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Friday, December 23, 2011

Manga Review: MeruPuri, Volume 4, by Matsuri Hino

Rating (Out of 5): 4.5
Publisher: VIZ Media
Volumes: 4

Goodreads Synopsis:
All high-school freshman Airi Hoshina ever wanted was to someday live in a cozy home with a loving husband, and find joy in the little things in life. As a result, she makes it her daily mission to get to school on time because school legend has it that the longer one's non-tardy streak is, the better boyfriend one will find. But just when her daily routine is working like clockwork, an occurrence of fairytale proportions threatens to disrupt her grand plan.
Review:
This one starts off with Airi in the dangerous, locked off building, where she meets up with Raz. Aram is hurrying to catch up to her, and he runs into Mariabel and Jeile on the way, and Jeile helps him break in. Raz is being a jerk to Airi, like always, but he gives her the box, which she is unable to open with her strength alone. But she proclaims that her and Aram's love with be able to move past this, and if they can't, then it's not worth it. But Aram breaks in, and she kisses his chest, over the symbol that resembles hers, and he gets his memories back. There's some fun words exchanged between them all, as well. Oh, and Aram officially asks her to marry him with a flower in hand.
In the next chapter, Airi is trying to learn some magic. She has to learn to be able to pass back into her world, since her own mirror broke, but she's having trouble with it. She's not understanding it, and the other girls are jealous because Aram is hanging all over her and following her to class. They do make a scene after the girls call her out. But the best part of the chapter is when Jeile has to tutor her, and him and Aram fight over her. They are just adorable.
The next chapter mostly focuses on the two officially stating to the kingdom that they are married and that no one can do anything about it. And we meet Jeile's fiance. Jeile is against it, and he's also engaged to Lei's twin sister, and when coming into account his first meeting with Lei, this is hilarious. Next, Airi has to do a trial for Aram's mother, in which she has to go back home and find a ring that her great, however-many, grandmother left. Her and Aram and Jeile look all over for it, and Airi finds it in her mirror from a curse, and she gets to meet her as well. This is a cute little scene. We also see Lei, who has been pretending to be Airi in the human world while Airi has been stuck. Least to say, Lei is not happy about it.
Chapter twenty-one focuses on several things. It first shows Lei and Aram's mothers relationship. They have an odd one. Aram's mother, all on her own, though, is odd. She's a bit sadistic, and likes seeing her kids being tortured a little, and she scares Airi (which is understandable). Lei, though, has feelings for her, and she tortures him because of it, while no one else knows. Next it shows Raz, who gets to leave the kingdom because he fulfilled his agreement with Aram's mother, but then he gets sucked into a thing and stuck in the human world. He was summoned, we find out, by Nakaoji's little sister, who wants Nakaoji killed (which is very fun). Nakaoji isn't fazed, and we find out later that he descents from some guides who help people from the other side when they get to the human world. And apparently Chrisnelle, the traitor that Airi descends from, was also a guide. This is interesting, and I wish that we'd have gotten to see more of Nakaoji and what he knows. It has me intrigued, and now I can't know anymore.
Anyway, then it focuses some on Jeile. It shows him and Maruru, his fairy, and Nei, his fiance. (At least I think her name is Nei. It's mentioned in the author notes on the side, but I don't remember ever being formally introduced to her.) And we see some of his past, when he first met Maruru, and was put down because of it, but he had to show that he could do anything. Nei doesn't seem to mind that he has a special fairy, or that he has several other women that he has given flower names. Although she's a little unemotional, like Lei is. But she seems to really like Jeile, and when Maruru fully grows into herself, becoming full size, they both share him. This is a little weird, but not too surprising, and I don't really mind it. I wouldn't mind seeing more, actually. But I just love Jeile, a little bit.
And then there's a short story explaining Raz's situation in the human world with Nakaoji.
In the final chapter, there's a cute scene between Aram and Airi, and they go out on a date. (Sidenote: I love her dress in this scene. I am jealous and want to steal it from her.) It's Aram's seventeenth birthday, and there's a ceremony because he has now become eligible royaly, or whatever, and his marriage to Airi is announced. And we see Jeile with his wife and two kids, where he gives them a present in which Aram turns into a little kids in the dark.
One thing that bothers me about this is the age difference. It's pointed out that Airi is twenty and Aram is seventeen, but that doesn't seem as big of a difference as it was when they first met. Am I wrong? I don't know why, but this is still bothering me. Also, is Airi just going to live as long as everyone else in Astale now that she's there? Because she shouldn't be as slow with it as they are, unless they did something, right? Um, whatever, I guess.
Then there's a cute little story where Airi has messed up a spell and Aram finds her and helps her fix it.
I love this series, and I want more. But that's alright, I guess. I like Airi and Aram together. I like Jeile, all by himself and with other people. I'm interested in Nakaoji now, and I'm also a little intrigued by Raz and what's going to happen with him, and Mariabel, although reluctantly. Oh, and Lei and Aram's mother. They're so odd, and I wouldn't be surprised if something did happen between them. But I would want to read it, as well as what the King thinks of it all. As I was saying, I love all of the characters and I want more of them. And Aram is adorable. He's sweet and innocent, for most of the time, and he blushes so easily. He's so cute.
And there's so much to the story, even though it's a short series. I don't think that it got that much attention, either, which is a shame, since it's so good. Hino's art is awesome, as are her characters and story. There are so many cute scenes and lines in this series. Even though some things bothered me, I still love it.

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