Customer Reviews

MeruPuri, Vol. 1 (v. 1)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Merupuri is really an interesting manga! It's about a regular high school girl named Airi Hoshina whose only dream is to get married to a great guy and raise a secure normal family. Wow, what she doesn't know is that "normal" isn't in the picture. Airi has a special mirror shaped like a star passed down from her great great great great grandmother. Actually that the mirror is a portal to another world! In reality it's an escape route for the royal family in case of an emergency. Suddenly, that mirror is put into use when a real live little boy named Aram comes out of the mirror and lands right next to Airi. Aram escaped through the mirror to get away from his half-brother Jeile. His evil half-brother beforehand cast a spell on Aram so that whenever he goes in the dark he is suppose to age rapidly. The spell was SUPPOSE to make Aram age so rapidly that he becomes the oldest man on earth when left in the dark. Fortunately, Jeile's spell just grazed Aram so he becomes a young man (about Airi's age) when left in the dark.

While Airi is struggling with the fact that Aram is a kid in a teenager's body Aram is just being a lucky-go kid watching "sparkle rangers"(I guess it's another form of "power rangers"?). Not to mention that Aram's 1/2 brother, Jeile also starts to like Airi and insists that he make her his wife. Airi on the other hand has no lack of suitors. Nakaouji, a fellow classmate, works with Airi on the class committee and represents Airi's ideal boyfriend. It was so funny when Aram came visiting and when he held on to Airi's hand and said "mine" Nakaouji just looked amuse. After Airi stuffed him in a DARK closet and he came out again and said "mine" the results weren't the same. Airi's alibi of Aram being her younger brother don't really seem the same... Did I mention that the only way for the spell to be broken temporarly (temporarly as in till the next time Aram goes in the dark) is for Airi to give Aram a "maiden's kiss"? Can Airi and Aram actually be feeling something more for each other?

If you like Merupuri be sure to check out hana-kimi, pretear, marmalade boy, tokyo mew mew, and/or zodiac p.i. if you're looking for another series. ^_^ The world needs more manga! *lol*

Let me start off by saying that "MeruPuri" is one of the best manga I have ever read. I read the first volume at Borders several months ago and loved it, but I did not want to start buying a new series. Recently though, I found out that it was only four volumes long, so I immediately went out and bought it. And I'm really glad I did.

"MeruPuri" is a story about a girl named Airi who dreams of finding her soul mate and living a simple life with him, raising a family and appreciating the simple things in life. Things are going well, and Airi has found a boy named Nakaoji whom she thinks would be a perfect match for her. But things are about to change. One day, much to her chagrin, Airi's plans are disrupted when a little boy named Aram, who claims to be from the magical kingdom of Astale, appears from her heirloom mirror. He is rude and a little annoying, but cute, and he and Airi quickly become friends. The next day, Airi is shocked to find that a spell has transformed Aram into a handsome young man, and worse, he says that she is his "favorite", and only her kiss can return him to his original self. And it just gets better from there.

I absolutely fell in love with this series, mostly because of the characters and their relationships. Airi is a well-balanced heroine. She is not too whiny or perfect or unbelievably strong like the girls in a lot of the manga I read. I can easily relate to her. And you can't help but love Aram. He's a prince in every way, courageous and fair, but he's still acts childish. The romance between Airi and Aram is really sweet, it really has me hooked. The supporting characters all have personalities of their own and contribute to the story well.

This is also a pretty funny manga, especially when Aram looks like a teenager but acts like a child. Airi too, is humorous in her obsessive quest to find the perfect man.

The art is beautiful, and the story is very interesting and creative. I love all the fantasy elements. It's a bit of a cliched subject, but Matsuri uses original and fresh concepts.

I cannot reccommend "MeruPuri" strongly enough. Everything about it is absolutely wonderful. But don't take my word for it, read it for yourself! You won't be disappointed!

At a recent bookfair that my school had I was able to pick up one volume of 4 different series of manga but this one stuck out the most I think after reading them all. There's just something about it. When I put it down I instantly wanted to pick it up and read it all over again. I would say I didn't know why only...well...I do. There are so many reasons.

To start out, Aram, the young prince from a magical kingdom that appears out of Airi's mirror is one of the most interesting characters. Within the first volume of this manga he is a young kid, then turns into a hot older guy, then young again, then older...etc. Throughout the whole thing, he begins to realize (even though in actuality he's really only about 7 years old or so) that he really likes the Heroine of the tale, Airi.

At first he acts rude towards her but mostly because he doesn't know her and he's used to being treated as royalty. To say the least, his little "child moments" are the cutest (and most hilarious) things in this whole volume. The fact that he doesn't understand much about Airi's world except that when you go to carnivals you get floaty round things (balloons) and you watch 'Sparkle Rangers' on the Telly vishion (TV)is what keeps you laughing.

Anyway, besides the comedy, the art in this book is amazing. You can tell that Matsuri Hino put a lot of time into it and it makes it just THAT much more enjoyable to read.

I can tell that this series is going to become one of my very favorites so I would recommend it most definately!

I was given this 4 volume set by a 15 yro friend, I am 31. She said I would like it. AND I DO! - to the point that I wish there was an after story or even a movie. A movie off this book would be good.
Story is good; makes one want to turn the page.
Characters are good.
Illustrations are good.

Tired of manga where guys are surrounded by hot girls who are all in love with him, a la Tenchi Muyo, Love Hina or Ranma 1/2? Try a manga where a girl is surrounded by a bunch of hot guys who love her. Toss in some magic, mirrors, and mayhem, and you have something of an idea of what MeruPuri is like.

Airi Hoshina searches tirelessly for the perfect man. She wants a family life just like the ones in her favorite soap operas. One day, whlie checking her appearance in her antique mirror, a boy climbs out of it. A cute little boy, too. He tells her his name is Aram and that he is a prince. Airi decides to take care of him because he has no place to go, but imagine her surprise when she finds out that he turns into a gorgeous teenager in the darkness, an appearance which can only be reverted by her kiss. This bizarre change is a side effect of a spell placed on Aram by his older brother, Jeile. After meeting Aram, Airi is constantly surrounded by...er...very NICE looking boys, like Aram, Jeile (Aram's goofy older half brother, caster of the spell), Nakaouji ( her prime suitor, the only non-magical one in the bunch), Raz (who doesn't love her but wants revenge on her over something that happened in the past), and Lei(also doesn't love her, just surrounds her because he is Aram's servant), but are any of them the perfect man she's always dreamed of?

Hino-sama's often funny, sometimes touching love/comedy/drama story is made even more appealing by her gorgeous, flowing artwork. The characters are, as a bonus, fleshed out and believeable, even though the story sometimes isn't. And, of course, the guys are all totally gorgeous.

If you like MeruPuri, try Hino-sama's other stateside published manga, Vampire Knight, which, though an entirely horse of a different color when compared to MeruPuri, is still very, very good.

Take a school and a magical world, a fifteen-years-old girl who searches for true love, a bratty but cute little prince, connect them with a star-shaped mirror, add some idiot brother, a lot of misteries and - above all - love... and you'll have a very fresh and funny manga, definitely worth reading!
Plus, Matsuri-sensei's style is gorgeous, rich and sensual at the same time, so you won't be disappointed.
The icing on the cake is Viz's edition: best image editing, lettering, paper quality, image-printing.
I'm very happy with this item <3

Though not the most original of mangas, it is well drawn and laugh out loud funny. The awkward moments are portrayed superbly, and you can't help but giggle. Definitely shojo, I recommend it to anyone who is looking for a cute fluffy comedy.

I read this manga online but before that I bought a issue of sojoun beat ( i'm very sorry if I spelled that wrong or if it's not remotely close but I'm sure all of you can figure it out) But i read a chapter of Vampire knight where shiki visits his father and i believe it's right after yuki and zero go and try to research her past. Anyhoo i've been hooked on it ever since. Lol i find very enjoyable and my sister is slowly starting to like it :) Great for those who collect manga.

5/5
I read this series a long time ago, probably around the time it came out, or a little after it did. It's one of my favorites, and I'm going to be reviewing it book by book as I re-read it. I'm not really sure if this volume is worth five stars, but I'm going to give it anyway. It's more the whole series is worth five stars, because I love all of them, and I don't know if I'll be able to rate each volume differently.
The book starts out with Aram waking up and hurrying into a mirror because Jeile is trying to put a spell on him. He goes through the mirror and into the human, or normal, world, as opposed to his magical kingdom, and into Airi's world. Airi thinks he's a weird kid but lets him stay at her house. By the end of the first chapter and into the second, we find out that Jeile, who is Aram's older half-brother, has put a spell on Aram to turn him old, only it messes up and instead he ages when in the dark. Mostly he ages into an older teen, around or older than Airi's freshmen of high school, while Aram is normally a little kid. It's not specified how old he is, but I'm going to assume it's around middle grade. Hope that it's around middle school age, because that wouldn't be too much older than Airi, even though she seems older. And the only way for him to turn back to his normal self, is by a maiden's kiss, who Aram decides is Airi.
Airi has very high standards for a boyfriend, because she's set on finding her soul mate like the one on a drama show that she's obsessed with. Even though this is ridiculous, I still quite like her. She doesn't give in to everything, and she doesn't just blubber and whine, and even though she isn't particularly strong, she isn't weak.
Nakaoji is a boy from her school that likes her, and she's just now starting to like him. He's sweet and gets embarrassed, and if the book was about him and not Aram, and if there was more focus on him, then I might like him more. But Aram wins that battle. Nakaoji has confessed to Airi, and she keeps getting interrupted from telling him her feelings.
Aram is adorable. He's still a little kid, mostly, for right now. He's a prince, and has had to deal with his older brother tormenting him all his life, so it's not too big a surprise that he's a bit more mature than most would be at his age, even if it's not specified. When he's little, he's very innocent and adorable. When he's big, he's still quite innocent and cute, but he's also very sexy, as the author put it. The age difference doesn't bother me too much. It didn't when I read it before, but that's mostly because I didn't pay any attention to it, and I was much younger then. It's kind of bothering me now that I'm thinking about it, but I'm trying not to let it, as well as trying to think of what age he is and how big of an age difference there is between them. I hope, and want to believe, that it isn't too big. And Aram has a servant, Lei. Lei doesn't say a whole lot, he's a little stoic and devious, and I like him.
Within chapter four and five, we officially meet Jeile. He's tormented Aram, and put several spells on him, and either has a hard time or won't reverse them. Upon meeting Airi, he calls her a mountain lily maiden and decides to take her as his 25th wife, claiming her to be his first lady. She immediately objects. At the end of the fourth chapter, he kidnaps her. Jeile is very eccentric, and he is very entertaining when he argues with Aram and spews out odd things. I don't mind him, but there are other times that he bothers me. I want to say that, at least from the picture at the end of the fourth chapter, he gives me a bit of the feeling like the phantom of the opera. This isn't a very good comparison, I know, because the phantom of the opera is much more sinister and evil and creepy, and there is probably a better comparison that I can't think of, but it's the one that comes to mind. Just the way that he dresses and kidnaps her... But, whatever.
Aram fights with Jeile, and then Jeile reverses the spell, only we find out that it didn't work and so Aram gets to stay with Airi a bit longer.
There's an obvious attraction growing between Airi and Aram, and I'm excited to see it grow even more. I've already read the series, so I know where it's going, and it's only four books, so there isn't a lot of space to let things drag on into. But I'm still looking forward to reading the rest of the books and seeing all of the little moments between them all over again.

This book is a great book. I love this book! By far the best manga series ever Matsuri Hino is amazing!