MANGA REVIEW: Mammotte Shugogetten V1

You never know what surprises await in this store about a befuddled boy and his clueless goddess!

One day, Tasukke, an average high school boy, receives a mysterious ring from his father. Much to his surprise, when he gazes into the dazzling jewel, a beautiful moon goddess appears—and she claims to be his protector! But having been locked away for a thousand years, she has a lot to learn about the modern world…

Initial Impressions - 8/10

So I was in my local Barnes and Noble looking at the Manga wanting to grab something new to read at work, and I stumbled upon Mamotte Shugogetten, sine I have always loved zany love comedies I thought I would grab this dual volume and see what it was all about.
The first thing I noticed was the beautiful watercolor cover of the main female lead Shaorin, it s a lovely start to the Manga, and something that will pull you in immeadiately. Its definitely an eye catcher as a guy, as its a patel pink color, and drew some interested looks from my male coworkers [as well as female ones] as usual Tokyopops presentation is top notch.

I also like the concept of packaging it is a dual volume, it adds a lot of value to the purchase and provides a longer lasting reading experience.

Story - 7/10

So the story goes as follows, boy lives alone [lord do any parents live with their highschool kids in Japan anymore] boy gets gift from father, out pops goddess dedicated to protecting him from all evil and danger. If it sounds familiar, it is, but is still a good romp, without giving too much away, the characters are fun and loveable, there are some amusing takes on standard Anime stereotypes, and the emotions seem very real and unforced for all involved. One of the advantages of the two volumes in one is that you get to see the development of the story a little more completely with each purchase.

I was a little concerned initially how easily our male lead Tasuke just accepted this strange girl into his life, it seemed like things happened a little too smoothly, as well as how some other bit characters became integral parts without much back story. But aside from those minor niggles and the predictability I truly enjoyed reading this first volume.

Art - 9/10

Minene Sakurano’s artwork is in a word beautiful, the character designs, especially Shaorin are absolutely stunning, the emotion conveyed by their movement and eyes is truly breathtaking. She has a wonderful sense for the human body, and the movement within, and her close ups are simply to die for. I love the distinctness in all the characters, there is no confusion ever over who is who, this is definitely old school style artwork because it has the very rounded features and the huge eyes, it is simply wonderful.

The backgrounds are a little on the plain side, but honestly I wouldn’t have it any other way as I think it would take away from the lovely character designs, which would be a shame given their beauty.

Final Conclusions overall - 8/10

I am definitely going to be picking up the rest of this series, I haven’t had something make me burst out loud reading it in quite some time. The artwork is to die for and Shaorin’s timeless beauty is worth coming back for alone.

The only thing that might let this series down a little bit is the story, it’s rather formulaic, especially if you have ever seen Oh! My Goddess. This isn’t to say its bad, rather its just a bit predictable.

Overall a wonderful series worth picking up for all fans of Manga and Anime.

+ Fun entertaining little romp
Loveable characters
Stunning character design
Dual volume format allows for a lot more story development

- Story is a little formulaic

Somewhat simple backgrounds

Publisher: Tokyopop
Cost USD: $12.99

Rating: Teen 13+