Minecraft: The Manga Feels Like Any Shonen Series for Kids

Viz Media picking up Kazuyoshi Seto’s Minecraft: The Manga is interesting! In many situations, manga adaptations of games can offer different vibes or approaches to stories. They may even offer a chance to spend more time with certain subjects. However, the design direction and narrative decisions mean that this feels like a shonen series with a bit of Minecraft flavor, rather than a tale that could only be told in the game’s universe.

Editor’s Note: There will be some minor spoilers for the first volume of Minecraft: The Manga below.

Rather than following Steve or Alex, Minecraft: The Manga goes with an original character and standard sort of shonen storyline. Nico White is a crafter who wants to become an adventurer like his father. Everyone in the White family has a mark on their hands signifying their Mod power. This allows them to make things nobody else can, all without a crafting table. When heading to the mines to work for the first time when ten, zombies appear and overwhelm his group. The power to mod shines through, he crafts a much needed sword. He saves the day! However, that awakened ability means he can’t stay home any longer, so he sets out on an adventure to reach the end of the world.

Here’s the thing. While there are references to certain uniqueenemies and gameplay elements, such as Creepers, crafting, and mining, Minecraft: The Manga generally feels like any typical shonen manga geared toward kids. The age range is right, with Nico heading out at about the same age as kids would in the Pokemon series. There are gag elements, like with the Animal Crossing adaptation. A lot of it is more about reaching the end of the world, which isn’t uncommon in these types of adventure stories. The allies, such as Gray the human with a mod curse mark that makes him look like a zombie and Yamabuki the failed ninja journeying to redeem himself. If it wasn’t for the aesthetic, it wouldn’t necessarily feel very “Minecraft.”

This isn’t to say an effort isn’t made by Seto to bring in those elements from the game. Nico uses equipment like pickaxes and swords. Blocks come up quite a bit. We see references to the hearts used to track HP in a dire situation, and a sense of starvation kicks off the second chapter. All of the enemies are also pulled from the game, as are animals and terrain types.

However, the idea of maintaining the themes also isn’t tried and true. The character designs are a good example. Everyone’s head is shaped like a cube in Minecraft: The Manga, just as in the game. However, their bodies look… pretty normal and not angular. Also, facial features end up veering into more traditional manga expressions and designs, rather than blocky ones from the game. Gray is an exception, but the extremely expressive Nico is a good example of just going with designs that you’d expect in any shonen manga geared toward kids.

This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it does mean that Minecraft: The Manga feels like any young shonen series that just so happens to take place in the world of the game. The adventure ends up sometimes feeling a bit generic as a result. Every once in a while, they’ll be a reference to gameplay or an element pulled from the title. But it doesn’t really shape the story. Instead, it’s just another coming of age tale about a young kid trying to become a hero. For its target audience, this could be all someone needs, but I don’t think it would hold the attention of anyone older or more experienced with similar stories.

Volume 1 of the Minecraft: The Manga is available now, and Viz Media will release volume 2 on June 10, 2025. The original game is available on the New 3DS, Switch, PS3, PS4, PS5, Vita, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PC, and mobile devices. 

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