Sugar Princess: Skating to Win

First off, I'm surprised how few manga revolve around figure skating- or at least few are commonly known. I picked this up for the sole reason that I really wanted to read a manga about this sport; I wasn't disappointed because my expectations weren't extremely high. A two volume series is not going to leave much in the span of character development and plot development. It was okay- though nothing it was extraordinary, it's worth a read for those interesting in figure skating. The premise of a young girl starting figure skating as a teenager is appeals to me- I like a main character discovering theyhave a lot of potential in something but are very unpolished in the subject. Maya has raw talent and natural rhythm/balance. She puts a great deal of effort into improving and it pays off at the end. The end, however, is not only very predictable, but it felt anti-climatic. This might have had to do with the short amount of chapters. The characters are mostly interesting despite the fact that there is not too much depth. In fact, I would've liked to know a lot more about Maya by the end. But her personality is amiable- she's not energetic to the point of being annoying but she has a lot of spirit. Shun is likable enough- he's the classic cliche of a unresponsive partner in the beginning who warms up to the protagonist as the story goes on. I wasn't crazy about him by any means, but I also didn't mind him. The other characters are not touched on much at all, leaving the reader a bit apathetic to some of the relationships. I did like how romance wasn't a big play at all to this manga- it really focused on the sport and the goals of Maya rather than typical shoujo affairs. Since this is such a quick read, I'd recommend it to someone who feels like a bit of ice skating.

As this is a shoujo manga, there are certain expectations attached already to a manga. So I won't bore you with it. :) When reading variety of manga and watching anime, you get to experience a lot of different characters. Females characters, in particular, like Maaya are very rare. Some would think to call her average or normal. Well, yes, she doesn't boast superpowers or is even cool looking but she does have some sort of ability to skate? Even then, she had to work for it. It's refreshing to see someone so focused on her goal: skating. She really puts in her all. Which wasaspiring. :) Maaya is level headed, friendly, hard working, independent and all around lovable. Better yet, she doesn't think with her hormones. While she did acknowledge Shun and Kuze was "pretty" and prince like, she didn't have the typical shoujo heroine reaction. Maaya thought her decision through, when she first gotten scouted to skate. What to do about the money issue, skate uniform for her competition and contrary to all, she did not hit her parents up for money (standard response by teenagers). Guys like Shun are plentiful, with their gorgeous appearance, cold personality and whatever smart/skills. Especially, in the shoujo section. But good girls? Apparently not that many. And you know what? Good girls rock! ^___^

I was plenty intrigued by the plot revolving around a young girl's developing career in figure skating. The story was interesting from the beginning and because of the length of the manga, there was always something big happening in every chapter. Granted, also due to the length, the story did not delve into character history or plot as deeply as I thought it should and the ending definitely left more to be desired, but the originality was what made it sparkle to me. The artwork was not bad. I found it to be simple when it depicted Maya in her everyday life at school, but whenit came down to figure skating, the author put in more detail to facial expressions and clothing, emphasizing the importance of the sport in Maya's eyes. Maya is a very enjoyable character, acting like a middle schooler thrown into a new place. She's strong, courageous, and funny. Her interactions with Shun are also humorous, especially since he is the trademark tsundere. The dynamic between the two is balanced and hilarious. I did like this manga while reading it, but there were some drawbacks. I was expecting a lot more development in terms of conflict. This manga could definitely be drawn out more and be a better read. I found the chapters to be extremely short (one of them being nine pages!), and I was hoping for a certain something to happen by the ending. But, I do rate this an eight because the figure skating theme was good and it was a cute and funny story.