Ran and the Gray World Vol. 2by Patti MartinsonReviews may contain information that could be considered 'spoilers'. Readers should proceed at their own risk. Publisher
Credits Grade: 4 The very first page of this manga shows a young girl wearing clothes too big for her. Turning to the next page, she puts on some tennis shoes and immediately turns into a young woman, with close up shots of her butt.This does not bode well for the rest of this volume. Ran is a young girl and with a pair of magical tennis shoes, she becomes a young woman, which causes problems as she attracts jerks as an adult and crushes from fellow elementary school students. While Ran is the in the title, I found her the least interesting character in this title. I was more interested in real adults like Jin, Ran's older brother and werewolf, who has more appropriate and more interesting relationship issues himself. My favorite characters are Ran's parents Lord Zen and Lady Shizuku. Lord Zen stays on Earth while Lady Shizuku must remain in her magical realm (the Gray World of the title). While Shizuku gets more fan service inflicted on her than on Ran, at least Shizuku is a real grown-up and defends her world and Earth from an evil, magical menace. Her relationship with her husband appears solid and sincere, which makes the fan service a bit more palatable to me. If this manga was about Ran as a child learning magic, but keeping all the other characters and stories intact, I would be much happier in recommending it. But as it is, having Ran turn into a buxom girl sours it for me. Written: April 27, 2019
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