(TW:- Violence,Blood)
Genre:- Adventure, Fantasy

Thank you to NetGalley & Kodansha for the e-arc of this manga.

Artstyle:- 5/5 ⭐️
Plot:- 4/5 ⭐️
Characters:- 5/5 ⭐️
Overall Rate:- 4.5/5 ⭐️

Peach Boy Riverside is a new piece from the creator of Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid (the anime is available on Netflix). The settings of the manga takes off from the Japanese folklore, Momotaro who is a popular hero that defeat bunch of oni (demons/ogres).Momotaro is a boy borned from a peach that found by an elderly couples.

The manga features Princess Saltherine (Sally) of a kingdom called Kingdom Aldarake. Sally always yearn for adventure outside of her kingdom walls as she feels her village is boring till one day, she met a traveller named Mikoto while on a run from her palace guards. She assume Mikoto is a friendly and weak traveller but little did she know, Mikoto is actually a great demon slayer until Mikoto chopped off all the oni that trying to invade Kingdom Aldarake. From that incident, she made up her mind and set off for an adventure, exploring the world with her new demi-human friend (Frau).

What I love about this manga are the artstyle and the plot. I love how it is relating the story to the Japanese folklore, Momotaro. No wonder the title is Peach Boy, I didn’t see it coming actually. At first you’ll find it confusing on the weird title and weird character name but towards the end you kind of understand why the title is like that as it relates to Momotaro. Somehow I also feel it kind of smiliar with Attack on Titan but much more more lighter than AOT. AOT is very dark, gory and lots of violence but as for Peach Boy here, it have humour and more positive. I am lloking forward to read Volume 2 and ride in adventure with Sally and her friend. I also the twist at the end of the volume too 🤪.

If you like adventure, fantasy and a bit gory manga, this is the one for you.

Well that took a slightly unexpected turn at the end. Certainly leaves me loning for the next volume. This story is very interesting and not something I typically go for but I find myself enjoying it. The pace is quick and the artwork is amazing.

This was closer to a rating of 3.5 for me, and I was pleasantly surprised by it! It definitely piqued my interest more than I thought it would, and I enjoyed the bit of world building that we got. After the ending I'm interested to see where this story goes!

This book was not what I had expected at all. While I was pleasantly surprised I was also conflicted. This manga has an amazing premise and one that I am very interested in exploring further.

Peach Boy Riverside is another solid adventure shounen! Saltherine is a princess of the Kingdom of Aldarake and her biggest dream is to travel around the world and not stay in her boring village. Suddenly ogres attack the village and a traveler passes by and saves everyone. Mikoto looks like a girl, but is a boy and loves slaying ogres and demons. Saltherine wants to follow him, but isn't brave enough and when she is, she needs to find the guy and starts her journey with a demihuman. The plot is interesting, although this first part is more like your "enemy of the week" type of situation and we don't really get to know the characters enough to care about them. Also, the powers aren't explained or the world, which is a bummer. Somehow the title is weird too and not really explained and thus three stars.

The art looks good, nothing spectacular, but works with the plot well. I do hope we get more answers along the way and not just fights though. Otherwise this is just your basic shounen. I also want Saltherine to become a true hero and that it would take time to meet Mikoto again. That would be interesting to boot!

"Long, Long ago there lived an old man and an old woman. One Day, The old man went to the mountains to gather firewood and the old woman went to the river to do the washing... Skipping Ahead! He finally defeated the Ogres..."

I want to say that Peach Boy Riverside is an incredibly weird title, but with a character named "Saltherine Aladarake" it is hard to consider it the weirdest name in this series.

Both oddities are easily set aside as you dive into this book, as you are immediately thrown into a world that has so much to tell you and it is honestly almost nonstop action through this volume.

I will be continuing because 1. this is so out there I need to know more 2. wholesome kickass bunnygirl 3.I have to see if Mikoto and Sally get together because they set it up like their soulmates and I can't pass that up.

I think Peach boy riverside has the potential to grow as a series overtime. Currently we are being introduced to the characters, however, we do not yet know of their goals and aspirations. It's also hard to know in which direction the series plans to go as the world, conflict and goal are yet to be established. This makes the first volume a little weak and based on the premise introduced in the first volume I don't feel super hooked on the the series yet. Nonetheless I am excited to see where it will go from here and how the characters will grow over time.

The highlight of the series was definitely Frau, she is so cute!

This new adventure manga from the creator of Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid draws on the famous tale of the peach boy, Momotaro, creating a world where Momotaro (now Mikoto) crossed the sea to satisfy his thirst for ogre blood. He meets a princess, Saltherine, who wishes to see the world, and when she sets off to travel she learns that not all monsters are evil... and not all humans are what they seem— including herself!

This was a nice start to what I hope will be an action-packed, violently fun series. I wasn't the biggest fan of the art style and the pacing, in the beginning, seemed rush, but I did like a few of the tropes enough to finish! I love a good supportive dad and a nice but violent stranger, and I'm looking forward to Sally exploring the world and herself.

❧ 3 ★

A competent action-adventure style fantasy with a fun lead in Sally, the princess who wants to see the world. But the book seems to suffer from a real need to be familiar with the Momotaro legend to be able to understand it. There's a point where the story begins to be told in the comic, but is then abruptly skipped over until its referenced again at the end of the volume as if the reader should definitely be aware of the folklore behind the story.

So - after some researching of what Peach Boy meant - the book did make a lot more sense. The name Momotaro is used once in the story exposition for Mikoto but in a way that if you are not familiar it wouldn't necessarily immediately be clear.

Confusion out of the way though - I do like a lot of what this book did. The wide variation of 'ogres' that we see, the cast between Mikoto, Sally and Frau are all interesting and well designed. I think that the basis for the adventure highlighting both the danger of the world but also human superstition and bigotry in the first volume is well set up for future adventures. And it ends on a good sort of cliffhanger moment.

Also - I've got to give the artist credit for leaving me pretty fooled thinking this was an all female cast, which is referenced in the first chapter, that Mikoto is actually a guy. The cover definitely had me thinking something else.

So - if you are familiar with Japanese folklore already or you are willing to put in the work, this can be a fun and competent fantasy read.
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I really enjoyed this book. It contains references to the Momotaro folktale, but you don’t need to know the legend to understand it. Sally is a fantastic protagonist. I like how she develops. Her perspectives toward herself, adventuring and even mythological creatures change a lot in this one volume. The other characters were really interesting too. Mikoto’s personality made me want to read more about him and I just loved Frau’s adorable destructive power. I definitely would want to read the sequel. My only complaint is the creature designs. Except for the walrus ogre, they all look like humans with very slight alterations. I prefer my monsters looking a bit more monsterly.

Thank you to Kodansha Comics for this first volume to "Peach Boy Riverside" by Coolkyousinnjya. Although this is gifted, I will be making my own opinions.


Quite frankly, I felt like I had missed something. The start confused me and it felt like I was reading the second volume of a manga. Overall, I dont know if I will pursue this manga further after finishing this volume but we'll see.

I enjoyed the art and the characters (especially Frau) but I am a little bit confused by the plot. Definitely interested in reading more in hopes that things become clearer (as is often the case,)