is a Japanese

Japanese language

is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...

 shōjo manga

Manga

Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...

 series by Hisaya Nakajo

Hisaya Nakajo

is a Japanese manga artist born in Osaka, Japan.Nakajo came in 39th in the 2007 Most Searched Mangaka Names by the Japanese search engine, goo.-About:...

. The series premiered in the 5th issue of Hana to Yume

Hana to Yume

is a semi-monthly Japanese shōjo manga magazine published by Hakusensha.The magazine is published on the 4th and 22nd of every month. It is often nicknamed as among the readers...

 in 2005 and ended in the 2nd issue of 2007. The series was licensed in English by Viz Media

VIZ Media

VIZ Media, LLC, headquartered in San Francisco, is an anime, manga, and Japanese entertainment company. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ Media LLC, which is jointly owned by Japanese publishers Shogakukan and Shueisha, and...

.

Plot

Her first time ice skating, Maya unknowingly makes a big impression on a mysterious man. She may end up with a chance to figure skate professionally, not to mention get closer to the cold figure skater, Shun.

Characters

Maya Kurinoki

The heroine of the story. Maya is in her 3rd year of middle school. In the first chapter, she makes an impression on a skating coach when she imitates a double axel. Besides falling down, she did the jump perfectly. She calls Shun "Kira-Kira Prince" when she first sees him because of the beautiful way he skates, but when he meets her, he's rather rude and cold towards her. He refuses to become her trainer. Maya starts developing feelings for Shun after a while, and when offered to be Shun's partner, she states she doesn't mind, as long as Shun is fine with it. She has 2 elder sisters (Ema and Maasa) and a younger brother (Ryuuta).

Shun Kanou

The lead male character. Shun is in his 2nd year of High School [equivalent to 11th grade in America].He's a professional skater, and Maya's trainer and skating partner. At first, he refuses to be Maya's partner and trainer, but when they're both set up to save the rink, he becomes her "temporary" partner. He doesn't want to have a partner because when his previous partner and also sister, Aya, died, he doesn't want to replace her.

Eiji Todou

The man who Maya makes an impression on. He scouts her at the local skating rink, and tries to make her and Shun skating partners.

He has a niece who is seen in the first chapter.

Junye Kuze

A "prince". He's a professional skater who skates at another rink nearby, and Maya takes a liking to his ways of skating. She visits his rink and skates with him, to Shun's annoyance.

Reina Komori

A professional skater. She's in love with Shun, and wants to be his new skating partner. When Maya starts getting a bit too close to him, she tells her off, comparing her to his late sister.

Hikaru Kiriya

Attends the same ice rink Shun and Maaya does. He's in 6th grade, and close friends with both Maya and Shun.

Nanako and Chie

Maaya's best friends. They first mistake Todou for a pervert and accompany her to the ice rink.

Oda

Shun's best friend from school. He's taken a friendly interest in Maya and notices the change in Shun since he became Maya's trainer.

Further reading

External links

• Publisher's Weekly series review