Hidden beneath the vivid pastel pinks and greens of Rainbow! Volume 1, there lurks a darkish and confronting story of independence, id, and parental pressures. The creator duo, Gloom and Sunny, have partnered collectively to create a story that’s each bit as impactful as modern YA webtoons-turned-books like Alice Oseman’s Heartstopper or Suzanne Walker and Wendy Xu’s Mooncakes.

Our reviewer wish to word set off warnings for alcoholism, habit, and childhood neglect.

Rainbow! Volume 1: Into the Pastel-verse

Rainbow! has an inventive brilliance to it that instantly captures your consideration. With a restrained palette principally comprising pastel pinks and vivid greens, Rainbow! introduces us to our pink-haired high-schooler, Boo Meadows. Liable to diving into daydreams the place she turns into a magical lady, Boo tries to distance herself from her crippling social nervousness and the difficulties of her house life. Caught with an alcoholic mom who solely performs the parental card when it advantages her most, Boo has develop into accustomed to mendacity about her well being and her life, placing partitions up between her colleagues on the native cafe.

When Boo meets the green-haired switch pupil, Mimi, she begins seeing Mimi all over the place—and is captivated by Mimi’s confident nature. They could seem like complete opposites on the surface, however as Boo progressively learns extra in regards to the extroverted Mimi, it turns into obvious that they’ve extra in frequent than first anticipated, particularly in the case of their house lives.

Beneath the Neon Lights

It’s by way of this seemingly cheerful lens of shiny pinks and greens that the darkness of Rainbow! bleeds into the true story. Make no mistake, though there’s clearly a romantic angle brewing between Boo and Mimi, this firstly is a up to date drama that lends itself to a confronting dialogue about little one neglect. Boo’s mom is an alcoholic, barely functioning, and largely a supply of disgrace for Boo, whereas concurrently being abusive and overbearing when she’s sober. It’s no surprise that Boo has sought an imaginary world to flee into—however Mimi presents a lifeline into the true world, one which’s painful to confront however undeniably the trail she should stroll.

Abstract

Rainbow!, Volume 1 is a masterpiece of visible design and narrative, utilizing a vivid palette of surprising colours to distinction the darkness of its character’s backstories, many components of which can undoubtedly hit near the mark for some readers. The conversion from webcomic format to printed format has been dealt with brilliantly and positively earns our suggestion for anybody on the lookout for a dramatic story of id, childhood struggles, and youthful self-determination. Rainbow!, Volume 1 is revealed underneath Scholastic’s Graphix imprint and you may pre-order a bodily copy here.

Because of Scholastic for offering a evaluation copy of Rainbow! Volume 1.

Initially revealed on AnimeCorner. (March 3, 2024)