Miraculous tales of ladybug & cat noir vol 1 by zag

Adapted by Koma Warita, illustrated by Riku Tsuchida

Guarding the streets of Paris is the adorable duo, Ladybug and Cat Noir, whose secret identities are teenagers Marionette and Adrien. When they’re not their superhero selves, Marionette tries to navigate being a teenager, which means babysitting, dealing with class projects with the stuck up preppy girl, and trying to confess her feelings for Adrien. Meanwhile, Adrien tries to deal with his crush on Ladybug! Around them, folks continue to have their strong emotions exploited by Hawk Moth, the sworn enemy of Ladybug and Cat Noir, who sends forces to transform these passionate folk into monsters bent on capturing our heroes’ miraculouses - the source of their transformation power.

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This is a pretty cute magical girl (and magical boy in this case) story. There are some tensions built up that the reader is all knowing of, especially the romantic tensions, and there are insights on the big-bad that are revealed at the end of this volume that will help keep younger readers hooked into the next volume. One major problem is that there is no segue or any sort of introduction into this volume, so readers who don’t know the show might be lost for a page or two until they get into the story and become familiar with the characters.

While the main characters are in high school, this story is suitable for younger audiences and has a very Saturday Morning Cartoons vibes to the adventure.

Sara's Rating: 8/10
Suitability Level: Grades 5-8

Publisher: Kodansha
Publication Date: August 1, 2023
ISBN: 9781646517107 (Paperback)

Tags: Rating: 8/10, Suitability: Elementary School, Suitability: Middle School, Manfra, Superheroes, Magical Girl, School Life, Friendship, Romance, Kodansha