In this Anime, “True Self Character” and one’s “Dream” are the keys to the plot/story and these are represented by “ShugoChara” (Character Guardian) and “Egg”.
Character, everyone has a character, the way we act, Energetic, Cool, Quiet, Arrogant etc. So often due to our surrounding, we have to employ different characters for instance, Amu had to create a elder sister character due to her younger sister. We hold different characters and in Shugo Chara!, these “Character Guardians” are born out of your wish or your true character.
Dreams, everyone has a dream. A dream is very fragile, it can easily disappear due under many circumstances and it may affect your life. The dream is usually what we want to be in future, it can be a person you admire or a career you dream of working towards. And as we know, a dream act as very important role for a kid, it is a great motivation and decides the future of one’s life. In other cases than your wished and true character, Character Guardians can also be born out of your dream, which is also partly our true self. As I said, dream is very fragile, and due to the fragility, Character Guardians may disappear or the Egg will become somewhat “hopeless” the way I call it. The fragility may apply to lack of self-confidence, feels hopeless, loss of trust to your dream or your Character Guardian.
So that’s the plot. The story features Amu, a girl who has a very different character from her “True Self”. She didn’t like her façade character and prayed to be her “Would-be self”. Since then she holds three Character Guardians that presents different characters for her. She is a unique person or “the chosen one”, she holds three character guardians as other usually holds one. She was also given the “lock” later that makes her stronger such as the ability to use “Character Transform” that allows her to save other people’s egg/dream.
There’s one more important thing, that is the “Embryo”, the special egg that grants any wish. All characters in the Shugo Chara! seeks and fights for it.
Story: 9/10
Heartwarming, inspirational slice of life, school story accompanied with magic theme combining with the plot above, it brings you a potential story. The only thing left is to see how well it develops throughout the 52 episodes.
Most episodes are stand-alone episodes, some spanning across a few episodes. Each arc/episodes features Amu saving other kids’ egg/dream from being destroyed as well as dealing her own problems and her friends. As the story develops, she makes friend and she meets different challenges that some wavers her confidence and the question of right and wrong. It is a very relaxing anime as well as Amu’s different characters and her character guardians bring her troubles time to time.
Art: 7.5/10
Character art is good but sometimes inconsistent, the environment art is great for a TV series, its consistent. The typical shoujo magical girl transforming is up to my expectation, but nothing unique. The colourful palette brings relaxation and joy to fun, happy, heartwarming episodes and turns dull during episodes with Amu being depressing. The palette is being used appropriately. There are also some cute scenes with cute expressions making the anime more enjoyable. The animation is smooth, nothing wrong. Overall, it’s good.
Sound: 7.5/10
Joyful music and dramatic music used appropriately, but not particularly special. Sparkling sound effects used during character transformation and when magical power was used. Great voice acting for each character, as expected from anime, I really liked the voices for the Character Guardians, they’re cute and funny. Overall it’s great.
Character: 8/10
Diverse characters. The one that attracted me towards the anime is the plot and the main character, Amu. Amu’s character design is excellent with punk rock style clothing in pink not just in casual clothing but also applying to her school uniform. One thing we get bored with an anime is the main character’s character. But in Shugo Chara!, you’ll never get bored because she has another three characters!! You’ll never get bored of Amu, trust me and you’ll get amused with her being in other three characters, almost being like a person with bipolar disorder. Other characters are great with interesting multiple personality and character guardian contributing to the energetic, fun story.
Enjoyment: 8.5/10
Very enjoyable. Overall, great plot with good story development, amusing characters, it’s just so fun.
Overall: 8.5/10
I really liked it. One thing we get from an animation is inspiration towards our real life, what we learn from the story. Shugo Chara! has been very inspirational and what I really like is the plot of metaphor of “Character Guardian” (Our Would-be self) and “Egg” (Dream) is so true that simple captures the struggle and the fragile dreams of all kids.
