Manga Review: Viehmannin wa Utau

Name: Viehmannin wa Utau
Author & Artist: YAMAGUCHI Miyuki
Chapters: 26 - Complete
Genres: Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Mystery, Romance, Shoujo
Plot:

From Wingtip Cafe:
Rina is always busy studying and working to support herself. After the depressing news that she again lost first place in the school rankings to Julius, an expressionless guy who is her arch rival, Rina finds Milch, a little fairy girl. Later, she meets Sylvie, a Fairyland knight who has come to rescue Milch.

Review:
I'm a fan of a good mahou shoujo and stories with fairytale elements so it's probably why I enjoyed the story so much. It's more toned down and slower paced compared to a modern day manga since it was made in 1990 but it's a merit more than anything.

Older 90s manga is a hit and miss for a lot of people but if you enjoy fantasy I think this is pretty good. It has enough mystery and intrigue so that it doesn't feel like I'm trudging my way a long while reading it.


There isn't too much information either, many sci-fi or fantasy have blocks and blocks of text explaining everything, which isn't bad (each to their own) but sometimes it's not completely necessary (Kanata Kara was a bit like this). Instead the mangaka leaves it up to the readers to fill in the gaps and use their own imagination, which is a good thing in my opinion.

There's a good measure of romance, tragic elements that help tie the story together while not being the complete centre piece of the story. The characters are relate-able and likable. The heroine is strong mentally but makes some pretty high school girl-ish decisions (which is to be expected, nothing wrong with that) and the main lead is your typical pretty boy who knows when to take a hit for the girl.

It's a great manga and I hate saying this but it feels like it misses the mark somewhere to being one of my all time favorites. There are a lot of stories that fall somewhere in the "great but not the greatest" category.

More Info:
There's a sequel called Tajjii Majjii set in the same magical world but with a different main character. Written four years after the first story, it seems like no-one has scanalated it yet.