In Mi-chan to Airi, Part 1 (みーちゃんとアイリ (上)),  Midori is heading home one day and passes a pile of garbage bags, on which she sees the sleeping form of a girl. So she takes the girl home, as one does. Gives her a bath and some food and a place to sleep and asks her to lock the door on the way out. Only, when Midori comes home later, there’s the girl!

The girl, Airi, says she’s a witch and while that may or may not be true, as the days go on, she definitely brings a little magic into Midori’s otherwise dull life. Even coworkers start to notice that Midori is bringing lunch from home, instead of just grabbing junk food, and Midori is dressing nicer…and smiling. Is Midori in love? In the meantime, Airi is practicing cooking and is cleaning the apartment. She take long walks, sometimes – we see her find a little girl’s missing ribbon and it sure looks like she’s using real magic this time.

This first volume of a 2-part series by Ichikawa Natsuo is messy and fun, just as a “a witch meets an office worker and brings magic into their lives” ought to be. Midori is average, Airi is irrepressible. As they grow accustomed to one another, it sure seems like they are starting to like each other, only for a threat to pop up in the last few pages of the volume that could tear them apart. Oh no!

The art is likewise “messy” with sparkles and flowers and stars and markups and decorations of a dozen kinds, all of which bring color and texture to Airi’s airyness. Midori is never allowed to be too unpleasant or grumpy, or the set-up might grind to a halt.

All in all, this is a cute and fun little story that drew me in unexpectedly. I came into this completely unsure whether I would like it, but everything grew on me as I read.

Ratings:

Art -7
Story – 8
Characters – 8
Service – 1 Kisses as service I guess?
Yuri – 6 Plenty of room to go up

Overall – 8

Part 2 is already available and I’m kind of looking forward to reading it now.