Mar 14, 2009
Mod Note: This review was initially posted for the one-shot, Kiss de Mezame Sasete., and was subsequently merged into Dame Ijiwaru H.
For mature shoujo readers, this story isn't worth the minute it'll take you to find it online to read, so you're better off not bothering. The artwork is beautiful, but nothing exceptional, and the story is so trite, you'll wonder how it’s taken so long to finish. I'm not complaining about the premise. It could have definitely been something great, only the execution and abruptness of the plot and scenes pulls the potential down.
So Rin's father owes the Sagiri family a LOT of money,
...
and as collateral, Rin is taken "hostage" by Kaoru, not hostage really, but she's staying in their house for the remainder of the repayment period, and Kaoru has made his intentions of what to do with her after the week is over VERY clear! So ok, you expect a bit of forced kiss here and an indignant shove there, but surprisingly you find neither. Instead you find a rational heroine who doesn't give into the attractive Kaoru but stands up for him when the occasion calls for it. Also, Kaoru isn't riding the hedonistic wave that he should be, considering his clichéd role in the story, but he has a gentle manner and does thoughtful things which endear him every once in a while to the reader.
If you were to read a harlequin romance of 180 pages in 3 pages, this is how the plot would turn out. The story just wasn't able to develop two solid characters enough to lend them credibility. To the mangaka's credit, she tried to weasel in lots of developments and conflict oriented scenes in the one shot, but the dialogue was unmoving and the expressions remained a bit staid and static. Overall, there are a few well drawn tender scenes as well as some you'd expect to culminate differently than they do, so you applause the mangaka for steering clear of predictability.
If you absolutely must read another underdeveloped shoujo, then you may like this one for the moral uprightness of both the characters as well as the artwork, but you won't end up enjoying the sporadic pace too much. You want to be able to sympathize with the characters, but you don't get enough time to. Ultimately, this is a somewhat forgettable read albeit one with subtle differences which sets it apart from the dime a dozen shoujo romances with the heroine finding love after being forced into close proximity with her prince in wolf's clothing.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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