Sugar Sugar Rune

Sugar Sugar Rune (シュガシュガルーン) or Sugar² Rune is a manga by Moyoco Anno and an anime TV series based upon it. The anime series' time slot was replaced by Demashita! Powerpuff Girls Z in mid-2006.

Story
The story is about two best friends, Chocolat Meilleure and Vanilla Mieux, who are young witches from the Magical World. They are chosen to compete in a contest to see who can collect the most hearts from human boys. With the help of Rockin' Robin, their mentor and guardian, and two familiars, the competition begins to see who will become the next Queen of the Magical World.

However, trouble begins to brew in the way of the two queen candidates as Pierre, a cold and mysterious boy, begins to win Chocolat's heart and starts to use both her and Vanilla to his own use. Now, both trapped within their own new goals, the two witches must fight their way and retain a friendship which no magic can defeat.

Heart rankings
Crystal Hearts are heart-shaped jewels supposed to play a big role in the queen candidacy as well as in the Magic World, because it is the source of energy on their dimension, each of them has different points.

Characters
Chocolat Meilleure/Chocolat Kato (Shokora Meiyuuru)
 * Chocolat is an extrovert. She is the series' main protagonist. She is best friends with Vanilla and is the daughter of the late witch Cinnamon. She has long orange hair, large emerald green eyes, and pointy ears. She is not as popular as Vanilla since her temper makes most boys wary, but she is able to make friends with them instead. She is extremely popular in the magic world. Her familiar is a lazy but powerful frog named Duke. In her world, she lives with her grandfather, Corn, a powerful wizard who, like Chocolat, has a certain dislike for Blanca. Her birthday in August 13. As the series progresses, Chocolat begins to fall in love with Pierre and (in the anime) end up exchanging hearts with him (Episode 51). In the anime she loses the queen contest but Vanilla gives up the throne (making Chocolat Queen). In the manga Chocolat and Pierre went missing and lost their memories which made them return a few years later, for Vanilla's coronation.
 * In French, Chocolat's name translates to "Best Chocolate".
 * Chocolat's name may be romanized as Chocolat or Chocola. In the English manga published by Del Rey, her name is spelled Chocolat, from the French word for chocolate. In the anime, Chocolat has the power to purify noir hearts after Amber gives her a potion.
 * Spell: Sugar Sugar Rune! Choco-Rune!
 * Spell: Sugar Sugar Rune! Choco-Rune!

Vanilla Mieux/Vanilla Ice
 * Vanilla is a shy girl. Best friends with Chocolat, she is the daughter of Queen Candy. Blanca is her familiar. She has short blond hair, purple eyes, and pointy ears. She is more popular than Chocolat with human boys, which leads Chocolat to believe that the Human World and the Magic World are opposites. Vanilla is also more concientious. However, in the third volume Chocolat is able to beat her sometimes. Halfway through the series, Vanilla becomes Ogre Princess, due to Pierre's trickery. Chocolat is able to save her. In the last volume of the manga she wins the right to be Queen, but refuses to take the crown. She finally accepts the crown because Chocolat is missing. But, in the anime, Vanilla gives the crown to Chocolat thinking that she is more suited to become Queen.
 * Vanilla's name translates from French as "Better Vanilla".
 * Spell: Sugar Sugar Rune! Vani-Rune!
 * Spell: Sugar Sugar Rune! Vani-Rune!

Rockin' Robin


 * Rockin' Robin is the mentor of Vanilla and Chocolat. He also records their progress in stealing hearts. He is a popular rock star in the Human World (Note: Rockin' Robin and "Rock'n Lovin'" have the same spelling in katakana). Although he may seem a bit rude, he has a caring heart, although he rarely displays it. According to Blanca, Robin is actually 6800 years old and uses facial masks to retain a youthful appearance. He seems to be particularly afraid of sharp objects. In the manga he sacrifices himself for Chocolat in the final battle.
 * Date of birth: November 7. Height: 188 cm.

Duke
 * Duke is a red-and black frog who is the Chocolat`s familiar. He helps her steal hearts, but isn't much help at the beginning. He has a rivalry with Blanca. Mostly, he is quite lazy and rude, and has an extensive knowledge about hearts which proves useful later. Duke is actually the little brother of Cinnamon who was transformed into a frog. At the end of Volume 6 he is returned to his human form via a white heart.
 * His real name is Poivre which is French for pepper. Duke is English for a noble rank.
 * His real name is Poivre which is French for pepper. Duke is English for a noble rank.

Blanca
 * Blanca is a magical mouse and the familiar of Vanilla. In the story she helps Vanilla win at first. She enjoys teasing Chocolat, Duke, and almost anyone who annoys her. She also likes tea parties with her mice friends. Chocolat calls her "Rat". Even though she has a very bitter relationship with Chocolat, there are times when she can show her soft side towards the girl.
 * In the manga she ran a salon in the Magical World, but was turned into a familiar when she fell in love with a human and lost her heart. She is turned back into her original form with the power of Pierre's (now white) heart.
 * Her real name in English is Libbie/Libby and Blanca is Spanish for white (feminine form of blanco).
 * Her real name in English is Libbie/Libby and Blanca is Spanish for white (feminine form of blanco).

Pierre Tempête de Neige
 * Pierre is a popular and handsome boy at Chocolat's school, but he has a cold heart, and is not as innocent as he looks. He's the captain of the fencing and tennis teams of the school and has a fan club of beautiful but cruel and cold junior-high student girls known as 'The Members', who apparently dislike Chocolat being near their Prince. Almost nobody can resist his charisma and charm. He has white blonde hair and piercing, sharp ice blue eyes
 * It is discovered in Volume 2, that Pierre is also from the magical world. Although, he isn't a witch, but is part of the clan called "Ogre", he's their prince. As the story goes on, Pierre begins to fall in love with Chocolat and eventually, (after losing his heart) his heart turns white.
 * His name is the French equivalent of Peter.
 * Pierre's name translates to "Snowstorm Peter"
 * Pierre's name translates to "Snowstorm Peter"

Houx/Woo and Saule/Soul
 * The two are close childhood friends with Chocolat and Vanilla from the Magical World and are very close brothers, although they both have quite brash personalities that can sometimes land them into trouble. They both come to the Human World as new students in Chocolat and Vanilla's school to protect them. Both of them have a strong liking towards Chocolat, arguing about who will be Chocolat's King when she gets the crown.
 * Their names are the French words for holly and willow respectively.

Queen Candy
 * The Queen of the Magical World and Vanilla's mother. Even though Vanilla's mother is a queen, she kept a careful eye on the Queen Candidate and the Queen Candidacy so that the ogres could not interfere again. In the anime, she loses the Queen Candidacy, but after the sacrifice made by Cinnamon for the Magical World, the throne was given to her after replacing Cinnamon's place. in the manga she sacrifices herself at the end to help Chocolat defeat Glacé, acknowledging Chocolat as the Magical World's Queen.
 * The Queen of the Magical World and Vanilla's mother. Even though Vanilla's mother is a queen, she kept a careful eye on the Queen Candidate and the Queen Candidacy so that the ogres could not interfere again. In the anime, she loses the Queen Candidacy, but after the sacrifice made by Cinnamon for the Magical World, the throne was given to her after replacing Cinnamon's place. in the manga she sacrifices herself at the end to help Chocolat defeat Glacé, acknowledging Chocolat as the Magical World's Queen.

Cinnamon Meilleure
 * Chocolat's mother and a famous witch. She was a previous Queen Candidate along with Candy Mieux, she won the candidacy, however she sacrificed the throne for the freedom to save the Magic World. Under circumstances not clearly explained in the manga, Cinnamon went to visit Glacé, the grand duke of darkness, while Candy took over as queen. In Volume 7, it is revealed that Cinnamon had Chocolat around this time, and that Chocolat's father is the King of the Ogres himself. Cinnamon was actually Pierre's familiar who had her voice taken away. Cinnamon fights against Glacé at the end of Volume 8, but stays behind with him as he fades away. In the anime, she is disguised as a black cat that Pierre is sometimes seen with. In the last episode, when the queen is decided, she asks Robin and Glacier to help her take care of Chocolat. It is said that Cinnamon and Candy were friends during the Queen candiancy. Candy never collected hearts no matter how popular she was. Some say she intentionally did that, feeling that Cinnamon would make the better Queen.

Waffle
 * Waffle's an anime only character, a young witch girl that's always trying to get Houx's affection. In the series, she always caused trouble during the adventures of Chocolat and others. At the start, she has a certain dislike for Chocolat, for that reason she'll steal Houx from her. She's always accompanied by Baya and travels around in a huge squirrel-looking flying animal.
 * Waffle's an anime only character, a young witch girl that's always trying to get Houx's affection. In the series, she always caused trouble during the adventures of Chocolat and others. At the start, she has a certain dislike for Chocolat, for that reason she'll steal Houx from her. She's always accompanied by Baya and travels around in a huge squirrel-looking flying animal.

Reception
The manga won the Kodansha Manga Award for the best manga of 2005. .

The manga of Sugar Sugar Rune was also called the "greatest fantasy comic of the last 5 years" by an Anime News Network reviewer, who praised its stylish art and epic conclusion.

Manga
The Sugar Sugar Rune Manga spans 8 volumes. Compared to the anime, which ended before the books did, the manga emphasizes more the struggle between the witches and the ogres.

Anime
The Sugar Sugar Rune anime contains a total of 51 episodes. The anime is somewhat different from the manga; while it retains the original storyline (expanding on it at times) it adds elements which a more stereotypical magical girl franchise. The main differences are that Chocolat and Vanilla must transform into their witch outfits in order to collect hearts and cast spells, Chocolat's costume appears pink in the anime (as opposed to the original black) and while in the manga, they must work in order to buy their wands and spell jewels, in the anime these are presented to them in the queen candidacy ceremony. Lastly, the anime adds an additional color of heart – rainbow.

The words of the opening and ending songs are provided the mangaka Moyoco Anno; the music and arrangement (in addition to the background music) are by Yasuharu Konishi (previously the main songwriter of Pizzicato Five).
 * Opening theme
 * "Chocolat à la folie" (ショコラに夢中) by Karia Nomoto. In French the opening theme translates to "Chocolate to Madness"
 * Ending themes
 * Ailleurs vers la lune (月の向こうの世界) by Karia Nomoto (Eps. 01–29).In French the ending theme translates to "somewhere else towards the moon".
 * "Date☆Date" by Marika Matsumoto and Juri Ihata (Eps. 30–51)

Both Polish and French version have their own opening that are adaptations of the original "Chocolat à la folie" opening in these languages.