The greater the risk, the greater the reward. ~Anonymous
Genre: Fantasy/Romance/Shoujo
Review Status: Complete (1 Volume/1 Volume)
Licensed: Yes, this manga is licensed in the US
Art/Animation: Typical shoujo art- lots of flourishes, big eyes. Pretty, but nothing special.
Summary: Rin is the mysterious shopkeeper of the Yume Kira Dream Shoppe, a magical storefront shop which flies through the sky at dusk. With a store filled with unusual and rare items, Rin listens for wishes that travel on the wind and, aided by an assistant named Alpha, offers magical wares to grant these wishes at the cost of something dear to the customer. (From Wikipedia)
Review: What would you give for the person you loved? In this short one-shot, that question is explored through the eyes of four characters- a tree that longs to speak to the music-maker that brought it hope, a stuffed toy that wants nothing more than to see his owner happy, a girl who's lost her memories, and a girl that doesn't have the courage to be herself around the guy she likes.
All come to the Shoppe to have their wishes fulfilled, but in exchange for this, they must give up something precious to them.
There's suprisingly little sacrifice in here- only one story ended up bittersweet, while the rest had fairly typical happy endings. Even so, the stories presented and some of the unusual ways that the wishes were granted were decently entertaining.
This does suffer from a lack of creativity on the part of the author. The stories play out like you would expect from a shoujo. The idea of wish-granting is one that I've seen played out before, with less-predictable results.
The second chapter is what I feel pulls this just above mediocrity, with the character not wishing for love for themself, but for the happiness of the one they love with someone else. Not the usual way things play out, that's for sure!
What also is disappointing is that the manga ends with having pulled in some new minor characters and gives hints at the world that the Dream Shoppe inhabits- tantalizing clues that there is more to this than what appears. Unfortunately, the series was cancelled, so I will just have to imagine what else lies there and what the relations are between the new characters and the owner.
Overall, this was a nice, short read.
Recommended: 8+, as there is some talk of death and dying.
Other titles you might enjoy:
Ballad of a Shinigami (anime or manga)
XXXHolic (anime or manga)
Time Stranger Kyoko (manga)
Someday's Dreamers (anime or manga)
Kobato (manga or anime)
Kamichu! (anime or manga)
Someday's Dreamers ~Spellbound~ (manga)
Sounds interesting, I might check this out!
ReplyDelete