Maison and the Man-Eating Apartment?

What kind of manga is this?

It’s hard to fathom that the manga can be this gory when you have a cheerful-looking elementary school-age girl on the cover.

Is the manga actually a gory one, and does having a cheerful-looking kid on the cover work more like a reflection of the calm before the goriness takes over?

Well then, will you believe me if I say there’s no goriness involved in this manga despite the title?

Sure, there is this creature known as the Apartment Man.

That explains the man-eating apartment part in the title.

Even with such a title, it still doesn’t revolve around an apartment man chomping on people.

If that’s your concern, I assure you there’s no goriness involved.

Instead, expect the story to intrigue you the more you dive deeper into it.

That’s what we want in a manga, right?

What the manga is all about

Here’s the description that I got from MANGA Plus.

The clock strikes at the single second before the end of the world. Yet humanity has escaped extinction and carry on with their daily lives in the strange and terrible apartment where time stands still. A young girl Maison, Landlord by birth, is on the brink of revealing its secrets… An astonishing sci-fi fantasy saga brought to you by a visionary duo!

What got me to read the manga

Well, you know the drill whenever I come across a new manga on MANGA Plus – I give the manga a try and see if I like it or not.

If the story isn’t my jam, I ditch it and never care to read it beyond the first chapter.

And what if I like it then?

I will read it till the end for sure, and recommend it on my blog if I can’t seem to stop gushing over it.

That seems to be the case, for the most part.

But what makes this manga a little different from usual is that the story is by Kuu Tanaka, the mangaka behind The Vertical World and Akima, the mangaka behind the Shoujo Null.

As someone who enjoys reading The Vertical World, it’s obvious that I will certainly give this manga a try, right?

While I’m not much of a fan of Shoujo Null, I’m glad to see that Akima is back in the scene despite only being in charge of the art this time.

Will I still read the manga if I don’t even know these mangaka’s prior work?

You bet I will, since this manga is in my wheelhouse.

What makes Maison and the Man-Eating Apartment manga worth reading

First off, let’s address the man-eating apartment part.

While I did say that the apartment man doesn’t do anything gory like chomping on people, it’s not an innocent being either.

What it does instead is it will appear when the time comes, telling the person that he or she will be the next person to get recycled.

And no one can seem to escape the fate as soon as the apartment man sets his eye on them.

Of course, no one seems to bat an eye at what the apartment man does, not even our Maison here.

It was only when her friend, Bertie, who ended up being recycled by the apartment man, that Maison wanted to find out the truth about what happened to him.

What is it that Bertie wants to show her before his untimely demise?

Did he stumble upon something that he shouldn’t know, thus being the apartment man’s target?

Sad to say, being the newly appointed landlord still doesn’t grant her access to everything she needs to know about the building itself.

If you’re familiar with Kuu Tanaka’s work, what begins with a simple question will lead you to other mysteries along the way.

Sure, it’s not as straightforward as the one in The Vertical World.

But it’s still enough to make you feel intrigued by the story.

What I didn’t expect when I read the manga

What’s with the fried rice obsession?

I didn’t think much about it at first during this part, when Maison discovers the hidden floor, and this pair of arms can cook delicious fried rice.

Here I am, thinking that will be it.

Lo and behold, that same delicious fried rice makes another cameo appearance again during the recent story arc.

Whether we get to see the fried rice making another cameo appearance again is something that I’m not sure of.

But judging from the pattern, I won’t be surprised if we get to see the fried rice making a comeback again at some point in the story.

Fried rice for the win, I guess?

Who should read the manga?

If you’re looking for a good mystery manga to read and you’re fine with the story taking place in a post-apocalyptic fantasy setting, then you will surely enjoy reading this manga.

Knowing Kuu Tanaka’s penchant for layering a mystery on top of another mystery, you probably think that the manga will be just like The Vertical World.

But to my surprise, the story doesn’t feel like a giant tangled mess of a spider web at all.

If anything, I find the unraveling mysteries a little bit more linear than those in The Vertical World.

Despite its slightly linear trajectory, it doesn’t mean that the story is any less interesting.

All I can say is it’s a lot easier to follow, which is a welcome change for those who are familiar with Kuu Tanaka’s previous work.

The only reason you should skip this manga altogether?

You want a straightforward story with tons of action scenes, which this manga certainly doesn’t have.

Just so you know, the manga does have some action scenes, considering that Maison tends to do something unthinkable sometimes.

But just don’t bank on it to be an occurring thing in the manga.

Where to buy the Maison and the Man-Eating Apartment manga

As you already know, you can read the manga for free on MANGA Plus, even the chapters in between.

But you will need to download the MANGA Plus app to read the whole chapters, though.

The web version only allows you to read the first few and the most recent chapters.

Want to get started reading the manga?

You can start reading the manga right here on MANGA Plus:

Read Maison and the Man-Eating Apartment manga on MANGA Plus

As of writing, the manga has yet to be licensed for English release in digital and print.

But you can get the print version of the manga in Japanese at CDJapan, which you can get right here:

Buy Maison and the Man-Eating Apartment manga in Japanese at CDJapan

Over to you

What do you think about the Maison and the Man-Eating Apartment manga? Are you interested in giving this manga a try after reading about it on my blog?

Let me know in the comments.

P.S. If you’re looking for another read that is similar to the Maison and the Man-Eating Apartment manga, but it’s an original English light novel (OELN) in the thriller genre, give my Trigger Locked series a try as well.

Wondering what the story in the Trigger Locked series is all about?

You can have a look at the first book of the series right here on my online store. Use the coupon code SEKINAMAYUBLOG to get 30% off on your purchase:

The Mind Control Assassins: Trigger Locked Book One