Sugar Sugar Rune by Moyoco Anno

Title: Sugar Sugar Rune

Mangaka: Moyoco Anno

Age Group: Tweens +

# of Pages: Approx. 200

# of Volumes: 8

My Rating: 4/5

Chocolat Meilleure and Vanilla Mieux are two best friends. They are also witches from a magical world. Chocolat is never afraid to be herself, making her quite popular among her peers. Vanilla on the other hand is quite shy and delicate, who never draws anyone's attention. The young girls are polar opposites of each other but have a strong bond of friendship. Except when the competition to become the possible new queen of their world starts, everything spins out of control!

Between the two, whoever can collect more "hearts" from the opposite gender will win the race. To do so, they must charm as many human boys as possible. And when their victims' heart turns pink, the witches must take them! The hearts will be converted to "ecures" (a currency in their world) and they can buy accessories for their wands that enables them to do new spells. Disguising themselves, Chocolat and Vanilla become students on Earth. Sadly, no boy likes Chocolat outspoken personality, making her unable to collect as many hearts! And Vanilla is getting so many!

Not long after, Chocolat catches up to Vanilla's number. During the time they discover the existence of Ogres, a race that is banned from the magical world. They are able to use Noir as their source of power, which are black hearts. Regular magic creatures die if they obtain a Noir. The Ogres' leader is the handsome Pierre, who is also student at Vanilla's and Chocolat's school! Full of hatred and wanting revenge for being an outcast, he persuades Vanilla him and the Ogres. Embracing the Noir, Vanilla becomes a completely different person because of her jealousy towards Chocolat. Will Chocolat be able to save her friend from the darkness?

I have only read up to volume four so far. It's quite cute but there are times where it's not so exciting. More like I just read through it and forget what just happened right after. But I am very eager to see the development of Chocolat's and Pierre's relationship. Sometimes I wish the art is more sharp. I dislike how the artist draws her characters' eyes. To me, it seems like the work of an amateur. In the beginning I mistaken her style for Yayoi Ogawa's, the mangaka of Tramps Like Us (Kimi Wa Petto in Japanese). As I read on, I didn't mind so much after. Since my sister really likes this series, it is a good manga to introduce to for the younger audience.