Only One Wish is a one-volume manga by Mia Ikumi that centers around the rumor of a dark angel who grants wishes via a cell phone. All you have to do is text her your wish at a specific time and place and it will come true. The manga is broken up into 4 chapters, each containing a different story about a wish that was made that didn’t quite go the way the people involved intended. All four of these stories center around high-school romance, which was charming at first but quickly became predictable and mundane. The characters were pretty much cardboard cutouts of any high-school character you’d find in a manga, and the dark angel herself had absolutely no development whatsoever, so much so that she’s never even given a name!

As far as the pace of the story is concerned, it is far too fast. I understand that this is a one volume manga and that you’d want to keep it under a certain size, but it makes the relationships forged in the story hard to believe since most of the pivotal scenes that would actually show characters bonding are glazed over with small pictures and text in the background of one or two panels. This leaves out a lot of important information and details that would have a chance at making you feel for the characters or relate to the story. You feel as if you’re being dragged by the arm and rushed through it all, which really only makes this manga good for a short burst of reading. I personally read the whole thing in under an hour.

There are a few good things about this manga, though. The art is good and the four romantic wishes are handled differently, which gives the story a bit more variety. Also, we see a few scenes of the dark angel chatting with her pet cat that gives us the impression that while outwardly cold, this dark angel isn’t completely heartless. It made me want to learn more about her, but unfortunately this is all we get. I liked her better at first when her promises of the (very unoriginal) warning ‘be careful what you wish for’ was looming over the story, but her softer side quickly convinces you that she is never going to actually teach this lesson to those who make a wish with the severity that the message deserves to be taught with.

In fact, now that think about it, the lack of details and overclocked pace of the story doesn’t bother me nearly as much as the fact that these positive aspects of the manga are never fully developed. It seems as if this manga had so much potential and it ruined it all by rushing through the plot. I would have rather had this series be 2 volumes with 2 stories each, giving each story double the space to develop. I think that probably would have done this manga a lot of good. They gave so little time for each story that they actually were able to squish a side-story of the manga-ka’s more famous work Tokyo Mew Mew in at the end. I tried to read it but I know nothing about that series so it only served to confuse me, but it seemed as erratic and quick-paced as the rest of the manga did.

So, if you’re looking for a quick romantic read and don’t want to spend money on a whole bunch of books, you might want to take a chance and pick up Only One Wish. If you go into it without many expectations you might even find it a fairly enjoyable way to waste a bit of time, but don’t expect too much out of this manga because it just doesn’t give itself enough space to truly deliver.

Only One Wish is currently on sale and is licensed and distributed by Del Rey. Review copy provided by The Anime Almanac.

ENJOYMENT
The frustration of the wasted potential of this story makes it hard to enjoy

RECOMMENDATION VALUE
Unless you’re not expecting much, I wouldn’t advise reading it

REREAD VALUE
There isn’t much there to reread!