Shugo Chara!

What kind of person will I become? What can I do for myself? Children ponder those very questions, and from those thoughts, the "Heart's Egg" is born. Unseen by most, the Heart's Egg remains hidden within every individual, and represents a person's own ideal character.

While adjusting to life at a new school, Amu Hinamori has unintentionally gained a reputation for being "cool and spicy." Unhappy with her outward persona, Amu often wonders how she can act more like her true self. Her desire for change is manifested when one morning, Amu awakens to find three eggs beneath her. They hatch to reveal Ran, Miki and Suu—three "Guardian Characters," each an embodiment of Amu's ideal self.

Shugo Chara! follows Amu's journey as the trio begin to show her just how much potential she has, encountering other Guardian Characters, and a few troublesome experiences along the way.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Background

Shugo Chara! received the 32nd Kodansha Manga Award for best children's manga in 2008.

The series had nine volumes published in English by Del Rey from March 27, 2007 to July 27, 2010. Kodansha Comics USA picked up the license and published volumes 10-12 from May 10 to September 6, 2011, also republishing the previous volumes from August 21, 2012 to January 4, 2013.

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Characters

Tsukiyomi, Ikuto

Main

Hinamori, Amu

Main

Hoshina, Utau

Main

Fujisaki, Nagihiko

Main

Souma, Kuukai

Main

Miki

Main

Mashiro, Rima

Main

Hotori, Tadase

Main

Suu

Main

Ran

Main

Reviews

Feb 8, 2024

Animelover875

Recommended

Shugo Chara's manga fixes a lot of the problems that I found were present in the anime; mainly, that the manga is much more streamlined and cuts out a large presence of filler, though not to the point that it actively distracts from the plot. In my personal opinion, Shugo Chara, beyond its first season, suffered from its anime adaptation (which should be noted, is the version I watched first), and that a lot of elements that were heavily distracting, such as forgotten or abandoned plot points, were drastically toned down. This gives the manga the likely feel that the anime was going for as ... well: that of a cheerful, light-hearted magical girl series. The series is simple enough to become invested rather easily, although some of the plot points could have done with being somewhat more nuanced.

As always, the actual story and message Shugo Chara wishes to tell is one of growing up and acceptance of change and the concept of idealization of one's self. The series has an extremely interesting nuance in the concept of what it considers to be superficial versus an actual part of someone's core personality, and this is likely the main draw of the story. Shugo Chara has several main characters with different layers of nuance and backstory that are slowly explained and contribute to who they are, standing strong as characters that are given realistic motives for their behavior. While the motives behind the development of Easter and how things got to this point are left somewhat vague for the majority of the story, I believe it was explained well and gives a nice subversion of the standard archetype of a main villain. It also serves perfectly as an antithesis to the series' core message, with Ikuto standing initially very strongly as the personal antithesis to Amu, whose core message relies on being the apparent emblematic representation of misfortune within the series.

While there were a few characters who particularly shone once they received character development, I believe that Utau was the ideal character to show the full range of what this series was capable of; Utau arguably went through the widest range of development, constantly changing in realistic, believable ways that would be relatable to most readers. In my opinion, the execution of the "road of stars" arc was only alright; it left a great deal of confusion as I felt that it was poorly depicted, which made it difficult to follow along with the path that the story intended to take, unless this was intentional.

The ending of the manga states that a Chara will always be within their owner, never disappearing; this one sentiment is a great way to showcase exactly why Shugo Chara's manga is worth a read. This implies that a Shugo Chara is part of the person's core personality, and that while a person may change, they'll never permanently "lose" their true self, even if it's lost or no longer visible. The ending also treated all of the characters excellently, giving them all true happiness that they would deserve. While the manga isn't perfect, as it can veer into the childish aspect and not fully explore the above concepts all of the time, I believe that it was a very enlightening read and would recommend it for those looking for a light entry into the magical girl genre. 7/10.

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Jan 1, 2018

Freakazoiid

Mixed Feelings

Alright, I'll be honest. This was an interesting series, though I have my reservations.

I'll be quick with a review because others have already gone into depth about the ups and downs of this story.

Pros:
The story concept is good; unique and wholesome.
It's cute.

*Slight spoilers ahead?*

...

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Feb 5, 2016

Willowtry

Not Recommended

In one line : // If you're into fanservice before anything else, this manga is for you. //

I've never been into Shoujo. Works targeting females very often present the same overused tropes with little to no variation ; therefore, I've never been too fond of them. If I do feel like reading one from time to time, I easily enter the "overdose" zone when it comes to them. To some extent, it can be argued it just isn't my thing, that Shounen, Seinen, etc. also lack variations overall and yes, I couldn't deny it is partly true.

That settled, how come I started Shugo Chara so ...

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'Shugo Chara!' Gets Sequel Manga in Summer 2024

The November issue of Nakayoshi magazine announced a sequel manga to PEACH-PIT's Shugo Chara! manga on Tuesday. The new manga is scheduled to launch in the mag...read more

Oct 3, 2023 4:51 PM by DatRandomDude | Discuss (24 comments)

Shugo Chara! Musical Stage Show Announced [Updated]

Nakayoshi magazine March issue announced a musical show of "Shugo Chara!". PEACH-PIT had been sick in the hospital and the publications of "Shugo Char...read more

Jan 24, 2009 10:21 PM by dtshyk | Discuss (24 comments)

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Who does Amy ends up with? Sakume - Jan 5	3 replies	by Miss_Bandy_Wagon »» Jan 16, 7:29 PM
Poll: Shugo Chara! Encore! Chapter 4 Discussion LittleStar - Jul 26, 2010	25 replies	by Uguu_Tsukimiya »» Jan 3, 8:32 AM
Poll: Shugo Chara! Chapter 34 Discussion Shouichirou - Jan 22, 2009	3 replies	by Uguu_Tsukimiya »» Dec 9, 2024 2:21 PM
Shugo Chara Chapter 5 Discussion Animelover875 - Jul 7, 2022	1 replies	by Dumb »» Sep 9, 2024 1:37 AM
Sequel Series coming Summer 2024 Gar_Logan - Oct 2, 2023	7 replies	by tsubasalover »» Jun 3, 2024 2:20 AM

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