 Hey everybody, welcome back to the channel. Today we're gonna be covering two books that I think are worth your time. We got Box of Light and Dinosaurs Sanctuary. Let's do it. I got what I thought were going to be two standalone reads. Turns out they're volume ones, specifically Box of Light, which I did not expect. I thought it was a one and done manga so I am really excited to find out that there is a volume two solicited for early 2023 and I'm super excited to continue reading the adventures of this weird, eerie, creepy convenience store. This manga is drawn and written by Seiko Erisawa and you really don't need to know much. It essentially tells the story of a convenience store that is located in the boundary between life and death when a person is close to that realm, whether it be an accident or sickness or something like that, they are suddenly in this dark area, this abyss, if you will, and in it they see a dimly lit convenience store and subconsciously they're going to enter and they're going to make a purchase. After they leave, well, it depends on what happens in real life, I guess, whether they pass away or they stay and they come back to or they get revived in some cases. It's sort of a twilight zone-esque adventure. It's the daily occurrences of the employees here and the people that walk in and they're going to make what could be their last purchases or could not. There's really a sense of dread in this series because if you are thrown in this situation you don't really understand what's happening and you can't get a feel for the area around you all you're seeing is complete darkness except for this lit store. However, surrounding the building there are mysterious creatures called, I guess, darkness and one of them is exceptionally cute. You see it in the back of the book as well as the front takes the form of a cyclops looking cat and behaves like a cat even though it's sort of this abyss darkness monster. The employees there aren't necessarily human, they are posing as such for the people that are walking in except for one of the characters that through him we get to experience the process of going to that store and he is giving the option faced with a life and death situation. He is giving the option to work at the store or surrender succumb to his fate and pass away due to an accident and really that's about it when it comes to box of light. It's more about the atmosphere. It's more about the stories of the individuals that go into this convenience store. Some go for tragic reasons, others for just stuff that happens in life, you know? And it's the stories that make you reflect on life and our own mortality and all that stuff. The employees do get their time to shine with quick snippets where you start to understand a little bit about them but not too much. The owner or the manager I should say of the convenience store, there's more to that character and there are hints of something bigger there that hopefully will get explored in further volumes. I am looking forward to it. It's a really slice of life series filled with mystery vibes and it's more about the atmosphere like I mentioned before. Now the art for box of light is very Indian nature. I do like it. At the beginning I was a little bit iffy on it but as soon as I started reading it and getting to know the characters and the overall vibe and aesthetic and setting I fell in love with it and actually really like it but I do understand that it may not be for everybody or you might find it a little bit odd but just go with it cause it's intentional. That's part of the flow of the story. So I really enjoy box of light. If you're into that sort of thing, I do recommend it. It's a short read but just know that it does have volume one which surprised me. I thought it was a standalone like I said at the beginning of the video. I am surprised that we are getting a volume two and super excited to check it out. So next up is Dinosaur Sanctuary. Here we have volume one. This is written and drawn by Itaru Kinoshita with research consultant by Shinichi Fujiwara. Now I'm gonna go back to that in a second. Dinosaur Sanctuary is actually one of my most hyped releases of 2022. I love dinosaurs ever since I saw Jurassic Park in theaters back in the day and owning it on VHS. I've been a huge fan of dinos and studying everything and all that. So what the heck is Dinosaur Sanctuary about? The story tells us that in 1946 on a remote island, I assume in the Pacific, they discovered that several dinosaurs never went extinct. So humans do what we do best and exploit that and construct zoos and exhibits and theme parks and all that stuff. And we continue to breed and genetically enhance and genetically breed, I guess, different dinosaurs from a bygone era, the ones that did not survive the extinction events, I guess. And now we have theme parks associated with dinosaurs. Now we do get a mention of a certain tragic event that occurred that changed the perspective of dinosaurs in the public's eye. And in the present time, unfortunately, they have a falling out in popularity and people aren't as excited to check out the theme parks and all that stuff and generally don't care about the dinosaurs. I will say out of everything that I read in this book, that to me is the most unrealistic thing imaginable because if dinosaurs existed right now in present time, I would guarantee you nobody would get bored of that and everybody would see them 24-7. But enter the main character, Suma Suzume. She is the daughter of a famous scientist and she wants to be a zookeeper and help boost the popularity of the dinosaurs again. So she enters a kind of a dinghy past its prime rundown park and there she meets her new coworkers and bosses and all that stuff. She learns to take care of the dinosaurs and there is a bunch of science behind it which is brought to you by the research consultant, the research job that was done for this logo. Like I mentioned earlier by the professor, Shin Ichi Fujiwara provides valuable insight into making these dinosaurs as realistic as possible. I don't mind suspension of disbelief. I don't mind going the Jurassic Park route and making them look like that but if you're gonna go with a more realistic tone, this I think gets it and gets dinosaurs as accurately as possible. Some of the dinosaurs featured here are some of my favorites including the Dullophosaurus which happens to be my all-time favorite and I was so happy. I did not expect them to show up and just a great attention to detail to the anatomy behavior and just look of these creatures. If they existed in today's world, this is what they would look like. I'm 100% certain of it and the stories in here are just slice of life oriented. It's the character trying to do her best to get everybody to love dinosaurs again but just so happens to confront different problems that would actually happen in real life with regular zoos and after every chapter, there is a mini essay I guess from the professor that I mentioned at the start and I had a lot of fun reading those as well. It gives you some great insight into what he went through studying the different fossils and all that stuff as well as preparing for this manga and giving you commentary on the chapter that you just read. I really enjoyed that. Overall, just a really fun series with great art. Don't let the cover fool you because it's not, I mean, it's super cute that she's petting the dinosaur and the dinosaur is extremely happy. That's adorable, I love it but it gives you maybe a false sense of what the story could be. The art is super cool and it shines through. I love the character designs and the contrast between the manga looking characters with the realistic looking dinosaurs really meshes well and it immerses you in to the story. So definitely do check it out. I loved it. I think it's awesome. Volume two comes out, I think like five or six months from now. It sucks that I have to wait so long but this just came out last year so I get it. Super excited. Nonetheless, I can't wait for you guys to check it out. Out of the two, I honestly would recommend Dinosaur Sanctuary just because I love the whimsical adventure feel to it because it's a topic that we loved as kids and still love as adults if you're a dinosaur fan whereas Box of Light, it's more introspective, it's more about a serious topic and of course it's kind of spooky and vibe-ish compared to this that's a more wholesome experience for the whole family to enjoy. But nonetheless, two great books that I highly recommend. If you've read them before, let me know in the comment section down below what you thought and if you haven't, are you interested in picking any of these out? Let me know in the comment section. Thank you everybody for tuning in. God bless, stay safe out there. I will catch you guys on the next video whenever that may be. Stay safe. Bye.