By Masayuki Ishikawa
Del Rey, 240 pp.
Rating: Older Teen (16+)

As much as we’d all like to not think about them, germs are everywhere. Picture this: there can be anywhere form 30 to 100 million germs on every square centimeter of a human face. So from your bedroom to the fridge and even on your skin, bacteria play a “huge” part in our lives, often being used to create substances and aid services that we use daily. Heck, some of these little guys are protecting us against other germs! Wouldn’t it be interesting to see what they are like, to see how they interact with each other without having to peer under a microscope?

If that’s your wish, you might be interested in talking to Tadayasu Sawaki, the protagonist of Del Rey’s newest information-heavy manga, Moyasimon. He’s not only able to see germs, but has also been able to touch and interact with them ever since he was a boy. In addition to this amazing ability, he’s grown up in and around mold since his family works with tane-koji, molds that can be used to make various liquors, cheeses and other substances (miso, for example). For as long as he’s been around this, though, Sawaki has wanted out. The only problem is his grandfather is dead set on having Sawaki use his gifts to help the common man (and a few greedy students) and ships him, as well as his long-time best friend Kei Yuki, out to agricultural school. On their first day, the boys encounter the eccentric duo of professor Keizo Itsuki and his assistant, Haruka Hasegawa, who utilize Sawaki’s ability to… well… do just about anything, from blackmailing students to saving entire student bodies from mass food poisoning!

This is a very interesting manga in the sense that it reminds me of Oishinbo, but without the incredible cultural focus of why Japan is so great. The type of cuisine and agricultural information that Moyasimon feeds us (pun intended) is much more extravagant and exotic. For example, when the professor first meets Sawaki and Kei, he is digging up a decaying seal that we later find is stuffed with dead sea birds, a fermenting method known to the Alaskan people as kivak. I really enjoyed this aspect of the book, as the explanations focus more on the science and process of how these items are made.

While this informational aspect adds a very interesting element to the book, the actual plot and characters are a bit lacking. We know a lot about where they came from, but otherwise, everyone becomes very predictable after the first few chapters. Sawaki is a bit of a baby, Kei is quiet and observant, Hasewaga is boisterous and rude, etc. In addition to this, the story is very jumbled. There are little hints of an overarching story line present during the course of the book but for the most part it retains a very episodic nature. It left me feeling confused.

With that being said, I think what really saves this book is the artwork. Though it isn’t the most detailed I’ve seen, the mix of simplistic germs and realistic people creates a very nice dynamic. The germs are actually my favorite characters, mainly on the basis that there are so many of them, each with their own individual phrases, desires and functions. It adds a nice lightheartedness to the amount of information the book throws at you and almost makes the experience of learning more accessible and enjoyable.

All in all, this is an all right book for its first volume. It sets the scene well and offers some interesting hints of things to come but overall leaves me worried about whether it will start picking up its slack anytime soon. I’d give it a chance if you were looking to get away from your normal reading materials.

Volume one of Moyasimon is available now.

Review copy provided by the publisher.