Ranked #4863

Haou Airen (Manga)

I wasn't sure what to expect when I read this manga. The whole way through, reading it, I wasn't sure whether I wanted to finish, but I did. Somehow it hooked me.

It is basically the story of a financially struggling girl who shows kindness, and rescues a mafia lord. He is so overwhlemed by the only thing he can do is ake her his woman. And this story is about their relationship.

I found that the pace lagged a bit - the same problems happened over, and over, and had the resolution come quicker, I would have enjoyed it more. Also the end.. I don't want to write any spoilers, but I was unhappy with the ending. Or perhaps that isn't quite right - the more I thought on it, the more then ending made sense. But it is a sad, miserable ending.

The art itself was clear to read, and I had not problems figuring out who was talking! (yes, this is sometimes a problem). I thought on the whole the art of was quite pretty. The sex scenes are a bit repetitive, but nicely enough drawn.

I really like the strong, dominant male type. I do! But not for a story this long where nothing in the charactesr seems to change. I just found that Hakuron's character kind of went nowhere. And same with our heroine - she cried a lot. I just thought that the characterisation could have been improved, but I think that had the story progressed a bit more rapidly I would have been happier with the characters

Look, I did enjoy this. I kept reading it! I did want to know what happened between them, and I was also interested in the other dragon protectors. But overall, I think that it is a bit overlong, but an interesting enough read. read more

I read in one summary that the characters go through many challenges in true love. I found no true love here. Just the "hero" being a brute for a huge chunk of the story and excusing himself in private even though saying things out loud would make everything all right and the love could actually blossom then. To call the female character weak is a bit generic. It's more along the lines that she exists solely for the plot. Her only thoughts and wishes surround loving the male lead despite his assinine cruelty and craving him despite her good judgement. Sheesh, I understand attraction, infatuation and withdrawal symptoms, but I would not recommend this title even as a guilty read which I realised midway when the convoluted self loathing personalities of the leads got too much for me to handle. I don't think it's healthy for girls to associate such dark moments and turmoil with such intimate experiences.

On a separate note, the artwork is commendable. I don't exactly see a bishounen in Hakouron but that's probably because we rarely see kind/gentle expressions from him. While the intimate scenes are titillating enough, they rarely moved me. The bishoujo is not too original looking either and she mostly ends up looking rather forlorn or dejected in most scenes.

While I'm sure it's an enjoyable read if you have your senses about you, I would not want to finish this manga and hope or even remember such a storyline to ever materialise, which is typically why we indulge in manga in the first place. While towards the last volume, the mangaka tries to insert lighter tones and situations and end dramatically, it still seemed like a cheap shot for a manga aimed mostly at Bond fans to appeal to the squeeling otaku. read more