Märchenwelten

by Yōko Maki, Lasse Christian Christiansen (Translator), René Paulesisch (Translator)

Ann ist schon lange in den Schulprinzen Makoto verliebt, der sie jedoch kaum bemerkt. Da er zudem eine Freundin hat, macht sie sich keine Hoffnungen, dass er ihre Liebe jemals erwidern wird. Doch dann begegnen die beiden sich im Krankenzimmer der Schule und das Unmögliche geschieht: Er nimmt sie wahr. Ist das der Beginn ihres eigenen Märchens?

Genres: Manga

320 pages, Paperback

First published December 18, 2015

About the author

槙ようこ, Maki-sensei speaks of herself in the third person. Has a mangaka sister, Aki Mochida.

Pet: Leo, dog
Height: 164.5 cmv

Reviews

[Bibliothecat · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a collection of seven short stories by Maki Yōko from various stages of her manga career. The downside of short stories is that they often lack depth to truly deliver anything worthwhile - one always has to be a little forgiving to enjoy them. This collection is no exception, although I will say that even these stories show that Maki Yōko is an author who breaks out of common romance manga tropes. Although this is titled a love story collection, at least half of the stories focus on non-romantic relationships and they are also the more interesting ones. The majority of these stories have also already been published in the volume 14R - having read that one previously, this new volume felt like a bit of a rip off, especially because the two newly added stories were the weakest of the lot.

Kiite Kiite, Ouji
This is easily the weakest story, judging by the art, it's probably also the oldest work. Ann has a crush on the school Makoto who everyone calls 'Prince'. She's never spoken to him and he has a girlfriend - why she likes him is beyond me, apart from the obvious cliché that dictates manga romance heroines must have a crush on the popular guy at school. What I find even more baffling is that he suddenly likes her out of the blue and makes her his affair. I don't like that he has an affair with her, I don't like that she agrees to it and everyone seems to think it's ok because his actually girlfriend also cheated on him. There's no real character development, things just kind of happen and the plot is jumpy. It's definitely a weak start to this collection.

Watakushi-sama
This story is actually really nice if you think of it more as a fable or moral story. There is not much time for depth or really getting to know the characters, but the message is pretty clear. Manami tries to please everyone, she is friendly to all, she's good at school, she helps others and even the teachers and school bullies seem to like her a lot. She doesn't realise though that all this pleasing everyone is actually very tiring and not even truly appreciated by those around her. She only starts to realise this when the new student Yuri starts to mess up her daily routine. Yuri is free spirited and has real confidence unlike Manami's faked one. They form an unlikely friendship and Manami comes to see the value of a friend who likes you for who you are.

Koi wo Hajimeru Boku-tachi
This is another generic romance story which also appears to be one of her older works. Unlike the first, this one is told reasonably well. Ultimately, it's about a blossoming first love between two high schoolers who are both too inexperienced to show their feelings which leads to all kinds of misunderstandings until they finally open up to each other. It's too short to really accomplish much but it's cute enough.

Survival
This is probably one of the more interesting stories of this collection. The art also gives it away as one of the older works and as with all short stories, a longer version would have made it better. Nonetheless, this story surprises by breaking free of the usual formula. Kayu and Sasuke have been dating for a year and are generally very happy. Kayu starts to notice that their classmate Sugimoto is getting bullied. She starts to intervene which also leads to them forming a friendship. This in return creates rumours that Kayu and Sugimoto have a crush on each other. This could have been all sorts of drama with jealousy and arguments but I thought the story unfolded beautifully and keeps its focus on friendship. Sasuke might not play the biggest role, but he deserves a badge.

Daily News
While this story was also one not to focus on romance but on sibling bonds, I consider this one of the weaker stories. It's basically about twins who are always on good terms until they have an argument about a guy. The guy turns out to be a jerk and the sisters become inseparable once more - the end. No really, I didn't see much point to this one.

14R
This one has its focus on romance again and I would say it's better read once again with the idea of a fable or moral tale in mind. It's about a head girl and the school's 'hopeless case' and how both are judged based on their role and looks. Everyone expects Tamaki to be proper at everything she does while no one ever expects anything good to ever come from Kamiya. That they might actually have feelings for each other would never cross anyone's mind. But that's just what happens and both learn to break out of their expected roles.

Mahiru ni Kakedasu
This story has a little crossover with 14R - the young teacher who was giving Tamaki a nudge to be more open about her feelings takes on a bigger role in this short story. He is still a bit of a meddling teacher but in a good way. He likes to push his students into directions where they see their own value, in this story he has his eyes on Chika. She is a very reserved girl who just doesn't seem to talk to anyone. As a result, most of her classmates think that she simply doesn't want to spend time with others. Chika is actually very passionate about music and never thought it would be a way to connect to people until their teacher lets slip to the class that she's a good singer. I like the way the teacher tries to encourage Chika to pursue her dreams while also bringing her into the social circle of the class. There's a tiny hint of romance at the end which I thought was pretty cute. It's also one of the strongest stories in terms of art.

As a whole, it's not the best collection of short stories I've read, even though I consider Maki Yōko to be one of the best and less generic shōjo manga artists. There is some good content here but definitely nothing one must read unless you're a big Maki fan (ok, that would include me).

[Maggie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love the art style, however the stories are too short to make much sense.

[Soobie has fog in her brain · Rating 2 out of 5]

Normalerweise liebe ich Yōko Maki-Sensei, aber diese Sammlung war eine echte Enttäuschung.