As jackalan touches on (albeit a tad rudely and one-sidedly) in the comment bellow, a lot of the elements of this story are "unoriginal." Unwanted princess, foreign servant, close relationship, trying to prove oneself to the country that rejected them-- it's all very typical because its very often a theme. But in the same way that Disney always has their princesses and there are always car chases and explosions in action movies, this manga retells these familiar elements RIGHT.

Although we know many elements of this plot, we love seeing it play out right the same way we can rewatch our favorite film or shakespearean play even knowing the content. It's almost comforting because we feel we know these characters already when we get dropped into the story. I would even argue that although a lot of the story elements and plot devises aren't surprises, there is still an element of mystery or wonder to the future in what way the story will go. I definitely recommend it.

The art is good, the plot is good even with all it's typical-ness and the characters, if not fully developed yet, do make you like them and wish for their well-being. it's not to far along yet, read a few chapters and see for yourself.

... Last updated on April 1st, 2013, 7:09pm

The character development and plot line of this manga seems to rival those of Basara, Red River and other epic Shoujo's. Add to that, the beautiful art work. This is definitely one of my new favorites. I'm really looking forward to reading more of it.
Do NOT give this one a miss!

It's a good manga and worth your time if you like political intrigue. I especially like how we see Aki experience and overcome difficulties despite being talented at what she does. Her ability doesn't come out of nowhere either, and it's established that she's worked hard to get to where she is. It drives me up the wall when characters are talented to the point where they're basically perfect and never make mistakes, and this manga doesn't fall into that trap.

There's just one thing that really bothers me.

I read a lot of manga of all types. And, for the most part, shoujo manga tends to be the most annoying. Sure, there are a handful of incredible slice-of-life series (Lovely Complex and Kimi ni Todoke leap to mind), but for the most part the more dramatic series invariably fall short. They focus too much on self-absorbed relationship drama, rely too heavily on tired tropes/cliches, or keep the cast perpetually infantilized to avoid changing the status quo in any meaningful way until the last chapter or two.

It makes the dramatic series all the more infuriating to read because they will often take a very compelling premise, and then completely fail to do anything interesting with it (the recent Akatsuki no Yona leaps to mind).

Joou no Hana is none of these things. A small, focused cast allows for excellent characterization, and deft plot handling (making frequent and excellent use of time-skips and narration) allow for character development--and, crucially, plot development. And that's what makes Joou no Hana such a joy to read--it's a fast-paced character-centric historical-fantasy epic, that spends just enough time on the character drama and interaction to make the cast feel alive and compelling, without sacrificing ANYTHING to the plot.

And boy, oh boy, oh boy is this one hell of a plot.

In the first chapter our heroine, Aki, is a young girl stealing food for her mother; two chapters later she's thrusting a sword through an enemy soldier's throat.

If you like historical fantasy at all, please read this series. If you're not in love with it after the first three chapters, you really don't like historical fantasy and are just deluding yourself. I really thought the big stand-out story for me this year would be the new adaptation of Tanaka Yoshiki's "Heroic Legend of Arslan." But it's not. It's Kaneyoshi Izumi's "Joou no Hana," a rather unfortunately named series I found entirely by accident--and I am so glad I did.

And cheesy. And unnecessarily melodramatic. And I kind of hate the main characters.

The story is set up so that it seems like the main character is supposed to be strong and intelligent... but she's actually pretty dumb and whiny. I find it totally annoying that the side characters keep referring to her age and how she is so mature for a 14,15,16-yr-old... in a historical setting where women get married by 15 (her mother did) and are probably considered adults by then. Especially since she is actually SUPER immature for her age, even by today's standards.

She also doesn't seem to understand palace politics or the world around her at all--it doesn't seem like she understands them and is just too cool for that stuff, it's more like she just doesn't get it. Like OF COURSE the other queen might try to poison her or her mom. It's like she has zero street smarts. Or palace smarts, or whatever you want to call that type of intelligence. She's got none of it.

The male lead character is also super undeveloped. Basically, his character traits consist of (1) being a shunned blond foreigner and (2) being obsessed with the main female lead. Just those two things. There is literally nothing else interesting about him. His existence is one of the most important parts of the story, and yet aside from existing he doesn't actually DO much to add to the plot, except for randomly getting rapey here and there. That doesn't make me like him more, but I at least wouldn't mind that in a fictional character if he was at least somewhat interesting.

It feels like the author is trying too hard to add drama to the story. Honestly, given the setting, it shouldn't be hard to make the story super dramatic through plot, but instead the main way the author adds drama is through really cheesy, melodramatic narrations and characters' inner monologues. Having some of that can be great, but here it's just so excessive and it really doesn't flow well.

But even when the drama is through events/dialogue, it's often still pretty dumb. To illustrate with an example (from early on in the story, so it's not much of a spoiler):

I almost dropped it at that point but decided to give it a chance in case there would be character development after that and the story would get more interesting... but no, it doesn't really get better.

All in all, this story is poorly executed. Giving it an extra point because some of the art is cute.

... Last updated on July 16th, 2018, 12:05am

I am not sure if those who have given the manga 5 or less rating have read the entire manga. Since it has been released in my country and I had a chance to read it in full, I can say that in its entirety, this is one of the best historical shoujo mangas out there!!!! Yes she (inadvertently) leads Hakusei around and yes it was a bit boring reading how she looks up to this older guy who basically loved her mother! -_-
BUT despite that, the mangaka definitely portrayed a great female character, her equally wonderful friend- the loyal Hak and a host of other great side characters.
Was the story a bit cheesy? Maybe. But the manga had many moments of sweet romance, intelligent conversations, good action and best of all - an AMAZING ending!



I won't spoil the ending for those who have yet to read it, but suffice to say, this was NOT the ending I expected. Yet it was one that was realistic - a bittersweet HEA!

... Last updated on July 8th, 2018, 1:26pm

its cringe cheesy and quite predictable. the art is nice but not nice enough to make me suspend belief and logic to stomach this.

the villains and characters against Aki don't feel realistic or convincing to me. it feels as if their only purpose in the story is to antagonize Aki and provide a means to get the plot rolling. the melodrama was also too much.

i checked this manga out because it was recommended under Chang Ge Xing. it's similar to Chang Ge Xing (female in a male dominated dynasty, politics, military strategizing, etc.) but CGX is better executed, jaw-dropping beautiful art and wonderfully better developed characters.

... Last updated on August 1st, 2018, 2:34pm

I really like it! The art is good and well proportioned and the main characters are very likable. The main girl (like said below) is spunky, energetic and good spirited, while the guy is strong, sweet and loyal. Really want to see how this stories plays out.... if only more volumes were scanlated.... ;__;

3 chapters does not satisfy me! D:

... Last updated on October 17th, 2012, 3:22am

I don't understand why most comments are saying that FL is naive? Have you even read the manga? She's one of the strongest female leads I've seen and I only read mangas with strong FLs. She may not be the strongest at the beginning but that's how ppl are? they grow? also every character here is extremely well-written. The plot is quite interesting, and the master-servant dynamic is a chef's kiss. I don't know about y'all, but this is a great manga! 10/10 would recommend.

I've always had a soft spot for political intrigue in a historical context. Add a courageous female lead, some subtle but nonetheless cavity-inducing romance, well-crafted suspense and voila! A great read. I've only read a few chapters so far, but I'm hooked.