Alas, Cello is a poor study and frequently stains herself the same bright pink as her beloved bird Yoyo, earning herself numerous trips infirmary to restore her proper skin tone and hair color. Each palette learns how to borrow color from Opal’s exotically hued birds and “paint” objects with those colors. Cello attends a unique academy on the tropical island of Opal, where students study to become palettes, or color magicians. The story focuses on Cello, a wizard-in-training. This delightful, all-ages title has something for everyone: appealing characters, adorable animals, pirates and high-seas adventure, magic, and G-rated romance. Let’s hope that other manga publishers make an effort to fill the void that CMX left with more titles for the pre-teen crowd. And while some of these titles bordered on the insipid, many were excellent, offering kids age-appropriate stories that didn’t talk down to them and didn’t read like advertising for a television show, video game, or toy line. Throughout its six-year existence, CMX licensed a variety of titles for readers in the eight-to-twelve range. This month’s column marks a sad milestone: the last time I’ll be writing about a new or recent kid-friendly title from CMX.
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