Age Rating: 13+
Genre: Romance
Price: $9.95

Roxanne the nerdy class cleanliness rep, is secretly in love with the bad boy of the class, Logan.  One day she accidentally releases Baphalen, a magical being who was sealed by the Heavenly Courts as punishment.  Baphalen is the guardian of the incense urn of the Old Man Under the Moon, and in return for Roxanne's help, he decides to use his Magic Lover's Staff to grant her wish of winning Logan's heart.  However, in order for her wish to be fulfilled, Roxanne must participate in a magical game in the realm of the Magic Lover's Tower, where she must get Logan to kiss her and say "I love you," within the time limit.  Or else, Logan will hate her even more when she returns to reality!  In the meantime, Baphalen has moved into Roxanne's room and starts attending her school as well.  Commotion ensues, and Roxanne's once-peaceful life soon heads off in a totally unexpected direction!

Fairy tales and shojo are like two side of the same coin.  Magic and romance working to give the lovers a happily ever after.  Magic Lover's Tower combines these two genres in a clever way that manages to satisfy both the romantic and the myth lover.

The first volume of Magic Lover's Tower starts out like an average shojo.  An average looking girl, with little to no self confidence has fallen for the bad boy of her class, but she can't find the courage to tell him.  Her family is no help, as her parents are clueless, and her sister, who has gone through an "ugly duckling" transformation has no sympathy for her younger, plainer sister.  Enter Baphalen, and his offer to give her what she thought would never be.  The volume then falls into the familiar steps of a High School comedy as Baphalen joins Roxanne at school and home, and even while in the Magic Lover's Tower, the villain is the strict math teacher from school.

Throughout the first volume however, there is a sense that something more is going on, that neither we nor the characters are aware of.  Roxanne feels familiar to Baphalen, and she had dreams of a strange woman speaking to the Old Man Under the Moon.  These elements are explained in volume two, but not before some trial and tribulation.

In order to win back all that she lost because of Baphalen's interference in volume one, Roxanne must enter the Magic Lover's Tower again, where she is cast, not as Snow White, but as the evil Step-Mother, and must poison her sister, who is Snow White.  Roxanne ends up eating the poisoned apple to save her sister, and this starts Baphalen's journey.  He must return to Heaven to find a cure for Roxanne.  He is forced to face his past misdeeds, and to save Roxanne, he must give her up.  But like any good shojo or fairy tale protagonist, Roxanne isn't willing to give up on Baphalen.  In the end, Roxanne and Baphalen learn their lesson and are given their happy ending.

The first volume of this series felt very much like going through the motions of a shojo, checklist and all.  This volume is actually the set up for the second and more interesting volume two.  Here the story takes a lot of unexpected twists and turns to finally lead us to the moral at the end.  All good fairy tales have to have one, and this one's moral is actually not bad.  It's not corny, and is one that both boys and girls can learn from, as both Roxanne and Baphalen do.

The art is typical for a shojo, with the big eyes and flowing hair.  Baphalen is your typical bishonen, and Roxanne, though drawn plain, still has a hidden beauty to be uncovered. The art in the first volume is also noticeably weaker than the second.  It's still quite good, and very fitting for the material.  The artist's work really shines in the mythological world of Heaven.

Magic Lover's Tower seems like a typical shojo, but really delivers in the end with a heartwarming and satisfying ending.  Both funny and touching, this is a story perfect for the romantic in everyone.


 

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