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Description
Yuri Makurano is an unattractive girl who learns her mother is a famous actress named Shoko Hanai following her grandmother's death. Yuri begins to live with her mother's family which consists of three children named Sumire, Aoi, and Fuyo Hanatashiki. Yuri is treated as a maid at the household, eventually bonding with the family and builds up unrequited feelings for Sumire. Later, she comes to learn the only blood relation she has to the family is Aoi, her half brother.
Note: Won the Shogakukan Manga Award for shoujo in 1994.
Type
Manga
Related Series
N/A
Associated Names
من أجل الزهرة 蔷薇之恋 薔薇のために 장미를 위하여 Bara no Tameni For The Rose For the Sake of the Rose Hoa Hồng Tóc Ngắn
LOL I love how almost all the comments are pretty long--people have a lot to say about this series... <3 *feeling proud for some reason*
Anyways, I read this on a whim, thinking this might be a new experience for me with gay incest in shoujo manga....but, it turns out that I grew to love this series beyond the aspect of gay love, and came to really adore the eccentric family of guy-with-long-hair, guy-with-dead-lover, girl-with-sharp-mind, and fat-girl-with-warm-heart.
My favorite character would be the sister of the family, who appears to be the wisest one of all---she is really smart, and has a quick tongue and cold aura around her. Despite all that, the author gave her such character development you can see the other side of her: An aging woman who still longs for the motherly love she never had.
Also, as people already noted, FOR ONCE, I can really SEE and understand why the guys fell in love with Yuri, who had a chubby face filled with freckles/pimples. Her warmth is really calming, and you really start to like her. I tend to dislike the female main characters in shoujo manga, but I really adore Yuri---and I wish her the best. But, I just want her to get a more decent job.....
And the supposedly gay brother Aoi? He might just be the most pitiable character of all. First he falls in love with his own half-brother, and then he falls in love with his ugly sister, who only looks at his brother. To live in a household with those two must be painful---I feel ya, bro.
And surprisingly, there were moments in the manga that actively engaged me--and my stomach actually twisted with anxiety (not exaggerating) My heart seriously skipped a beat during certain scenes too, and here I thought I stopped reacting like that since I read my 20th shoujo manga..
FYI, I've read 70+ series of just shoujo...so I'm pretty good at spotting cliches and what not.. This series is pretty awesome.
Some comments on here ask why this title is josei... That's because it's for people who can really see the complexity of each character. Each had their quirks, their flaws, their reflections, their stubbornness... They were so real.
Also, lots of times, in shoujo manga the main protagonist girl isn't actually ugly or you can't understand why the male lead (Who's amazingly handsome, of course) would fall in love with her. This makes you understand. Yuri was amazing; despite her flaws, her empathy and warmth melted everyone and this was apparent to the viewer. You truly fall in love with her, all her humor and love...
Additionally, Sumire's feelings towards his dead lover are also spot-on. And yet, he is not abusive towards Yuri. Looking deeply at this manga, you can see that really, Yuri and Sumire were meant to be. And Yuri is the quintessential example of a flower. She might have seemed misshapen, but she was indeed a flower in bloom.
SPOILER: Lastly, I cried at the end, when Yuri lost all of that weight while thinking of how much Seri would have liked to wear that and wed Sumire. The inevitability of life... Yuri had already gotten over that and have saved Sumire too, through her sincere resolve to love and remember Seri... This is really a "healing" manga, especially for adults. It soundly communicates that the value of someone lies beyond their exterior.
In the beginning... the story was refreshing. The slow romance was appealing and the girl being ugly throughout was new too. But, I can't help but feel that Yuri is getting lame. She has no real talents, no potential, is not hardworking...nothing. She just does housework and cry for love. She is fat and ugly, if she loves him so much, why not go on a diet?? Or do something more constructive to boost her confidence?
My view towards this manga is bittersweet. While I found it entertaining, it had a lot of cliche shoujo elements that annoyed me.
Spoiler (mouse over to view)
The whole, "brother turns into lover"; "ugly girl who everyone grows to like and turns out to be very pretty". There were a few original elements that I enjoyed. 1) The mother being the promiscuous one. Usually it's the father with the 10 billion wives. 2) The sister character. She was really enjoyable, and it was easy to empathize with her.
I found the main character sorta annoying, and didn't really like Sumire either... I really like Aoi (though it's probably because his beauty is just striking... His look reminded me a lot of Frankenstein from Noblesse because of the hairstyle). Overall, I guess I enjoyed it since I finished it in one sitting and it did tug on my heart strings, but I never like leaving manga unfinished unless it's terrible. The art was nice on the eyes once you got used to the early 90's style. It's a nice manga for those who like shoujo, but not amongst my favourites.
It's pretty interesting, I wouldn't say it's deep but it did get confusing as the story went on (in terms of relations). It has a huge shoujo cliche (it may have started it) of "we-thought-we-were-related-and-love-each-other-but-guess-what?-we're- not!!" The only really creepy part of this manga was her younger brother, which is why I'm leaning onto the negative side of this. The fact that he does the stuff he does even after knowing Yuri and Sumire are his siblings makes him really freaky to me. Also the whole "imitate my brother's dead fiancee's haircut" was just the crazy cherry on top.
As a character, Yuri actually isn't that bad. A little over-dramatic, sure, but it's shoujo. She's also pre-occupied with her self-image, but again, considering the circumstances, I would probably be self-conscious, too, if people told me everyday I was fat and ugly. You can see she brushes it off as the series goes on and doesn't let "you're fat" comments get to her anymore. The older sister is also a character I really enjoy: she cool, tough, and she doesn't mercilessly pick on Yuri, but rather helps her. Sumire is really a tragically cute character overall. Also, his over-concerned ways are really humorous!
However, the younger brother's incestuous feelings really, really ruins my experience with this manga.
(* Someone was wondering why this is josei but won as shoujo award is because they have overlapping demographics. I also would classify this as shoujo because even though Petit Comic is a "josei" magazine, the manga they serialize are more or less shoujo with more adult-themes not suited for the entire range meant for shoujo, which is thirteen to eighteen-ish)
Main character resembles Tsukushi from Hana Yori Dango (isn't she??!!? ^_^), I like that hardworking, sensitive but rational type of character. And I'm glad to see that she is not that naive and reacts rather realistic (I would react probably the same way ^^). I also like that mangaka makes accent on the fact that it's good to be honest (though i have to say that "everything is good in moderation", and you can't be honest all the time if you want to communicate normally with people ^^) . Even if there are some things that disturb me, the story is still catching and is promising some good shoujo ^_~
P.S. though later it becomes a little bit boring.. I thing i'll drop it for the time being
This manga is probably the first decent shoujo/josei manga with a fat main character. In all other mangas, the main character is either really pretty but a tsundere or the main character is not confident. It is hard to make a plot with a fat main character without just making it insulting. This manga can be unrealistic at times, but some people can relate to it.
Would be a ten, but I really don't understand her weird obsession (which is called love in this manga, but is incomprehensible otherwise) with the main guy. Great story, great characters and such. The younger brother was a great example of characterisation, he slowly adapted and had a lot of depth. I didn't quite feel the same for the older brother, or the sister, but they were both okay I suppose.
If you like the manga, try checking out the Taiwanese drama adaption, it's pretty good.
I've just finished the last volume. Happy ending but still, so sad.
Spoiler (mouse over to view)
Many sad things in this manga. First, the mother's only true love in her whole life, Yuri's adotive father, died. And after that, she desparately finds other guys, but the only person in her heart is him. No man can heal the hidden hole in her heart. She gave birth to many children, but none of them was of her loved one, which resulted to her inability to act as their mothers. Second, Sumire's love for Seri. Well read the manga and you'll see, the author demonstrated it perfectly, still, no word can describe that kind of love. If Sumire hadn't met with Yuri, surely he would stay alone like that for the rest of his life. Yet, the heart DOES move on. He felt in love once again. Everyone may feel sorry for the dead lover, if she was alive, she would have been there, wearing the wedding dress, smiling like an angle, since she had obtained all the happiness in this world... A perfect girl, with a perfect love, so why did she have to die? The only meaning in her death is Yuri's never-can-think-of bliss Finally, the most tragic part in this manga is Aoi. The first woman he felt in love with was his sister. And worse, his sister only looks at his brother.. Siblings growing up together and falling in love, that kind of incest is hard to swallow, but this is totally different! They never knew each other until they met as adults. Before he could see her as a sister(as if that could happen, they are all grown up people, siblings' relationship is built based on growing through their childhood together), Aoi had already loved her with the love of a man. It's so unfair. "Every man in this world has the right to be with you, only I, who love you the most, can't". So sad isnt it T.T And what's with the ending?? The only thing said about Aoi's future is something like this: "Only 20 YEARS later will he meet his destinied person" (I translated it from my language) Omg that's so horrible T.T
Well in this manga I like Aoi the most. The manga itself has some unrealistic parts and all, but I still love it very much.
U knoe what I actually didn't mind this , I new this wouldn't be a 'masterpeice' but I just couldn't bring my self to dare skip any chapters. I read up to chapters 1-25 properly then decided to rush read the rest because I felt like this manga is more for..hmm, die hard shoujo fans.
I hated the fact that the female lead loved a guy for one stupid odd reason and throughout the story continued to love him for no odd reason. I felt like the mangaka's reason as to why the female lead fell in love with the guy was just a cheap way to quickly give a reason why she would love such a guy ..he wasn't a bad guy or anything but I found him to have no personality and I was rather found of the younger brother ..
Anyway all in all it was ok although I don't quite understand why this is josei ??
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