I read a few chapters of this manga and liked it well enough. It wasn't mind-blowing but it wasn't horrible, either. Reading reviews about this manga annoys me because everyone is like "Maria is a great female lead." Am I wrong or does Maria explicitly state many times that he's a dude? We need a full-frontal so people can finally stop getting this confused.

I really enjoy this manga, I find it interesting and the characters are very cool and relatable.

Although, I don't get why people are so confused.. Maria is a BOY! He even says that in the beginning! Otherwise it wouldn't be a shounen ai anyways! It's just like how no one sees that Yuri from Brave 10 is a boy as well!

The rating is too high and you can easily see not many people have a clue what the hell they are talking about or even reading. The main character may look like a girl but within the first FIVE pages he lets you know he is a guy and somehow people are still confused.
And after 1 volume nothing has happened. This is basically the boring everyday life of a guild in some fantasy world where the only colorful character personality-wise is a pervert who thinks the MC is a girl and thus hits on him non stop.
Seriously, nothing important happens and to make matters worse despite the MC might as well be a girl since he always gets saved, can't fight and basically acts like a girl except when he's angry. There is just nothing going on here to make it worth reading.

Disagree with you hollowninja, in an army they are likely fielding cavalry, ranged, and infantry with differing levels of armor. Having light armor like a skirt in favor of heavy armor means you are likely to get killed by guys on horses or killed by a wall of arrows trying to get close enough. Even if you do face of with heavy armor you'd need to make sure that you don't get hit even once. These aren't one on one duels, they are thousands against thousands so it's not like you can easily dodge so many people.

Now referring to the manga, I forgot, was it ever actually announced what gender "it" was? Is "it" a guy, girl, both, or neither? So confused...

Miniskirts are actually quite practical for fighting. They allow a lot of freedom of movement, which is essential in any battle situation. A lot of people make the mistake of thinking that heavy armor = practical for battle, which really isn't the case. Mobility is the most important thing.

Look at Roman soldiers. What did they wear? That's right, skirts.

everyone is saying she this and she that, but she is a GUY , or I'm in the wronh?? anyway if that's true this is more shounen-ai than shoujo in all senses, even the story is more tipycal of shounen than shoujo.

Since I'm sleepy right now and that there are only 4 chapters scanlated I'll not write a 4 paragraph comment.

Maria, the main female lead, can be described as cute, strong, assertive, and witty. Whether or not she will play a role other than the typical always-saved-by-a-male is still hazy. I do hope that the latter is not correct.
Trying to use the utterly ludicrous confessions of love as humor is a downside (IMO) but bearable.

I'm hoping the it becomes more . . .well i just hope the author writes the later chapters with more common sense and, since there's still hope, I give this an 8.

... Last updated on August 13th, 2009, 9:40pm

Bara no Maria is manga that is perfect for any girl. It's funny and has a lot of action in it. Maria is one of the only fighting female characters in the manga world who is down to earth and any girl can relate to her

I agree with CatzCradle on this one, Bara no Maria is a manga that doesn't treat girls as whimpering idiots who wear 'cute' (read: ridiculously provocative that don't have any practical purpose at all in fighting) costumes or anything along those lines. Maria Rose as a character is real, she's not an airhead, or with a Superwoman complex (you know the type who CANNOT rely on being saved by men at all costs and über strong).

... Last updated on September 28th, 2008, 7:38pm

It seems to have a promising start, can't wait to see the rest of the volume scanned..maria rose looks like a very good female lead and the art is nice too...

Oops, my bad, Maria Rose is not a good female lead, cus she's not a female!
Anyway, I think it's a nice little story, and Azian is awesome!

... Last updated on September 14th, 2011, 11:58pm