Looking for a manga in which there is a central master/servant dynamic, where the master (or, um, "mistress") is female and the servant is male. By master I mean someone who is formally in a socially-acknowledged position of power/command over the servant, i.e. queen, aristocrat, ruler, higher-up on the command chain, employer, etc. The servant should be committed to serving his mistress in the manner defined by his role, e.g. butler, knight, bodyguard, cook, vassal, subordinate, some other kind of employee, etc.

There should either be NO romance between them, or a mostly subtextual romance (that remains largely unsaid and unexpressed).

They should be the two main characters of the manga.

Please DO NOT recommend any: ecchi, smut, hentai.

Example: Apothecarius Argentum, a mostly subtextual master/servant romance in which they can't express how they feel for each other because of the difference in rank, i.e. the girl is royalty and the guy is a former slave and poison-taster, now employed as the court physician.

Thanks in advance for your recs!

the only ones I can come up with off the top of my head are princess resurrection and dance in the vampire bund, but they're both arguably ecchi.

________________
Feed your head.

Its a One shot and it's not really "Mistress", But he does what she wishes (Read it)
Dirty Work

________________
If you want to succeed
Then you don't need Good Luck
You need the ability to overcome Bad Luck

Happines and Light needs a source to exist
Hatred fuels itself and Darkness exist where there is no Light


† Lightmare †

I think Reimei no Arcana may fit, but I only read one chapter and I'm not sure

Thanks, darknova42 and Lightmare! I'll check those out!

Hanae, you're right that RnA kind of counts, because it DOES have a master/servant thing in which the servant is in love with his mistress (queen, really) and can't (yet) confess, but the thing is, they're... not the main couple. Almost the main couple, though? Part of the main triumvirate, if you will, or, um. The main love triangle. Still, yes, it does partially count!

Gakuen Sousei Nekoten! fits in a weird way; if you ignore the fact that the cat-boy is technically the girl's pet and not her servant. (But he does become her 'assistant' during battle.)
Most of the readers seem to be hoping for some romance between them - but I doubt it'll ever happen.

Check out Arcana - Butler
Only a few have been scanlated and they are oneshots but check out:
3. Holly Green and White Little Garden by Takayama Shinobu and
8. Le Droit d'aimer by Haibara Yaku
for female/male

Maybe Basara? Not the main characters though... There are at least 2 females with this dynamic though

Edit: Crazy thought but maybe Freesia? Does this count as it's not the main element. It's good if you don't mind gore and violence and adult themes etc. Very psychological manga...

Last edited by talli at 4:29 pm, Aug 26 2010

xxxHolic, maybe.

Ah, I was about to suggest that as well!

And Real Fake Princess?

I'm not sure if it's really what you're after, though.

Hellsing works, though its probably a lot more action-y than what you're looking for. In addition to the Integra/Alucard mistress/servant relationship, there's also the opposite relationship with Alucard as the master for his servant, Seras, which is also non-romantic.