During the manga boom of the 2000s, it seems that publishers would put out anything. We got a lot of garbage titles out of it, but we also occasionally got a diamond in the rough like today's title.
CHIKYU MISAKI, by Yuji Iwahara. First published in 2000 and first published in North America in 2005.
PLOT:
After the death of her grandfather, Misaki Makishima finds her the new owner of a huge old house on the shores of Hohoro Lake. Just as she starts to get used to small town life, she discovers that the rumors of a lake monster are true. Not only that, but the monster is tiny, adorable, and turns into a little boy with a kiss. Now Misaki and her friends have to find a way to protect this creature, since he's now the only thing standing between a thief and the suitcases of gold he lost in the lake after a plane crash.
