Unfortunately had too drop this because I could not overlook how Gross the relationship between ran and outarou was.. and how everyone was so nonchalant about A GROWN MAN ALL OVER RAN Even when they know about it NOTHING gets done about it.. very infuriating
I adore this manga. The greatest aspect this story offered, visually especially, was the magic and fantasy. I could really feel some Miyazaki's Spirited Away in this. I was also a huge fan of all the characters besides the main characters. No overflowing the readers with each and everyone's personal history; just some interactions they all had with each other were entertaining enough. The drawing is also gorgeous.
Now, the romance part. As the rest has stressed about, I felt this was definitely the weakest part.
Outarou and MC, if I'm correct, were intended to be written as a character both in need of growth. In the beginning, the MC, being a kid, was overly spoiled and seemed a little bit too selfish compared to other kids. She was fascinated with everything and yearned to grow up fast despite being pretty immature and carefree herself. Outarou on the other hand, was a typical playboy with no care for other girl's feelings. I would say.. Outarou helped the MC indirectly (just a little imo) to grow; he taught her about discovering love, and how to love others. The MC intrigued Outarou with her childness and taught him how to love, which turned him to be a little sympathetic towards the end. That sounds all good though, but to be blunt, the odd age gap was too hard to walk around. There were times where Outarou walked out of legal and moral boundaries, considering the MC is a teenager in her magic form. He even admits to not wanting to keep an underage person in his house without a proper permission from a parent. As much fun I had reading their interactions, I would go so far to say that although he did reject a kiss from her early on to respect her innocence, he could've done a lot better. All in all, Outarou can easily and understandably be seen as a literal creep to the readers, and MC to be a tad annoying. I give the MC some slack though, since after his death, is when it really showed her to be more mature. Lol.
Sanjo and Jin, I wish the author gave more consideration into them as a couple. They practically tied the knot not because one of them had the courage to confess (although I wouldn't really say Jin was in love with her at the beginning), but because of Jin's lust. That's it.
And as I've said before, the art is gorgeous. Fully drawn-out backgrounds, compared to the cheap flowery and tacky background that tends to plague a lot of shoujo manga. All the characters had their own unique and interesting features that make them stand out, instead of the infamous "same face syndrome" that artists tend to have.
I love the fantasy in this. Although how magic works in this series isn't often explained, I believe the author's greatest strength is show than tell.
As for the pacing of the story, it isn't the best. Just as I've mentioned before in spoilers, some parts could've use more proper writing.
Although the bad might seem to overweight the good, I still recommend this to others. If you're here looking for some good romance or interesting characters, this isn't for you. But, if you don't mind an average paced story and can enjoy this series as a show than tell type of fantasy manga, you'll find it okay.
I remember finishing this years ago thinking how amazing the ride was until...a unnecessary speed bump of a certain character with out of place intentions leads to unwanted developments ruining the actually romance that comes later on...then it gets back to being amazing again to a very satisfying conclusion. It’s like the author just wanted to lay a rotten turd in the middle of a beautifully painted canvas. I will never understand why.
the art on this manga is gorgeous
and as I commented once in batoto, it's this manga's only saving grace
I won't go on a rant, but to summarize: this manga is why editors and sometimes authors are needed to proofread your story and guide it away from horrible plots
I think this manga was pretty amazing. Only issue I had was how quickly Ran seemed to mature, which was a little jarring. And that guy was creepy. Would have been better if the author just made him into a role model for her instead of a love interest.
I just got done binging this. I don't know when it happened, but eventually this became a hate-read for me.
The most charitable I can be is that the author wanted to do a story about growing up and maturing - including the desire to pretend to be grown up and mature. However they then chose to show this with a deeply creepy sex pest character and by having the focus of the manga constantly fuck up in ways that lead to people around her being hurt, maimed, and killed by her selfishness and recklessness.
The art is nowhere near good enough to make it worth reading. I strongly do not recommend.
What makes this manga amazing is the ethereal beauty of its setting and the world it depicts, having good characters/development/story is a huge bonus too. It's been half a year since I read it for the first time and its still way up in my top favorites manga. You're winning if you're here 👍
I'm only at chapter 9 but I've already been annoyed with the creepy dude, that some have already mentioned, for a few chapters now. And according to the comment it won't necessarily fix itself soon and other things might add to that as well. After reading the description I was expecting some kind of slice of life but I guess it won't be that so I think I will just stop before I start being too disappointed.
The art is good tho and depending of what people are looking for I'm sure it can be enjoyable. (But I say that after reading only until chapter 9)
This manga is great if you read until the romance starts and skip straight to the end. It's kind of a shame how much time is dedicated to the romance between Ran and Outarou when it's the least interesting and most grating part of the manga. The ending is great however; I think it really catches the feeling of always chasing to be an adult and then having it actually happen.
Thankfully, reading the author's other works, it seems like this odd type of underage romance plotline doesn't pop up again.
