is a

one-shot One shot may refer to: Film and television * One-shot film, a feature film shot in one long take with no edits, or manufactured to look like so * ''One Shot'' (2005 film), a Sri Lankan action film directed by Ranjan Ramanayake * ''One Shot'' (2 ...

Japanese

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

written and illustrated by

Atsushi Suzumi is a Japanese manga artist. She has been drawing manga since kindergarten and cites Akira Toriyama and Mutsumi Inomata as influences. In 2005, she released '' Haridama Magical Cram School'', and in 2007, she released '' Amefurashi: The Rain G ...

. The manga was serialized in

Kodansha is a Japanese privately-held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha is the largest Japanese publishing company, and it produces the manga magazines ''Nakayoshi'', ''Afternoon'', ''Evening'', ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' an ...

's shōnen magazine, ''

Monthly Shōnen Sirius is a Japanese monthly ''shōnen'' manga magazine published by Kodansha, and first issued in May 2005. It is issued in perfect-bound B5 format and retails for 580 yen. ''Monthly Shōnen Sirius'' is aimed at readers aged 16–21. The magazine a ...

'', ending the serialization at 5 chapters. The individual chapters were collected by Kodansha into one ''

tankōbon is the Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or cultur ...

'' volume which was released on December 22, 2005. The manga is licensed in North America by

Del Rey Manga Del Rey Manga was the manga-publishing imprint of Del Rey Books, a branch of Ballantine Books, which in turn is part of Random House, the publishing division of Bertelsmann. History Del Rey Manga was formed as part of a cross-publishing rela ...

, which published the manga on May 20, 2008. It is also licensed in Taiwan by

Sharp Point Press Sharp Point Press () is a Taiwanese publisher of manga and music. It was founded in July 1982. History *1982 - Company established. Mainly publishes military and models related books. *1985 - Started publishing annual Zodiac fortune telling handb ...

Plot

Apprentice sorcery students, Kokuyo and Harika, require contact with an

obsidian Obsidian () is a naturally occurring volcanic glass formed when lava extrusive rock, extruded from a volcano cools rapidly with minimal crystal growth. It is an igneous rock. Obsidian is produced from felsic lava, rich in the lighter elements s ...

orb to effectively use their

yin-yang Yin and yang ( and ) is a Chinese philosophical concept that describes opposite but interconnected forces. In Chinese cosmology, the universe creates itself out of a primary chaos of material energy, organized into the cycles of yin and ya ...

magic. Due to this disadvantage, they are considered inferior to "normal" sorcery students. Discouraged by his status, Kokuyo often skips his teacher and adopter, Sekiei's class to show off his magical skills on the street. Harika, on the other hand, is studious and often has to drag Kokuyo back to class. Kokuyo's rival, Nekome, a third-level sorcerer, arrives to taunt Kokuyo about his obsidian status and to insult Sekiei for adopting an obsidian baby and attempt to train him into a sorcerer. When Harika slaps him for doing so, Nekome tries to gain Harika's affections although she is oblivious to his attempts. Kokuyo and Harika work together in the third-level sorcery exam to inadvertently defeat a first-level monster and pass the exam spectacularly.

Production and release

''Haridama Magical Cram School'' is written and illustrated by

. The manga was serialized in

's shōnen magazine, ''

'' ending the serialization at 5 chapters.

released the manga's single ''

'' on December 22, 2005. The manga is licensed in North America by

, which released the manga's single ''tankōbon'' volume on May 20, 2008. The manga is licensed in Taiwan by

, which released the manga's single ''tankōbon'' on March 6, 2007. Atsushi Suzumi comments that ''Haridama Magic Cram School'' was meant to be written in "short manga form". However requests from editors to make the manga "something a bit longer" resulted in the manga being a short series.

Chapter listing

Reception

Mania.com's Nadia Oxford comments that "the split between swords and magic, the discovery of hidden powers and the usual lessons about teamwork and friendship" in the manga is similar to

J.K. Rowling Joanne Rowling ( "rolling"; born 31 July 1965), also known by her pen name J. K. Rowling, is a British author and philanthropist. She wrote ''Harry Potter'', a seven-volume children's fantasy series published from 1997 to 2007. The ser ...

's ''

Harry Potter ''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven fantasy literature, fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young Magician (fantasy), wizard, Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, and his friends ...

''. Comics Worth Reading's Ed Sizemore commends the author for her artwork in the manga saying that the character's faces, hair, and clothes are greatly detailed due to delicate linework.

About.com Dotdash Meredith (formerly About.com) is an American digital media company based in New York City. The company publishes online articles and videos about various subjects across categories including health, home, food, finance, tech, beauty, l ...

's Deb Aoki commends the manga for having "male and female leads who are true friends and equals". Comics Village's John Thomas commends the manga for being concise. Jason Thompson's online appendix to '' Manga: The Complete Guide'' criticises the

manga artist A is a comic artist who writes and/or illustrates manga. As of 2006, about 3,000 professional manga artists were working in Japan. Most manga artists study at an art college or manga school or take on an apprenticeship with another artist be ...

"Suzumi (''

Venus Versus Virus is a Japanese manga series created by Atsushi Suzumi which was first serialized on June 27, 2005 in MediaWorks' shōnen manga magazine ''Dengeki Comic Gao!''. The manga ended serialization in ''Dengeki Comic Gao!'' on February 27, 2008 due t ...

'') draws cute faces but fails on the scenery and action scenes".

References

External links

*{{ann, manga, 8779 2005 manga Del Rey Manga Kodansha manga Supernatural anime and manga Sharp Point Press titles Shōnen manga