Manga: Kigurumi Guardians

Kigurumi Guardians Vol 1
Rating: 5/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher! 

THE CHOSEN ONE
Hakka Sasakura's life is about to turn upside-down. She comes home from a day of admiring her student body president to discover that a mysterious creature resembling a man in an animal suit has taken up residence her home. What's more, she has been chosen to work with this strange being to fight off invaders from another dimension and save the world...and she has to kiss him to do so?! Lily Hoshino, the beloved artist behind Mawaru Penguindrum, offers her cute and twisted take on the magical girl genre. You probably never thought Sailor Moonneeded more hot older guys in full-body mascot costumes, but Kigurumi Guardians will bring you around! 

Okaaaay so I thought this was going to be fun and kind of a little bit ridiculous, and while it was both of those, it was also hilarious and cute and I completely loved it. Genuinely, with one volume, this has lodged itself firmly on my list of favourites! 

Kigurumi Guardians is fast paced and had me chuckling from the start. Ginger is so sassy and you kind of want to smack him one multiple times. Hakka is super relatable, with her little crush, and then her reactions upon being thrown in to the situation that she finds herself in. I was rooting for her from the start and totally on her side, and cringing for her when she did the thing with Ginger before she knew the truth. Chigaya, the student body president, is pretty damn extra. I'm not going to lie. I haven't decided if I like him or not, but he's extra. Our entire cast of characters are memorable and easy to relate to. Even Nobari who's not always pleasant, I wasn't sure I'd like her but I started to warm up to her. She had the exact reaction I'd have had too...a swift punch to the face, Edward Elric style. Poor old Basilico gets quite the beating, but his interactions with Nobari crack me up. 

Hakka, Nobari, and Satsuki plus Ginger, Basilico and Fennel make for a lively team, and I'm excited to see them bond some more and work together more. Plus I want to know more about Ginger, Fennel and Basilico plus Chigaya and Maskaki. Maskaki cracked me up so much because he's like Chigaya's babysitter or parent at some points, reigning him in and making him behave. I'm fairly sure Chigaya is going to antagonise Ginger to the extreme. 

I really love Hakka and Gingers relationship, they bicker and sass each other and it's hilarious, but they also have some really nice bonding moments too and I'm looking forward to seeing them work together more and seeing them bond some more! In case you can't tell, I totally ship them. I ship Nobari and Basilico too. I actually have a lot of ships and I'm excited to see relationships develop! I'm hoping there actually will be a little bit of romance! 

Kigurumi Guardians is a fun idea, and while I had certain expectations going in, it blew them all away and took me completely by surprise. It's well executed, with cute art, and plenty of humour. I spent most of the volume chuckling, I'm not going to lie! It's so damn cute, and it gave me the warm and fuzzies, as well as leaving me desperate for the next volume and excited for this series. I'm seriously calling it now as one of my favourites of the year!