アスタリスク 1

(Note that the first chapter of volume 1 is, I'm pretty sure, the original アスタリスク oneshot that ran before the series was formally serialized, so it's a bit different than the rest of the chapters.)

Premise: The story centers around two angels, キオ and フラウ, inseparable childhood friends who work to defeat マニヒス in the human realm, evil spirits who posses human souls that haven't fully passed on to attack humans. Along the way they find a マニヒス much more powerful than the others, capable of speech and controlling other マニヒス, and, dedicated to destroying it, learn secret truths about it, themselves, and マニヒス in general.

My thoughts: Wow, I really loved this manga! I'm writing this review after finishing the whole series, and I'm glad I did, because I originally thought this was going to be far more slice of life than it actually was. The plot's fairly tight while still allowing for plenty of character-building, the characters are delightful in general, and the world-building is intriguing enough for me to wish for a sequel series.

This is a series run through with positivity, working together, and the value of trying to meet others eye-to-eye. It sounds a bit corny as I type it out, but it's all very wholehearted and sweet and works well with the series. This is one of those series where I'm not really sure where on the fuzzy line of BL it sits: there are mainly male characters who are all very close, some pairs (like our protagonists) all but declaring they never want to be apart, but none of it is sexual in any way; it's far more of a found family vibe, except that all of our characters were raised together in the first place.

Difficulty: This felt quite easy to me. Full furigana, little slang or formal language, fantasy concepts generally clearly marked.