Fairy Idol Kanon

After making a ton of recommendations, it's time I made my first review on this site— and why not begin with a late-childhood-favorite that doesn't have any reviews yet as of this writing? Fairy Idol Kanon is a fun musical-themed fairy tale that was Mera Hakamada's first manga series. While people who know of her are more familiar with her GL works like The Last Uniform, I've always known her for this underrated gem of a children's manga. This is one of those manga series that I really believe deserves an anime adaptation— lots of funny scenes, cute character and outfit designs, some nice morals, andlots of potential for more development and such. The story has a simple premise: three elementary schoolgirls who like to sing become idols with the help of a fairy princess from a musical kingdom in need of help. It can be a bit slow to get to the beginning of their musical careers, but the buildup is rewarding once we see our main antagonist and the story gets really interesting. There's lots of funny scenes and cute outfits throughout the story, but we also get a bunch of dramatic moments and some development in world-building and characters. This series surprised me with some of the more dramatic parts and with how much I got hooked into it as a kid, and I'm still charmed by so many things in this story, like some of the morals touched on about having fun. The art in this series is all right, with lots of very round and cute drawings throughout, and the two chapter splash pages that are in color are pretty decently colored. There are some inconsistencies here and there though, like how some characters have different shaped faces or eyes in some pages, so I don't blame people who may feel that the art is the worst part of the series. But the simple art style is still enough to win me over, and it really works with the more delicate-feeling panels. Screen tone is used very nicely in some pages too, especially with the very light or soft-looking panels. The characters in this story get some levels of development, but they were still very enjoyable to see! The main character, Kanon, may be a bit Mary-Sue-ish with how amazing her voice is, but she was still a very enjoyable protagonist in my opinion, since she still had her flaws and optimistic personality addressed. Her friends are fun to see too, with Marika being the more stern but realistic one and Kodama being the cute, knowledgeable fangirl. Their agent, the fashionable Pierre, is easily the funniest character in the story and I can totally see Hakamada and her assistants' enthusiasm with drawing him. Their cute fairy princess friend, Alto, is funny too and I always smile when I see her smiling (too cute!!). The girls' rival, Julia, is pretty bratty and proud. I realize with reading more idol manga that this is a pretty typical rival with these types of stories, but I still enjoy seeing her emote and being absolutely hilarious with her pettiness over the main characters. Overall, this series is a fun read and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good idol story, fairies, or just some good light-hearted children's tales. The story is very nice considering its short length, and the characters are fun. The art is simple and sometimes dwindles in quality, but it is very pleasing to the eyes on the series' best panels. This series totally deserves an anime adaptation, considering its visible appeal and the simple fact that music doesn't translate well in a visual-only medium. I hope anyone who is reading this enjoys Fairy Idol Kanon as much as I did and has as much fun as Kanon and friends in the story!