delolmo

Story

Ran to Haiiro No Sekai captivated me slowly. The story follows a 10-year-old child with a dream of being older in a world where both magical and no-magical people live and where in turn, her wish becomes a reality thanks to a pair of shoes. The story is a bit slow to start but offers a good introduction to the Uruma family and their world. The plot is initially light-hearted and full of funny moments. Towards the second volume things get more interesting as the plot takes its course. I absolutely loved the second half of the story and I recommend it to anyone to stick around until then to fully appreciate the story. To avoid any spoilers I will just say that this story is worth a read and will leave you wanting more. I particularly enjoyed the character growth and the themes of friendship, courage and love that are explored.

Art

I found the art to be good, somewhere in the middle between what we usually see with a bit of uniqueness in the character design. Because age is a topic throughout the story I found it great to see characters that went from children to adults.

Characters

There is no doubt that the main character Ran has a spark in her that the audience can appreciate from the first chapter onwards. Her flaws were never hidden which made her even better in my eyes. Her journey starts at a young age as she learns what is really like to grow up so I absolutely fell in love with her as she grew up without loosing herself and while showing her vulnerabilities along the way. My second favorite character is her counterpart Makoto who true to his age bullies her despite his love for her. We also see him grow up as their friendship develops and he shows us many of his good points as well. The rest of the Uruma family was also amazing with some background stories explored to a degree.

Overall

Although I was not completely sold with this story, I progressively fell in love with it as it went on. The plot gains more fuel towards the second half of it and will keep you on your toes. The ending was absolutely perfect but it left me wanting for more. The art was great as it had some uniqueness in its drawing. As  for the characters, this story does a great jo with character development/grow embracing all good and bad parts of its main characters which makes it more relatable. I absolutely recommend this manga to anyone who likes fiction, slice of life/coming of age and enjoys the topics of friendships, family and love.