A Little Snow Fairy Sugar, Vol. 01

ちっちゃな雪使いシュガー [Chicchana Yukitsukai Sugar] #1

by Haruka Aoi (Illustrations), Koge-Donbo* (Character Design), B.H. Snow

Season Fairies create and control the weather using special musical instruments. Sugar, an apprentice Snow Fairy, and her friends Salt and Pepper, all want to become full-fledged Season Fairies. But the only way to achieve this is to search for and find the "Twinkles" that will make their magical flowers bloom

Genres: Manga, Fantasy, Comics Manga, Fiction, Childrens, Graphic Novels

184 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Sushi (寿司) · Rating 4 out of 5]

È carino. Però una rilettura a 34 anni non è più come leggerlo ai tempi delle superiori. Non mi sento di dare 5☆.

[Sesana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was in desperate need of something light, fluffy, and adorable when I started to read this manga. Sugar was a perfect fit for my mood. The little fairies are just so cute, and the small, simple conflicts were just the thing for my mood.

[Bibliothecat · Rating 2 out of 5]

Review for complete series

A Little Snow Fairy Sugar isn't a bad, but it's pretty weak, especially if you are an older reader. This manga is better suited for a young audience, and by that I mean very early teens or even younger. I can love a good middle grade book but some simply feel too juvenile, and this is one of them. This is actually a reread, but I remember not being too excited about this one when I read it as a teen either.

At it's core, it's a cute plot: it's an idyllic little town - very much European style - where a young girl Saga suddenly starts seeing little fairies. Among these, she befriends the hyperactive little snow fairy Sugar, who is trying to fulfil a mission to be able to graduate to a fully matured fairy. Saga is very orderly and correct so there are initially a lot of clashes between her and the chaotic little fairy, but they develop a sweet friendship through which both grow stronger.

It is a sweet, simple and technically wholesome story. It's just told in quite a hectic manner and it doesn't help that I don't actually like Saga. I understand that she and Sugar are polar opposites and thus don't always see eye to eye. Saga also doesn't have a mother anymore and tries to act beyond her years and still grieves her loss deeply. But being such an orderly type of character and having lost her mother doesn't give her a free pass to being rude, because that's exactly how I see her. She gets angry so easily and is constantly shouting at Sugar and scolding her. I do see where she is coming from but most of the time her reactions seem way over the top and simply hearing Sugar out would have made a huge difference.

It's hard to enjoy just a plot if you don't actually like the characters. So, given that this is for readers well below my age, the characters don't appeal to me and the whole thing is a little chaotic, it's really hard for me to say I enjoyed this. There is, of course, also the art - interestingly, this is even the main reason I picked this up. I originally bought this series thinking it was by Koge-Donbo who I really like. But it soon dawned on me that she only made the character designs and the actual manga was drawn by Haruka Aoi who unfortunately does a poor job at mimicking the style. There are a few pretty pictures but the biggest issue are the eyes, they often look as though the individual eyes are looking in opposite directions. It also doesn't help Saga that her face is constantly scrunched up in an angry scowl.

I love Koge-Donbo's art but this is just not it. If neither art nor plot or characters can convince me, I see little reason to hold on to this series any longer. I will say again that I don't think this series is outright bad and I do think younger teen girls - perhaps 8 - 12 years old - might appreciate this and overlook its flaws.

[Gus · Rating 3 out of 5]

--- Tiny Snow Fairy Sugar 1-3 ---
Plot: Ok.
Gambar: Desain karakter para peri musim sangat manis \^ o ^/.
Penokohan: Ok.

Jadwal yang padat, kegiatan yang padat.

Protagonis utama kita seorang gadis yang mampu mengikuti jadwalnya secara teratur dan sempurna. Tapi gara-gara tidak sengaja bisa bertemu peri musim bernama Sugar, hal yang teratur itu jadi porak-poranda. Tentu saja, seharusnya manusia biasa tidak dapat melihat peri musim. Lantas mengapa protagonis utama dapat melihatnya?

Ah. Mungkin sebaiknya baca saja sinopsis resminya^^.
Baiklah, ceritanya simpel dan cocok untuk anak-anak. Saya juga menikmatinya, apalagi desain dan sifat para peri musim yang manis-manis. Ciri khas "wahooo"-nya Sugar juga menyenangkan serta kebiasaan dan kecintaannya pada manusia. Plotnya juga berjalan tanpa skenario repetitif. Sampai sini, saya menikmatinya.

Satu hal yang saya merasa agak 50-50 itu... bagian protagonis utama dan Sugar yang terlalu sering bertengkar (serius). Disini bertengkar, disana bertengkar. Tapi yah tidak aneh sih. Kalau saya jadi protagonis utama, pasti saya juga akan jengkel dengan peri musim Sugar. Syukurlah semakin kebelakang, hubungan mereka kian baik^^.
[7.5]

[Holly Letson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I went into this manga having already watched and loved the anime, which is always a good start. But, it also mean you place high expectations upon what you are reading. Many mangas fail to meet those expectations, but this one met them without any difficulty. And, I am glad to know that they anime followed along pretty well with this volume.
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The designs for these characters is by Koge-Donbo of *Pita-Ten* fame. If you have never seen any of their art, I highly recommend you check it out, as it is always beautiful.
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Saga is a poor girl, who works multiple jobs, in order to earn the money to buy back her deceased mother's piano from the pawn shop. This is her main objective in life. Saga lives with her grandmother, who keeps her in line with strict rules.
Meeting the Sugar and the Season Fairies was never a part of her plans, and it quickly turns her life upside-down. But, as she comes to know Sugar and the other fairies, Saga realizes that she absolutely cannot go back to how her life was before meeting them.
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Can Saga and Sugar find the *Twinkle* (kirameki) in time for Sugar to become a full-fledged Snow Fairy?

[Leah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not the best manga but would recommend if you are starting out with manga

[Selena Pigoni · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the story of a girl who one day sees fairies.

It's cute, but I felt the panels and story were scatterbrained. Within a page they'd be doing three different things. I suppose with a hyperactive little fairy that's to be expected, but it was still a little too all over the place.

Honestly, I preferred the anime this one's based on. Sugar has a lot of instruments, but many of the chaos created by the characters using magic with their instruments was cut in the manga version because obviously manga has no music.

[The Third Place A Teen Library]

A AOI
alsfs
vol. 1

[Abby · Rating 5 out of 5]

kind of weird

[Kimikimi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cute, but better read by the pre-teen set because it's a little young.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it, its really good & cute & love the anime too! : )

[Meleofa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute. About season fairies and perseverance.

[τλιϓλ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like it and enjoy my time with this volume ^_^ sugar and her friends are really adorable ^_^