An Artist's New World: Hokorobi no Lamp

Synopsis

In an alternate world there lies a flying island which roams the earth and creates a barrier of protection from the monsters that lie outside. But for five days a year when the moon is hidden, the island stops and the protection disappears.

This is where the magic users come in and create contract with a genie through the use of a magical lamp called the “Lamp of Torn Flames.” Corze Letta is one of the new users to create a contract but the genie she summons ends up to be not as she expected.

The Good

The art is a delight in the way that it creates its own little culture from the setting to the designs of the characters. It may seem simple in most aspects but with the way the story flowed that simplicity helped bring out the magical scenes such as the flying scenes. It may not be flashy but it held up on its own.

What really stood out with the story was the establishment of the world system and the portrayal of the main character’s flaws. It is rare to see a character in this type of setting to have such a doubt as they do on their right to being a magic user when all they have to say for themselves is that they have magic. Most often these are the types of characters with endless amounts of determination but little self-confidence.

As a one shot many things need to be established in short bursts and the way this work handled its development was well executed.

The Bad

As nice as the art and the character flaw portrayal is, it doesn’t change the fact that many aspects of the work held certain cliches that cut it from reaching its full potential. The most glaring cliche is the first introduction of the characters, here we have an aloof and laid back creature paired with a determined young girl with certain doubts, sound familiar, this aspect can be found in many works but it can be said that the work at least does something different.

The main problem lies in the potential that it had wasted in the magical aspects of the story. For the most part it worked out in the training portion of the story But when their first battle with a monster came around, that’s when things got a little wobbly. Most of this was attributed to the fact that monster seemed a little too simple and basically looked like a flying manta ray with slightly added features.

Conclusion

For a short work it did well in presenting the setting and the system without overcomplicating things. The main character may seem somewhat generic but the portrayal of her flaws was a note of interest. Overall the story and art are a simple piece but sadly had potential wasted.

Rating: 7/10