Magico
Magico by Iwamato Naoki is one of those mangas that is very difficult to put down.
For one thing, it doesn't hide how ridiculous its characters or the power-ups are. It's... refreshing. The way it's written, you clearly understand that it's simply a mostly light-hearted romantic fantasy manga with some humor thrown in for kicks. The story focuses on the young married couple in the series, Shion and Emma, who get married or engaged, if you want to be technical, at 16 (basically when they first meet) for the purpose of getting rid of an apocalyptic magic source in Emma's body.
Really doesn't sound all that interesting, but it's completely different when you read it -- the level of detail that goes into setting up the back story (they have to get rid of the magic source through multiple magic rituals that lead them on a journey throughout the world), the world (the magic system created in this short six-volume series is fascinating and amazing), and the characters. Oh my secret stash of manga, are the relationships wonderful in this story. You have crazy people, great people, severely messed up people, very determined people, innocent people, just about the entire scope of the human spectrum. Most impressively, none of them are tarred with the "villain" brush without at least giving the reader some context of their past. Well, there's only one villain who is unrelentingly evil, but you do get one or two of those in the real world as well -- we call them sadists for a reason.
And Shion and Emma are so adorable together -- they're really pure-hearted, which is part of why this manga is so great: they're very inexperienced with being in a romantic relationship, but they somehow manage to make it work. They talk, they fight, they make up. Exactly like a real marriage, in fact!
If only because it's hard to find a cheery romantic manga that manages to nail the romance, the humor, the action, and the drama, I'd rate this a solid 10/10.
P.S. By now I suppose it should be clear to anyone reading my posts that I don't bother putting up sub-par manga -- only those from around 7-10 on my personal scale, tending towards those I'd rate a 10.
For one thing, it doesn't hide how ridiculous its characters or the power-ups are. It's... refreshing. The way it's written, you clearly understand that it's simply a mostly light-hearted romantic fantasy manga with some humor thrown in for kicks. The story focuses on the young married couple in the series, Shion and Emma, who get married or engaged, if you want to be technical, at 16 (basically when they first meet) for the purpose of getting rid of an apocalyptic magic source in Emma's body.
Really doesn't sound all that interesting, but it's completely different when you read it -- the level of detail that goes into setting up the back story (they have to get rid of the magic source through multiple magic rituals that lead them on a journey throughout the world), the world (the magic system created in this short six-volume series is fascinating and amazing), and the characters. Oh my secret stash of manga, are the relationships wonderful in this story. You have crazy people, great people, severely messed up people, very determined people, innocent people, just about the entire scope of the human spectrum. Most impressively, none of them are tarred with the "villain" brush without at least giving the reader some context of their past. Well, there's only one villain who is unrelentingly evil, but you do get one or two of those in the real world as well -- we call them sadists for a reason.
And Shion and Emma are so adorable together -- they're really pure-hearted, which is part of why this manga is so great: they're very inexperienced with being in a romantic relationship, but they somehow manage to make it work. They talk, they fight, they make up. Exactly like a real marriage, in fact!
If only because it's hard to find a cheery romantic manga that manages to nail the romance, the humor, the action, and the drama, I'd rate this a solid 10/10.
P.S. By now I suppose it should be clear to anyone reading my posts that I don't bother putting up sub-par manga -- only those from around 7-10 on my personal scale, tending towards those I'd rate a 10.