Genre: Magical Girl
There is 1 issue available.

Plot

Nijiko Arakida is a magical girl, but being able to control the weather at will might not be enough to stop the paparazzi hounding her...

The magical girl story may be a little cliched by now, but the addition of real-life elements that might occur if such a character were to appear in modern society (such as Nijiko's school friends' comments about her always going off to do magical girl stuff, and the paparazzi on her tail for being famous) help to bring the story to life and give it its own personality.

The pace of this issue is relatively slow, but that is to be expected for a first issue as the scene needs to be set for future adventures.

The Characters

The characters come across in this issue as quite nicey-nicey, however the events of future issues may change that. I am interested in seeing how these characters will develop.

Artwork

On the whole the artwork is of a high standard for a young comicker (Wandering Muse has since gone on to place 3rd in the 2007 Tokyopop Rising Stars of Manga competition!). The covers are eye-catching and well drawn. I particularly liked the addition of the colour illustration to the inside front cover.

The character faces are a strength of this artist - they are usually very recogniseable, with no flaws to the drawing or inking. Backgrounds on the other hand are usually quite sparse and simple - the odd longer establishing shot would be welcome in future issues.

Panelling is strong, with many different dynamic layouts used. Toning is also dynamic, with a variety of tones utilised to good effect throughout.

Extras

The addition of an artist's blurb might have been nice, but did not detract from my enjoyment of this promising new series.

Other comics by the same author: 'The Beautiful Voyage' (Sweatdrop Studios)