7 Billion Needles 4

“Tadano’s style of storytelling strikes a nice balance between words and pictures… His artwork leans toward ‘hard,’ with realistic and expressive faces, characters who all look different (except when the plot requires them to look alike) and detailed, photo-like backgrounds that are sometimes recognizable as specific places in Tokyo. The only problem is that each short volume is a very quick read, and Volume 3 won’t be out until February.” —Daily Yomiuri

“Tadano made this science fiction story—with its monster-movie overtones, and a jolting dose of ultraviolence—mostly quiet and subdued, with a heroine who falls into none of the usual manga stereotypes. Hal Clement might have had a hard time seeing his story in this, but I think he would have appreciated those quiet moments, and the communications between Horizon and Hikaru.” —Andrew Wheeler, Antick Musings

“The lack of easy outs keeps 7 Billion Needles fresh…and manages to bring the sixty-year-old story into the present day and an all new setting with aplomb. Hikaru is detached, but not to the point where it puts off the reader. She just comes across as a normal girl who is a little out of her depth in life, and a lot out of her depth when it comes to alien invasions… This is good stuff, and assuming the next three books maintain this level of quality, yet another entry in Vertical, Inc.’s stock of great manga.”
—ComicsAlliance