Haou♥Airen

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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.

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.

This may very well be the single most disgusting piece of fiction I have ever had the displeasure of experiencing. Given my frequent forays into the eroguro genre, and the fact that I have watched Human Centipede 1 and 2, A Serbian Film, Hostel, Martyrs, and Irreversible, me calling Haou Airen the "most disgusting" is a much bolder claim than it would be had it come from the average person. Haou Airen is not gorier than any of these things, it actually it is not gory at all. It does not have a much larger frequency of graphic rape than some these things, although it ... comes close. So why do I say that it is more disgusting than any of them? The lack of self-awareness, for one. It was morally repulsive to me, as it would be to any rational and decent human being. Haou Airen is about a girl who falls in love with her rapist, and it is not a morally ambiguous story, an accurate or unbiased account, or a psychological piece. It deals with the issue of rape in a frivolous manner far more disgusting than base exploitation; Shinjo Mayu, the mangaka, makes it quite clear that she believes brutally repetitious rape coupled with psychological abuse to be not only justifiable, but romantic, if it is done by a smexy guy who just needs some love.


Never-mind the generic and bad art, never-mind the flat and unrealistic characters, never-mind the contrived circumstances, never-mind the plot’s absurdities, never-mind the fact that it was essentially the same shit over and over again, never-mind how so little thought was put into the panel layout that it is nearly impossible to tell who’s speaking; this manga is utter trash regardless, but with the moral aspect taken into account, this is something worse than a 1. Haou Airen is arguably the worst thing I have ever read. It is certainly the most blissfully ignorant, unhealthy, and therefore emotionally harmful thing I have ever read. At least Hitler knew what he was doing when he penned Mein Kampf.


This is the least erotic piece of smut I have ever laid eyes upon. I had to set it aside and just stop at least 10 different times, and it was physically painful to finish. I wish I didn't finish it, really. I wish I never read this shit. I wish I never knew this shit existed. I wish this shit didn't exist. I wish there weren't any societies on this planet that would condone this sort of thing. If you are one of the 558 people who gave this worthless fucking loathsome garbage a “10," then you seriously need to re-evaluate your life, and probably get a therapist. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go lie down and deal with the emotional ramifications of the bile I just read. Fucking disgusting.