Hibiki's Magic Volume 1

Slight ware and tear (literally) but ok.

How much you enjoy Hibiki's Magic really depends on how much you balance uber cute vs brain dead. Because what we have here is the typical very sweet and cute girl with a heart of gold but who can't seem to do anything useful. But someone powerful believes in her and she might just have a hidden gift more useful than the obvious - a pure heart. Thus, she wins over everyone and every situation. In many ways, this felt like Card Captor Sakura - but with a lobotomy and lacking bite. So while Hibiki's Magic is so over the top cute as make your teeth hurt, it also feels very hollow inside.Story: Hibiki is an assistant to a powerful magician. Despite her inability to do any kind of useful magic, he believes in her and encourages her to also believe in herself. When something happens to her beloved Master, Hibiki is forced to leave her safe forest home and enter the city. There, she is encouraged to become a magic teacher and share what she learned from her powerful Master. But the students may not want to be taught by the somewhat clueless and innocent young girl.Interestingly enough, this is a story where both nothing and a lot happens. The book is fairly thick but most of the pages are half thoughts and philosophical musings leading up to the Master's 'accident.' We get no background on how the two came together or why the Master believes so much in Hibiki. The second half of the book ends up being a bunch of situations set up to let Hibiki's innocent charm fix problem students and their issues. It felt heavy handed, though, and I didn't buy any of it.I'm honestly not a fan of 'cute but stupid' Forest Gump type of characters. CLAMP can take a character like this and create a lot of nuance and edginess to balance the character's innate stupidity. Here, Maeda wants a bit of sweetness and innocence that makes for a bland read.

Picked this title up on a whim because I was looking for something new to read and I recognize Rei Izumi's artwork from .hack//Legend of the Twilight (a 3 volume manga set that I recommend if you like this artwork). I won't go into the whole description of the book because someone's already done so. The first volume starts out deceptively cute at the beginning. Quite frankly the one thing I'm not impressed with are the short synopsis on the back of the books because they try to make the series sound more suspenseful or action packed than it is.Hibiki's Magic is about a little girl named Hibiki who's the apprentice to a very skilled magician. Unfortunately Hibiki is anything but skilled in the art of magic, and the series mostly focuses on how her acts of kindness ultimately help the people around her who are mostly engrossed in all of the repercussions that magic does to them. Volume one will not be as obvious about it, but you'll see how Hibiki ever-so-slowly grows in magical skill due to her determination to sincerely help those around her. If you've read this entire volume and are still on the fence about it, read volume two and then make your decision. Volume two is a lot more intense on heart-warming stories that can (and will) make you teary eyed to say the least.In the end, I love this series and look forward to the future volumes that come out.

Hibiki's Magic has the charm and character to be successful on many levels. However, the first thought that occurred to me after closing the cover was the sensation of a poor execution.Or rather, "Gosh, I wish that had been thought out a little more carefully."The main problem is that there's a handful of plot movements that are just bad. Poorly planned, if you will; bad to the point that it can actually distract one from the story. Call me critical, but I feel that a story should whisk you along with it for a brisk and emotive ride; it should not buffet you with pretty pictures and dump you on the side of the road to figure things out for yourself. And, like in the popular manga FLCL, even THAT can succeed if executed properly! That's the trouble with Hibiki's Magic.___________________SPOILER ALERT!! Read with caution_____________________To begin, we find Hibiki, a lonely little girl, under the wing of a wizard, living in a lonely house in the woods. The wizard is as powerful as he is kind, but how he and Hibiki came together is a mystery."Do you think it's possible to live forever?" he asks one day.Hibiki hesitates. "I don't know... Maybe... but then, maybe not.""I agree. There is no definitive answer."And thus, a plot is born. Hibiki's master (whom she calls "Master") is searching for the key to immortality. The Master is a renowned expert at the craft known as Magic Circles, curious loopy drawings that enact various enchantments. He invites Hibiki to learn his craft. At the heart of Hibiki's personality is a pitiful crybaby, afraid of failing but rarely succeeding. She spends many long days trying... and failing. And faling, and failing, and failing again. But the Master is kind. Never abusing, always pressing, always encouraging.The Master's pressing research in immortality comes to a screeching halt when a pair of selfish goons breaks into the house during an experiment. The Master's soul becomes trapped inside a squirrel-like creature's body, and his real body is lost in a massive blaze that results from his magical protection wards, originally meant to safeguard his research from falling into the wrong hands. Hibiki and her furry Gusk friend barely escape alive.However dismal the situation seems, luck is still with Hibiki. She still makes a mean cup of tea, and carries her gusk companion with her, knowing her Master is still trapped inside.After settling the remaining issues with local law enforcement, she takes up residence in a nearby town. It comes as somewhat of a shock to Hibiki that the reputation of her Master is not just known, it's prolific! Everyone wants to meet Hibiki, the famous assistant to Master Shirotsuki, the legendary Magic Circle mage. Although she knows next to nothing about the magic arts, she somehow gets wrapped up by the faculty of the local Kamisaid magic academy and is soon bullied into becoming a professor. All her attempts to convince the administration of her shortcomings meet with failure, and soon the day of her first class arrives. Moments after walking through the door, a young man unholsters a revolver and holds her at gunpoint, claiming that the Magic Arts are obsolete and that technology has replaced the wand and the spell.He shouts above the scream of adrenaline racing through Hibiki's brain. "Can magic free you from this predicament before I pull the trigger and shoot you dead?" Hibiki repeats what the Master taught her in days past: "...It's not something you should use to hurt others... Magic exists to SAVE people, and to HELP with living!" Regardless, the young man challenges her to a battle outside. In the heat of the moment, the small, furry gusk activates a Magic Circle that works by revealing and broadcasting the victim's biggest fear. Hibiki can only watch in horror as the young man's motivation, a fatal tale of misused magic and childhood friendship, unfolds before her. As the vision fades, the young man collapses.Hibiki and this young man eventually form a strained friendship. As she wins over the rest of the classroom, she teaches as much as she learns. Volume 1 ends with a tale of a lonely single mother and Hibiki's quest to remedy her sadness while fighting off her own.¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯End Spoilers¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯As I mentioned before, plot advancement is fundamentally disbeliveable. "Broken" is one word that comes to mind. "This is absolutely ridiculous" is another. But in the end, Hibiki's Magic works, and holds itself up well enough to be enjoyable.