Miracle Girls by Akimoto Nami is an old shoujo manga from the '90s when computers were a new thing in the world. Originally, this was published by TokyoPOP and has now been long out of print and in need of a rescue. I think it would be appropriate for Kodansha to pick this up due to the fact that their Japan office is the one who distributed it in the first place, and they can fix it up like they did to Sailor Moon.
The story revolves around identical twins with psychic powers and their journey in high school trying to juggle their powers and love lives.
Our girls are Matsunaga Tomomi and Mikage, Toni and Mika Morgan for those who've read the English TokyoPOP version. TokyoPOP had changed most of the names to English and changed the format to read left to right instead of the normal right to left. Anyways I'm going to be using the Japanese names throughout this review despite growing up with the English translation, the names just don't feel right to me. Let's get into it!
(SPOILER WARNING! START)
The story starts with Mikage coming home upset that she has to participate in Sports Day at her school, being nominated to so the relay race despite how unathletic she is she can't back out. She asks her older sister, Tomomi, to switch places with her, turning this to look a lot like The Parent Trap film from Disney.
The girls go to two separate schools, Tomomi at an all girls' school and a Mikage at a coed school. When the series begins they are in the last year of junior high, by the way, both age fifteen. Anyways, they switch for about three days or so for Tomomi to get acquainted with everyone and then finally she runs in the relay.
Mikage warns Tomomi against Noda Yuya, a guy she absolutely hates, but during the days that they switched Tomomi starts to fall for Yuya, not seeing him as such a bad guy. Mikage hates him due to an incident the year before that involved Yuya, with him being reckless with a soccer ball and ending up injuring Kurashige Hideaki, her crush, so bad he couldn't run for the track team in a competition. Tomomi feels really bad for lying to him about who she is, and she is really sad about the prospect of never being able to see Yuya again, due to the fact that she goes to an all girls school.
Yuya ends up finding out about them being twins and informs Hideaki due to how close to the situation he is. Mikage and Tomomi both apologize for fooling them. Now at this point, Kageura-sensei, head of the science department, finds out about them being twins and he is also interested in researching psychic powers. He soon learns about the twins' powers and blackmails them, so he can become a recognized researcher himself, but he fails. After a stunt that put all five of their lives in danger, with the girls saving all of them through teleportation, Kageura feels remorse and mends his ways. Now, he becomes an ally for the twins and is part of the little group.
In the next mini arc, they meet this guy, Takamura Masaki, who is also a psychic. He does little things as the temporary antagonist to try and get them to join an organization he's apart of. The organization is headed by Mr. X, a world renowned psychic researcher who Kageura-sensei reveres. The twins help Masaki in this arc, having him open up his eyes and saving his little sister, he decides to quit the organization and take his little family far away into hiding. Unfortunately for the girls, Mr. X has seen how much their powers have grown and are not willing to let go of them just yet...
The girls go to two separate schools, Tomomi at an all girls' school and a Mikage at a coed school. When the series begins they are in the last year of junior high, by the way, both age fifteen. Anyways, they switch for about three days or so for Tomomi to get acquainted with everyone and then finally she runs in the relay.
Mikage warns Tomomi against Noda Yuya, a guy she absolutely hates, but during the days that they switched Tomomi starts to fall for Yuya, not seeing him as such a bad guy. Mikage hates him due to an incident the year before that involved Yuya, with him being reckless with a soccer ball and ending up injuring Kurashige Hideaki, her crush, so bad he couldn't run for the track team in a competition. Tomomi feels really bad for lying to him about who she is, and she is really sad about the prospect of never being able to see Yuya again, due to the fact that she goes to an all girls school.
Yuya ends up finding out about them being twins and informs Hideaki due to how close to the situation he is. Mikage and Tomomi both apologize for fooling them. Now at this point, Kageura-sensei, head of the science department, finds out about them being twins and he is also interested in researching psychic powers. He soon learns about the twins' powers and blackmails them, so he can become a recognized researcher himself, but he fails. After a stunt that put all five of their lives in danger, with the girls saving all of them through teleportation, Kageura feels remorse and mends his ways. Now, he becomes an ally for the twins and is part of the little group. In the next mini arc, they meet this guy, Takamura Masaki, who is also a psychic. He does little things as the temporary antagonist to try and get them to join an organization he's apart of. The organization is headed by Mr. X, a world renowned psychic researcher who Kageura-sensei reveres. The twins help Masaki in this arc, having him open up his eyes and saving his little sister, he decides to quit the organization and take his little family far away into hiding. Unfortunately for the girls, Mr. X has seen how much their powers have grown and are not willing to let go of them just yet...
(SPOILER WARNING! END)
This manga is only nine volumes long, making it a quick read. The old shoujo art style this is done in is something that I miss very dearly. Miracle Girls is such a cute little story that I recommend to anyone who is a fan of shoujo manga. There is romance in this despite me not talking too much about it. The romance drive the story in the last arc, between Mikage and Hideaki, while Yuya and Tomomi are already together and dating. The manga also doesn't have them stay in junior high forever like how some others do, they do move up.
Anyways, the last arc deals with more twins and I wish that it was delved into more. The last arc is the most interesting between the three and I had the most fun reading that. There is an anime for this, most of it is filler due to the fact that they tried to stretch out a nine volume manga into about fifty episodes. But, if you enjoy this manga, I do recommend you to check out the anime as well. I will be rewatching it shortly for another review.
That's all I really have to say on the matter. The manga is very direct and short, not leaving much to discuss is I want to try and not spoil too much. I hope you guys enjoyed reading this and please leave a comment down below on your thoughts on this! Hope you guys stick with me next week!
Anyways, the last arc deals with more twins and I wish that it was delved into more. The last arc is the most interesting between the three and I had the most fun reading that. There is an anime for this, most of it is filler due to the fact that they tried to stretch out a nine volume manga into about fifty episodes. But, if you enjoy this manga, I do recommend you to check out the anime as well. I will be rewatching it shortly for another review.
That's all I really have to say on the matter. The manga is very direct and short, not leaving much to discuss is I want to try and not spoil too much. I hope you guys enjoyed reading this and please leave a comment down below on your thoughts on this! Hope you guys stick with me next week!
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