I love it. I love it so much.
It might not be a masterpiece, but it's definitely one of, if not the best story from Shungiku Nakamura-sensei. After reading several other of her series, I was expecting the typical story layout: short, small story progress, paired with some yaoi elements, and lots of slapstick. But this hidden pearl is a thoroughly planned story with no repeating elements at all.
The story shines the most when it comes to the characterisation, not only the MCs, but especially the supporting characters were written so realistic that it's hard to not get attached to them. The plot is not too special, just some slow-paced treasure hunt. Instead, the connections between the characters are the main focus of the story. And that's where I have split opinions. While the story focuses on the both MCs, the pirate Sakaki and the samurai Murou, their love isn't too special and feels...not really forced, but...not outstanding at all. You pretty much can say that Sakaki just fell for the looks, since Murou is shy all the time and doesn't give a lot of his character away. BUT! SURPRISINGLY! What makes the story shine are the supporting characters. And even if I'd like to say I would have wanted to see them more, I think they shine just because they are supporting characters. I simply fell in love with Sakakis childhood friend Juuro, his emotions are pictured damn well, and combined with his body language, especially in volume 3, it just breaks your heart. All time during reading, my only thought was "screw the MCs, I want him to be happy!!!". Another brilliant supporting character is Sakakis sister, which also has some very endearing dialogues through the story. It makes you wonder why the hell the whole island is even following Sakaki when there are characters that really have some awesome traits to show.

Sadly, the translation of the 5 volumes never got finished, and since it's so old, it probably never will be. But since I really, REALLY want to know what happens to the characters, I got so desperate that I ordered all manga in japanese even tho I can't read it, so wish me luck figuring out what happens just from the pictures xD

... Last updated on July 28th, 2020, 10:35am

The story on this is very engaging and the characters feel real. I love the character development and I'm excited to see what's next. The art is interesting, a different style from what I normally like and I love it. The lines are clean and the characters are easy to distinguish. You can tell the artist is improving. Definitely would recommend.

IS this licensed? I really want to see what happen next!!! Someone need to pick this up since EOP dis. Anyways this is a great series, the plot and art is beautifully executed.