Ranked #1746

Haou Airen (Manga)

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

This manga is not so much different from Mayu Shinjo's other works. The mangaka seems to concentrate solely on the male character, Hakuron, who possesses such strong personality. On the contrary, the presence of the female character, Kurumi is somehow too weak. The feminist readers might be disturbed, as the main female character is constantly perceived as a sex object, a toy, or what have you. However, if you are someone who enjoys stories such as cinderella, where the handsome prince charming will come to the rescue for the damsel in distress, you might find this manga entertaining. I should warn you though, there might be scenes that would be disturbing as they depict some kind of sexual violence. Despite what i have just mentioned, this manga's art is very much enjoyable as girls will easily fall in love with Hakuron's pretty face and cool character.Overall, this manga presents a very strong storyline for a true love, despite of many hardships both characters are going through. read more