I'm not a huge expert on grapic novels. I read some xmen when I was younger, and my fair share of manga. I picked this series up mostly because I was seeing it everywhere, and most times my curostity leads me to finding out what the hype is about. In this case the hype is much deserved. This is just an all around great series. Let me say the art is amazing, but it's the story that really gets its hooks into me. This volume centered around more of the family drama, and I really loved that. It was very realistic, or as realistic as a story about aliens set in space can really be. I don't really know how to say more without spoilers.