 It was nominated to the 2009 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Best Graphic Novel but David Mazzucchelli's "Asterios Polyp" won it.The manga was generally received positively by critics, including Deb Aoki of About.com, Joseph Luster of "Otaku USA", Oliver Ho of "PopMatters", "Publishers Weekly", and Shaenon K. Garrity.Erin Finnegan of Anime News Network called it "one of the best manga of 2009."