Shugo Chara!, Vol. 1: Who Do You Want to Be?

しゅごキャラ！/ Shugokyara! #1

by Peach-Pit

WHO DO YOU WANT TO BE?

Everybody at Seiyo Elementary thinks that stylish and super cool Amu has it But nobody knows the real Amu, a shy girl who wishes she had the courage to truly be herself. Changing Amu’s life is going to take more than wishes and dreams–it’s going to take a little magic! One morning, Amu finds a surprise in her three strange little eggs. Each egg contains a Guardian Character, an angel-like being who can give her the power to be someone new. With the help of her Guardian Characters, Amu is about to discover that her true self is even more amazing than she ever dreamed.

Genres: Manga, Fantasy, Romance, Graphic Novels, Anime, Shojo, Comics

208 pages, Paperback

First published July 6, 2006

About the author

Peach-Pit (ピーチ・ピット Pīchi Pitto) is a female manga artist duo in Japan, made up of Banri Sendo (千道 万里 Sendō Banri) and Shibuko Ebara (えばら 渋子 Ebara Shibuko). Their group name derives from the diner hangout Peach-Pit from the TV show Beverly Hills, 90210. Although both have similar styles, with some artwork it is possible to identify which artist drew it. Both are known for their bishōjo styled works. As noted in their books, they are both Geminis and have "Almost flushed our phones down the toilet...twice."

The two of them grew up together and went to the same elementary school and have been best friends ever since. Both started as doujinshi manga artists, but not as Peach-Pit. Then they were scouted by Dengeki Comic Gao!. In 2008, one of their manga, Shugo Chara!, was awarded the Kodansha Manga Award for best children's manga. Shugo Chara was also turned later into an Anime television series.

Reviews

[Theresa ♫ · Rating 4 out of 5]

1. The art is beautiful.
2. The idea is WAAAAY original. I CAN'T FIND ANOTHER PLOT LIKE IT!!
3. It teaches a valuable lesson that I ENCOURAGE MY REVIEW READERS TO FIND OUT FOR THEMSELVES. :)

Shugo Chara (NOTE: Pronounced Shoo-goh kah-rah! People have been calling it Shoo-goh cha-rah and I have the immediate urge to correct them! But I wouldn't know--I'm just a fan of pronouncing things the japanese way.) starts out as story about a young 4th grader (I can't believe how young they are...) named Amu Hinamori.
Amu has been classified as a cool "Hot and spicy" type of girl, but deep down inside, she's an overreacting, excited girl. She dresses "punky and cool", but she's always wanted to wear something girly with lace. She has problems with showing her true feelings and emotions.
One night, she wishes that she would be able to show her true self to others, and the next morning, three small eggs appear in her room. This is where the plot begins to pick up.

I started reading Shugo Chara when I was in the 6th grade, and I've only read up to volume nine--so nope, I'm not finished. But I want to review what I feel about this story so far, and I GIVE THIS STORY FOUR-STARS BECAUSE OF IT'S AWESOME BRILLIANCE!!!!!!!

It's FOUR-STARS and not five-stars because Shugo Chara is a little too shoujo for me. But don't get me wrong--I love the plots and the art and the characters!

I recommend this story for shoujo, mahou shoujo (magical girl) lovers! Now go read it!

[Lou Rocama · Rating 2 out of 5]

Review for series.

The first volume of this was a little incoherant, and I had trouble getting into it. I only read further because I already had the entire set out from the library, and figured why not. It's not like they take long to read. The later volumes were much better plotted, and I actually zipped past number 7 pretty quickly. Then I got bored. I finished for the same reason I'd continued past volume 1. The ending was okay, though not amazing.

As for the material:

The characters act like they're around 8 or 9th grade, rather than in elementary school, which makes it easy to overlook the problem with the Ikuto/Amu pairing. Namely, He's seventeen, and romantically pursuing an eleven year old. At best this is unrealistic, and at worst downright creepy.

My favorite character was Yoru, because I have a weakness for kitty paws.

[R.]

I read it moslty for the nostalgia, and because it was free on kindle unlimited. I really don't like how the characters are supposed to be 14-15 but act and (some of them) look 16-17, and I think the anime introduces the concept of the eggs better. I still had a great time.

[Sparo127 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shugo Chara is a lovely manga series! It turned out better than I had expected to be. Amu Hinamori, the main character, acting 'cool and spicy' at her school but that wasn't her true character. So she wish to be reborn as her true self. Her wish came true and there were three eggs on her bed. She was astonished about it. She brought them at her school where she met the Guardians of Seiyo Elementary. She had a crush with the prince, Tadase who was in the king chair. Once she confessed to him that she loves him but he turned her down so she ran and fell in a whole and saw a cat eared teenage boy, Ikuto. He stole her red egg but it hatched. Her name was Ran, a Guardian Character that helps Amu to find her true self. The other two eggs hatched after that incident. Second egg that hatch was Miki and third was Su. Ran make Amu good at sports, Miki makes her good at art and Su makes her good at cookingand cleaning. Her adventure goes on.... Read the book to know more! Its a fun series and has a good plot! There is an anime show of this but isn't as good as the manga.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the story's premise, but it read like the usual girl manga type, which bugged me since the characters are in Elementary School. They're 11, at best, and acting like teenagers.

[Natascha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Am I too old to enjoy this series? Probably. Do I care? No.
I got introduced to Shugo Chara when I was around 10 or 11. I remember wanting to be so cool like Amu. And I realized that I've never read the end of this series.
After all that death and glory of mangas I've read this year (namely Berserk), I was in a mood to read something light-hearted and cute again.
It surely is not a story which keeps me up thinking at night, but I remember having the same fears and wishes like the guardians as a 11yr old. So it's a trip down the memory lane for me.

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing!! I read all of them!! I am a total Amuto fan!!!!!!!! I hope amu picks Ikuto overe tadase!!!!!!!

[Popuri ⍟]

This was such a great trip down memory lane.
I was obsessed with Shugo Chara as a kid, and way too into the love triangle in this series, probably more than I should've been, because that's really not the main point of the story, but what's a 12 year old to do? It was way too much fun.
Thankfully this remains incredibly fun. It holds up! At least this first volume, anyway. The art is super cute and I always loved the magic in this series. I can't wait to keep going and continue reliving this story <3

[Kayla Brunson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn't going into this expecting a masterpiece. After seeing this listed on a magical girl list, I decided to give it a try. This was released in 2006 and it definitely feels like it.. It wasn't terrible, it just wasn't very engaging.

I did watch the first episode of the anime to see if it would be better for me, and it actually was. I think I'm going to continue with the anime route because it's cuter and easier to grasp the whole character change thing.

[Mehsi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Re-read 2022: 4 to 4.5 stars. I thought it was HIGH time to re-read this wonderfully fun series again~ SO excited! Because this series, no matter how much I re-read it (I am fairly sure I have read it 4-5 times now though GR only lists it as 3 because I just don't know the earlier dates that well) it stays fun. About identity, your self, finding talent, and magic! I just adore the characters and I love this introduction to the first characters, to our MC, and to our boys that will be wooing Amu (though Ikuto, don't grab/do things like that, it just feels weird/off). In this one we see how Amu get three eggs and how she learns all about being a Guardian, plus how to be more open to changes/new personalities that are just hidden under her icy outer character. I just love the fashion, Amu has some wonderful clothes, even her school uniform is kick-ass. Plus, so fun to see the other characters and their eggs~ Also the x-egg/embryo stuff is interesting~
Fab art.
Eep so excited!!!

-------------------------------
Re-read 2017: What does one do when one has a not so good day and also can’t do much because of reasons? Indeed, read, read and more reading, and I decided to re-read this series. I loved the anime, but I know my first run with the manga wasn’t that good. So I was curious if my second run would be better!

The first volume is all about introductions. We meet Amu who acts all tough but actually wants to be more than just that. Which is also the reason why this girl gets not one egg, but three eggs. One sporty, one arty, and one who loves baking.

I quite liked Amu, she was interesting, and I do recognize the feeling she has. Outwardly she does x and y, but actually she wants to z and a. Sometimes I found her a bit mean, but I again, I can imagine why, I wouldn’t like it too much either, if suddenly my persona would change like that and I would do the things that Amu did.

Her and Ikuto’s relationship? Or at least the big container full of squee and romance that is pouring over these two? I know I was a big shipper of this couple, even more so than the Prince x Amu (I just didn’t think the Prince fit her that much). However, it did feel a bit wrong. Amu is still in elementary school (so say 11/12, at least going by the ages here and also by how Amu and the others look), and Ikuto is (at least going by his appearances) 16/17. Eh. But even with that, I still can’t help shipping them. They are just too adorable together.

There was a lot of action going on in this one, and a lot of questions are popping up. X-eggs, guardian eggs, the embryo, what is going on with Ikuto & Utau. I know they will all get answered in the end, so I am looking forward to it.

The art is, well it is Peach-Pitt, wonderful, I so love Peach-Pitt’s style of drawing. Though at times Amu looked way younger than she actually is. But in overall? I was squeezing at the lovely art, and wishing I could have all the clothes. :P

I am definitely happy I decided to re-read this series. It is a fun series, and I laughed out loud at all that happened in Amu’s life. Not only for the antics of the eggs, or Ikuto’s sudden appearances, but also for Amu’s family.

I would recommend this one to everyone looking for a cute, fun, sweet manga.

Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com

[Rosenblue · Rating 3 out of 5]

Parental advisory: Suggestive themes.

Shugo Chara is center around popular and stylish ten year old Seiyo elementary school student,Amu Hinamori.
Her classmates refer to her attitude and appearance as "cool and spicy" and rumors speculate about her personal life.
Amu scares school bullies simply by her appearance.
However her real personality contrasts with her classmates' view of her persona at school and because of that she has trouble making friends at school.
Amu is actually a very shy kid who has trouble showing her true personality and finding her confidence to be herself.
She wishes for the courage to be herself,be more athletic,be better at cooking,baking and be more skilled at drawing.
One night after school Amu wishes to be reborn as her "true self"
The following morning Amu wakes up to find three colorful eggs under her pillow which later hatch into three Guardian Characters:Ran(pink fairy/athletic),Miki(blue fairy/artist)and Su(green fairy/cooking/baking).
The Guardian Characters aid Amu in discovering who she truly is and help fulfil Amu's dreams.
In later volumes:
Amu starts to struggle with her everyday life to dealing with her "would-be" selves and Seiyo elementary's Guardians who each have a Guardian Character of their own.
People with Guardian Characters character transform or "character change"
Each transformation has special powers, mainly for attacking or defending.
Character changes have special powers too but have more practical uses.

This story is a "coming of age story" for tween girls with themes of magic,fairies and school crushes.

I like the premise of Shugo Chara and the Amu,Ikuto and Tadase's sense of fashion.

I don't enjoy the romance,the suggestive themes nor the slightly revealing outfits in this story because the characters are too young to be interested in things like this.
Amu moves from having a crush on Tadase Hotori - another ten year old - to Ikuto Tsukuyomi to a 14 year old boy who looks like he is 17 years old highschooler.
I don't see why Amu likes him other than the fact that he is pushy and mysterious.
Her first interaction with him is bumping and falling on him awkwardly.
Her second interaction with him is Ikuto watching her in nothing but a towel on her balcony.
He breaks into her room a few times in the series to sleep in her bed and there is even a time he sneaks on her bed to hug her while she sleeps.
The suggestive and "moe" themes in both the manga and the anime series are unnecessary and uncomfortable to read and watch at times.
Many of Amu's costumes in this series are too revealing,showing too much legs,shoulder or chest and those particular outfits often suits a much taller person.

Peach-Pit group are also the creators of DearS and Rozen Maiden so suggestive themes and reveling fashion are to be expected from them.
However since this is a manga for children these scenes should have been lefted out.

Read:
Summer of 2013 or 2014(first time)
November 30th,2019-December 1st,2019(second time)

[Nina {ᴡᴏʀᴅs ᴀɴᴅ ᴡᴀᴛᴇʀ} · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this. It was very cute and very sweet. Unfortunately though I'm only adding novels to my challenge this year, so I'm going to note her that I read it on the 14/03/2014-15/03/2014.

The plot: Very straightforward, kind of predictable. But also has enough twists and turns to keep interested. Though it's like any usual shoujo manga. It's not like a mystery where you're suddenly thrown in another direction.

The Characters: I loved Amu. I loved Ikuto. Amu is your usual Shoujo protag and yet she wasn't. I liked her strong character, hated that she liked Tadase first, but then liked her again she realised later on that her feelings for Tadase were different. What I found weird and kind of oddly disturbing (though I got over this by pretending Amu was actually older) was that Amu is only an elementary school kid and yet Ikuto is a senior in highschool. The good thing was that there is no actual relationship between them except friendship and some hints about a possible relationship. The bad thing was, and this is why I didn't read it for so long: there is not actual relationship. Which on the plus side, means there's more of a focus on character and plot which is great!

The Magic: I loved the heart eggs. I thought it was a good idea and totally ties the story with a very strong theme. And I liked it more I suppose because the protag is a child, so the theme works really well. Of course, genius, duh! I really, really love the idea of the hear eggs, you cannot imagine how much I love them. In fact they were my favourite part of the entire story!!

The Artwork and Writing: All good, loved the artwork and the way the story was told was good. It was pretty easy to read. It was pretty to look at.

Overall: What can I say? A very good magical girl story. I enjoyed it. Not as dark as Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Vol. 01, but also not light and fluffy with an overwhelming romance plot. It was fun!

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall Rating: B+
Synopsis: Created by Peach-Pit, the series is a shōjo manga that follows Amu Hinamori, a student at Seiyo Elementary. Amu has a reputation for being stylish and cool (that's her to the left), but she's really very shy. One night, she makes a wish that she could be her real self, and the next morning she finds three brightly colored eggs in her bed. Each egg eventually hatches a Guardian Character, angel-like beings able to change Amu into a new personality. She also has to deal with the Guardians of Seiyo Elementary, a student council group who have their own Guardian Characters (and a really stupid looking cape).

Of course, the current Guardian King at Seiyo (Guardians are based on cards, so you have King, Queen, Jack and Ace) is Tadase Hotori, Amu's love interest. As an example of how a Guardian Character can affect someone, whenever someone refers to Tadase as "Prince" (his nickname), he changes into a violent, egotistical king who wishes to rule the world. Fun, right?

I grabbed the first volume of Shugo Chara!, because it looked ridiculously cute. So far, the first volume has delivered on that cuteness in spades. The plot is interesting and while it has some familiar aspects (for example, student council being treated like royalty, and the main character having mixed emotions about joining said council), I like the concept of Guardian Characters, and it's different enough to be intriguing. Hopefully the series will live up to its promise.

For more manga and anime reviews, please check out Hobotaku.

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hinamori Amu is the most popular girl at Seiyo Elemantary school, known for her edgy fashion sense and "Cool-n-Spicy" attitude. Hell, even her own parents are huge fans of her. But in reality, Amu is just a scared girl who just wants to be cuter and more honest.
Enter three eggs, who hatch into Guardian Characters, sort of mascots who represent who Amu wants to become. Ran represents her desire to more athletic and honest. Miki is her wish to be more artsy, and has her stubborn attitude. Suu is the girliest of the three and is Amu's hopes to become more domestic.
Amu isn't the only one with Guardian Characters. There are also the Guardians, her school's student council who protect the happiness of the student body while also searching for a special egg called the Embryo, which is known to grant any wish. Among them are the childish Ace chair, Yuiki Yaya, the free spirit Jack chair, Souma Kukai, the refined Queen, Fujisaki Nadeshiko, and the popular yet kind King, Hotori Tadase.
But there's another group after the Embryo; a corrupt organization named Easter. Two of their workers also have Guardian characters. The stubborn idol Hoshina Utau and the reckless Ikuto, who may not actually be the enemy...
This is easily my favorite magical girl manga of all time. There are a whole bunch of characters that enter the story, and secrets revealed that you may not have seen coming.
Unless of course you go to the forums or blogs. But if you're looking to be surprised, be sure to look into this great series.

[Holly Letson · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5*

I watched the anime first, so some of the terminology in the manga sounded peculiar to me. Especially "the self that I want to be", whereas the anime OP theme said "my would-be self". Also, the "Negative Heart, Lock-On!" that I loved so much in the anime, seems missing from the manga. Other than that, and how obvious it is that the mangakas are Amuto fangirls (which I despise, since I am a Tadamu fangirl), the manga is a decent read...even for those of us, who watched all of the anime first.

Regardless of the obvious pushing of the Amuto pairing in the manga, it is nice to see several instances of IkUtau and Tikuto in the manga as well....both of which are much better pairings than Amuto.

Also, it's sad that none of the Guardians--excluding Amu herself--can do the Character Transformations, yet, only the Character Change.

[Margaryta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Holy, this was an amazing manga series! First of all, nothing like this out of manga have I ever seen. And I so doubt I ever will. This manga stands alone from everything else, especially in the whole entire concept.

Amu is really an example of a girl in elementary school who is misunderstood and not given a chance to fix her mistakes, but she really wants another chance at a good life. Tadase and Ikuto are two boys that help her along the way, both becoming crushes but she does eventually choose one of them (won't say who because that'll spoil the whole amazing conflict throughtout the series!0 the other guys she meets are just there but don't play a major role when it comes to loving her.

Recomended to anyone who loves manga - this is a great addiction to a collection!

[TT · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read about 4 books in and quit. This is geared towards tweens/younger readers. Cute art tho!

[Sara K · Rating 3 out of 5]

The whole concept around eggs sounds weird. And it is indeed weird.

[LG (A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Amu transfers to a new school only to find that she has the exact same problems there as she did at her old one: everyone mistakes her for being a "cool girl" and finds her to be too unapproachable to talk to. She doesn't talk much, and when she does, she has a tendency to act cold, but in reality she's just shy and really wishes that she could be cute, open, and friendly. Her wish grants her three "character eggs." When the first one hatches, she discovers that they contains tiny people who have the power to change her character (to someone who speaks her mind, is more athletic, more artistic, etc.).

Her new eggs capture the interest of several people: the Guardians of Seiyo Elementary and a mysterious boy named Ikuto. The Guardians and Ikuto are all looking for something called the "Embryo," which is capable of granting a person's wish. Tadase Hotori, the "King's chair" for the Guardians, has a wish he'd like to see granted, and Amu decides she wants to help him because she has a crush on him (although it's unrequited - he says he's in love with someone else). However, Ikuto also has a wish he wants to see granted.

Once upon a time, I tried to get into the anime adaptation of this and just couldn't. The story and characters were aimed a bit too young for my tastes, and the whole thing was overly cute in a way that didn't work for me. There wasn't enough to hold my interest for more than a few episodes.

The manga isn't working any better for me so far. Again, it's aimed too young for my tastes, and the premise is a lot. Magical eggs, the Embryo, magical transformations, the cute boy Amu knows she has a crush on vs. the cute boy who intrigues her, plus the whole "X eggs" thing introduced at the end of the volume. So much stuff crammed into this series.

Honestly, the whole "character egg" concept kind of put me off. The idea, I guess, is that kids' "characters" aren't yet clear and well-defined, so the eggs give them the potential to be completely other people who are either the person they want to be or an aspect of the person they really are inside. It reminded me a little of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials books and their daemons, except that the character eggs seemed much more limited. Most people only have one egg (if they ever get to see their egg at all), and from the look of things, it could only contain one type of other personality, one that wasn't very well integrated with that person's regular personality at all.

So far, the series has revealed all of Amu's "guardian characters" and shown what Nadeshiko and Tadase's do. Ikuto's "guardian character" has also done a little, but it's tough to say what it does for him beyond give him cat ears (WTF, did Ikuto secretly wish he were more like a cat?).

For all that Amu has a huge crush on Tadase (apparently just because he's good-looking - she doesn't actually know him well enough to have any other reasons), his "character change" didn't make him seem all that appealing. I sort of liked Ikuto more - his attempt to apologize using snacks was cute - but I wasn't really a fan of his blatant flirting (licking one of her character eggs, ew).

Although I'm vaguely interested in finding out what Ikuto and Tadase's wishes are, I doubt I'll be continuing this.

Extras:

Author freetalks (which were pretty interesting - Peach-Pit is composed of two people, one of whom writes the stories and both of whom draw, focusing on their assigned characters); character profiles for Amu, Tadase, Nadeshiko, Kukai, Yaya, and Ikuto; and 3 pages of translation notes. One part of Peach-Pit's Q&As was odd and had me wondering if perhaps one of them was nonbinary:

"Q: Is PEACH-PIT-sensei a man or a woman?
A: Uh...I...guess you can call us women. Yeah, biologically speaking, we're...probably women. Both of us."

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)

[~Cyanide Latte~ · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you had to ask me what the likelihood was that I would find myself going back and trying out some of Peach-Pit's titles, up until recently, I would have laughed at you. If you had asked if I would read Shugo Chara! in particular, I probably would have snorted as well. I used to be of the opinion that a lot of Peach-Pit's work was overrated and overhyped, and to some degree when I think back on high school, I still think they're somewhat overhyped or at least were.

But I picked up this copy of the first volume on a whim and decided I might as well give it a shot. I've been in the mood for fluffy shoujo to sort of balance out a lot of the intense tones of the novels I've been reading, and I do have to say that this delivered beyond my expectations. I had initially thought Shugo Chara! would just be slice-of-life with some magical realism, but this volume surprised me, as there is evidently a much greater plot in store beyond just the one described in the summary.

So what is series about? We have our main character Amu, who comes across as a cold and aloof mini punk-goth (not helped by her mother selecting her clothes,) but has a major case of shyness and a tendency to speak bluntly. When ruminating over her desire to be able to show more of her inner self, she awakes the following morning to find three decorative eggs that, over the course of this volume, hatch "Guardian Characters" that enable her to act out or bring forth aspects of herself she typically keeps hidden. We get as much from the volume's summary.

In addition to that, we also learn she isn't the only person who has Guardian Characters, and there are several other people with Guardian Characters on the hunt for something in particular. I won't say much more beyond that, as it will definitely get into some serious spoiler territory.

But for what it's worth, the fact that there was more to the story and its plot pleasantly surprised me, and I definitely am looking forward to eventually reading more of the series.

[Anagon · Rating 5 out of 5]

C'est le premier manga que j'ai lu au collège. Il aura toujours une place dans mon cœur ❤️

[Xela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mes premières années collèges 🤧💗

[Noémie · Rating 4 out of 5]

J'arrive pas à savoir quel âge a la meuf principale, donc à tout moment le deuxième love interest est un peu limite. Par contre les outfits de la meuf sont incroyaux.

[mikael · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is better than Tokyo Mew Mew. I said what I said

[camila · Rating 5 out of 5]

que nostalgia

[Maeve K. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shugo Chara: Volume 1 was written by Peach-Pit a female manga artist duo consisting of Banri Sendo and Shibuko Ebara. It was published in Japan on January 1st, 2006 by Kodansha Ltd., Tokyo. Since this manga/graphic novel was originally written in Japanese, it was translated into english by June Kato. This graphic novel falls into the genre of Magical Girl. This genre is a subgenre of Japanese fantasy manga as well as anime that feature young girls who are, of course, using magic. If you’re thinking, “This genre doesn’t exist!, it does in Japan. It is also referred to as a shojo manga, meaning it was written to market towards female readers between the ages of 10 and 18.

This story is about a 4th grade girl, Amu Hinamori, who is considered “cool” and “spicy” by her entire school, Seiyo Elementary. Due to this, she feels as if its too late to be who she really is inside, her true self. One morning, after Amu wished to be able to be who she really is, she wakes up to find three strange, colored, little eggs under her sheets. Contained each egg is a Guardian Character. Every child has one and their objective is to help children be who they really are. Although, the main antagonists are a company called Easter who search and destroy children’s Guardian Characters. The reason they do this is their goal is to retrieve a specific egg called the Embryo which has the power to make one person's wish come true. Join her through a world of magic and a mysterious teenage boy as she learns more about theses so called Charas (Guardian Characters). With the help of her Guardian Characters and her friends, the Guardians who have Charas as well, Amu will learn her true self shocking.

The metacognitive strategy that I found helpful is making connections because I can relate to the main character, Amu. When making a connection, you use what you know to make a connection to the text you are reading. To show how I connect with the character, I chose these quotes from a scene Amu is sitting on her bed thinking about how she acts at school and when her fake self takes over.
“‘I’m tired of being that exterior character I am on the outside!” (22)
In addition,
“My exterior character has a life of its own… I want to feel cute and be who I really am. But I can’t be like that now. Because that’s not my true character.” (23)

This is a connection for me because I try to be a non extreme tomboy, saying how I hate pink, sparkles and ruffles when inside I’m not an uber tomboy and that I’m actually quite girly inside. When someone brings up that they don’t like a band or they don’t like a character in a series and other people agree, I immediately agree as well even when my opinion is just a lie. I do this to fit in more and when I finally gather the courage to announce my real opinion, I feel like it would mess everything up because people already know that I don’t like this and I like this and that it would be too late. This is why I chose these quotes for my connection.

I think that this book has a great message for girls, since it is a shojo manga, especially in the teenage years when girls start to feel the need to change how they are just to fit in, to be yourself. Because sometimes when you try to be someone you're not you can mess things up. The scene I chose to show this is where Amu arrives at school and the Guardians of the school, meaning they just do anything a guardian does a anyone and they all have Guardian Charas, are there. Since there are different chairs, meaning positions, Tadase Hotori, Kings chair, approaches Amu when he senses that she also has Charas. When he grabs her, her exterior character acts on it, slapping his hand away from her.
“‘Don’t touch me without my permission. Mr. Little Boy.’
‘Ah… I’m sorry.’” (33)
In addition, after the interaction with Tadase, she moves out of view, slumping to the ground, saying,
“‘I did it again! I’m such an idiot! I’m so phony! I’ve been dreaming of our first meeting and I ruined it!!’” (33)
This evidence shows that when her exterior character acted upon this interaction, she had the possible chance of messing up her first meeting with her long lasting crush and a new friend. This relates to teenage girls because in the teenage world, when you act differently to other people, you could mess up your friendships because your friends don’t like the fake you and they like the real you. Also, people could get the the wrong impression from you when you say something that you don’t mean. Something that you think is cool but really isn’t. This is why I think that this book, well series, has a fantastic message for teen girls. This is really a great story and I highly recommend it. That is if you’re a teen girl or if you’re just into these kind of stories.

[Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

My review will be on the original non-edited version that some kind people translate for us on the internet cos Del Rey suck (no offence to you guys and all) and 'edit' (or as I like to say, make loads of mistake in) the translation... WHICH IS REALLY, REALLY ANNOYING!!! Seriously annoying... seriously, seriously annoying... you don't know how long I can rant about something like that cos I appreciate the Japanese culture and language so much... (speaking of which, anyone wanna lend me £1000 so I can go there?)

The story focuses on the life of Hinamori Amu (or Amu Hinamori if you prefer the english term...) who is respected and known for her 'cool and spicy' exterior self. However, deep down Amu is just a shy, quiet girl (like me) who finds it a bit (VERY) hard to be honest and express her feelings... (OMG! WE'RE TWINS!!! Apart from the cool and spicy part... but I'm not a nerd, geek, etc either... just normal XD)... EVEN HER PARENTS THINK SHE'S 'COOL AND SPICY!!!'
One day, after (being forced to) watch a fat psychic woman go on about Guardian Characters on the TV she goes to her room and wishes that she could be a more open, honest girl (or something like that... it's been like a year ever since I read Chapter 1 people! I'm on Vol.10, Ch.46...)
So if by magic, the next day, she finds some brightly coloured and patterned eggs on her bed... then she starts to panic as all partially sane people would if they found out they had just 'layed' an egg...
Of course, I haven't told you about the guy Amu likes yet, mostly cos I HATE HATE HATE him until he apologizes and learns to work together with my 2nd favourite character... (Utau's my first!!!) but she has a crush on Hotori Tadase (Tadase Hotori) aka the prince of the school... he belongs to something sorta like a school council which are the 'Guardians' or the school... In this belongs Tadase (King chair), Fujisaki Nadeshiko (Queen's chair - who is later replaced), Sohma Kuukai (Jack's chair - who is later replaced when he graduates... *sob*) and Yuiki Yaya (Ace Chair). Like Amu, they all have guardian characters too! So once they spot her guardian characters, BANG, she's part of them (mostly cos she's an idiot and can't say no to the stupid kiddy king who turns not so stupid around chapter 35ish...)!!!
I also forgot to mention Amu's Shugo Chara are Ran (who's symbol is the heart) who's very sporty, Miki (spade) who's very artistic and Suu (Club/Clover) who has amazing domestic skills!!! (Later on she also gets another character who you can probably work out by yourself...)... Now if you don't see the connection betweeen all of this READ THE ENTIRE REVIEW AGAIN UNTIL YOU DO!!!
I'm getting tired now, so I'll just introduce a few more main characters before you go off to mangafox.com to read it... or you can buy it which Peach-Pit will appreciate, read it then read the one on the internet cos it's tons better than the Del Rey one!!!
There's Tsukiyomi Ikuto, another one of Amu's love interests and my 2nd fave character... you can have your own view on him but he is pure awesomenss and as Phoebe and Philippa (my BFFs) would say 'Well fit!!!'.
Also there's Hoshina Utau... don't judge her right away cos that's not what she's truly like and she's not really evil... just looking out for a certain someone... (but I still support Amu X Ikuto!!!)
There's also the replacements for the guardians who resign but I don't want to completely spoil the story...
And there's also the big bad evil (not really but still...) company who crush people's dreams so they can get the 'Embryo' (not explaining, go read the manga already...) for their boss, known as 'Gozen'...

So yeah, 10/10 for Art, 9.5/10 for characters and 9/10 for story!!!

[luciana · Rating 3 out of 5]

childhood thingssssss

[Rems · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ah, Shugo Chara!. This is a series which really does break away from the boundaries and conventions of its preordained genre and give you something new for the audience. It takes the stereotypical aspects of mahou shoujo, of course, but it runs with them - uses some more than others and disregards some of the more cliché ones. It's not all about the sparkles and the saving the world and the impossibly comfortable outfits and impossible hair colours and so forth. Okay, it is about all of that, but not to horrific, endearing degrees. Most of all, to me, it's about a group of characters with real problems as they step into teendom and independance and learn to find their true selves.

First, let's face it - how many times have you questioned who you are? Questioned your true self? Probably a fair few. I know I have. That was probably one of my lures to the series. It really is something that most anyone can relate to.

Amu Hinamori feels outcast from the rest of her class - to them, she plays her false persona, a 'cool and spicy' girl who is too endearingly cool to approach, and has everyone under her thumb, and never looses pace, and so forth. The truth is she doesn't feel that way at all - that's not who she is on the inside, which is a stubbornly caring cool yet kindhearted girl who just wants to be accepted and be true to herself. So, she wishes - and the next day three eggs, which turn out to be her very own guardian characters (Shugo Chara) appear before her, which leads to her being drafted into the Guardians, and then join in the mission to effectively get hold of the Embyro and stop a company named Easter from destroying the souls of children and erasing their dreams.

However, it's not all about Amu. Which, even though I love her dearly, is a strong selling point. It is very, very difficult to hate any character in this series for any given length of time. They're not 2-dimensional - they're fleshed out and given histories, backgrounds, real life problems, such as parents who fight over work and younger siblings taking over your limelight and so forth. True, you may not be a fan of every character, but there will definately be one that reaches out and calls to you after the series breaks through their false personalties to the raw character underneath. Ikuto also gets a mention because hey, Ikuto.

And as it goes further on, it's just a really touching series that has messages behind it, and is a wonderful read. Fully reccommend you to keep reading to the currently translated volumes and beyond.

[Hermione · Rating 5 out of 5]

This review will be for the whole series.

When I finished the official last chapter of Shugo Chara! back in 2010, I was an emotional wreck. Some people don't understand; I was obsessed with this series. The idea was original, the characters pleasant and adorable, the plot perfect with just the right amount of dark/light elements.

I was devastated when it ended.

Granted, I probably hadn't stuck to it for no more than a year and a half. I found out about it around the summer of 2009, and it ended with the Encore chapters around spring 2010. But hell, it was beautiful, it was lovely, it was memorable. I totally adored the idea and all the unique elements to it. Every character kept surprising me. Hell, Amu kept surprising me. I cried, I laughed, I fumed, I had fangirl-giggly moments. I experienced so many emotions reading this. And while a part of me knew that this series was going to end, I kept it pushed back to the farthest of my mind. I enjoyed the brief moments we got an insight into everyone's thoughts. I also enjoyed how our "dark, brooding, mysterious" Tsukiyomi Ikuto wasn't just like because Peach-Pit made him to attract fangirls. His reasons for being who he was were amazingly crafted and so realistic. Amu's reasons for being insecure were rightfully challenged. Everything about this manga was beautiful.

In conclusion, there are probably no words or gifs to describe how I felt about this manga. Each character evoked such heartwrenching emotions from the pits of my heart. All in all, this whole series was about growth and finding one's true self. We saw that. We saw the growth in Amu and in Ikuto and in Tadase. We saw the growth in each one of these characters. The growth was so big that, comparing their previous selves vs. their present selves, made me cry with such bittersweetness -- because they were growing. They grew, they surpassed all their trials and achieved each of their respective endings to their respective stories.

My only regret? That I was not able to find out about this series sooner.

Five billion stars out of five billions stars.