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Description
Shibazeki Suiren is a stunningly beautiful girl. When she enters high school, most of her classmates are astonished by her beauty, but after noticing her quiet manners and lack of contact with anyone else except her friends Yuri and Aya, she receives the nickname "Takane no Hana", a beautiful flower but impossible to reach. However, after a fellow freshman called Kawasumi Kouha saves her from a persistent suitor, she finds herself mesmerized by him... as he's the only boy who won't look at her no matter what.
Kawasumi and Suiren are one of the cutest couples I've seen. I love how they were both shy innocent people. The only character I hated was
Spoiler (mouse over to view)
Atohira. He is such a shitty friend to Kawasumi. He tries to make a move on Suiren multiple times and even acts like a prick when Kawasumi tells him to stop.
The art is beautiful and the characters are cute. Like others have mentioned, it's just a very slow romance-- the main characters are very shy. I imagine that some folks enjoy that type of storyline but it's not my cup of tea and I had to call it quits after 36 chapters.
It was weird and the side characters were really pushy.. the main character literally can't speak a word to each other, and the main girl is essentially a beautiful mute. It really irritated me when they went to meet up but then the "friends" would suddenly and randomly intrude and then ask extremely rude questions (yeah I'm talking bout the karate rival). The only reason she gets away with everything hinges on her beauty. Why is she a mute? Because she gets too much attention since she's so pretty. Why does he like her? Her beauty. Why does he put up with silence? Her prettiness. Like literally weeks past and she's only spoken a few words to him. Everyone in the manga is unreasonable and illogical. None of this would happen in real life and it's only saving point is its art.
I really loved this manga and haven't come across anything quite like it before. It is long enough for you to be able to get to know the characters for the most part, and the characters for the most part are likable. If you're looking for a sweet and refreshing manga I would definitely give this manga a shot.
So freaking cute! The (EXTREMELY) slow romance is super refreshing. And the best part it has no "typical" shoujo misunderstandings (aka no third wheels that completely screw up the main couple or odd misunderstandings that take 8 chapters to realize it was a misunderstanding). It's a couple that slowly come together and stay together. They talk things out, they try to understand, and they work things out together. Like a couple should.
I unfortunately only have one issue with it, and that's that the kiss scene(s) is not great.
Spoiler (mouse over to view)
The mangaka has such great build up to sweet moments (like when they hug or the love confession(s)), but the kiss scene is just... boring. It has a build up, it has a aftermath, but the frame itself, just does nothing for me. Either of them (the MCs and the SCs scene). And that totally sucks.
But seriously the sweetness and cuteness of this couple is just on total overload, it's amazing to read. From the first page to the last the MC is just as well drawn and cute. It's a couple that has been a pleasure to watch develop.
I love Hibi Chouchou mainly for its characters and by how the story is drawn. I think their character actually more interisting than most shoujo. Suiren dan Kawasumi both quiet but not cool type, which is rare. They were not talking, but their feeling could conveyed directly to reader’s heart. Their character are plain, but not pitiful. Something that the readers could sympathize and admire at the same time.
Their lack of communication is their problem to be solved. Really different from typical shoujo manga when they have communication problem, they will cry, angry and maybe shout “you don’t understand my feeling at all!!”(meh). Both Suiren and Kawasumi understand they are still don’t understand each other. They choose just take time to understand each other. They weren’t hoping sudden development, “doki doki” moment, and other romance’s things, and because of that there were none. It is more reasonable because they love each other not because they fall in love with the concept of love itself first. They just love each other. So pure. So cute. So refreshing.
Aya-chan who had “unwanted love”, the friendship between the girls and the boys, rivalry between Kawasumi and Atohira, etc. are also something that the readers could sympathize and admire at the same time.
It's a very pretty art style, but that's it. Very stereotypical shoujo ups and downs. The lack of communication is because neither of the characters can communicate. The main characters are rather shallow, without any good reason for why they're attracted to each other, except maybe Suiren being very pretty.
To sum up, the two characters can't talk for shit (even when they figure out it's mutual love, the male lead is like, what is dating?? how to date) and are flatter characterwise than a sheet of paper.
TL;DR: Beautiful art, cutesy, but the plot is shallower than I am and that's saying something.
It's very slow/non existent development, and everything sort of just - happens! The characters are also more 2D because of that. For people who prefer more realistic developments and would prefer a faster pace, this isn't the manga for you. Yet, there's something rather dreamy about how the manga plays out, and I'm sure the pretty art helps with that - the pacing almost reminds me of Taiyou no Ie, but it's...better. It's gentle. The slow but also somewhat random developments between characters and relationships is old school, and that's not a bad thing - it resembles the romantic daydreams of a stereotypical school girl, you know? Or another way to describe it - those old dating sims where target-MC interaction is low, but the romance blossoms just by seeing each other however briefly. It's not realistic at all - but once in a while, something as silly as this sort of romance is cute.
To be more critical, the way the characters treat each other can be problematic and unhealthy, although it's not quite a surprise (not an excuse, but Japan has a much different culture and therefore much different takes on gender roles/relationships/etc - unfortunate, but true). In more recent chapters, it seems that they're take steps to know exactly what their relationship is like and how they will work it out, I'm a little happy. The girl seems to remain as dependent as ever! Sometimes, that's not quite a bad thing, and it makes sense considering she's extremely shy/possibly insecure (I, uh, relate, unfortunately, to both), but through both feminist and literary lens? Hopefully she'll become more independent & decisive (and there are few signs here and there that she is), because that would make a truly great story. (But, as said before, the plot is just shallow, but with romantic daydream quality.)
When I first started reading this manga, I thought, this seems interesting and very unique. The art is refreshing and having a female lead who's actually 'attractive' in the eyes of other characters - it was new, but as the romance was getting starting ...
I felt like this manga would have been better off as a oneshot because their relationship is dragging on so much with the romance development - which I don't understand. I like slow romance because it's more realistic, but when I'm reading this and I'm watching the interaction between the main couple - it feels so ... I don't know, awkward and force and I feel like they're not the type of couple that will last long in the future - especially bc they have absolutely nothing in common.
Male lead worries too much about burdening the female, the female lead feels like a burden in general towards the male lead - they get wishy-washy over their feelings over ... Nothing? They can't even talk properly to each other without being super sensitive over the smallest things.
Honestly, the art is so pretty, I love it, but like ... The characters are so boring and bland ... I can't find myself attached to Suiren or the male MC or even the side characters whom I can't even remember the names of. I don't understand their feelings for each other too? Why do they like each other? They have nothing in common, they can barely speak to each other, the most they do is stare at each other, and they're still having trouble saying "Hi" to each other without being extremely tense or awkward.
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