I have a long relationship with this volume where I'm always on the verge of getting rid of it, but at the very last moment decide to keep it.I really want to like Undertown. The art is so beautiful and the story appeals to me.But the way in which the story is told is just... not very good. Undertown's biggest problem is its pacing: too much story in too few pages. We don't get a lot of time to breathe and/or experience the beautiful art, because there's just so much going on. The protagonists are constantly on the move to different locations (five in this volume alone!) in search of the Sugar Stone. Meanwhile, the author forgets to explain how this McGuffin actually works.I wish the events in this one volume were stretched out over two, and that a bit more time was spent elaborating on the Sugar Stone and its abilities.

Undertown Volume 1 (Undertown manga)

Meet Sama, a 10-year-old boy who is so sad that tears have literally stained his cheeks. Sama's father has had a heart attack, and doctors give him a month to live. With his teddy bear in tow, Sama crawls under his bed and finds a magical portal to a strange realm called Undertown. What is this dark new world? To find out, Sama begins a journey through the depths of Undertown, where he searches for The Sugar Stone, a magical object that might be able to save his dad! This is volume 1 of the Undertown manga series.

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