Price: 10.95 USD

Rating: 13+

I am not the target audience of Haridama: Magic Cram School, and with the and overly-long name and generic cover art, it's an easy title to miss. Don't make that mistake. 

Kokuyo and Harika are sorcery students...of the lowest grade. So weak, this boy and girl classmates are "obsidians", meaning they are forced to carry magic obsidians in order to cast their spells (well, spell. I need not read the phrase "Yin, Yang, Pressure!" again anytime soon). They are the only students of Sekiei-sensei's magic cram school. Naturally there are many other cram schools in the area, and the "obsidians" are hazed by the more naturally-talented wizards. Besides the bullies the duo have to deal with monsters, exams, and little bit of sexual tension.

So what makes Haridama different from every other sorcerer high school manga series that lines the shelves?

One saving factor: Haridama: Magic Cram School gives you an entire series of excitement and adventure in one single volume. Where it may falter at originality (I liked Suzumi's Venus vs. Virus better), it makes up for in brevity. It is refreshing to see a decent story presented at a brisk pace, instead of stretched out over eight or ten volumes with the same ends.

It also reminds me how satisfying a one-shot can be. No cliffhangers, no waiting three months for the next volume, no fear of cancellation. It's a manga with a beginning, a middle, and an ending. Maybe not so unoriginal after all...

7