QQ Sweeper, Vol. 1

QQスイーパー [QQ Sweeper] #1

by Kyousuke Motomi

Kyutaro Horikita, the tall, dark and handsome cleaning expert of Kurokado High, is about to meet a sleeping maiden at the school: transfer student Fumi Nishioka! Fumi’s going to learn how to rid the school of nasty spirits with Kyutaro’s help, and her heart will surprisingly be “cleansed” too…!

In the old campus of their school, a mysterious room has a door that beckons Fumi, even though she shouldn’t even be able to see it! Kyutaro goes in after her, but will he be able to save her before she gets devoured by otherworldly creatures?

Genres: Manga, Fantasy, Romance, Shojo, Young Adult, Graphic Novels, Paranormal

208 pages, Paperback

First published September 26, 2014

About the author

Kyousuke Motomi (最富キョウスケ Motomi Kyōsuke) is a Japanese mangaka whose stories have frequently been published in the monthly Betsucomi magazine. She is most currently working on Dengeki Daisy.

She uses a male pseudonym and draws herself as a man, but she's actually female."If my stories can touch you, make you laugh, forget unhappy things, or even give you that 'good job' feeling, then I'll be super, super happy!" - Kyousuke Motomi

Reviews

[Bookishrealm · Rating 4 out of 5]

That was pretty intense, but I enjoyed it. I’m really loving the incorporation of the paranormal elements with the cleaning elements. It ended on sort of a cliffhanger, and I’m more than happy to be diving into the second volume. I know that this is a prequel to the queens quality series and now I’m really excited to see how the two series connect together.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED this manga!

QQ Sweeper is unlike the typical Shojo mangas I read and it was incredibly refreshing. It follows Kyutaro Horikita who is an expert “cleaner” who cleans houses as well as the inside of people’s heads. Pretty cool, eh? Fumi Nishioka is a transfer student new to the area who doesn’t have any living family or guardians which strikes the Principal (Koichi) as odd but who gains employment as their housekeeper and apprentice sweeper.

The story was captvating and I found myself wanting the volume to be three times the size!! The artwork is stunning - the expressions and attention to detail are sublime. Plus, I’ve been wanting to check out Motomi’s other work, Dengeki Daisy, for a while now.

I was really impressed by this opening volume and will definitely be continuing on with this creepy yet intriguing story. Highly recommended for those who want a unique Shojo read.

[Laura A. Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

VIDEO REIVEW HERE: https://youtu.be/IAxXfJtrNL0

Updated Review 6/17/23: That quote in my original review by Kyutaro still deeply resonates me with even after reading it a second time! I think it's just so spot on especially seeing Sakaguchi's situation makes those words seem to jump off the page because of the situation he was in and how he had been feeling.

I LOVEEEEE Fumi and Kyutaro!! These two are such wonderful leads and deeply thankful to be following their cleaning journey, especially as they show the importance of having a clean mind and a clean environment.

I really really appreciate the humor that's woven throughout this story and hope that is something that continues!

Definitely excited to be reading this series once again! SO good!

Original Review 12/11/22: "People's hearts aren't simple things. There are things you'd like to forget, but you just can't. Things in your heart that you can't really understand. It's your own heart, but you can't control it well. That's true of everyone, right?"

This manga volume is a fantastic example that I shouldn't be afraid to try a certain book again if I didn't resonate with it the first time.

Last Christmas I tried reading this and it was just not the right time. I wasn't in the mood for it and it didn't put me in the Christmas mood like I subconsciously wanted.

However, this time…

I LOVED IT!!

I very much enjoyed this first volume! I loved the characters and the story and just the general direction this series seems to be going. Fumi really is such a great character to follow and love how determined she is even if it seems for a "superficial" reason. It truly makes her and her story compelling and definitely adds some good humor! I also really love the way she describes the cleanliness of a room. I can't describe it, but I can genuinely feel how she says the atmosphere feels different.

Kyutaro is an awesome hero! I really really like his character design and find him to be funny more often than not, even though I'm pretty sure he wouldn't appreciate that or agree with that. LOL! I find it refreshing that he is passionate about cleaning and is really good at it. In some ways, his "lessons" on cleaning remind me of His Majesty the Demon King's Housekeeper in the sense that there is the occasional "cleaning hack," which I really enjoyed! Though goodness, my heart totally broke for him in that one specific scene!! I'm not sure I'm ready to dive into his backstory…

Overall, I really enjoyed this! I like the importance this volume gives of not letting "bad" thoughts fester in our hearts and to clean our hearts AND our environment. Such a good message! Going to dive into the next volume ASAP!

[Sarah Ryder · Rating 5 out of 5]

My friend read and reviewed this series fairly recently and upon seeing that my library had it, I thought I would give it a shot since the premise was interesting and my friend loved it. I did NOT expect to love it this much though, nor was I prepared for how funny yet serious this volume is and how the mangaka was able to balance these opposite ends SO WELL!

I love the metaphor yet reality of the “bugs” and how our minds must be cleaned of all the negative trash inside and how we have to be careful to not become infected—as someone with depression this really hit me and I appreciate the understanding and care behind the story as you can really tell the mangaka cared about this message while also having fun with the story. The only caution I would say is if you don’t like huge bugs (centipedes to be exact) you might want to skip this one as they are ugly and HUGE and I wouldn’t want nightmares about these if I was afraid of them!

Fumi is amazing yet such a hoot—I cracked up laughing at things she said and thought more than once especially in regards to her “Cinderella dream life goal” not to mention there’s one panel where she’s questioning why a chandelier has so many lightbulbs when one would have sufficed which really cracked me up. And her interactions with Kyutaro whether funny or serious or sweet I adored, and I’m not afraid to admit that I ship these two hard, lol. I love Kyutaro too and how serious yet caring he is and how he genuinely wants to help people be free and keep their minds clean no matter how dangerous being a sweeper is. Koichi reminds me of a big brother plus crazy uncle rolled into one character and I love him. And Granny is cool and cool old ladies always get a thumbs up from me. ☺️

The artwork is so beautiful, I honestly could stare at it all day. It’s simple yet it gets its beauty from being itself, if that makes any sense, whether it’s an intense action scene that I can FEEL to a more soft scene that I also FEEL but in an entirely different way to everything in between and even if I was just shrug about the story I would keep reading for the art alone. But! I love the story so the art is secondary, haha.

I’m excited to continue this series and see where things go from here!


‼️Content‼️

Language: what the heck; what the hell; thank God; hell; what the; pissed; crap

Violence: a guy grabs a girl; a bug attacks characters and bites one (nothing over PG-13); a girl punches a giant centipede; injuries and blood (nothing over PG-13); a guy attacks a character to which they punch him and tie him up

Sexual: a girl’s called a chick

Drug/Alcohol: some guys smoke and drink

Other: giant centipedes and other bugs; magic; supernatural powers; characters go into people’s minds and clean out bad/negative thoughts/emotions

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it! It had all the elements that made me love Dengeki Daisy, and it's a story I've not read a million times. The concept is interesting, and the characters are intriguing. This is the first new manga series I've been excited about in awhile.

[CC · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very wholesome, the sort of story I like to binge when I'm trying to recalibrate and reset my mindset. =)

My review at the end of the third vol.>> there are gritty reads and there are comfort reads. this is one of those pallet-cleansing comfort reads that also has a gritty feel of reality and life struggles in it... /hearteyes/


note from 12.11.22
I'm sorry, but when I read "tall, dark and handsome CLEANING EXPERT" at some HIGH SCHOOL.... I'm sold.
xD
Whut does that say about me...? hmmm

[Victoria ✮⋆˙ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m not sure on the story and if i like it yet but the art is nice.

[Jules Vandemberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5
idea davvero interessante e originale.

[Nikki in Niagara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wasn't too sure about this. The premise sounded interesting but, it's always hit and miss for me with shoujo because I don't like romance. But I adored QQ Sweeper!! It's got something for everyone and Fumi is a fantastic female character. She's bold and brazen in her pursuit for a Prince Charming. She wants a handsome rich man and has no shame in saying so. She has the good-hearted, kind nature of any Disney princess. On the other hand she kicks ass, boldly goes where ever the heck she wants, bows out gently if she finds her chosen Prince Charming just isn't into her and tells it like it is: speaking the obvious truth while apologizing when necessary. Love her! This story has romance, psychology, the paranormal by way of dreams, nightmare insects, a secret mystery, cliffhanger ending and, cleverly placed within the plot handy-dandy cleaning tips! Totally awesome.

[Selena Pigoni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who knew a manga about cleaning would be so interesting?

So this series is one which equates cleanliness of the home with cleanliness of the heart. A dirty area draws in negativity and causes the people to become "infested" with the same dirty bugs as the places they inhabit.

Volume one covers from start to finish one such case.

There's not much to say right now, other then the eccentric characters really draw me in. I'm interested and I think I'll keep going on this.

[Intisar Khanani · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun, quick shojo manga with a slightly unusual plot line / concept (thought plenty of common tropes to keep the traditionalist happy!).

Actual rating 3.5.

[Christine · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5⭐️ Just not for me. I don’t think I’m in the mood for this kind of Manga right now.

[Izzy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first IMMEDIATE pick up when the Viz App dropped last week and I'm not disappointed.

I can not wait to read more of this really engaging paranormal shoujo. I'm really excited to see how it unfolds over the three volumes before I dive into Queen's Quality.

[marcia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm still not sure how the whole cleaning thing works. However, the story is silly enough to make me want to keep reading. The mangaka has great comedic timing as well as a knack for capturing facial expressions. The interactions between the characters got me cracking up.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very strong series start. It's filled with a creative premise, likable characters, humor, emotion, and enough mystery to keep me wanting more.

[Meriana · Rating 2 out of 5]

This comic was ok. 2/5 stars.

Sebenarnya nggak ada yg salah dengan komik ini. Gambar bagus, ceritanya juga jelas. Hanya mungkin ekspektasi saya yg terlalu tinggi. Setelah sekian lama, saya mengharapkan cerita dengan rasa berbeda dari Motomi Kyosuke sensei. Tapi ternyata plot cerita yg saja dapatkan sama saja dengan karya-karyanya yg sebelumnya: kehidupan SMA di mana karakter utamaya adalah cewek tangguh yg punya impian menikah dengan cowok kaya/tangguh/etc; lalu tokoh utama cowoknya selalu yg kelakuannya kasar tapi sebenernya si cowok itu ya baik (tsundere yaa?)

Lalu cara mereka bertemu juga sama: gegara klub. Kalo yg kapan hari klub manik-manik, terus yg selanjutnya klub memanah, sekarang klub bersih-bersih. Memang, sih, ada sedikit bedanya karena di klub bersih-bersih ini mereka juga membersihkan hati kotor manusia. Tapi entah karena nggak terbiasa dengan tema rumit ato gimana, proses "penyucian" manusia "kotor" ini berasa seperti kw'nya [b]Alice 19th[/b].

Masuk dropped list.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

I guess this is paranormal romance? A homeless orphaned high schooler, Fumi Nishioka, has just transferred to a new high school. She meets Kyutaro Horikita - tall, dark, handsome, and excellent at cleaning - and, through hijinks, becomes his apprentice cleaner. But they don't just clean up normal messes, they clean away negative energy and vanquish the monsters that come with such bad feelings. Can Fumi do it? Will Kyu fall for her? Probably. This wasn't awful, but I found it just tolerable. It's cute, it's well drawn, and I suppose parts of the story are original. I just wasn't very gripped.

[Cee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Funny and great! I love where this story is going. I will say it is weird that it ends at book 3 and continues as a different series... you really can't read Queen's Quality without reading this one first.

[Nadina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked the plot of this volume and the premise of the series in general.
The artwork was good and there was a good pace to the volume.
I'm looking forward to the next volume.

[Carrie (The Butterfly Reader) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fumi is a sixteen year old girl that has been left alone by her guardians. They just skipped town and left her on her own. She tried to play it off but it comes to light when she sleeps in an old building and Kyutaro finds her.

Through varies actions Fumi enters a weird door trying to save a classmate where bugs are crawling. It's unlike anything she's ever seen before. She's about to give up finding a way out when she remembers her dream of finding Prince Charming and thus she carries on.

She makes it out safely with the help of Kyutaro and soon discovers that his whole family are Sweepers. They clean bad energy from people's hearts. She's given a test and if she passes she will join. The elder brother really thinks she could be useful after she punched a bug with her bare hand.

This first 3/4 of this manga kind of feels like a prequel and the real story starts later but I like that we get that slight backstory, this way we weren't just thrown into the book and left confused while trying to gather pieces as the manga goes.

The art is fantastic but considering it's the same creator as Dengeki Daisy, I knew it was going to be awesome and fantastic. I can't wait to read more of this series. It's going to be fun!

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

this has to be the most unique shoujo i’ve ever read. the art is good also. i feel the concept of this world can be a bit hard to follow at times because i think in the first volume you just dip your toes into it but i can tell the author plans to expand upon it by little hints dropped in this first volume. overall very pleased. i feel this would be a good transition into reading shoujo for people who often read more shounen.

[Jenny Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one that I picked up for the supernatural side in all honesty. It's not that cleaning is something I avoid, it's just not very exciting to me. The idea in this, in cleaning out negativity along with dirt, was appreciated though. The art is pretty cute, and relationships done well. The bugs though no thanks!

Check out my YouTube channel for bookish videos and monthly wrap ups!

[dovesnook · Rating 5 out of 5]

I knew I’d like this because I accidentally started with volume one of Queen’s Quality before realizing this series comes first… but w o w! I wasn’t expecting to love it as much as I do. It kicks off in a very basic way but the tide turns so quick and the plot starts to unfold into something special. I love how much the sweepers care about others in their line of work. Very excited to see where this goes before Queen’s Quality!

[Rasha | رشا · Rating 4 out of 5]

كعادة كل مانجا يابانية في الحياة , مدرسة ثانوية, طالب\ـة منتقل\ـة , لكن انا أحب موتومي كيوسكي , أحب رسمها وأحب تعبيرات وجوه الشخصيات , ولو اني ماحبيت نهاية دنجيكي دايزي وكيف كبرت القصه عن حجمها , اتمنى أتمنى انها تتلافى هذا الخطأ هنا وما تكبر القصه اكبر من حجمها , القصه خفيفه كوميدية وللآن ما بدأت بجد, بانتظار تشبي مانجا عشان اقرأ بقية الفوليمات :)

[Kushnuma · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book reminded me of Dengeki Daisy which I just loved, so of course I enjoyed reading this as well. I laughed as much as well.

The ending seemed abrupt, I mean, things were becoming more understandable and there's not even much of a relationship between the 2 main characters! But I know it's continuing under another name so will read that.

[Jade Caprio · Rating 3 out of 5]

I haven't read a manga in so long!! It was so nostalgic!
I have to say it wasn't my favorite... I'm binging the whole series tho and they're getting better.
I have read the author's other work (Dengeki Daisy and a bit of Beast Master) and I have to say I love her art style!

[Cintia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't think I will ever find another shojo manga artist like Motomi-sensei. I absolutely love all of his stories! But I sometimes postpone them because it makes me sad when I run out of these mangas. Does this make any sense to other people...?

[n · Rating 3 out of 5]

(3.75 stars)

What a lame title and cover for this interesting paranormal story.

One of the main characters is named Kyutaro, his nickname is Kyu, Kyu Kyu is a pet name. Q sounds like the closest translation to Kyu. I hate that they made that translation decision.

[Gus · Rating 2 out of 5]

--- The Handsome QQ Sweeper 1-3 ---
Plot: Kadang rasanya lucu, tapi sebagian besar-- tidak cocok dengan selera humor dan ekspektasi plot saya.
Penokohan: ...Ok.
Gambar: Ok.

[7.3/10]

[Lissa Hawley · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 so far.