The story is definitely not a unique. It follows a storyline of demons, contracts and impending death. It was pretty much a shoujo version of Kuroshitsuji to me. There's probably plenty of other manga with the same elements, I just have not read them.
Even with the similar storyline, Hanatsukihime added something special to it. Being a shoujo, the story was undeiniably cute and heart warming. It's a bit tedious at the start, having that repetitive thing going on like Sailor Moon but the story gets deeper later. True it was quite dark for a shoujo but it didn't exactly pull the strings for me. At least it made the story more interesting, keeping you on your seat yet you still have a brief idea on what's going to happen. Weird huh?
Art: 7
The art was above average. I loved the desert theme to the story. It really does look nice. The bishounens were very sexy ;D The female characters had annoying designs though. Pretty, but in that over exaggerated which lowers the quality. The background characters are pretty much forgetful, nothing special in their design at all. The art was also a little dodgy here and there. Like you'd get a big guy then they'd get these under proportioned feet. Just a little something that bugged me.
Character: 7
Lys was pretty much your typical happy-go-lucky-with-a-terrible-fate sort of girl. She wasn't very inetersting. Siva, on the other hand, was quite likable. Whenever he smiled you'd just go awwwwwww. I felt for his side of the story. Lys' was pretty sad as well.
Even though I've written this pretty much right after I read the manga, I'm already forgetting every other characters' names. Only the main characters seem to stand out. The supporting characters are cool just not memorable.
Enjoyment & Overall: 8 & 7
Hanatsukihime was a manga that I enjoyed. It's passable as one of the mangas that you might actually want to read. I read this in my spare time and it was fun to see Lys' and Siva's journey. It made you think, what are these characters going to do? I guess that's what gives the manga an edge. Even if it is kind of predictable, I love seeing which characters from what stories do what. It's interesting to see each author's depiction.
The story is cute and heartwarming. It is quite the read for your spare time. It is not a waste of time and I enjoyed it a lot.
