The Big Adventures of Majoko by Tomomi Mizuna – review

My daughter and I love to read manga together at bedtime.  She might be ten, but she’s not too old to have fun reading aloud with her mom, especially when it is The Big Adventures of Majoko.  Majoko is a girl witch who is still in training, and she makes a lot of mistakes as she’s learning.  She is the opposite personality to Nana, a quiet girl who keeps a diary of their adventures together.  Nana encourages Majoko to keep trying to improve her magic skills, but sometimes Majoko really gets them into trouble and they have to work together to find a way out.  Majoko left the diary in the human world to find a friend, and Nana finds it while cleaning her room to look for a necklace she has lost.  Imagine her surprise when a little girl, like herself but wearing a witch hat and a pink cape, pops out of the diary, which she has never seen before, and calls her “useless.” 

Majoko was hoping that a cute boy would find the diary and be her friend, but she settles for shy Nana and they begin a friendship full of excitement and fun.  They both learn to trust each other and believe in themselves, and Nana is thrilled when the two of them work together and find her missing necklace.  When Majoko casts spells – which always go wrong! – she says, “Majomajo Majoko!” For some reason, I can’t say the first word right, so my daughter has to yell it out when it is time for Majoko to start some trouble, accidentally, of course. 

This is a fun story, and you never know what the girls will be up to next.  You can read a preview of The Big Adventures of Majoko at Manga for Kids.