The Manga Guide to Physics - Reviews

Oh what fresh hell is this? Are you serious, Japan? Physics in manga form? 

Story: This has about as much story as that one time Walt Disney made Donald in MathMagic Land. And yes, that's a thing. Basically, random high school girl A gets a question wrong about forces on her physics exam. And I am really holding myself back from making a Star Wars pun... any way. Because she's so focused on getting the question wrong, she loses her tennis match. But, lo and behold, the silver medalist in the internation physics olympics just happens to be her classmate. Thank you, Deus Ex Machina-senpai! He then teaches her all about the forces around her, like gravity and energy. Oh, and then the book literally becomes a text book. So, learn, learn you poor otakus! ... I SAID LEARN, DAMN YOU!

Art: The art is simplistic. The lines are dark, the faces are mostly devoid of features, and the general expressions are "patient teacher" and "shocked/confused student". It's exactly like the art one would expect to find in a high-school level textbook. There is nothing particularly spectacular about it, in fact I found it rather dull.

Characters: You are the ditzy girl, ok? Accept your fate. You are the student to Deus Ex Machina-senpai. And he is the text book trying very desperately to make you learn. Who they are beyond that is pointless, as the entire manga focuses on him trying to instill physics into her brain so she can win her rematch against stereotypical blonde-snob. 

Overall: LEARNING! If you want to learn physics in a fun way, this might be the book for you. I, however, found it boring and tedious since I learned all of these concepts many years ago and have to apply them on a semi-regular basis for my job. BUT, you might actually like this, whoever you are. So, give it a shot. 

If you're looking for a fun manga just for entertainment, then this is seriously not for you. However, if you have an interest in physics, or are trying to study for a physics exam, this is actually surprisingly good.

The Manga Guide to Physics is part manga, part textbook, and covers all the basics of motion, including Newton's Three Laws, momentum and energy. It does so in a rather entertaining way, with some likeable characters and an actual story (sort of)! It goes into quite a lot of depth, to the sort of level that you could probably go and take a full blown physics exam after reading this and do pretty well.

While it does cover some relatively complicated subjects, it does so in an easy to follow, entertaining way that does make me question why more schools don't use this as their textbook. You probably need decent abilities in maths or physics to be able to make the most out of this, but it's not like you need to be a genius to understand what's going on.

The Manga Guide to Physics is definitley a good read if you're interested in physics or need a little extra help with your physics lessons.

So, The Manga Guide to Physics is actually a interesting way to get kids interested in learning Physics. Since manga, at least where I live is a currently a big fad for middle and high school kids. This manga and the other's created like it is a new attempt at making learning fun kinda like School House Rock Cartoons in my day. I believe they did a good job creating a likable yet educational story for that age range.

Story:

So Beyond it's educational value, the story was... kinda boring in my eyes. I can see why they made it cliche and bland, after all, they want it to acceptable for the majority of classroom readers so I forgive it for that and it did have a few cute and funny scenes. I did like reading it for the most part and I went away feeling that I had a better grasp on a few of the theory's they spoke of (I never took physics). So overall, I'd say the story was made well for what it was intended for, however, if you're looking for something to read purely for enjoyment this one is not a great choice. I'd only pick one of these manga to read if my goal was to read and understand something  educational in a more fun way.

Art: 

There was nothing extraordenary about the art. However, that doesn't mean it was bad. I'd say it was about average for manga. I really have nothing to complain about or commend.

Characters:

This manga was less about the characters and story and more about the education using manga as a way to make learning more fun. Because of that, the characters in general fell short when compared against non-educational or better written stories. There are a few stories out there that inform and educate you on other subjects while making the story and characters the most important aspect of the manga. However in this manga it is the education that is at the forfront and the story and characters are the secondary parts only there to serve as a tool to make it easier for children to focus. So, as far as the characters, they were not very in depth, I'd give it a lower score if this was a manga solely for entertainment but for what it was it's fine.

Overall:

I gave this manga a 6.5 overall. Simply because it's a good way to make children interested in more difficult school subjects and retain the information given easier. I wouldn't bother reading it if you have no interest in reading an educational manga though.

- Daily Manga Marathon Club

I would recommend this to students of physics and to literally nobody else. It's a textbook. I didn't count the pages, but my impression was that only about half of the pages were in actual manga format with the remainder being blocks of text, graphs, and equations (basically, closer to a traditional textbook). It's trying to use the fact that people are generally more engaged by a narrative than a series of facts; but the problem is that its narrative consists of somebody telling somebody else a series of facts, so the yawn-inducing dryness of traditional textbooks is still very much there. It tries to spice things up with some simple gags and flirting, but they fall flat. The visual aids in the manga sections were helpful to get across some of the concepts, but the dialogue wasn't really doing any helpful work. Like all textbooks, this one is incapable of predicting all the potential follow-up questions of its readers, which means that sometimes I had to go back and reread stuff to try to better grasp the concepts. But unlike traditional textbooks, this one has the tutored character say things like "Oh, now I get it" and generally act as though things have been clearly and adequately explained, which then turns rereading stuff into a shameful act (because you are lesser than the manga character who did grasp it).

It assumes the reader has a basic knowledge of algebra, trigonometry, and even a little calculus as well as the ability to not fall asleep while a parade of variables are juggled and manipulated. I honestly find it strange how it's trying to explain things in very simplified terms, but then it'll just dive into much more complicated mathematics and equations. And those exclamation points...I obviously just don't share this author's excitement at equations...

Warning this review may contain spoilers xx

So who would of guess it, a manga into the wonderful world of physics...manga style. I remember reading this a while ago as part of the collection in my school library but I finally have an excuse to review it. Well it kind of is your typical story, fun and fluffy but the twist is that it is about physics and teaching people about basic physics which I honestly think is pretty clever hence why it got quite a high score from me despite not being much more than an interesting textbook.

STORY

It isn't anything much but this manga uses physics to tell it's story, to explain certain parts in a unique way. The manga guide to physics is heavily dependant on the readers being interested in physics, I do think it is aimed towards a specific audience...people who like manga and physics. But for this audience I feel like this manga does it well just not amazingly well and only being 4 chapters there isn't much to go on. But I guess you can say the story it has is pretty sweet, there just isn't much to comment on XD

ART

It was nice, nothing really special but it wasn't terrible either so I could deal with it but again the people reading it may be reading it only to learn about basic physics and that isn't a bad thing, I don't think the art is a major element in this manga, which is good and it allows people to focus on what content is in it.

CHARACTERS

Once again this section I haven't got much to say, the characters I wouldn't say are a major aspect but they are pleasent just nothing special. You have typiclal characters facing physics with a bang, they aren't bad characters but none of them stands out to me as a favourite character. 

In conclusion, I'll recommend it if you like physics if not try it, it may interest you. If you don't like physics make sure you check out other Manga Guides as I have read a lot of them and would recommend them to a lot of people, especially people who prefer to study using imagery.

Thanks for reading another one of my reviews x

-AngelBeatsYui-

PS- This is a review for the DMMC, I didn't re-read the series to review this xx