Shugo Chara! PEACH-PIT Images

Shugo Chara (lit. translation My Guardian Characters) is a Japanese shoujo manga series created by the brilliant manga author duo, Peach-Pit, known for their exceptional works like Zombie Loan, Rozen Maiden and DearS.
Shugo Chara started serialization in Kodansha's Nakayoshi since February 2006.
As of December 2009, Kodansha has published 12 tankobon volumes of Shugo Chara.
Satelight Studios produced the anime adaptation of Shugo Chara together with Kenji Yasuda as the general director.
Shugo Chara made its big debut on TV Tokyo last October 2007.
Shugo Chara was scheduled for 51 heart-warming episodes which ended last September 2008.

PLOT:

Every child has an egg in their heart, unseen with the naked eye and embodying the person's hopes and dreams.
Shugo Chara follows Hinamori Amu, an elementary student at Seiyo Academy.
She has a reputation for being cool and spicy, however her real personality is that of an extremely shy and easily intimidated.
One peculiar night, she makes a wish upon the stars to have the courage to change herself into her “would-be” self and be more forward with her feelings.
The next morning, she finds three unusual eggs in her bed: pink, blue and green.
Each egg eventually hatches into a Guardian: Ran, Miki and Su. Guardians are angel-like beings that protect every child's “would-be” selves and help them fulfill their dreams.
Amu's life becomes much more complicated as she struggles to deal with her “would-be” selves and the Seiyo Elementary's Guardians, a student council group with their very own Guardian characters.
Amu is later recruited by the Seiyo Elementary's Guardians to search and seal the X-eggs which are corrupted forms of people's dreams.
Meanwhile, the Easter Company is extracting people's eggs in search of the elusive Embryo, which is said to grant any wish to the one who possess it.



CHARACTERS:

Amu Hinamori is a student of Seiyo Elementary and is the main protagonist of the story. She has a reputation at school for being spicy and cool, somewhat of a tsundere personality, although her actual personality is shy and timid. She is kind-hearted and always prepared to go out of her way to help out others. She is oftentimes a bit aloof and often forgets to do her homework. She can transform into a magical girl depnding on which Guardian Character she fuses with.


Ran is the first Guardian Character to hatch. Ran represents Amu's desire to be more honest, confident and athletic. When combining with Ran, Amu can transform into Amulet Heart with increased athletic abilities.


Miki is the second Guardian to hatch and represents Amu's desire to be more sharp, level-headed and
artistic. As the artistic one, Miki helps make fashion choices for Amu. When combining with Miki, Amu transforms into Amulet Spade with increased artistic abilities.


Su is the third and final Guardian Character which represents Amu's desire to be more caring, sensitive
improved domestic skills. Su represents the “girly” side to Amu and when she transform into Amulet Clover, she gains remarkable improvement in cooking and cleaning skills.


UPDATE:

Satelight Studios has announced that they are working on a second season entitled Shugo Chara!! Doki which was scheduled for 51 light-hearted episodes.
Shugo Chara!! Doki started broadcasting since October 2008.
A third season entitled Shugo Chara started broadcasting on TV Tokyo since October 2009.
Several manga spin-series has also been written.


There are plenty of magical girl anime shows out there but the closest one that is impeccably similar to Shugo Chara are Cardcaptor Sakura, Tokyo Mew Mew, Gakuen Alice, Chicchana Yukitsukai Sugar, Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon, Nanatsuiro Drops, Full Moon wo Sagashite and Futari Precure, and the widely popular Pretty Cure series.


source: Zerochan; written by carllustre87