Soara and the House of Monsters

Soara and the House of Monsters
	Japanese cover for volume 1, featuring Soara
ソアラと魔物の家; (Soara to Mamono no Ie)
Genre	Fantasy, adventure
Manga
Written by	Hidenori Yamaji
Published by	Shogakukan
English publisher	Seven Seas Entertainment
Imprint	Sunday Webry Comics
Magazine	Shōnen Sunday S; Sunday Webry;
Demographic	Shōnen
Original run	November 25, 2021 – present
Volumes	3

Soara and the House of Monsters (Japanese: ソアラと魔物の家, Hepburn: Soara to Mamono no Ie) is a Japanese fantasy adventure manga series written and illustrated by Hidenori Yamaji. Shogakukan publishes it since 2021 in their magazine Shōnen Sunday S and on their webcomic platform Sunday Webry, and also releases it in collected tankōbon volumes. These have since 2023 been released in English by Seven Seas Entertainment.

The story follows the human woman Soara, who after the end of a war between monsters and humans joins a group of travelling dwarf architects who build houses for various types of monsters. It was nominated for the Next Manga Award for best web manga in 2022 and 2023, and was well received for its artwork of monster houses and its themes of prejudice and understanding.

Plot

Soara and the House of Monsters is a fantasy adventure story following Soara (ソアラ), an orphan who has been trained to fight in the war between humans and monsters, but is left without a purpose and home when peace is declared just as she becomes old enough to be a knight. Wandering aimlessly, she encounters a group of traveling dwarf architects led by Kirik (キリク, Kiriku), who renovate and build dream homes for monsters, such as goblins, slimes, and dragons. Soara is distrustful of monsters, but is moved by the architects' work, and joins them in their travels.

Production and release

Soara and the House of Monsters is written and drawn by Hidenori Yamaji, who originally created the series from a desire to combine the fantasy genre with something relatable to readers. He considered housing as a theme to be simultaneously unusual in fantasy manga, and something very familiar to readers, so he chose to write a story about architecture with fantasy elements. When drawing the artwork, Yamaji focused on drawing houses that not only were entertaining and exciting to look at, but that also were structured in a believable way, that would have made sense for the monsters if they were real. To help reader better visualize the houses, he chose to draw detailed cross-sections of them.

The manga is serialized by Shogakukan since November 25, 2021, both in their monthly shōnen manga magazine Shōnen Sunday S and on their webcomic platform Sunday Webry. Shogakukan also publishes the series in collected tankōbon volumes since May 12, 2022, under their imprint Sunday Webry Comics; since 2023, these have been released in English by Seven Seas Entertainment and in Chinese by Tong Li Publishing.

Volumes

No.

Original release date

Original ISBN

English release date

English ISBN

1

May 12, 2022

978-4-09-851048-1

September 5, 2023

979-8-88843-018-7


1. "The House of Monsters" (魔物の家, Mamono no Ie) 2. "The Goblins' House" (ゴブリンの家, Goburin no Ie) 3. "Traveling Companions" (旅は道連れ, Tabi wa Michizure)	4. "The Slime's House" (スライムの家, Suraimu no Ie) 5. "The House of Forbidden Love" (禁断の恋の家, Kindan no Koi no Ie)

2

November 10, 2022

978-4-09-851354-3

February 6, 2024

979-8-88843-382-9


6. "Kenchikushi → Kaizoku...?" (建築士→海賊…?, "Architect → Pirate...?") 7. "Shinjitsu no Ai no Ie" (真実の愛の家, "The House of True Love") 8. "Maō no Shiro" (魔王の城, "The Demon Lord's Castle")	9. "Maō no Ie" (魔王の家, "The Demon Lord's House") 10. "Taisetsu na Ie" (大切な家, "An Important House") 11. "Mezasu beki Ie" (目指すべき家, "A House to Aim For")

3

July 12, 2023

978-4-09-852541-6

July 9, 2024

979-8-88843-802-2


12. "Mayoi no Mori to Neko" (迷いの森と猫, "The Forest of Illusions and the Cat") 13. "Neko no Kokoroiki" (猫の心意気, "The Cat's Determination") 14. "Saikyō no Kitchin" (最強のキッチン, "The Best Kitchen") 15. "Neko no Resutoran" (猫のレストラン, "The Cat's Restaurant")	16. "Kizukarete Iku Mono" (築かれていくもの, "Things We Can Build") 17. "Midori no Shōnin to Tsuchi no Kyōjin" (緑の小人と土の巨人, "The Tiny Green People and the Earth Giant") 18. "Midori to Tsuchi no Ie" (緑と土の家, "Green and Earth's House")

Chapters not released in collected volumes

The following chapters have not been released in collected tankōbon volumes as of the release of volume 3:

19. "Kowashita no Ka?" (壊したのか？, "Did You Break It?")
20. "Hajimari no Hanashi" (始まりの話, "The Story of the Beginning")
21. "Hajimari no Futari" (始まりの二人, "The Two People in the Beginning")
22. "Ōto Nite" (王都にて, "In the Royal Capital")
23. "Sorezore no Kachi" (それぞれの価値, "The Value of Each")
24. "Honmono" (本物, "The Genuine Article")

Reception

Soara and the House of Monsters was nominated for the Next Manga Award in the Best Web Manga category in 2022 and 2023, and was well received by critics. Christopher Farris and Rebecca Silverman, both writing for Anime News Network, appreciated its themes of prejudice and understanding how all living things share in basic needs and comforts, without feeling too heavy-handed in its delivery. Farris found it refreshing to see a new take on the fantasy genre, with appealing and "hog-wild" house designs, and fun solutions to their problems, although felt a disconnect in the "before-and-after" visuals due to the monsters' homes often being demolished and rebuilt rather than renovated; Silverman also liked the artwork, calling it a "triumph of fantasy building". The Japanese entertainment news site Magmix also enjoyed the art of the houses, calling them "fantastic and powerful", and good at immersing the reader in the setting.