Here’s yet another volume of manga I picked up at the London MCM Comic Con, pretty much just on a whim. The question is whether it was worth my time or not – a question I shall be answering with this post.
Monster Tamer Girls is a manga by Mujirushi Shimazaki, that was originally serialised in Manga Time Kirara Forward. The first volume contains seven chapters and a side story.
When giant monster roam the earth, “wildlife care” takes on a whole new meaning. That’s where the Tamers come in – girls trained to soothe the savage beasts. But while coexistence is a way of life, it’s still a little overwhelming for meek Ion Hidaka. Can she handle being one of the newest members of the Tatara Girls’ Academy Tamers Committee? The monsters seem to think so!
So as you can probably work out from the title and the synopsis, Monster Tamer Girls is about girls who look after wild monsters. The wildlife they care for may be called monsters, but they are just like any other wild animal.
For me, the monster you can see on the front cover is probably my favourite of the ones that appear during this volume. It is called Blue, and it forms a unique connection with lead character Ion Hidaka.
Monsters come in a variety of shapes and sizes, and there is still plenty that is unknown about them. During the course of this first volume, the girls come to learn more about the life cycles of the monsters.
The monsters may be the focus of this manga, but the human characters are pretty good as well. Lead character Ion Hidaka is reluctant Monster Tamer, and she hits it off with another Tamer by the name of Sora Misumaru.
There is also Tsukiko Miyama, who has a habit of coming up with her own names for the monsters. None of them ever seem to stick, though. Tsukiko has a close relationship with another girl who goes by the name of Kotomi Justine Kagurazaka.
Seeing how the girls interact with the monsters is compelling reading, and there is enough humour in there to keep things interesting as well.
Monster Tamer Girls builds up a very intriguing world with this first volume, managing to balance both the human and monster characters. This series is very much one that I would recommend for fans of girls’ club stuff, but it may draw in a few kaiju fans with the varying monsters.
Rory Muses 