought together by a murder mystery that ends up recontextualizing the entire book. This shift is sudden, but very well-handled: even the smallest of side characters gets an expanded role in the story, leading to some really nice twists.

There are some dings against Skygrazer, though: first, there's a graphic instance of sexual assault against a minor in the story. It's very brief, but nevertheless potentially triggering. The art style is also quite simple: while it works both in the context of the goofy chapters and the stark tension of the later chapters, it can still be a little underwhelming. It does, however, contrast very well with the detailed designs of the robots whenever they appear.

Ultimately, Skygrazer is an enjoyable science fiction one-off, but not a particularly excellent one. While the ending mystery is well-crafted and worth the time of reading the story, it's not terribly memorable—and the one instance of sexual assault can be rather off-putting. Mildly recommended, with some reservations.

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MrAJCosplay

Rating:

Skygrazer is the type of story that prides itself on its misdirection. It starts with a seemingly innocent display of boys being boys as they piece together a seemingly random and inconsequential mystery around porn magazines. But after that, every subsequent chapter introduces new mysteries that appear similarly random and insignificant at first, but by the end all tie into a larger overarching narrative. The larger connection between these mysteries is very well-hidden; there's a growing sense of unease that creeps up, but by the book's end, you realize that you were distracted from the real things that you should've been uncomfortable about. There are some leaps in logic here and there, but the book mostly gets away with it thanks to its exaggerated and humorous depiction of movement and physics despite the simple art style. But the fact that the book constantly keeps me on my toes and makes me want to revisit it so I can appreciate different details from a wider perspective is commendable. Even if the conclusion doesn't end up being all that satisfying, the journey is a tightly-written stroll that I think is worth at least one readthrough.