Shugo Chara! The unholy child of Shojo and Lolicon anime! I had been hearing about this franchise for quite some time. They had the whole series at Barnes and Noble (obviously), Crunchyroll said it was right up my alley, and it was in the recommended for fans of Sailor Moon.
Anyway, I found myself at the capital of all trashy washed up manga (a.k.a. that huge Barnes and Noble on the 3rd street promenade), looking for some colorful story to get invested in. There it was. Staring it me with those beady little eyes that only Shugo Chara can pull off. I was too curious. I could feel the twenty dollar bill in my back jean pocket begin to unfold. I needed to put this mystery to rest, even if I got burned in the process. I grabbed the damn thing and got out of there before I bought the next few volumes as well.
When I got home, I realized that this was not your typical high school Shojo. In fact, it wasn't even a high school Shojo. IT WAS ABOUT ELEMENTARY SCHOOLERS. As I read the first page, in which the main heroine saves a boy from being bullied, I realized something was off. That's when the little boy cried out, "She's the coolest kid at Seiyo Elementary". I quickly looked at the back of the paperback copy, only to be greeted by the same daunting phrase. ELEMENTARY. No, I thought to myself, I am many things, but a pedophile is not one of them. I put down the book, and left the room. The next night, I found it waiting for me. Like a vengeful spirit, those same beady eyes from the bookstore were nestled in my bedsheets. The dark pedophiliac grimoire that is Shugo Chara was sitting in front of me, and there was no escape. I let out a grunt of frustration, and grabbed the book. Who knows? Maybe it would turn out to be good.
"Dear god", I exclaimed. It was midnight, and I had finished Shugo Chara Vol. 1. I don't know which was more shocking, the feeling of liking this necronomicon of Lolicon, or realizing that I had stayed up until midnight reading a manga from Barnes and Noble. For those of you who don't know, Shugo Chara is about elementary schoolers who use their ambition straight out of a self help book to combat evil. That's it. A lot of scantly clad children though, which I'm not sure how I feel about.
The first volume left on a huge cliffhanger. I don't mean mysterious, I mean a character was mid-sentence. "Well I can't just stop there", I said, realizing that it had used it's dark magics on me. The next thing I knew, I was at Barnes and Noble. I felt my hand reach out and grab the book clearly labeled, "Shugo Chara! Vol. 2". I took it to the cashier, and got the hell out of there.
The second volume was just as uneventful. It was just some J-Pop, some beach scenes (you guessed it, fourth graders with insane cleavage), and some stupid fights. This is where I put my foot down. "I cannot continue this," I said to myself. "I will be insane or dead or both within the next forty eight hours." That's when I decided to write this. At the very least, I liked it. It was a cute story, with relatively interesting characters, but horribly inappropriate artwork. I would recommend reading the first couple volumes, but everything after that is just dumb. I read the next few volumes, and was not impressed. Just read it to be able to say that you read it.
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