Despite how unlikeable the main protagonist was, the manga actually points out how useless and stupid she was. The way I see it, her personality wasn't justified (explicitly, anyway). It seemed that her beauty and submissive nature were the sole things keeping her in high society.

People are enamored by her seemingly mysterious presence, thinking that there's possibly more to her even though there's none. I can't possibly understand why so many men fall head over heels for her, but given the historical setting and their ranks in society, maybe....yeah, it could happen.

EVEN SO...my God, poor POOR Pushkina! I couldn't stand how he's been treated - by the author, by history, by everyone....GEEEEEZ, give this guy a fricking break! He's just a sweetheart driven by love and romance. He does his best to keep the household stable and is considerate enough to sacrifice even his dignity. It may argued that it's all for his wife, whom he loved very dearly. But what does this reward him? His wife gets involved in an illicit affair - just how un-fricking-fair is that? He was introduced first in the manga but then tossed aside without humanity. Oh the injustice.


To be fair, I thought the drama was handled decently and compared to the author's other works, it has better pacing. That's why its best to treat this manga is a mere story with a story to tell - not a story with a theme/lesson to tell. Alternatively, don't project yourself into Natalia and focus more on the minor, but more likeable, characters. In my opinion, we were not meant to sympathize with her, but to learn from her mistakes (even though she does not *sigh*).

Well, I may be giving the author too much credit, but that the only way I could ever give this manga a chance. Otherwise, I'd be quitting this title altogether, because that's how rage-inducing it is.

... Last updated on July 20th, 2015, 6:20am

I stop reading after 14 chapters. The female lead who is now married with children is being swayed over a presence of a man is disappointing. She is pregnant but spend her nights partying and whether she's not, having a frail body, she should not ride a horse.

Why are people so surprised? It is distasteful yeah, but the way it is handled is surprisingly interesting. The genre does include drama, so yeah it was expected. Anyways, good art, lovely themes, and lots of bishies. It seems I'm a sucker for European ambiance.

Warning: Rant ahead

First of all, let me preface this review by applauding the scanlation group Barcarolle for their dedication in seeing this project to the end. Although they had planned on quitting scanlation some time ago, they remained committed to completing this one project [among a few others].This review is not meant as an indictment of their work or their efforts.

So on to my review, and just where do I begin? Take this review as a criticism of Bronze no Tenshi and Saito Chiho in general. I’ve only read four or five of her works that have been scanlated and looking at her overall body of work, I can see that’s she very prolific - sometimes more so than many of her more popular contemporaries (though it’s not really saying much). If she keeps getting work, then she must be doing something right. Perhaps that’s why she hasn’t deviated from her formula of badly written romance.

Much like her other shoujos, Bronze no Tenshi is bland, empty, and superficial. Moreover, there’s no payoff at the end (as usual). I’m going to go out on a ledge and guess that there’s not much historical accuracy to this story (like another review mentioned), and from what I’ve gleaned from the internet, Saito Chiho uses the premise of the real affair as a starting point and builds on the rest.

Bronze no Tenshi starts off nicely enough when we are first introduced to a seemingly indifferent, but beautiful Natalia who immediately captures the heart of poet and court upstart, Alexander Pushkin. After a very fervent courtship on the part of Pushkin, Natalia eventually relents and marries the handsome poet. Unfortunately for him, Natalia doesn’t seem to hold Pushkin in the same regard as he holds for her, and the introductoin of the handsome soldier George D’Anthes is a sign of worse to come. I’m sure you can see what’s coming next. The rest of the story is spent building on the growing attraction between Natalia and D’Anthes while court politics and financial ruin continue to plague Pushkin. Without spoiling much else, let’s say things build to a very explosive climax. I would like to say that the story ends nicely and that we get some type of closure or that you feel any type of sympathy for what happens to any of our characters.

Unfortunately none of that holds true by the time you get to the end. For one, you find it hard to like the female heroine, much less sympathize with her plight. There’s no depth to her at all; she lacks passion, wit, and humor. History paints Natalia Pushkin as a figure so charming and charismatic that she even captured the attention of the tsar, but you’d be hard-pressed to see any of that here. Although I preferred D’Anthes to Pushkin, you couldn’t help but feel for the poor sap because despite his misfortunes, he was a dedicated lover to Natalia.

There’s also some tragedy written in here, and though Saito Chiho conveniently eliminates one problem, she doesn’t do much to tie up other loose ends. She didn’t give anyone a happy ending with this manga, and you get the sense that she doesn’t like writing happy endings because she’s attempting to remove herself from the pack of romance writers by taking the road less traveled and leaving things more or less open-ended. If she were a skillful enough manga-ka to create a story that was compelling enough to warrant an open ending, I wouldn’t be complaining, but she’s not.

First time Saito Chiho readers might like this, but if you’ve read one of them, you’ve read them all. Amount of people I’d recommend this manga to: 0. I apologize for the long review, but if you’ve taken the time to read this, then you’ll thank me for having saved you the time of actually venturing towards anything written by Saito Chiho.

End rant/review/

... Last updated on March 22nd, 2013, 11:34pm

I suppose I'm the only one enjoying the affair of Natalia and d'Anthes.

At the first few volume, things between Natalia and Pushkin don't strike me and I'm not much convinced it to be the main focus. Later on it's true that she doesn't love him, and falls for another man instead. To be honest, I think her feelings for d'Anthes are really true to life. I suppose if Pushkin was portrayed more true to reality, readers wouldn't hate Natalia's actions that much.

I'm not saying betrayal to one's spouse is a good thing, yet sometimes it's hard to fight your feelings. Not to mentioned this is the first time Natalia falls in love, so she is pretty much inexperienced but passionate. Imagine yourself have been making love with a man for years, bearing his children and all, but you still don't understand love. How does that sound to you?

Natalia is weak, that's true. That's even truer nowadays when feminism is like all over the place. That wasn't the case in her time though. As I consider Natalia's timid character and education, I think it's understandable. At first I thought she was a plain maid with beauty and no brain, but after seeing her sister remark for the first time that Natalia would react strongly toward something (d'Anthes, to be exact), I start to feel her character more real. Her affair with d'Anthes, sadly to some people, is the factor to help her grow.

That's all I got to say. In history neither Pushkin nor d'Anthes was that charming, and yet the woman in between was the one to blame.

I really despise Natalie. Seriously. I thought she finally found her Mr Right, Pushkin. Although Pushkin is overprotective of her, he loved her with all his might, and always consider her. But who would have thought that Natalie still haven't realized love until she was unconsciously fall in love with that blonde hair guy, Baron D'Anthes. Or whatever it's called. It's really pissed me off. Poor two sisters, one was in love with Pushkin, another was in love with Baron. Damn, serious? I would not recommend this, though.

Of Saito Chiho's work, this is one of the stronger ones. It's a lot more "life-like"--the people in it aren't perfect, they make mistakes, and make choices they later regret and well, in some ways, learn from. There are some cliches, there always are. The beautiful main protagonist that attracts all the men's attention, etc. But at least here it seems more like a burden than a gift. Though, I still feel her personality's a bit two dimensional.
It's not a perfect manga, but I definitely enjoyed it a lot more than some of the author's other works. It's historic, dramatic, romantic, and almost like a slice of life.

... Last updated on December 22nd, 2011, 11:46pm

The summary led me to assume that the majority of the series would focus on Natalia's romance with Pushkin. Unfortunately that does not appear to be the case as it's rather the story of a married woman's affair with another man. I was a bit disappointed since I was unaware that she was not romantically interested in Pushkin until she mentioned it a few children later, despite being the one to choose to marry Pushkin in the first place. By the time it became apparent she was falling in love with another younger man, I couldn't read any further. I skipped to the final volume to confirm that the affair is indeed the focal point of the romance and ended up despising Natalia. It's frustrating to see her actions and decisions and I shed numerous tears for Pushkin in the final volume as a result. If I'd known this would be a story involving prolonged adultery, I would not have picked it up.

I agree with akari mizunashi. Natalia was out of all the characters least likeable. I hated her for what she did to poor Pushkin! :-( I don't like her for her actions, her words, or her feelings. I really liked her sisters better and pitied them. I just couldn't finish the story...

This was an absolutely excellent manga. Excellent plot (strong historical accuracy bonus!), excellent art, excellent characterization, and it's excellent in every other thing you could possibly use to rate a manga.

However, I became so completely disgusted and fed up with some characters' actions by the last volume that I will never finish this series. Readers who are used to reading emotionally straight-laced shoujo series, be forewarned - Bronze no Tenshi might be a bit too much for you.