Fushigi no Maria-kun and Majo to Yajuu

            Last Halloween Spectacular post! This time its a manga and a one shot about strange loves. I very much enjoyed my spooky reads, even though I read more shojo than gore, I hope everyone had as good of a holiday as I did. I'm pretty sure I won't find any Thanksgiving manga to read so I'll be back to reading whatever I feel like after this.

Fushigi no Maria-kun by Dai Shina

Genre: Shojo
Length: 2 Volumes - 9 Chapters (1 One-shot at the end of the first volume)

Art and story (c) Shina Dai

           The art, at first, was a little out of whack in proportions; heads were too big and the eyes took up more face than they should have. Some of that remained through out, like the big teeth that showed when someone smiled, but otherwise there's not much to complain about here once you get used to it. This manga has a unique look with the eyes and expressions, the eyes have a certain shading or tone that is used that give them good depth. The clothes are fairly non-descript or school uniforms, in fact I don't even remember anything beyond button up shirts on the boy and sailor suits on the girl. The hair has nice shape and form, the main character has a combination bowl and pixie cut not seen outside of manga and anime and the love interest has those cross bangs that meet at the bridge of the nose and some how criss-cross into an x on the forehead. Some background people can look strange once in a while, though. Body poses are good, I don't remember noting any strangeness. Lots of tone backgrounds, which are preferable to blank ones, of which, this manga did not have an abundance of.

           Toko has a childhood friend she has been looking after and protecting for ten years and whom she cherishes more than her own life. Toko is a normal human who goes to school and helps out with the neighborhood association when she can. Toko's friend is just the same, except he is not a normal human, in fact he is not human at all but a vampire. Maria-kun is actually one of the last pure-blooded vampires and has been declared by Japan as an endangered species. Toko feels responsible for Maria because she brought him into human society but can the feelings they have for one another develop beyond 'childhood friends' when Maria's situation causes no end of troubles?
           I got to tell you, this manga tells you what for right from the beginning. The first panel on the first page after the chapter title page reads "My childhood friend is a vampire" and then goes on to be very silly. Silly shojo manga is a genre I love to read so I was hooked when, on the second page, the vampire in question is passed out in a trash can. It was a little wordier than I expected at times but not excessively so. The action, as well, wasn't particularly amazing but it was followable. There isn't much depth to the drama, but it is cute enough to get away with it, besides the characters themselves are well though out personality wise. The end felt a little rushed and leaves one wishing they had just a little bit of seeing the two as a couple but it is satisfying. I felt like it had a new look on vampires and the typical vampire/human love story. If you are looking for a story that has lots of intrigue, keep going, but if you want a school-life romance with a vampire instead of the typical classmate stop here and you will not be disappointed. I'm not saying there's no vampire-related troubles for the two of them but there's also a lot of staple shojo drama, too. Maria-kun is also very shy so you get to squeal at the cuteness quite a bit. I think the best parts were when it poked fun at itself and its genre with just how normal the male lead is despite being an inhuman vampire, though his name is Maria and it is a little strange to hear a boy being called by that name. I think one more volume of this manga would have made it even better.
           The one-shot at the end of Volume one is even stranger to look at than the main part of the manga, it is obviously much older, but the story itself is okay. It's a bit choppy and the drama is a little 'so what'-ish but for a one-shot it isn't too bad.

4/5 Recommended vampire love fluff.

Majou to Yajuu by Ai Fujio

           Genre: Shojo

           Length: One Chapter - 38 Pages

art and story (c) Ai Fujio

           Art is typical shojo, not much to say for or against it. The clothes are nice, and the animals hit a good in between of cartoon-y and realistic. Backgrounds are half trees/half tones and not much else. There is nothing off putting in it

           A fearsome lion falls in love with a human girl and asks a witch to grant his wishes to make him more suitable to her. Can changing himself completely allow the lion to be happy and no longer lonely?          
          Like a little fairy tale to read at bed time, this manga has cute and sad moments. Feels much longer than it is, it feels like a full story instead of just a snippet. I really enjoyed it, and I think it'll stick with me for a long time to come despite it's generic people art.

           5/5 Super Recommended.