Story- Basically, 'Annara' tells the story of a young teenager which mother died and father abandoned who lives with her sister in the constant downward spiral that is life. With a lot of struggle, she must ensure money, good grades and a decent reputation all at the same time to finally find herself in a repetitious routine with no fantasy or whatsoever. From here, it's quit simplistic and we could almost think that the protagonist is, in fact, an endless Maru-sue. Yet, what makes the story (very) appreciable is for sure its incessant 'tempest of events' who are, to my past surprise, quite realistic (one of the greatest quality of this work, I must admit) and its variety of characters. Annara's root are maybe anchored in the deepness of the imaginative, a world who's totally mixed with ours in this Manwha, however once we understand what is the meaning of the story about, we can't help but to find any poetical meaning under each quote and action. At some times, we might find the story-line a bit repetitive - or should I say, long - since it's a real slow-paced tale, but personalty, I think this worth a try.

Art- Right at the first, I fell in love. With a great mix of Manga-like art and some 'colored-cut-from-a-magazine' pictures' (I just don't know how to name this...), Annara may give the feeling of 'wasting' some chapters pages however, just like the story, it gives this feeling of 'imagination invading the reality'. The author succeeded by making metaphors with drawing and not dialogue/text and this, as much with the scenery than the characters. Unlike any Manwha or Manga, Annara do not use any screen tone (Shades of gray, shadows, patterns, etc.) but only black and white and some minor colors. Sometimes, we'll see beautiful burst of colors in important scene or even gruesome drawing made of 'colored-cut-from-a-magazine' pictures' just to put an emphasis on the element, but without beign to overwhelming, we grow to truly appreciate the art work. Once again, just like the story: it's quite simplistic, but it always finishes by impressing us.

Characters- We have... the courageous, down-to-earth protagonist, the simple-minded magician, the rich brat who's oppressed by his parents' fortune and influence, the typical girls who could be considered as bully, but when we think about it, aren't really bully, but simply victim of big prejudice, the annoying parrot and... Brief, as you can see, Annara really offers a big pallet of characters. We hate them, we love them, we feels their worries. Many of the protagonist's passage with her 'letter to mother' gave us the feeling of 'being into the story' and thus, make us able to fully plunge into the deepness of this sea of feelings.

Overall- Definitely recommended! There is romance in this story, but gladly, to my point of view: it is not the center of the plot. So as much the girls as the boys can read it and if you're not a fan of smushy gooshy love, once again: this is for you. Actually, I could even say that instead of giving to protagonist the goal of making a boyfriend, we tried to make us believe in something that we lost a long ago though the basic of a story. I truly enjoyed this piece of work and trust me: it worth the time.

So everyone... I am asking you this question: do you believe in magic?