[DeepL Translation - needs review] Volume 1 Introduction: Poyoko, a girl who is no longer needed by anyone in the world and has lost her emotions. One day, on a field trip, a mysterious voice lured her to another world inhabited by non-humans. As she wanders around, a boy wearing a strange mask appears in front of her. ...... A dark fairy tale about a "piece of rainbow" begins.
(Translator: DeepL)
After I finished 紀ノ目's masterpiece ロジカとラッカセイ, I needed more. Imagine my delight when I discovered that they have written another 3 volume series!
If ロジカとラッカセイ feels like "Adventure time, the manga", this one might be a less whimsical and darker "Alice in Wonderland, the manga" - with a dash of The NeverEnding Story. We even got a cat character, grinning down on us from a tree! Our Alice is Poyoko, an unwanted and mistreated child, who inadvertently steps into a dangerous world full of strange people and creatures. Shortly after, she meets a masked person, and fate has it that they begin to travel together.
The manga has full furigana, doesn't use much complicated grammar and the sentences aren't very hard, but it features characters who use keigo, and one character in particular is talking in Kansai-ben. If you ever read any other manga who features Kansai-ben you'll be completely fine, but if not, stuff like 食べへん instead of 食べない might confuse you for a bit.
This is really hard to rate. First of all because my expectations were very high after reading the author's other work. And secondly because it feels like an introduction to the world and the characters, and then leaves you wanting more. It's compelling, but it doesn't really feel satisfying on its own. But it does do a great job introducing us, and I do want more - in fact, I've already bought the next volume. So, 4 stars it is for now, and I might revisit that once I read all 3 volumes.