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Description
From Viz: There is a world of myth and magic that intersects ours, and only a special few can see it. Misao Harada is one such person, and she wants nothing to do with magical realms. She just wants to have a normal high school life and maybe get a boyfriend.
But she is the bride of demon prophecy, and her blood grants incredible powers, her flesh immortality. Now the demon realm is fighting over the right to her hand...or her life!
Black Bird received the 2009 Shogakukan Manga Award for shoujo manga.
@person below me: Clearly, you didn't read further than chapter 7, because in 8 it clearly shows why he wants to make her his bride, and it has nothing to do with her blood. Furthermore, it's stated by the author that she THOUGHT to make him 20 yrs. old, but realized later it wouldn't work, therefore he is not.
The early volumes have an almost eerie similarity to Love Monster. While this story is more complex and i dare say dramatic, the characters are not as superficial as LM. The smut is the same though, as is the heroine's insecurities, lack of judgement and even clumsiness. They are pretty much the same character, but with less friends? The hero here is better IMHO, not perfect of course. While the hero in LM was more arrogant, this one is not like that at all.
Don't get me wrong, none of these are complains, because i have enjoyed the series thus far, even with all those cliches. I can understand why the heroines are bubbly and almost helpless; these kind of heroes are perfect for them. I just wished they would make the heroine a little stronger, to at least not be a hindrance, and more honest with her feelings from the beginning. My other only niggle, is the love triangles. I get that some readers like it and it makes the story more "livelier" for some; but i much rather have more slice of life.
I personally like it, but that is only because I like shojo. Unless you love shojo (when I say love I mnean love not like) don't read this. Yeah, It has cliches and yeah the main girl is sometimes too stupid to live but hey it is a SHOJO.
Gotta be honest, I started reading this manga when only the 1st volume had been translated. The plot seemed really typical & corny, which kinda ruined the sexy parts of it, so I stopped reading. But now (a few years later) that almost 10 volumes have been translated, I decided to pick it up again and see what it's all about. I totally skipped to volume 5, and hey, it's not that bad! Plot has gotten a bit more complex and interesting, so the romantic relationship between the 2 main characters doesn't seem so superficial anymore. Plus the characters develop & reveal more about their personalities/past. Of course lots of the shoujo manga lovey dovey cheese is still there (-_-), but I turn out to anticipate and quite enjoy them instead of getting as sick of them as before. So I'm going to continue reading this from now on ^^ I'm going to recommend it to other people too, if you're reading mainly for the smutttt. (I think even if you skip the first few volumes, you won't get too lost in what's going on, lol)
I remembered I picked up this manga because it was rated so high on the list but later dropped it for various reasons. This manga is like a "Japanese Twilight" with a completely weak and dependent heroine, a dominant male, guys fighting over the heroine's blood, etc. Blood is like this captivating substance that both tengus and vampires die for.
Spoiler (mouse over to view)
Misao later drops out of high school because she unexpectedly became pregnant. Very reminiscent of Twilight. What a great example Misao is setting for teenage girls who are reading this manga. Why didn't they use condoms and protection in this manga? Also, Misao always depends on others to save her while wishing that she would not be a burden to others. If she really wants to help and protect others around her, why didn't she learn martial arts or learn spells on how to ward off demons and bad spirits?
I just can't read the manga any further after this. The smutty scenes didn't help much either.
Its not like i hate it but, i thought that the characters personality was horrible. The girl is stupid, weak and cries all the time. The boy is just handsome, jerk and pervert, his harassment is totally annoying. The plot is interesting, its not new but it could be a good manga. The girl could along with the history learn how to figh the demons, she would become strong. I prefer the type cool for the boy, he would come back to her just to make her his bride and be the most powerful tengu, but slowly he would see that she is not the average girl she got a strong personality and then he fall in love with her and she with him. My history wasnt original either but i would rather read it than the history from this author. Her art is great, and the plot for me is interesting, i like demon x human relationships, but unfortunately she messed up with this one. (My english is not that great, but i guess this comment is ok to read. )
Overall i don't think this manga is bad or great either.
My reasons for saying that it is "bad" in a sense is because the female protagonist is very repetitive. In almost every chapter she cries (due to EXTREME happiness or EXTREME sadness or just because). I'm not sure if this is suppose to be her selling point as a very overly emotional person, or if she is suppose to be a very apathetic person. Personally, in my eyes, she is too overly emotional. I mean, you can cry here and there, but the amount of tears she has shed through the whole manga could probably fill a pool by now.
The male protagonists Kyo and Shou are alright. They aren't annoying, I like Kyo because he's hilariously perverted ( but that's just my preference ^^) and Shou is pretty cool too just because he's mysterious, you just want to read more about him to know what is on his mind.
The other side characters are alright, i can't really say because rarely does the author focus on them, they might have a small chunk of a chapter, but other than that they seem to me as bishies to fill the page with. with the exception of the little kids, those kids are sooo cute...
Overall this manga is average. It's got some flaws mostly relating to the characters themselves, the plot had potential the be really interesting, but ended up being muddled up, even i'm not sure whats happening anymore.The art is so and so, i mean it's good, but its nothing special or very detailed.
But what wiill probably keep me reading is ofcourse the desire to get things cleared up and secretly hoping something mind blowingly awesome might happen.(you never know)
To be fair, I have not read Black Bird in its entirety. I did, however, read the first six volumes. The premise was interesting, but the characters kept me from actually enjoying it. Misao, the protagonist, is passive to the point where it's obnoxious. There's a reason nearly every tankouban cover is a picture of her crying, while Kyou looks either pleased by this, or annoyed. Also, there are flowers. Misao has gotten slightly better over the course of the series, but not by much; she's moved up from just crying to crying while buying herself some time in a bad situation, but still being ridiculously naive, and still pretty weak-willed. Kyou, the main romantic interest, is a jerk. He doesn't really seem to care about Misao's feelings, or the word 'no'. But he's all that's keeping her from being eaten by somebody else, and he's suuuuuper pretty, so Misao forgives him. The other demons that want to marry Misao would happily settle for raping her.
Basically, the fact that nearly all the male characters are horribly misogynistic and that this is considered okay because they're good looking really bugs me. And it's not just other characters forgiving them, it's the tone of the story itself. The relationship between Kyou and Misao is really, really dysfunctional.
Overall: decent art, so-so story, horrible characters. I don't recommend it unless you have a fetish for good-looking guys with terrible personalities.
...just because everyone else on this page is like "Ahhhhh! Horrible manga!". It's not that bad. In fact, I liked it very much.
At several points in my life, I've read Black Bird from the start and either loved it or hated it. Misao starts off weakly, but she does eventually start getting it together and fighting for what she wants (I must say, though, it took her forever to figure out the concept. Geesh.) I wouldn't say she's a protagonist you'd want to emulate, but she's no longer completely spineless by any stretch of the imagination.
Kyou's pervertedness throws me for a loop. He's too serious and formal-looking most of the time to really carry off the whole "I am a pervy man!" properly... and I don't even like pervy men. I understand it's supposed to be a contrast, but there is hilarious contrast, and there is contrast which throws the reader off, and this is a case of the latter. That said, though, I admire his loyalty, I laugh at his lines, and I think altogether that he's a good guy. There are just better ways than the blatant "touch Misao whenever wherever!" way he does it.
The art is fair. The plot is cliched, but well-executed. The pacing is good enough to be emotionally tugging from time to time. Overall, this is a manga I liked; funny, sweet, a little smutty (but not quite... although it's going to happen, and I'm not really looking forward to it), emotional and dramatic. It doesn't have any outstanding good points, but it takes all the average points it has and somehow works them all together into an excellent story.
That is cliche. And kind of cheesy. But it's the fun kind. It was an enjoyable read - if you feel like the genre, you could do worse.
I've completely lost interest in this manga. I've gotten to ch 13 and then dropped it completely. I mean, I really like the plot of this manga, and the fact that there's a human x non-human relationship, that's what made me stick to it for so long. BUT! Misao is just soooooooo weak. She is such a crybaby and all she does is cower behind Kyo. And why is she so scared of seeing those monsters? I would think she would have gotten use to it after seeing them her whole life. I honestly don't see what Kyo or anyone else likes in her. I find her completely annoying. She just has this so-called "special blood". If she is so special, why can't she do anything??
If Misao was a tougher and stronger heroine, I think that this manga would have been one of my favorites, but as it is now, it is at the bottom of my list.
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