Penguin & House – Manga First Impression

You know, I started the manga first impression posts to have some shorter quicker posts throughout the week. That was the idea at least. But it bloated pretty quickly and now a lot of them are about the same length as my anime reviews.

That’s fin but I still really want to have some nice quick posts you can read in a few minutes and get an idea of what a manga is about. at least what the first volume is about. So I’m going to try to get back to that now!

Why I Picked up Penguin & House

Because Penguins…and also potentially houses!

Official Summary

Pen is a penguin. His favorite things are pancakes and fastidious household upkeep. Pen lives in the city with his friend Hayakawa, a human. They can’t communicate in words, so the only way for Pen to express his love is by doing laundry and getting good deals at the supermarket. This is a chronicle of their life together–let it snuggle on your shelf next to A Man and His Cat or Way of the Househusband!

My First Impression

Hayakawa is pretty ungrateful…

Review

I like these types of manga. Domestic comedies that aren’t romances. I have a lot of fun with them. I started The Masterful Catis Depressed Again Today which is almost the same as Penguin & House but with a huge cat instead of a small penguin and I really enjoy that series.

As such, I figured this was a perfect manga for me. And it would be a great way to scratch that manga penguin itch after Penguin Gentlemen turned out to be a fact book instead of a manga.

But you know, it just didn’t quite work for me. Not that it’s bad exactly but it’s a little short. For instance, the official summary mentions A Man and His Cat or Way of the Househusband! Sadly Penguin & House doesn’t have anywhere close to the charm of a man and his cat. It’s a much more superficial story focusing on punchlines rather than sentimentality. On the other hand, it’s just not as funny as Househusband. Even with humour being subjective up to a certain point, I feel pretty confident in saying that.

So what you’re left with is an in-between sort of manga. Pen is cute, but not quite as cute as a lot of other mangas. There are no big moments to tug at your heartstrings and the jokes will make you smile but not laugh out loud. There are simply better examples of pretty much everything Penguin & House is trying to do but at the same time, it isn’t bad. There is nothing specific I can point to and say, that, that bit is lacking.

Conclusion

If you’re a die-hard manga penguin fan, this would be a nice addition. Personally, I think I’m good with stopping after the first volume.