Forum - View topicREVIEW: Interviews With Monster Girls GN 1 & 2
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Paul D. Atreides
 Posts: 128 |
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I've read the first two volumes of this manga (the only ones published in english thus far), and honestly it feels like this manga was written for me.
I love the premise about a biology teacher who studies monster girls because I love biology and monster girls. Usually monster girls are simply fantasy creatures placed in a raunchy sex comedy, with Monster Musume probably being the best example. Of course I do enjoy Monster Musume a lot, it's hilarious, sexy, and hilariously sexy. That being said, I enjoy Interviews with Monster Girls on a deeper level because it brings up the question: what if they were real, and what if we could study them. Not just from a biological stand-point but also from a sociological one. How does their differing physiologies affect their behaviour and how they think, how do they manage in society, and how can we use this knowledge to help them thrive. Because of this I can also relate to it on a personal level due to the fact that I have Asperger syndrome. My life experiences have been more or less like these monster girls, both the good and the bad. My one criticism is that I wished there were more kinds of monster girls in the manga than just a vampire, dullahan, snow woman, and a succubus. Maybe the realistic tone the manga is going for limits the types of creatures it can include. Would a lamia or a centaur be going too far? Then again I don't expect perfect logic from a manga where there's a girl who's head is separate from her body. |
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Princess_Irene
ANN Reviewer
 Posts: 2652 Location: The castle beyond the Goblin City |
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That's a really good point about relating to the demis in the story. It's actually what I admire most about the series - that they're real characters rather than sexy monsters.
Have you read A Centaur's Life? It's more in line with this than the always-fun Monster Musume and its ilk, and if you're looking for more variation in monster girls but the same kind of thoughtful tone, I think you'd like it. |
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Parsifal24
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I've read six volumes of Centaur's Life before dropping it and Interviews With Monster Girls and I honestly prefer Interviews With Monster Girls as it is less "granular" in it's world building. as Centaur's Life had a tendency to bounce from grounded realism to what ever seemed to be the Mangka's fancy from going inside a RPG game to alternative history to the dreams of some characters.
Interviews With Monster Girls feels more grounded even the interview aspect struck me as comparable to the student counseling programs I was involved in in High School as a special education student. As far as the harem element it's a relatively realistic portal of an obvious audience fantasy comparable to the Student Teacher relationship in Cardcaptor Sakura. I think it weakens the series. but I can also see how a teenage girl could develop feelings for a teacher like Takahashi so it doesn't feel like he's simply there as an audience surrogate. Also I have to say making the Demis feel like real teenage girls and not simply fetish objects is nice as even the series I found comparable to Nurse Hitomi's Monster Infirmary kind of pushed that boundary in places. |
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Ali07
 Posts: 3333 Location: Victoria, Australia |
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I've really been enjoying the anime adaption, but I must say that the manga art felt a bit jarring to me when I decided to have a look at it for myself. I may still end up picking the series up, but I think I'll flick through volume 2 just to see if it still turns me off.
But, come the end of the anime adaption...I feel like he story that's being told will end up getting me to buy the manga anyway. 
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Sahmbahdeh
Posts: 713 |
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I don't really agree with the point about the premise being that skeevy; I hadn't even considered that interpretation until you pointed it out, and I haven't heard of anyone else who has, either. Even when you explained it it seems like a stretch, honestly.
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Princess_Irene
ANN Reviewer
Posts: 2652 Location: The castle beyond the Goblin City |
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That's interesting, because most people I've talked with found the premise uncomfortable. Of course, it's likely that that's because I'm in academics, so most of the people I talk to are also teachers and/or researchers. (Or students.) It's all a matter of where you're coming from.
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Alan45
 Village Elder Posts: 10014 Location: Virginia |
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@Princess_Irene
I suspect that you are getting that reaction because you are providing them the premise without their reading the volumes in question. I discovered the premise by reading the first volume. Since that didn't seem to go anywhere skeevy the series doesn't bother me. I don't see anything unusual with the girls being interested in their teacher as long as he doesn't do anything with it. |
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