I’m wondering why I haven’t written any reviews for this, seeing as it currently lacks any. Crescent Moon is undoubtedly one of my favorite manga, and to tell you the truth, when I first picked it up and read the first volume, it confused me and didn’t like it at all. Starting out with the story: Mahiru is a young teenage girl who, after suffering reoccurring dreams, she comes across the Lunar Race, a collection of not-so-seemingly mythical creatures who claim that she is the descendant of the princess, and these bandits need her help in recovering the teardrops of the moon, their lost sourceof energy. Slowly Mahiru comes into closer terms with the Lunar Race and helps heal the rift which has formed between these creatures and humans. The story by itself is even a little confusing, but it shouldn’t be too hard to understand. What makes it hard, too, is the panel layout of each page. The balloons often collide and the panels mix, and it goes at a fast pace. However, once I read volume one a second time, I all of a sudden really started to get into it.

The story is pretty original, for one thing. It’s not some mahou shoujo thing where the girl is all of a sudden summoned to save the world (though I don’t mind those sort of stories). All of the characters I either really liked or just didn’t care much for. Mahiru is your average orphaned teenager that lives with her aunt… sort of. People say that when they touch her she brings them good luck. Mahiru often finds it annoying how people are relying on her for their good fortune, but she isn’t bad-tempered and kind of just goes along with it. She’s sort of klutzy, but not overly so, and more than ever she wants to be of help to the Lunar Bandits. At first she’s not so keen on the idea, but after a while (and actually it’s not a very long while) she really is in desire to be of use to them.

Speaking of the Lunar Bandits, the first one you meet is Nozomu, the blonde-haired smooth-tongued vampire of the lot. He comes across as facetious, but can be genuinely caring. The others soon follow, Akira, the happy-go-lucky werewolf, Misoka, a calm and collected fox demon, and lastly, Mitsuru, the tengu. Mitsuru hates Mahiru when they first meet, or rather, he’s scared of her. When Mahiru touches Mitsuru, as he’s unable to willfully control his power, he changes into his true form of a tengu. He’s very short tempered and irritable, and most always keeps his distance, but his affection for Mahiru and vice versa grows throughout the story (which, incidentally, was definitely one of my favorite aspects of the story- I love romance!).

The art is very pretty. It’s a little different, and definitely not among mainstream, so it might be displeasing to most people, but I actually like it a lot. The perspective the author uses is nice, the expressions among the character’s faces. Backgrounds aren’t beautiful, but they’re well done.

If you were thinking about reading this and are put-off, or you’ve tried it and given up, you might want to try it again. Sure, it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, and frankly I’m surprised I like it myself. But sometimes you need to give something a second chance. For my overall scores I don't think I can give anything higher than a nine, but I don't think it deserves worse or better. Try this one out and see if you like it.