An Na Ra Su Ma Na Ra. I'm not even sure what this means, probably the author's own spin on the ol' "abracadabra" but it grew on me after its repeated use in each chapter. The story of a girl struggling to survive amidst poverty is not an original plot for a manga or manhwa. However, with the introduction of the magician, the story becomes surreal. I wasn't even sure what to believe or even what was going on until the last chapters of the series. Overall very short but incredibly thought-provoking and though I did not cry, the feeling was definitely there. It was almost personal for me as I have had parallel thoughts to both what L and Ai believed: the conflict between securing social and financial security or pursuing your passion.

The art in this tiny 27 chapter series is stunning. The art style is very sketchy (in the sense of rough-draft and not suspicious) and the use of thin lines gives the whole story this delicate aura; most characters (Ai and L) are beautiful. Evidently, there is a dark, monotonous palette that lends the eerie vibe of some indie horror game or dystopian wasteland occasionally contrasted with a splash of color. The use of color in a gray background really does wonders for emphasis and the author's use of real life images, backgrounds, as well as some homestyle paper animation made me feel like the entire series was some sort of art piece. You can tell from the variety of art mediums and detail of drawing the amount of work and effort that was put into making this series. Each and every component has purpose and meaning.

Ai's character really clicked with me. Not unlike other manga heroines, Ai is smart, hard-working, and responsible, having had to pull up the remnants of her family by the bootstraps. But I find she's also a lot more realistically portrayed and three-dimensional than your typical shoujo lead, something the author does fantastically well with the other characters as well. She struggles, she feels resentment, she is flawed (though if I'm honest, not by much. Most of her faults lie in her family's state of poverty.) L, the star of the show, is also another amazing character. Something about him, so whimsical, random, mysterious, immediately draws you into the story. I was quite confused about his character initially, wasn't even sure if he existed or not in the beginning, but he gets his own explanation towards the end. I do wish that his character consisted of more than just the dude who does magic throughout the story; it seemed as if we didn't see his entire personality until the conclusion. And then Il-Deung. What was up with his head, right? I think the author did a great job with his character development especially in the short amount of content she had, I turned out to really like his character in the end. For the other characters--rather typical; they fit quite neatly into those character tropes you always see in manga. Clearly, the MCs were given the most attention.

Ultimately, it boils down to this: I wanted a quick read and chose this relatively short series that exceeded expectations. Annarasumanara, though not perfect, is definitely one of those obscure manga that deserves higher praise and more coverage. Surreal is the word I would use to describe it and I honestly regret not giving this series the full attention it deserves (if I had, there would've been tears I'm sure). Read this if you want something different, something kinda sad, or something that makes you think!