Dinosaur Sanctuary

by Itaru Kinoshita

Genres: Manga, Science Fiction
Pages: 194
Series: Dinosaur Sanctuary #1
Rating:

Synopsis:

A richly detailed manga about a rookie zookeeper learning how to care for dinosaurs of all shapes and sizes, sure to delight dinosaur lovers!

Dinosaurs are alive! In 1946, a remote island was discovered where dinosaurs never went extinct. Through breeding and genetic manipulation, dinosaur populations increased and dino-mania reached a fever pitch worldwide…until a certain terrible incident occurred. Afterward, dinosaur reserves like Enoshima Dinoland fell on hard times. Enter Suma Suzume, a kindhearted rookie dino-keeper! Can she be the one to save Dinoland from extinction?

The first volume of Itaru Kinoshita’s Dinosaur Sanctuary was definitely the light reading I needed on the particular day I finally picked it up. It’s aimed at a younger audience, but it’s a lot of fun, including the fact files in between chapters by an actual dinosaur expert. I love that they have a dinosaur expert consulting on it!

Obviously there’s a hint at big potential drama, from the fact that two of the characters (at least) are linked to a big and deadly incident that’s been alluded to several times… but it’s fairly low stakes. Mostly it’s about taking care of dinosaurs, which, yeah. Obviously I am very into that, and the theorising about what they might need in order to be kept in what is essentially a zoo.

I actually found this by stumbling onto a thread on Bluesky about how they translate thagomizer in the Japanese version (the answer is ” サゴマイザー/sagomaizaa”, apparently). And they say Bluesky doesn’t sell books!

Rating: 4/5 (“really liked it”)