The Fall 2024 Manga Guide

Disney Twisted-Wonderland: The Manga—Anthology

What's It About? 

An anthology of manga shorts featuring all your favorite characters from the Disney mobile game.

Short stories set in the world of Twisted Wonderland, based on the hit mobile game from Disney!

The first installment in a collection of small but mighty adventures, featuring the characters and world of Twisted Wonderland. Each tale is written and drawn by a different manga creator!

Disney Twisted-Wonderland: The Manga—Anthology includes stories by 17 manga artists, including Sakura Fujimoto, Yū Ginno, Daisuke Hagiwara, Nozomi Ichiru, Monika Kaname, Rui Karasuzuki, Rato Kitaguni, Majiko!, Ryō Miyama, Ayano Natsume, Himako Neko, Mohara Nosae, Haruto Shiota, Hasumi Takeda, Tsubaki Totsuka, Zarame Watari and Shō Yuzuki. The manga has an English translation by Alethea and Athena Nibley. This volume was lettered by Joanna Estep. Published by Viz Media (September 10, 2024).

Is It Worth Reading?

Twisted Wonderland is one of those pretty boy franchises in the school of Uta no Prince Sama or Hypnosis Mic: it just keeps throwing bishonen at you until you finally meet one that makes you say, “I would protect him with my life.” In this case, all of the handsome young men are inspired by Disney IP: the cunning bespectacled guy based on Ursula from The Little Mermaid, for example, or the sweet but spicy gijinka of the concept of the Poison Apple (yes, you read that correctly) from Snow White. Incredibly, the Mouse would stamp his trademark on something so strange, or so horny.

Based on a smartphone game that came out in English in 2022, this manga is strictly for readers who have also played the entire game, or are close to it. Otherwise, you're going to be not only spoiled for major plot points, but completely lost. This manga includes no explanation of the characters: nothing of their histories, connections, or personal quirks. In short, it is no replacement for playing the game, and it makes spoiler-heavy references to Book 3 and beyond. But if you're already a fan, you'll enjoy these cute, slice-of-life-style stories about your blorbos. The volume is well-balanced, so whether you've got the hots for the Housewarden of Heartslabyul or you're more of a Savanaclaw stan, each character gets plenty of love.

Most of the stories in this anthology take a “behind the scenes” feel. The stakes are low and the conflicts are inconsequential. It's basically just the boys having fun. They do everything from competing in a school sports event to hunting for loose change. The beginning story features how Ace and Deuce dealt with the terms of the shady contract that Azul talked them into—head polyps and all—but it's less of a problem than it is poking fun at their temporary predicament. Along with some beautiful full-color artwork from some of the designers behind the game, this is essentially a bonus feature for Twisted Wonderland fans. I don't have to sell you on this: if you like the game, you'll like it! If you haven't played it yet, do that first!

Have you ever read the first volume of a story only for it to feel like it's the fifth volume? Like, all the characters have already established themselves in the story and you're just jumping in the middle? That's how it felt reading Twisted-Wonderland. I am familiar with the Twisted-Wonderland series as I have friends that are diehard fans. Fans of the series are probably going to get a kick out of this book because it feels like this book was only written FOR fans and no one else. As someone who has never played those games before and barely knows any of the lore, I didn't know what I was reading for the majority of this book.

Is just a collection of slice-of-life stories, revolving around the main cast from the game. However, this isn't an introduction to any of those characters as much as it is just a bunch of cute moments that don't really have a point. It's all cute and the artwork is nice to look at, but I'm not really sure what I or other general audience people are supposed to get out of this book. It doesn't even do what I think volumes like this should do and act as a healthy introduction to the Twisted-Wonderland series. I don't feel inclined to go play the games to fill in the gaps because if anything, I'm frustrated that my time was wasted. Definitely something that you could skip.