"Don't treat me like a kid!" I remember saying that a lot as a kid. Our main character Ran was just like me. This is a story about a bright, adorable 10-years old sorceress-in-training and her lovely magical family. The young child sees the world around her and wants to grow up quickly--and she finds a way to transform her body into that of a grown-up's! She goes on many little adventures and meets new people along the way in her irresistibly charming adult form--and learns along the way that having the body of an adult doesn't make her grown-up.
WHAT I LIKED / PROS:
It explored themes of death, puppy love, idolization, escapism, heartbreak, grief, and growing up.
At some point in our lives, we all yearned to be a part of the adult world, and then we fell in love for the first time, made our very first true friend, found our little hearts broken, mourned the death of someone we treasured, lashed out on those around us, felt guilty, and learned to heal our wounded souls. We all had to learn the world wasn't all sunshine and rainbows, and that even then, our complicated world was beautiful and worth living for.
This whimsical tale is filled with cute minor magic techniques, creative characters, beautiful sparkling shoujo hair, and character growth. It is nostalgic and sweetly melancholic to see Ran (the little girl) evolve as a person and a magician. This is a story filled with heart, and I love how we see glimpses of the lives of those around her be affected by Ran's bubbling optimism, creative kiddy schemes, and warmth.
WHAT I DISLIKED / CONS:
The story was hard to follow at times, and I feel like this series should've moved at a slower pace and it should have paid more attention to the specific moments that caused character development. Because everything moved so quickly and because there were so many things happening all at once, the characters' bonds with each other felt shallow since I never saw what led up to their feelings for each other.
What made A hate B? What does C like about D? How did E fall so deeply for F and become willing to sacrifice everything for F? These questions were never fully explored.
In conclusion, RAN TO HAIIRO NO SEKAI had a lot of potential to be better. The setting was gorgeously magical, the characters are lovable and diverse, the themes were important, the plot was intriguing and refreshing... but the execution of these things fell flat. The story-telling itself was bad, and the good ideas this author had never were fully realized.
This story makes me sad because it has everything needed to make it really really good, but was not as good because of the shallow story-telling. Nonetheless, RAN TO HAIIRO NO SEKAI is a charming whimsical story full of adorable magic! I still recommend it to anyone that enjoys a good "on-the-path-to-adulthood" story.