Nobuo is an ordinary salaryman with a dark secret-his wife is an alien! Despite her tentacle hair and tendency to shoot beams from her eyes, he wouldn't trade her for anything. Love knows no bounds in this extraterrestrial romantic comedy!
A cute, quick little slice-of-life series with a fantastic art style. Lots of cute moments, endearing characters, and some alien designs I was really into. I was bummed to hear that the artist died back in 2015, and at such a young age :( I would have loved to read more from him in the future.
guilty pleasure comic/manga genre: wholesome comedy echhi. — if you’re looking for something wholesome, funny, and a teeny bit sexy, look no further! i am picky about these kinds of things— objectification and mistreatment of women and sexualisation of young people in this genre is incredibly common, but this series avoids it completely. the main female character is treated with respect while also being seen as a sexual figure. the women in the series are respected and treated as dynamic characters rather than place holders for sexual fantasies. they’re sexy because they’re likable characters, not because “ooo big boob anime girl” … even though a short series, it’s so adorable and has super sweet lovely little parts that are so heartwarming and can’t help but make you feel all warm and fuzzy. not to mention the art style is unique, distinct, and really makes the series stand out.
Nobuo Makabe is a decent guy living a decent life. He's stubborn and genial, and his alien wife stays at home and tends to assorted chores. The average-ness of the man's receding hairline and jealous gaze make for well-earned, light-hearted comedy; he worries what will happen if his wife drinks too much in public, he refuses to be tempted by a lusty co-worker, and he often volunteers to care for he and his wife's daughter, Asora, when life get hectic.
Fun and quirky and not questing for much else, OH, MY SWEET ALIEN! is a charming manga with modest aspirations. It's easy-reading. There are no villains, no webs of lies, and no confrontations with authority. At its simplest, OH, MY SWEET ALIEN! tracks an average salaryman and his alien wife (and their bi-species daughter).
This is a manga about family life that deserves more respect than the "explicit content" warning on the front cover (alas, only an American publisher would consider non-sexual nudity to be "explicit content"). As such, the travails of the Makabe family are largely familiar: navigating the in-laws, brushing off nosy neighbors, remembering anniversaries. It's nothing dramatic, but the added complication of the wife being a person from another planet does tend to throw a wrench into things.
OH, MY SWEET ALIEN! centers its humor on the Makabes enduring the dramatic irony that they are only as normal as they wish to be. For example, when the mother and daughter go to the park, they can't let those tendrils show, unless they want to cause a stir. Or how about when the family prepares a home-cooked meal? The food looks like a multi-headed lamprey (but it's surprisingly delicious?). The humor is chiefly clean and situational (notwithstanding a comical chat about adult magazines), and since each chapter is composed of three vignettes, readers don't have to worry about getting to invested in every little detail that sets apart humans, aliens, Venusians, and so forth. People are different, and those differences make life interesting.
The manga has some soft spots, though. The most significant of which is that Mrs. Makabe doesn't have a name. Three hundred pages of cheeky humor, alien weirdness, and more, and the poor woman doesn't even get a name. That seems bluntly short-sighted, and obviously sexist, even if one accounts for the possibility that the title ran longer than the author had anticipated. The woman can only be characters in reference to her husband: she's "Mrs. Makabe" and nothing else. The non-naming of the wife character deprives her of considerable agency. When she gets mad, when she fights to protect her daughter, when she works hard, when she longs for her home world . . . all of the actions and emotions that would have added context and depth to her character are lost, because she doesn't have a freaking name.
Also, it would have been nice if the author gave readers more time to absorb the dynamics of Makabe and his wife before the baby came along. Asora-chan enters the story after thirty pages. And while there are a handful of well-written segments in which the parents get away to rekindle their romance, it would have been nice to have observed the human-alien relationship on its own time and on its own terms. What do these adult characters do for fun? How do they interact with other couples? What happens when they argue? The manga hints at but ultimately skips a lot of this the moment the baby arrives.
OH, MY SWEET ALIEN! is a cute story with cute art. The dialogue is sparing but effective, and the economic approach to page composition ensures these thrice-divided chapters accomplish as much as they can without leaving anything behind. This is, however, a snapshot manga: a longer narrative would have afforded readers a more intrepid view of these complex characters, but alas, the author felt it wasn't necessary.
This is a sweet romantic comedy about the life of a man and his alien wife; there is an adult content warning on the manga, but this is because all of the aliens wander nude and display a wide variety of breast shapes and sizes rather than anything more explicit. It's a particular domestic fantasy -- wife, kid, in-laws, sexy neighbors whose advances are always turned down, wacky hijinks, loving family life -- where the fact that the wife has star-filled eyes and innumerable prehensile tentacles in the place of hair is an almost incidental detail. (It's not even sexy tentacles; the husband is definitely more of an ass-man.) For all that it's not a very alien story, and is deeply invested in traditional gender roles for even the most alien of its characters, it's still a fun comedy about a happily married couple, and very enjoyable for just how much it loves how in love the central couple is.
Oh, My Sweet Alien! is a nice read for fans of slice-of-life stories. Many of the situations our married couple go through are situations that anyone can relate to (for the most part), from meeting someone to the first time, the awkwardness of meeting the parents, or going on a vacation. The art style is amazing, especially for the wife and the odd situations she deals with. This omnibus is nice to read, good to pick up, and worth sharing to others with similar tastes. I do dislike how rushed the last few chapters felt, which is why I am not giving this manga the max star treatment, but still recommend it to pick up!
While Oh, My Sweet Alien! might have started as a science fiction horror comedy, rooted as it is in an alien abductee's courtship with his abductor, the manga starts in media res, with the science fiction downplayed, any potential horror redacted into The X-Files, and the emphasis firmly on the rom-com of their marriage.
This is such a cute story. I absolutely love slice of life fantasy/sci-fi stories! The fact that it is short is bittersweet, but makes it easy to come back to, reread, and enjoy many times. I love having on my shelf to flip through when I feel like it. People who like this one might also like Love in Hell or Monster Musume.
Un manga leggero, corto e simpatico. La morte prematura del mangaka è stato un vero peccato perché l'ultimo capitolo, seppur a suo modo soddisfacente, ha lasciato ancora qualche nodo narrativo ancora da sviluppare.
It's amazing how the different female alien species all have breasts despite probably not being mammals. And by "amazing" I mean sad and really stupid.
This is witty, charming, funny, heart warming, and thought provoking. My heart broke, my eyes teared up, and I laughed out loud at several points reading this tender, weird, wonderful tale.
supergullig! jag älskar artstylen och den ”overall sweetness” mangan hade. väldigt wholesome porträttering av kärlek och familjeliv. och ALIENS. vilket bara gör allt bättre.
Human and alien interaction is funny and to add that family dynamic of both worlds is sweet and adorable. A wonderful combination of these two make this a loving heartwarming family story. I love it!
"Oh, My Sweet Alien!" is a romantic comedy about an Earthling man and an alien women overcoming differences to deal with everyday problems while hiding her from the normal humans by wearing realistic skin suits that make her look human. Sure when au natural she has tentacle hair capable of amazing feats and everytime she cries she shoots lasers that deform everything they hit but in the end one can hope love will win in the end. Of course it is also Rated M for mature content including sexual situations (no actual hentai though), scenes of nudity (like most alien experiences), Venusians trying to break up couples, and insinuations of implanting humans so if any of that stuff bothers you please turn away and pick up a more acceptable book from the many out there. :)
Personally I find the art in this book to be cute most of the time and a bit sexy when they are trying for that but I really enjoy how the mangaka shows us readers not only how one alien and human deal with each other but they also have a child and visit her homeworld too so we get to see many different types of aliens and although the ending might be a bit sappy considering the average human paranoia about the unknown it was still a nice finish. :)
There are a lot of great moments in the book but my personal fave moment would probably have to be in the chapter A Man's Battle when the alien pet Dela-chan and the husband start fighting with each other over tv and food ultimately resulting in punishment for both of them. :)
pros: - it’s genuinely sweet and slice-of-life - ample context is given to character actions - well-drawn
cons: - art is sometimes too cluttered for my tastes - wish-fulfilment fantasy (take that as you will) - pacing seems rather abrupt; the reader gets the sense the author ran out of ideas to explore - world-building is minimal, characters themselves are boring without any chance to grow
it’s disingenuous to really “critique” a slim volume here since it explores tropes and ideas common to this kind of material. then again, I did read it, so there must be some sort of pull to this material?