Magical Girl Dandelion by Kaeru Mizuho
Rating: 
Nothing is perfect, and as such, the reviews in this blog are chaotic. My main aim is to share my thoughts, joy and opinions on a book, not make a publication perfect review. This blog endorses authenticity, showing up and joy over perfection.
I am partial to a good magical game manga, and I grabbed this one on those 3 for 2 offers from Forbidden Planet. Good gamble since I enjoyed it quite a lot. In a world where magical girls are part of a force that fights against fiends, Tanpopo passes her life dreaming of being one magical girl, spending time with her grandfather after losing her parents when she was young and spending time with her best friend, Shade, who is a fiend. So when she discovers she has magic and has the ability to become a magical girl, Tanpopo has hard choices to make in particular in regards to her friendship. And Shade keeps secrets of his own, particularly in the fact that he protects Tanpopo from other fiends and assists her. But the stakes grow high when one of the victims to fiends is Tanpopo's grandfather. She will be willing to risk her place as a magical girl to save him. I liked Tanpopo and Shade's friendship and how they interact, with Shade being a bit sarcastic and protective but also secretive, whereas she's all sweet and wants more of her life but is reserved. And being a magical girl is both a dream and hard work, lots of rules and lots of learning for her how to use her magic. In the first volume we see a little of how she becomes friends with Shade, some of the basic part of Shade's secrets, her becoming a magical girl and the small arc of her grandfather being victim to the fiends. It sounds both like a lot and very little and it was interesting, because it gives you a decent idea of where the story plans to go with the factions (humanity, magical girls and fiends). The artwork was also really good (I am a sucker for CLAMP and manga with fancy clothes and lots of magic) and didn't leave me feeling like it didn't match the story, it is a bit of dark and light between Shade and Tanpopo and it feels a bit different than the majortiy of the magical girl works, so ti was nice to read. I am looking forward to collecting the series.