It's strange... but I like... a lot. The characters are very, should I say, unique. They aren't your typical seinen or any genre characters. The plot is very original and intriguing. It's enough to keep you reading, but not so much that you need a certain mindset to read it. Some of the explanations about things in the manga are a bit extensive and occasionally confusing. I end up just rereading it until I get it, but I don't really mind. The drawing are decent, sometimes the characters are downsized, but that's about all I can say that's bad.

I also like that while Sawaki's abiility is unrealistic, the situations aren't. The microbes he sees are real and the things they do really happen. There isn't some magical new bacteria that is just suddenly there doing things that make no sense.

The jokes in this manga make sense. And they're funny. I like when Sawaki's battling the forces unseen by everyone else, then you see what everyone else, but him, is seeing.

Altogether, I personally like this manga very much. I suggest reading this to anyone looking for something new to read.

I really just wish someone would scanlate it though... it's so good.

... Last updated on August 14th, 2012, 8:15pm

I first saw the anime perhaps about a year ago, I remember being so disappointed when it ended. I wanted more. I'm so happy to have found the first volume of the manga. Personally, I loved the art style. Ishikawa really knows how to set up the scenes, and I find it interesting how he uses reflective surfaces in his art. Overall, this is a great series, and I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a comedy.

Sometimes you just find a story that's strange and compelling, something completely different from the usual, that's just clicks.
That's is what Moyashimon is.

Since I've worked at a university for two years it's easier for me to understand all the bacteria facts that get's thrown in into the serie, but you don't got to have a master in biochemistry to understand it.
It's simple basic facts.

But do not think of this as a nerdy manga, the microbe facts are few, the story is compelling (get's really good around volume 3-4) and the characters are so too!

Hopefully some translator group will pick this one up and make my day.

If you want a chill/funny slice of life in general, wouldn't recommend this, except if you skip about a quarter of the chapters (see below). If you want a manga jam-packed with information about agriculture, and fermentation of different kinds of alcohols/soy/other microbial processes, this is absolutely THE manga for you.

Don't be fooled by all the characters you see on the covers, the main character of this one are the microbes. The actual human main character is continuously being shunted into the sidelines, even the editor and author keep poking fun at him in the page margins.

Whatever little character development happens in the manga is constantly interrupted by longwinded explanations on different kinds of fermentation processes involving microbes, ranging from alcohol to diseases to mushrooms. Absolutely feel free to skip these chapters because they always take up pretty much the entire chapter and don't advance the plot at all.

As for the plot itself, it takes place over only one single year in the agricultural college, and despite the many funny events and character interactions, in the end I don't feel like anything really happened. Definitely not the series for fans of story-driven manga.

Ive seen the anime twice. once a few years ago and again recently, and i read what i could find of the manga recently as well. absolutely love moyashimon. the anime has better art but the manga is funnier... and it wouldnt just make my day but my whole month should someone decide to scanlate the missing chapters of moyashimon. i really want to see the continuation. id do it myself but i cant read kanji TT_TT and i wouldnt know how to get the raws TT_TT

Add me to the list of people who were pleasantly surprised by the anime and wish a scanlation group would pick it up (from the start? or at least from where the anime ended?)

Very compelling (if broken) characters. I do hope that there is development (I'm very anti-Rumiko Takahashi in terms of ending a series in the middle of nowhere)

the anime was very nice. the bacteria are so damn funny!!! really hope some group will pick this up. all of us will really appreciate it.

While I loved Moyashimon's first half, the followup and subsequent focus on the two seniors was disappointing. The shift to natural remedies and insects combined with awkward attacks against the US didn't help. I'm hesitant when a series takes potshots at other countries (i.e. Wild Life‘s whale chapter), and Moyashimon’s versions being nonsensical and strangely directed made it even worse.

... Last updated on July 25th, 2019, 6:35pm

I REALLY hope they do another season, or more.
And I'd certainly pick up the manga if a group decided to scanlate it. Sadly, since it's a seinen, and contains lots of scientific type stuff, it's probably beyond the abilities of an average TLer.

But that's what dictionaries are for!

Either way, awesome anime, wish I could read the manga. ;)

yeah the anime was great, i still hope for a 2nd season. it would be so great if someone would do the scanlation. lets hope the anime brews (pun intended) enought interest for a group to pick it up ;)