The first installment in the Miriam trilogy, this is the story of a little girl who will do whatever it takes to protect the ranch where she lives and its owner. She forcibly recruits three young drifters to help fend off the corrupt businessman trying to put the moves on her guardian and the ranch’s owner, a young woman named Grace. All kinds of hijinks ensue. It is in some ways a typical Western, but it bursts with life and energy. Miriam is an absolute go-getter. She’s learned to take on a lot of responsibility at an early age, from having to look after her fatherwho was addicted to both alcohol and gambling. The three drifters, Douglas, Card, and Joel, are well-defined and fun; the villains are suitably terrible. Grace i think is where the writing drops off; she’s pretty bland, with no real distinguishing characteristics.

The art is very 80s shojo. It’s not bad by any means, the visuals are great, but when you’ve read a lot of shojo from the 80s and 90s this style of art tends to all look the same. It doesn’t make itself visually distinct from its contemporaries. Whether that is a plus or minus depends on how you feel about the style. I personally like it.

The target audience for a manga like this is probably small, but i fall squarely into it. It was immensely enjoyable both as a shojo and as a Western; i’m excited to read the two sequels. If, like me, you’re into shojo manga that contains action and adventure, this is well worth the read.