 Sugar Sugar Rune #1
US$8.76 From Amazon.com!
Having seen this series advertised in almosy every volume of the Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles manga I decided to give it a go. The art looked good, and the manga witch idea always seems pretty interesting (I wish Naoko Takeuchi would finish Love Witch!) but man, the story and overall concept of the series is downright insulting on almost every level! I'd go so far as to say that it's Japanese cultural propoganda!
The basic concept of the series is that two young female witches are sent to our world in a kind of competetition to.... win boys' hearts. (how empowering!) Nevermind that the boys are around the age of eight and seem to be feeling "love" very easily for several people. It's just so unrealistic and fake. What's more the reader is constantly told that in this world only shy, quiet girls attract boys and noisy ones scare them away. This whole idea is just so extreme. It's one thing to teach manners in a series, but it's another thing entirely to blatantly say that "If you're not like this, noone will like you!".
I've never thrown away a manga before but just had to do it with this rubbish. What I mentioned is just the tip of the iceburg. Sugar Sugar Rune also endourses mas junk food eating, a Japanese stereotypical view of French culture (because it's so cool! *rolls eyes*).... arg!
I have to admit, I stopped short of the last chapter, so who knows. Maybe it redeemed itself.... but I seriously doubt it.
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