Categories: comedy, drama, fantasy, romance, seinen, slice of life, supernatural Author/Artist: Aki Irie
Synopsis
Quote:
Meet the Urumas, a slightly dysfunctional family of four sorcerers. Mom, being the most powerful sorceress around, works away from home keeping the world safe. Dad picks up the slack and takes care of the family. Except when he's out, which is when the older brother Jin finds himself in the unenviable position of keeping tabs on his sister Ran. And Ran, the youngest, is a willful girl with too much power and too little wisdom. Let's take a look at Ran's everyday misadventures, shall we?
Read the first chapter a good while back and really liked the art style, so after I spotted it on MU, decided to read the whole thing; and what a read it was! There're so many aspects to this manga I don't even know where to start D0=.
The first couple of chapters deals with pretty much as stated in the synopsis; the naive little girl, Ran, that has immense magical power(and when I say "magical power", think Bewitched )gets into something, usually because she uses magic to grow older, with her brother stepping in to "save" her before she gets herself into more trouble. After that, it expands its scope; supernatural elements, some romantic elements, all the while showcasing it in a sort of slice-of-life style of storytelling. Ran's personality is simply dazzling, all the while retaining the mindset of a 10-year old girl. Just something about her makes me LOVE her character (^,^)! The supporting cast all have their own moments in the spotlight, but none develop all too much except one over the course of several volumes. What does develop is akin to what one would expect in a slice-of-life read; very subtle, but potent changes.
Spoiler for pedo disclamer/ no spoilers:
Lot of hate because one of the more main characters really gets into Ran, but only sees her in her grown up form. Still, the idea of a 10-year old girl getting hit on and touched by a near-30s man is off-putting for some. Dunno why, since she is 17-ish in his eyes, and knows nothing about sorceress or anything. Not much a big deal if you ask me.
Spoiler for up to chp 35:
Awww ... I can't say I really liked Outarou, though I didn't hate him either, since after the second encounter with Ran, his feelings about her felt sincere, and not just of a pervert like the first encounter, and that's all that truly mattered to me. Personally, I prefer to ship Hibi x Ran, but I cannot deny the amount of love Outarou has given her.
Usually, when a death flag goes up, the significant other of the soon-to-die character says something like "I'll see you soon =03", in such a way, you're kind of like "Uh oh, he's probably going to kick the bucket =0\...", but here, it was done differently. Knowing that Outarou was going to die anyway(also him knowing this as well) before Ran telling him "I have something to tell you when you come back (^,^)" actually got me misty-eyed; everyone knowing his fate and how hard Ran worked to save him, only to know that her words will ever reach him =0(. He was still a prick to Hibi to the end, declaring that he'll never give Ran up, even though he had only moments to live. I can only delegate that hate towards Hibi as a testament to how much he really loved Ran. After a month's rest, Ran will wake up. I have no idea how hard she is going to take this ...
Spoiler for Hibi and Ran:
I always liked the interaction between these two when they became friends in chapter 11. Well, I thought it was cute how concerned he was when Ran sprang her ankle in a chapter before that. It's obvious his feelings, but at the same time, he doesn't change who he is just to be friendly with her. Yet still, his actions show that he cares a great deal about her.
I was VERY impressed at how in the last couple of chapters in the Bug arc, he was the saving grace that turned the tides when the Uruma family was down for the count. I was expecting him to go with Ran as simply moral support, hoping at least he could be a meat shield, but he did far more than that. Not only did he save Ran from Bug Outarou's poison needles, but saved Jin from those needles as well as Zen from those draining...things. Then becoming the bait(with the help of Jin) to lure him away from the others so that Jin could double back to help Shizuka...well anyway, Hibi played a prominent role in that battle. He almost lost his hands(according to doc Besshin), and supposedly they're going to be scarred, but that too, signifies how much he cares about Ran =03.
Spoiler for other minor things I liked:
-Menou, the oldest sister of Koharu's family. She was pretty awesome from what was shown of her. She had this kind of big, dependable sister vibe; kinda tough, but still feminine. Not surprisingly a lot of girls like her =03, not to mention the leader of the White Dogs seems to acknowledge her as well.
-Tamao. To be one of the best/THE best magic teacher, but can't use a speck of magic is quite a unique scenario. She's kind of crass, but indirectly funny in a couple of ways. I like that she kind of makes it feel that there's a science to it all; dunno if that's because of her laptop when some magic shenanigans are occurring, or perhaps it a line she said: "You don't even know how magic works", or both. Oh, and those freckles on her face and over her body is so (>,<)!
-Jin + Koharu. Really liked how they quickly developed these two as a couple; not just emotionally, but physically as well. Of course, Koharu individually is a great sister character to Ran as opposed to the stern/tough love of Jin. Kinda disappointed that Tennouji(?)(girl with glasses that liked Jin) didnt' have a more prevalent role before that happened though. She seemed kinda interesting.
-Depiction of love by Ran. I kinda anguished after I finished reading whether or not Ran loved Outarou more than everyone else(as I am a Hibi/Ran shipper), so I was trying to justify...something. Then I re-read the story from the beginning, and read the part where she talks to Koharu about it, in which Koharu replies; "Don't focus on the word love. Just think about how you feel about the other person, and then you'll know". Then it kind of dawned on me, that I was overthinking things. For Ran, love is love. It's not particularly distinguishable, like a friendship love, brotherly/sisterly love, romantic love, etc. Not to say she likes everyone exactly the same, since she throws around the word "hate" a few times, but still, it's simply love. Just love. The basic definition. That simple(or at least that's the conclusion I came to (>.>).)
Wow, kinda overdid it. In any case, its a good manga to me, even though it misses in some places, overall, the entertaining and variety of good characters make up for it.
I never would have imagined that Hibi would have so many people involved with him and his parents' store to eat together like that. Has a very similar vibe to how things are when the Uruma's have gatherings; a very lively affair =03. It was pretty cute seeing her be the external element in a similar environment. Kinda makes me want to see the day-to-day affairs of Hibi, like how they did with Nio a few chapters back.
Its really nice to see the small spark of love kindle into a bigger flame. Despite Hibi being so tsun, he still says what he needs to say so that Ran understands how important she is to him. Although I have a feeling that this'll be the last good time we see him until the end-end, I'm glad they had one more chance to get together and become even closer than before =03.
2014-04-06, 16:46
... I can't say I really liked Outarou, though I didn't hate him either, since after the second encounter with Ran, his feelings about her felt sincere, and not just of a pervert like the first encounter, and that's all that truly mattered to me. Personally, I prefer to ship Hibi x Ran, but I cannot deny the amount of love Outarou has given her. 
