I discovered this 25 years after it was broadcasted, but before watching it I read the manga (40 chapters in 10 volumes): imho the manga is a very nice shojo, one of the best imho of the old ones, while the anime is average in comparison (that's why my rates). I like of HCNR how the novel is in between the Majokko of e.g. Creamy Mami and the more mature romantic shojos: the main character indeed is not a 10yo kid but a Junior High student and the plot has a very strong focus on the sentimental life of her as well as her growing froma tomboy with a sister complex to a more mature girl that accept herself for what she is.

The characters are all interesting for the most, the magical component doesn't really take over the romantic aspect of the narration but it makes for very nice comical situations, as the magic is not there to change the world but just to try to solve daily issues in Himeko life, and in the end she's not even able to solve them but rather she creates issues with magic.

My issue is with the anime and not the manga: it's quite faithful to the manga until the 18th episode (matching chapter 20th of the manga): after that the manga focused a lot on the feelings that Himeko discovers to have for Daichi, while the anime goes on with self-conclusive episodes that are not part of the original story, and even when involving the narration of the manga it takes off some crucial moments (kisses, declarations of love, ...) turning into a pure Majokko with the addition of several magic objects that are not present in the manga.
The anime ending is also very mediocre, while the manga one is nice.

Pretty disappointing conversion of a worth manga, hopefully they'll remake it but being more faithful to the manga (that is not that long, it can be done with 36 episodes or so)