Shadow Star is a modern fantasy/science-fiction manga published by Dark Horse and translated by Studio Proteus in the manga anthology Super Manga Blast!. The original Japanese title is Narutaru, and it is written and illustrated by Mohiro Kitoh.
Shiina Tamai is a typical elementrary student. She's a little bit above average in intelligence, and keeps rather fit with fencing. One summer on the island that her grandparents live on, she goes swimming and nearly drowns. When she does, she hears a voice in her head. At night, she goes back and finds a star-shaped creature. The creature doesn't speak, but insinuates that it would like to stay with her. She's quite excited and takes him in, giving him the name Hoshimaru, "round star".
However, Shiina has gotten herself into more than she realizes. She meets other people with creatures similar to her own, some of them stronger and bigger than her own. The word dragon seems to be associated with them. The military of many nations have also taken an interest in strange creatures in the sky, which they have also dubbed dragons. But what is the relation? And why do some people want to kill Shiina and Hoshimaru?
This was since the beginning of Super Manga Blast! my favorite installment. The plot gets thicker by each chapter, and the dialogue is quite interesting and human. The art is a very classic manga style, but with very well usage of negative space and characters' face expressions. The only problem I have with the series is that it seems too long between chapters. I haven't been this enthralled with a series since I found Blade of the Immortal.
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