Kaoru Hana wa Rin to Saku

The all-girls Kikyo Private Academy and Chidori Public High School are polar opposites. With its prestigious history, Kikyo is attended by noble young ladies from distinguished families, while Chidori is infamously full of simple-minded delinquents. It is no surprise that their students clash with their differences.

Having a tall stature and fierce appearance, Chidori student Rintarou Tsumugi is often avoided by others despite his gentle heart. One day, while helping out at his family's patisserie, he meets a customer who, after a brief moment, runs away from him. The next day, the customer returns to apologize to Rintarou, introducing herself as the cheerful Kaoruko Waguri.

After spending time with Kaoruko, Rintarou appreciates that she does not judge him based on his appearance and looks forward to when they will meet again. However, when Rintarou discovers Kaoruko attends Kikyo, their relationship will challenge the social expectations and dynamics around them.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Waguri, Kaoruko Main

Inoue, Honoka Japanese

Tsumugi, Rintarou Main

Nakayama, Yoshinori Japanese

Hoshina, Subaru Supporting

Yamane, Aya Japanese

Natsusawa, Saku Supporting

Uchiyama, Kouki Japanese

Tsumugi, Kyouko Supporting

Hikasa, Youko Japanese

Yuzuhara, Madoka Supporting

Tsuchiya, Rio Japanese

Usami, Shouhei Supporting

Toya, Kikunosuke Japanese

Yorita, Ayato Supporting

Ishibashi, Hiiro Japanese

Tsumugi, Keiichirou Supporting

Okiayu, Ryoutarou Japanese

Sawatari, Ayumi Supporting

Mizuno, Saku Japanese

Oowada, Tomoyuki Producer

Nagamine, Rieko Producer

Tanaka, Kengo Producer

Ogasawara, Yuki Producer

Reviews

Sep 27, 2025

Mcsuper

Recommended

Sometimes, looking at the anime I have watched, I wonder to myself, why do I gravitate to the romance genre so much? What is it about two people falling in love that strikes a chord with me? To me, I find the idea of becoming a better person along with someone you love to be a beautiful thing. The pursuit of a light that guides you along the way of all the trials and tribulations in life is interesting, and seeing even fictional characters sometimes gives me new perspectives on how people interact, how people think, and through romance stories, they give me the relatable ... moments, as well as some inspirational moments sometimes. The Fragrant Flower Blooms with Dignity is probably one of the most normal stories to exist, but in an excellent way. The romance is earnest, heartfelt, and cute, the characters are supportive and understanding, and people TALK TO EACH OTHER.

The story starts with a classic Romeo & Juliet setup with the male protagonist, Rintarou Tsumugi, a tall student at Chidori High School, a school regarded as low in prestige and its students being delinquents, and the female protagonist, Kaoruko Waguri, being a student at Kikyo High School, next door to Chidori, is regarded as high class. The two schools have a history of hatred, and therefore, the students at their respective schools also hate the opposing school and its students. In keeping with the vibe of the school, whenever someone looks at Rintarou, they are intimidated due to his stature, but Kaoruko, when they met, treated him no differently than any other person she would meet, judging someone based on their actions, and not by their looks. I have to admit, based on this setup, it felt rather generic.

However, the way that this anime broke through the poison of misunderstandings and conflicts was quite admirable. No conflict gets solved without communication, and this anime tackles conflict with elegance, like it itself was from Kikyo. In both their actions and how they speak, it is clear that the characters from both schools care about their own very deeply. Certainly, there was initial conflict between Rintaro’s friends, and Kaoruko’s friend, Subaru, due to prejudice and past experiences, but this anime depicted how clear and calm communication can bridge the gap between parties, whether it relates to romance or not. The author seems to not like to drag on misunderstandings, conflicts, or drama, but rather handles them quickly, which is a breath of fresh air and something that is sorely needed sometimes. There is a reason romance anime such as His and Her Circumstances and Mysterious Girlfriend X are among my favourites in the genre, and that is because the main couple, as well as the other characters, TALK to one another about their problems. It is as simple as that.

Certainly, the romance in this anime is cute and made me smile a lot, but the main appeal of this anime to me is the cast as a whole. The first thing Reira Ushio, the singer of the ending theme for the anime, noticed about "Kaoru Hana" was that there were no negative feelings coming from the characters. She said, in an interview, “Aren't most works filled with unpleasant characters? Sometimes the presence of a villain can make the story more exciting. But this work doesn't have those elements, and yet I thought it was amazing how it was such an interesting story that you could keep reading.” With how kind and supportive both Rintarou and Kaoruko’s friends are, it also brings me to the discussion of realism. I do not know at what point did thoughts around media started revolving around how realistic it was. Perhaps a reason would be that grounded characters can resonate with people, but even if everyone is super nice, or polite in the way that they talk, does that mean the story is not grounded in other ways? The characters may apologize a lot, and yes, many people do not talk like that in real life, but even in doing so, some of the characters felt more real than a lot of shows out there. Yes, seeing everyone be so kind to one another might be an idealistic view on human interactions, but rather than seeing a dose of reality in my anime, here, I would rather see a fantasy or exaggeration of reality, because reality exists outside of the screen. If I wanted to see some drama, I could literally go outside, and chances are, at some point in the day, someone would be mean and crass to someone else. Why would I not want to watch something pleasant or saccharine? It’s not like a lot of shows are like that these days.

The existence of parents in romance anime feels like a rarity, but when they appear, and especially if they are not used as a dramatic device, they almost always add to the charm of the cast. One of my favourite things in media is seeing parents treat their kids with love and care. I have definitely been in Rintarou’s shoes, not asking his parents for things, in fear of inconveniencing them and holding them back. There were a number of episodes in particular that got me very emotional, but one of them definitely took the cake. I have not really felt this way watching something since I watched *Liz and the Blue Bird*, which to this date is still my favourite anime of all time because how much I related to the notion of holding people back, whether it be friends, family, or anyone close to me. I've always been a bit selfless, not putting myself first, so I could really relate to Rintarou's empathy and kindness. When I saw Rintarou’s mother being so proud of his son for even trivial things such as bringing his friends over to his house, I could not help but feel that in my soul. I could also see the effect that Rintarou’s parents had on his own personal values, and that screams good parenting.

When friendship, romance, and good vibes coalesce, that was what the cast in this anime turned out to be. From hating Kikyo High, to embracing Kaoruko and Subaru as part of the group, Rintarou and his friends came a long way, and it all got sparked from the winds of change that came from the unlikely duo of Rintarou and Kaoruko. The constant stream of communication, airing out the past dirty laundry, to spilling out whatever it was on their mind, everyone in the friend group was the biggest of green flags as you could imagine. Furthermore, Rintarou’s parents acted as an excellent support system for their son, which fostered the growth of himself, as well as many people who interacted with him. Therefore, I could see how much each character complimented each other.

This anime aired at the same time as two other shows from the same studio (CloverWorks), which were two other romance juggernauts in My Dress-Up Darling Season 2, and Rascal Does Not Dream of Santa Claus, and while it was not the best looking out of the three, it did not need to have the snappy pace as the directing of My Dress-Up Darling, for example. The animation was still very solid throughout, and I was particularly impressed by the bright colours that matched the emotions of the characters, as I mentioned earlier. The pace was slow, sometimes adapting only a single chapter in an episode, and with that, us as viewers got more time to see the characters grow, and have their personalities get more layered, due to the way conflicts are quickly resolved. Considering this was the first full manga work (outside of one-shots) done by author Saka Mikami, the writing for both the manga, and now the adaptation, worked well in their respective mediums. 

Out of all the romance anime I have watched, this anime might have my favourite cast as a whole. The characters grow together, support each other, and change each other for the better. The story pushes past its Romeo & Juliet setup and became something special, and all it took was everyone being nice, supportive, and understanding of one another. It is these earnest stories that really make my day, and as much as I like spicy stories and drama like the next guy, sometimes, I do need to have some water, or maybe, something sweet like a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Interestingly enough, this scoop of vanilla warmed my soul.

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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Sep 28, 2025

Velificatio

Mixed Feelings

This anime made me realise that there must be two very distinct audiences when it comes to romance - those that want a lot of nuance, subtlety and character driven tension (with release further along down the narrative) and those that want comfort, sweetness and regular emotional catharsis. All romance anime stand somewhere on this imaginary tension-comfort binary. This anime is in the very, very extreme of the latter. If this is you - you'll love this excellent Cloverworks adaptation of this sweet and feel good story. If you're more about the former though, like myself, you will watch this and say "Why is this ... rated so highly? This is trash."

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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Sep 27, 2025

Ionliosite2

Not Recommended

Funny

Even before the anime premiered, I came to know this series because of its massive score in absolutely every aggregator site, the consensus about it seemed to be extremely positive, to the point of being called one of the best romance manga of all time. I always thought that that must be an exaggeration, after all, I know I don’t agree with what most people say a lot of the time, but there surely must be a tangible reason as to why this series gets such praise, right? So, when I sat down to read the series, I noticed how it was a failure even ... going by the basic premise. I’m not even disappointed by it, as I never expected it was going to blow my mind, but seeing that it’s just another stupid Romeo & Juliet-esque setting, I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. I mean, can I really take your show seriously when it’s just Romeo & Juliet but with an even stupider plot because the school conflict looks and feel so fabricated that it hurts? It was pretty easy to come to the conclusion that Kaoru Hana wa Rin to Saku wasn’t just overrated, but that it is shit.

The praise from this series feels like I’m living in a different dimension, it seems to be because of the fact that this series is the safest shit you’ve ever seen, to the point that the dialogue is extremely artificial, like, have you seen how much they apologize and thank for every minor detail? I know that if I call it unrealistic (and it is) people will say that a series doesn’t have to be realistic, and I can see their point, but this dialogue is not something that will keep you interested, they feel like robots programmed to not say anything bad to each other and if they do they’ll bow down and apologize 10 times in a row, some conversations will go as far as saying “I’m sorry x3” and then the other person will say “you don’t need to apologize, I’m the one who is sorry for worrying you”, it’s exhausting seeing how much they apologize. In fact, just for my satisfaction, I decided to count every time they apologized

-Episode 1: 9 times
-Episode 2: 13 times
-Episode 3: 12 times
-Episode 4: 7 times
-Episode 5: 6 times
-Episode 6: 19 times
-Episode 7: 13 times
-Episode 8: 9 times
-Episode 9: 6 times
-Episode 10: 9 times
-Episode 11: 5 times
-Episode 12: 10 times
-Episode 13: 6 times

As you can see, they apologize a whole fucking lot, it got a little better in the second half, but it’s still stupid, I know the Japanese are known for apologizing a lot, but this is a ridiculous level, at some point I realized that I should also have counted the amount of times they thank others, but I leave that work to someone else. Some seasons ago, I thought that Ao no Hako was boring, as it seemed to be an extremely safe romance show (because it is), but this show makes Ao no Hako look like White Album 2. Thinking that just because there aren’t love triangles or not relying on tropes makes a show more believable is simply not true, this series is painful in a unique way, as the author and the fans seem to think that mature and realistic communication is done by apologizing about everything, series that rely on a whole lot of misunderstandings and stubborn people are more believable than this, just because a series is le wholesome chungus doesn’t mean that it isn’t bad. I have seen people say that there is subtlety in this series, which is a blatant lie, nothing in this series is subtle, this isn’t something exclusive to this series, most romance series will tell you everything the characters feel, and this one is not an exception. The funny thing is that, as time went on, more people seemed to notice these cracks in their dialogue and grow tired of it too, while there’s still a lot of praise coming from people who only watched the anime, you could see how the apologizing became annoying to more and more people.

The setting isn’t believable at all either, the girls from Kikyo treat the boys from Chidori as if they were the scum of Earth, but when you look at them, you will see that they behave like these cute little kids who also can’t do no wrong, there aren’t conflicts even inside the school, you don’t see them behaving badly or like delinquents, they are pretty normal if stupid. You can say that there’s preconceptions about how Kikyo girls perceive Chidori guys, but there’s no reason for these to exist and if there are the series doesn’t say anything about them. The protagonist Rintaro is scawy-looking and has blonde hair, but actually he’s a gentle giant, he may be awkward but he has no mean intentions towards anyone at any point in time, he thinks he has no friends yet he spends all his time with 3 other guys. Speaking of these other guys, you can tell the author is a woman because of how they behave with each other, at no point they have a portrayal of male friendship that makes sense, even less with the given setting, they keep praising each other, getting embarrassed, saying how glad they are to be friends, they can sometimes tease each other but then they will say a hundred of different praises too, as if teasing your friend was this horrible thing to do and you have to ask for forgiveness… the more you see and pay attention to the setting, it only becomes more nonsensical.

Nothing in this works, the characters aren’t even believable to their own setting, and the praise just confuses me, do I really have to believe this is one of the best romance anime ever made? The answer is a no, given CloverWorks’ track record this season, deciding to vomit 3 anime at the same time and even putting them in the same promotions means that you have to expect something of the quality of the other two, and in fact, that’s exactly what you get, but unlike Sono Bisque Doll that had a nice first season and Bunny Girl Senpai that while it started awful it actually got a little better with time, you have this thing right here, which was easily the worst of the three. The story wants to have its cake and eat it too, the source of all the drama is the opposite of what we see on our screens, and the only thing that could “stop” their romance is a conflict that makes no sense. There’s nothing here that makes me want to support this romance, because everything here feels fake, manufactured, illogical and unbelievable, it’s the opposite of realistic in every possible way.

Thank you for reading.

Reviewer’s Rating: 2

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	Poll: Kaoru Hana wa Rin to Saku Episode 13 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page ) Ricky16 - Sep 27	327 replies	by Railen »» Yesterday, 4:06 PM
	Poll: Kaoru Hana wa Rin to Saku Episode 8 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 ) IzanaSolos - Aug 23	174 replies	by »»
	Poll: Kaoru Hana wa Rin to Saku Episode 4 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) Softhenic03 - Jul 26	143 replies	by »»
	Poll: Kaoru Hana wa Rin to Saku Episode 10 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) IzanaSolos - Sep 6	100 replies	by Beguni »» Nov 26, 8:13 AM
	The melodrama in this anime doesn't make any sense ( 1 2 ) Ajaxxexx - Jul 7	67 replies	by idipyoudipwedip »» Nov 24, 5:40 PM