Mamotte! Lollipop

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Story: I actually found this manga while I was on a cruise with my family. Two of the books were laying around in the Teen's Club bookshelf, and I decided to have a look at them. I was so interested, and my mom got me the rest of the series as Christmas gifts. I did give them away to my high school library at the end so more people could read it. What's the story? Well, there's a girl named Nina, Japanese for two actually, who only wishes to finally have a boyfriend for once because she's one of the only girl's in her junior ... high school who hasn't had one. While at an ice cream shop with her friends, two wizard boys end up crashing the place because they are in search of a gem to pass their exam. Their names are Zero and Ichii, his name is Japanese for one. They happen to discover that Nina accidentally ate the gem by accident, and now they have to protect her from the other exam takers who are doing the same thing. At the same time, Nina is trying to figure out which one of them is the better boyfriend material. Now, this is cliche as hell, but for some odd reason, I thought it was funny and entertaining. As far as the love triangle goes, it's not very unique, but once you read into it, it turns out one of the boys is not even interested in Nina at all. I do admit that the middle of the whole series is boring because it turns more into a slice of life than a fantasy story, but the end is the part I've been waiting for my entire life. For that, I would rate this a 7 out of 10.

Art: First published in 2003, it looks very cute. I don't find anything distracting with it. It's clean and flows along with the dialogue. My favorite part of the art is the last volume. I won't tell you want happens though XD 10/10

Characters: Nina is more interesting than all of the other female leads I've read about in manga. Her personality isn't really much, but that's not really the focus. The focus is more about who matters more in her life, which will lead to her decision about which boy will be her boyfriend. I know that's not really interesting in real life, but something drags you into it. Ichii has a past that kind of affects his relationship with Nina, which will give you an idea that he's not the perfect choice (still not spoiling anything). Throughout the whole series, I wanted to know more about Zero. I don't think the series gave me enough to work with, but his cocky, little boy personality begins to fade away the more time he spends with Nina, which is the whole asshole turns good formula, which is cliche, but I like it just fine. The rest of the characters are...ok. They add the humor to this, but not by much. 7/10

Enjoyment: It was interesting read with a promising beginning, dull middle, and a climatic end. I hope the anime is better. The characters will probably have more personality on the TV screen than on paper. Still, I read it to the very end just fine. 8/10 is just fine to me.

Overall: Maybe the anime will give me a better view of the manga. The score is a perfect 8 out of 10.

Mamotte! Lolipop is a typical shoujo manga where a girl gets two hot guys to love her. I personally don't think it deserves the rank it is in now, because it is extremely predictable. However, if you want to have a few laughs, say "aww" out loud for the mushy love scenes, and cute artwork, go for it.

Story: 4

What the synopsis on MAL doesn’t tell you is how these two “hot” boys fall into her lap—she eats the crystal pearl designed to be the retrieval item needed to pass their magic exam. As you can already tell, Nina isn’t exactly the brightest girl. The rest of the manga involves Nina being constantly saved by her two potential love interests and being a damsel in distress. I don’t know what the point of having two of them there was when I already knew which one she would end up with when I finished the first volume. Scratch that, I know the answer: to ... fuel every preteen’s dream of having two hot guys pining over you.

Art: 7

It’s shoujo. Nothing special. At least each character is distinguishable from each other—something a lot of shoujo fail at. However, I will praise Michiyo Kikuta on her color schemes. The covers are really colorful and I find myself able to just stare at the back covers of the volumes for a while, appreciating the images colored in, especially volume 6. I have a feeling if the mangaka took that story approach, it’d be a little more interesting.

Character: 5

The characters weren’t as bad as I thought they were going to be. But they’re still bad. Nina’s the typical Mary Sue who acts as the damsel in distress (though Michiyo tries to change her image in the later volumes, she’s still not a very likeable character).

Zero’s the hotheaded guy and Ichi’s the calm one. Yeah, the two typical potential love interests in most cliché shoujo manga. At least Michiyo gave those two a back story, and I’ll admit that I found their back stories interesting. She also gives a little back story to the other characters (3, 4, 5, 6).

And though the character names are a little gimmicky, I still find them cute. I was also more interested in Sun and Forte than the main trio.

(In replacement of Enjoyment…) Romance: 3

As I mentioned above, I already knew which of the two, Zero or Ichi, Nina would end up with when I finished the first volume. Of course I’m not going to tell you which one, but if you just look at the signs properly and think about the clichés of shoujo manga (and romance in general), then I’m sure you’d easily figure it out too.

Now, is the romance done well? Meh. It’s full of clichés. Nina falls, guy catches her. Nina cries, guy comforts her. Zero flirts with Nina, she blushes. Ichi flirts with Nina, she blushes. She’s caught in compromising situations that lead to jealousy, misunderstanding, and more internal conflict. She thinks typical stuff like “Do I like him? Why is my heart beating so much? Maybe I like him? But I like the other guy too! Oh no, which one do I like more?”

Oh, the troubles of a teenage girl’s heart.

Again, I found myself more interested in the romance between Sun and Forte.

Overall: 4

Some of you guys may be thinking I’m being harsh on Mamotte! Lollipop because it’s a kid’s manga (for a kid’s manga, there’s an awful lot of friggin fan-service), but that’s not true. I freaking love Sugar Sugar Rune, Kodocha, and Gakuen Alice—and all the main characters of those manga are YOUNGER than those of this manga!

Mamotte! Lollipop is just full of clichés and amateurish story-telling. This is proved by the second half of this series where another arc takes place after the Magic Exam is over. Seriously, it just popped out of nowhere and is there to add a big BANG to the series and have you thinking, “Ooo, big battle where Nina can show that she’s actually a very capable heroine and not a whining little girl.” Seriously, it’s just shoved in there.

And of course, following typical shoujo plot, the ending is tied into a neat and tidy bow. But did you know there’s a sequel?

I freaking hate it when they over-milk a manga. Just end it already. It’s not that great enough to demand a sequel for anyway.