Comics / Manga

Mamotte! Lolliopop: Volume 1

By Leroy Douresseaux
March 18, 2007 - 20:46

Twelve-year old Nina Yanada finds herself beset by two boy wizards from the Magic World.  The boys, named Zero and Ichi, are in the middle of the "Magic Exam," which if they pass, will allow them to become professional wizards.  One of the boys' missions is to find the Crystal Pearl, which was dropped into the human world.  It landed on top of Nina's cake, so she ate it thinking the Pearl was a piece of candy.

Zero & Ichi's rivals, Sun and Forte are also looking for the Pearl, so now Zero and Ichi must provide Nina with round the clock protection to keep Sun and Forte from spiriting her away.  The boys' plan is to hold onto Nina for the six months of their testing that remains.  Nina, however, is secretly in love with both boy wizards.  She knows that one of them is the boy of her dreams… but which one?  When a rival for Ichi's affections named Rokka appears, it's on.

In Mamotte! Lollipop, Michiyo Kikuta has created shojo Manga that is so sweet that it's like a bag of crunchy, sparkling candy.  There are moments that even I enjoyed something here and there on this dessert tray.  Even her B&W art feels like brightly colored sweets.  Elina Ishikawa's translation and adaptation keeps the entirety of Vol. 1 from causing diabetes, giving the light premise some substantive dialogue.  With elements of bishounen ("beautiful boy") and kodomo (children's Manga), this unabashedly shojo title should prove to be a captivating delicacy for the Tiger Beat set.

6/10

Thanks to barnesandnoble.com for the images.

 

Last Updated: January 17, 2025 - 08:20