- Genre: Romance, Slice of Life, comedy
- Chapters: 18
- Author(s): Ermuzibu
Magan and Danai met in art school and fell in love. They got to know each other and dated and fell even deeper. They decided their lives would be best spent together and got married. Now, the artist and her wife share a sweet and happy life and are more in love than ever before.
A little while ago, I read Rubi’s excellent post, To All The Girls I’ve Loved Before (I’m so jealous of people that can just come up with great posts names like that), and proceeded to just go through every title mentioned on there. Well to be honest I knew most of them already but I did get the chance to discover Magan & Danai, and I am so happy I did. In the simple literal sense. This webtoon just makes me smile. So thank you Rubi, you don’t have to get me a Christmas present – the rest of you…
Magan&Danai is pretty much as advertised: a sweet romantic Slice of Life that follows the overly sincere and instantly likable Magan and her adorable, slightly tsundere wife Danai on their little domestic adventures. The stories remain very PG with nothing steamier than an occasional peck pictured, but the love these two share comes through in spades.
The art is pretty, of course there is an eye of the beholder element here, but I quite liked it. It’s not overly ornate and can be a bit inconsistent from one chapter to the next, with a few strips looking much more like sketches than a finished cartoon. Personally, I found the diversity interesting. It added a certain homemade touch which was completely in line with the charming, innocent tone of the series.
The series is ongoing (there seem to be 18 chapters out so far). I read them all in one evening and I think it took me less than an hour. Most of the chapters are quite short with minimal dialogue. This said, I was so taken by these two, that I have already reread it a few times, shared it with half my friends and a third of my co-workers and bookmarked the site so I wouldn’t miss the next release.
Some of my more eagle eyed readers may have noticed that Magan and Danai are both women, making this a Yuri manga (or Shoujo-AI depending on your personal lexicon). My personal experience with the genre is limited but I have read, seen, played a title here and there, and here are my thoughts on how Magan and Danai’s lovely story fits in with the tropes of the genre.
One of the first things that struck me is that they are older than the more common high school protagonists. The story is non linear, however, most chapters take place after the two are married and living together. This slightly more mature perspective opens up a wealth of different narratives as Magan and Danai’s preoccupations are naturally going to be different from those of teenagers. These women are past obsessing about how their friends are going to perceive their relationship and they’ve had years to come to terms with the potential conflicted morality and social condemnation. Now, they can concentrate on the actual challenges of making a life together.
When I do enjoy more romantic storylines, this is the part I like the most. The small moments that take on a whole new meaning simply because you’re sharing them with someone you care about, someone who gets you. You both want to be there and you’re happy. Of course messing with your phone as you wait for someone to get ready is going to be a sonnet under those circumstances. And the fact that they’re both girls is ultimately irrelevant. To me you could switch the gender of either character and the story would still ring true. Heck you could switch the gender of both. That’s probably the point, isn’t it? Love is love… OMG, guys… I learned something! Personal growth! High five!
Despite pretending to know what I’m talking about, I am not exactly an expert on the Yuri subgenre, but I know this guy who started a whole blog dedicated to the genre. If you read this and thought to yourself: “this post could use a bit of depth, some actual analysis, maybe some genre reflections”. Well I got you covered boo. I will give you exactly what you need by sending you over here to the Lily Garden for all that great stuff.
Magan&Danai is a heartwarming experience. I could ramble on and fail to properly convey this to you so instead, I’ve just weaved one of my favorite chapters (that’s chapter 4) into this post. You can read the entire series HERE
Favorite character: Magan (the tall one)
What this webtoon taught me: Commitment seems kinda nice
Suggested drink: True Love
- Every time Magan gets a bump – take a bite
- Every time Danai blushes – take a bite
- Every time Danai gets mad – take a bite
- Every time Magan cries – take a bite
- Every time Danai cooks – get some water
- Every time Magan says waifu – take a bite
- Every time anyone eats – take a bite
- Every time we see a supporting character – take a bite
- Every time you go aww – lick your fingers.
Loved your take on why this works as yuri/shoujo-ai despite the fact that they’re both girls is basically irrelevant. It’s just a comfy story and both characters happen to double X chromosomes!
But thanks for hyping me up. I really really like how you had the cutest chapter running throughout your post.
I know you linked the post to me, but it was your recommendation that ultimately sold me, so thank you!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! I guess we both owe Rubi one. I didn’t hype anything – just described it
Rubi is the MVP!
Mmmm fair enough.
A quick fun read indeed! I’ve already read half of it.
I hope you like it – it’s just so sweet
oh my lord this looks amazing. I loved the art style the first second I saw it!
Thanks a bunch for this review!! I gotta read this as soon as possible 😛
OOhh – tell me what you think of it!
Dem Chinese word play lol
It’s so subtle and rich in hidden knowledge. No wonder we quote ancient Chinese proverbs all the time.
Oh now you’re being cheeky LOL!
Good to see that your blog is actually I drink and read manga~
“read” is a strong word. I like the pretty pictures!
Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, she said…
Irina watches pretty manga, she may have said…
This is so cuteeee♥
with such a cute webtoon – it can’t be helped!