Albox Eien o Kaetara by Rika Hanei

I thought I picked a manga with no connection to school in it, but I guess I chose poorly.

Have I ever mentioned how much I like gifs?





Albox Eien o Kaetara by Rika Hanei

Art and story (c) Rika Hanei

Genre: Shojo Fantasy
Length: One Volume – 7 Chapters


            The art is quite endearing, the faces are sweet. Occasionally, the eyes looked empty, or perhaps 'flat' is the more appropriate word, but it's not that noticeable. I found the clothes well detailed, mostly in a baggy style, still they were interesting to look at. I don't remember even once thinking the backgrounds were lacking. Sometimes the hair looks a little strange-fitting, I can't decide
though if that is a style thing, or a proportions problem, either way it's noticeable through out. The art overall is easy to digest and fun to read, this mixed with the humor made me want to look up this mangaka and see if any other stories are worth reading.
            Chino has a typical life, starting with visiting her childhood friend, Souma, and getting him out the door instead of skipping school. But this day is not like any other when Souma suddenly falls down as if he were dead, his body growing colder by the second. That’s when the mysterious woman appears, asking what Chino will give to save her friend and an auction begins, one that Chino will have to win to save Souma, but what exactly she is bidding on is the strangest part, for the prize is a 'Prince.'
            I liked this manga strongly from the beginning due to the sweet art and the cute humor, still, the ending can leave a bad taste since it falls a bit short of expectations. It feels almost like the author wanted so many things to be connected and the story to be so epic, but then had to condense all of that into one single volume. This over ambitious story rushes along at breakneck speed, and not every mystery had a proper answer when it was all said and done. But, it was cute and fun so I can't say it was a bad read. Some people, judging by a few reviews I've seen around the internet, will hate this manga just because of the non-ending ending, but I've read far, far worse, and didn't enjoy the ride along the way nearly as much. This is a love triangle manga, so many of the hard feelings come from Chino's lack of decision at the end, but the end is sort of just the beginning of where the relationships will go, so I wasn't entirely broken up by her lack of choice. You see it coming, after all, like I said it has a quick pace and, basically, none of that is defined by Chino seeing either two of the boys as anything more than friends. My main criticisms had nothing to do with the romantic parts, but with the sheer bulk of what isn't completely, or what is only partially, explained. For example, the bad guy throws blame around, but the root of that blame is not put to light, even though it was really dramatic when it came out. Or the fact that Souma acts like he's seen Chino in distress before, but its only mentioned in a off handed manner, then the manga ends. Also, there is a whole character that gets all of five pages to explain his entire existence by bringing up something that definitely should be explained but isn't at all. I mean really, I liked that guy, he needed more pages! I suppose I could find more examples, but I'll leave off a three, since it proves my point sufficiently. It's just too bad there wasn't a longer run where things could have been stated properly, and relationships could have been better defined. Still, I liked it.



3.5/5 Had it been longer with a slower pace, this could have been really good.