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Kasumi #1
Kasumi, Volume 1
THE INVISIBLE GIRL
Kasumi is a special girl–and not just because she’s a super-cute high schooler with a heart of gold. She has a major She can turn invisible when she holds her breath. But when she transfers to an elite private school, it gets harder to keep her superpowers secret, especially when she catches the eye of the handsome student-body president, Ryuuki, and becomes the target of his number one fan, mean girl extraordinaire Reina. Can Kasumi keep hiding who she really is?
Kasumi is a special girl–and not just because she’s a super-cute high schooler with a heart of gold. She has a major She can turn invisible when she holds her breath. But when she transfers to an elite private school, it gets harder to keep her superpowers secret, especially when she catches the eye of the handsome student-body president, Ryuuki, and becomes the target of his number one fan, mean girl extraordinaire Reina. Can Kasumi keep hiding who she really is?
194 pages, Paperback
First published July 28, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
October 7, 2015
Two words: Bitch Brigade
I hate bitch brigades.
It requires far too much suspension of disbelief for one of these to work for me.
1. It requires teachers (all teachers) that are careless and or just don't give a shit.
2. It requires a small group (say, 3 or 4 girls) to rule the entire school of 300+ students and teachers and administrators and parents.
3. Last but not least, it requires all members of the B*tch Brigade to be that and nothing else. They are defined by their b*tchiness and nothing else. They must be pure evil and nothing else.
No thank you.
I'm... just going to skip this. It angers me too much.
I hate bitch brigades.
It requires far too much suspension of disbelief for one of these to work for me.
1. It requires teachers (all teachers) that are careless and or just don't give a shit.
2. It requires a small group (say, 3 or 4 girls) to rule the entire school of 300+ students and teachers and administrators and parents.
3. Last but not least, it requires all members of the B*tch Brigade to be that and nothing else. They are defined by their b*tchiness and nothing else. They must be pure evil and nothing else.
No thank you.
I'm... just going to skip this. It angers me too much.
April 14, 2020
I really like the graphics in this manga. I actually also drawn to its plot. The thing about it is far from the spectrum of any manga. It is not banal and you will truly enjoy it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 11, 2008
Overall Rating: A
Summary: In this fantasy shōjo manga written by Surt Lim with art by Hirofumi Sugimoto we're introduced to Kasumi, a normal high-school girl. Well, almost normal anyway. Kasumi and her father move away from the city when he gets a new job, and Kasumi gets enrolled in an elite private school. Fairly typical manga plot so far, but Kasumi isn't a normal girl. On the way to their new home, Kasumi and her father stop in some woods so her father can look at some plants (I think I remember correctly that her father is a Botanist), and Kasumi falls out of a tree she has been climbing. The tree is high enough that the fall should kill her, but she is saved by mysterious lights.
After recovering, she discovers she can turn invisible, but only for as long as she can hold her breath. This power comes in handy when she inadvertently pisses off the fan club of the class president Ryuuki (this is very similar to the fan club in Fruits Basket for Yuki). Led by the Vice President, Reina, the club makes Kasumi's life hell, and tries to get her to leave the school. Fortunately, Kasumi makes friends with Yuuta, whose nickname is Otaku-Ken because he is such a nerd and tries to help her. Kasumi also meets Maiko, a fellow student who seems to have a connection to the mysterious lights, and what is the enigmatic Ryuuki up to?
I actually enjoyed this one a lot, even though some of the plot was very familiar. The plot and characters were different enough from Fruits Basket that I really enjoyed it, and the art is very cute (though the lack of noses on some characters distracted me occasionally). Overall though it's a good start to a shōjo series, and I will definitely be checking out the next volume.
Check out more manga and anime reviews at Hobotaku!
February 11, 2020
Not going to lie, I almost tapped out of the first volume halfway through. I didn't really enjoy it until about three-fourths of the way in, when the magical girl aspect of the story kicked in. I don't know if it's because I'm old or because I'm an ace, but I've NEVER understood the hyperfixation school-girl characters have on guys. It's become such a trope in school-age graphic novels that I found myself annoyed by how much of the plot it took up, and the unnecessary meanness of the "antagonist" goes to levels beyond just cruel: she's a flat-out psychopath. How can a teacher see what's going on and think to themselves "yeah this is typical teenager behavior"? But it's only when other magical-ish characters are slowly introduced towards the end of volume 1 that I started to think "yeah, this is interesting". With the summary on the back of the book and Goodreads, you'd think the girl-turns-invisible thing would take up more time and plot, but it felt more C-line in the hierarchy of plots. I'll give volume two a shot since I've already got it checked out, and it's safe to say that I'm glad that there's only two volumes. If this had DBZ syndrome, I would have tapped out much sooner.
July 31, 2025
I read this when I was like 11 and was hooked!! Unfortunately I guess it didn’t continue to a point where I found out if they ended up as a couple!
Also— I added Surt Lim on Facebook when I was like 13 and she added me back. I dunno if she thought I was like a neighbors kid or something 😆 but no I was just a preteen who was a fan girl. So that was pretty cool for kid me.
I haven’t seen much about western manga since about that age. There should be more. !! I was an American kid who had a dream of being a mangaka and I only know one active western mangaka now (at least… I believe this manga was not published in Japan and is originally in English)
Also— I added Surt Lim on Facebook when I was like 13 and she added me back. I dunno if she thought I was like a neighbors kid or something 😆 but no I was just a preteen who was a fan girl. So that was pretty cool for kid me.
I haven’t seen much about western manga since about that age. There should be more. !! I was an American kid who had a dream of being a mangaka and I only know one active western mangaka now (at least… I believe this manga was not published in Japan and is originally in English)
May 29, 2019
First time reading this in conjunction to reading a lot of other, better, manga series. This feels very American (not totally sure if it is), but the Japanese elements feel forced. Also the concept of the story feels very generic, like most YA novels or American teen dramas on TV. While this would have been an interesting series to see evolve, and I probably would be totally addicted to the stupid drama if it had, knowing it only has two installments and rudimentary character development and worldbuilding makes it hard to give this book some slack.
March 22, 2024
This was just kinda okay. I didn’t hate it,
I didn’t love it. I will continue, cause the magic system intrigues me, even if I don’t fully grasp it. But the ending had me gasping! I need to know what comes next.
I didn’t love it. I will continue, cause the magic system intrigues me, even if I don’t fully grasp it. But the ending had me gasping! I need to know what comes next.
August 3, 2024
Another pleasant surprise -- I'm enjoying a book I did not expect to like. Bullying is the central theme and I look forward to the bully receiving their comeuppance. The story is suspenseful and clear. The characters are interesting and well-defined. The art gets the job done.
July 9, 2018
Meh. It started out great, but by the end, I didn't really like it as much.
February 4, 2019
Books like this make you a believer. I even found myself holding my breath to see if I could go invisible like this brave little girl done. INSPIRING!
October 23, 2024
3.7
It's so fun!! I know it got cancelled so I'm already prepping myself but I don't know why it did it's really cute!
It's so fun!! I know it got cancelled so I'm already prepping myself but I don't know why it did it's really cute!
May 28, 2025
It's a shame such a cute manga was cancelled after 2 volumes. It deserved better.
February 1, 2023
This manga was really cute and I’m kinda invested. I desperately want to know who this man is and what his secrets are!?! Plus we love a girly with a magic quirk and she’s the only girl tall, dark and handsome is interested in.
November 1, 2016
Edit: 7/4/2016
I wish I could rate this 3.5. Kasumi was the first manga I ever bought and yeah..it's a bit nostalgic.
I really liked the concept for the story at the time of buying it, even if it is overdone. To my 15 year old self who had never actually read manga (I only drew it) or seen anime before, the story felt so new and different and "cool" to me. Kasumi, Yuuta and Maiko are pretty likable. I also thought Kasumi and Yuuta looked awfully cute together, heh heh.
Sure, the art doesn't look so great compared to, say, Junji Ito, Naoko Takeuchi, or CLAMP. The illustrations are simply average at best, but it was Surt and Sugimoto's first shojo manga after all.
I would also like to know how Kasumi climbs up a huge tree, follows the light only to nearly fall to her death, sleeps the whole day, goes to school almost as soon as she wakes up, then proceeds to meet "The Populars" and her immediate thought is if one of them was in last night's drama. Did no one else notice this or am I the only one?
Shame Del Rey Manga is defunct. Or did the mangaka cancel the series altogether? I'll never know how the story unfolds, but I'm thankful Kasumi got me more curious about manga and anime as a medium. I've discovered many incredible movies and shows that way. :)
I wish I could rate this 3.5. Kasumi was the first manga I ever bought and yeah..it's a bit nostalgic.
I really liked the concept for the story at the time of buying it, even if it is overdone. To my 15 year old self who had never actually read manga (I only drew it) or seen anime before, the story felt so new and different and "cool" to me. Kasumi, Yuuta and Maiko are pretty likable. I also thought Kasumi and Yuuta looked awfully cute together, heh heh.
Sure, the art doesn't look so great compared to, say, Junji Ito, Naoko Takeuchi, or CLAMP. The illustrations are simply average at best, but it was Surt and Sugimoto's first shojo manga after all.
I would also like to know how Kasumi climbs up a huge tree, follows the light only to nearly fall to her death, sleeps the whole day, goes to school almost as soon as she wakes up, then proceeds to meet "The Populars" and her immediate thought is if one of them was in last night's drama. Did no one else notice this or am I the only one?
Shame Del Rey Manga is defunct. Or did the mangaka cancel the series altogether? I'll never know how the story unfolds, but I'm thankful Kasumi got me more curious about manga and anime as a medium. I've discovered many incredible movies and shows that way. :)
June 10, 2015
This takes pretty much every single shoujo manga trope and packs it all into one story. I was wondering at first if it was just a parody meant to comment on the mahou shoujo genre but nope, everything is played straight and that is where it fails. Kasumi doesn't stand out at all in the multitudes of shoujo manga protagonists and the supporting characters are all one dimensional stereotypes. The humour is completely stale, being rehashes of the kind of obvious and familiar jokes found in other works of this genre. The story moves fairly quickly without any real emotion or depth, and ends with a cliffhanger at the end of this volume, but there's nothing there to hook you in for the next. My advice? Skip this and go read Cardcaptor Sakura, Volume 1 or Gakuen Alice, Vol. 01.
October 3, 2009
Thanks to all the setup, this was a little slow, but it's a promising start to a new series. Now that we've been introduced to all the main characters, I'm looking forward to seeing how they'll interact. There were also several hints at some of the more mysterious parts of the world building that apparently will play out in the next volume as well (There are other people with powers! Someone with feathers gets involved!). I'd say this was fine for younger than high school if it weren't for the see-through bathing suit prank that gets pulled on our heroine. I think the fantasy elements will appeal to fans of Fushigi Yugi and Ceres, Celestial Maiden, while the high school and romance angles will appeal to fans of Peach Girl and Boys Over Flowers.
March 24, 2013
Not a unique plot line, are particularly good writing. It was long, which is nice when reading manga, since they usually only take 20 minutes to read.
The drawing style wasn't anything fancy or complicated, but pretty simple and pleasing to look at. The characters were drawn very "cute."
It's good "brain-candy" if you're looking for a manga that won't make you emotionally invested or drag you into a whole long saga.
The drawing style wasn't anything fancy or complicated, but pretty simple and pleasing to look at. The characters were drawn very "cute."
It's good "brain-candy" if you're looking for a manga that won't make you emotionally invested or drag you into a whole long saga.
September 8, 2014
To be honest I'm a little disappointed in this manga. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it. But after further research I hate to think that I read the first book and only the second in this series has come out in the past few years. The series is at a dead point and not going anywhere. Which kinda sucks. Makes me think I was fooled by a pretty cover. Lol
November 17, 2011
This was so cool! I never would have thought that her power would be to hold her breath and then turn invisible, and Ironface has powers too! That was a shock. I love the style of the drawings and can't wait to read the second one.
September 24, 2015
These seems like it has the potential to be a fun series. I enjoyed the first volume. Kasumi is a fun character - I really enjoyed how she was fighting back against the bullies.
There is only one more volume, so I'll have to see how it all ends.
There is only one more volume, so I'll have to see how it all ends.
January 26, 2009
Slow starter, but intriguing ending. Kasumi moves with her father, and almost dies but is magically saved, which then also gives her the ability to turn invisible when she holds her breath.
April 14, 2009
check out my review at Toshokan Comix
April 2, 2010
This book is one of my favorite Mangas yet! Clear Beautiful illustrations, a hint of romance and scandal, lovable characters, and a a smidge of mystery make this book a must read!
April 15, 2010
cute!
August 4, 2010
i rly lov tis i cant wait 4 da nxt 1
January 27, 2011
Parts remind me of Hana Yori Dango, but I'm sincerely interested in the plot. Or rather, was, as the series is apparently discontinued.
September 29, 2011
As always, I want to read the second book before I decide on this series, but it is promisingly ridiculous while seeming to be serious. Ha!
December 29, 2025
Read/rated in grade school.
December 25, 2011
An alright series, though, seemingly filled with cliches. Enough like-ability that I would be alright with reading the next one.
March 24, 2013
I'm sad there are only 2 volumes to this- it's cute!
I love the artwork and how cute all of the characters are. Kasumi is adorable and doesn't let anything get her down.
I love the artwork and how cute all of the characters are. Kasumi is adorable and doesn't let anything get her down.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews