Shugo Chara! 20th Anniversary Edition, Vol. 1

Gr 6 Up–A classic shoujo manga that rolls together magical girls, cute companions, school elites, and two attractive love interests (one blonde and sweet, one dark and sinister) into a fast-moving story that’s ultimately about believing in oneself and the pursuit of potential. Everyone in Amu Hinamori’s school thinks she’s a cool, stylish girl, misinterpreting her shyness as aloofness and the clothes her mother dresses her in as edgy fashion. Her longing to be a regular girl leads to the appearance of three eggs, each of which hatches into a different Guardian Character that pushes her to chase her dreams more vigorously and gives her a magical assist based on her own ­abilities. This catches the eye of the school Guardians, an elite group who all have Guardian Characters of their own, and she soon joins their ranks. In addition, everyone is searching for the embryo, a special egg that can grant any wish, while dodging and neutralizing X eggs, the bad eggs that have negative effects on their owners. The storyline is complex, but each new twist is carefully explained. The artists clearly subscribe to the more-is-more theory of manga design, cramming panels into the pages and filling them with screentones, figures, flowers, and other embellishments. The characters all have huge eyes, tiny mouths, and lots of hair, with the cuteness turned up to 11 for the Guardian Characters. With its heartfelt storyline about a girl striving to be the best she can be, assisted by adorable characters and challenged by her elite peers, this series holds up even after multiple decades. For its 20th anniversary, ­Kodansha has bundled the series into two-in-one omnibus volumes, and this first one brings readers deep into the story.