Ahn... I started reading He Dedicated to Roses because a friend strongly recommended it, saying it was awesome, that everybody was reading it and it was the #1 Series in MangaFox for the whole month of November/2009, beating Naruto, Bleach and Skip Beat all at once...

Well, I'm sorry for me being the one to say that, but this is just "Another Average Story with a Poor Ending"...
Seriously! I mean it... and I am mad right now, after reading it. I might as well right a review on it. This series was SOOO annoying! I have my points, which are:

- The Characters don't mature at all! In the end, even when Choi Ida becomes her “true self” I just saw a change of haircut, she even became a crybaby – and don’t tell me that’s because now she’s a girl, or whatever. The character was still silly. Gang Naru is still handsome and stubborn, didn’t grow from being a spoiled boy. From beginning till the end, the characters were all shallow, the love between Naru and Ida might look cute, but if you watch it closely, it was sooo superficial, like all the romance scenes.

- Also, the fight scenes are so poor! I was really expecting something grand for the last “battle” between the gangs, but… I was left behind with my expectations. And the romance scenes… ho-ho-ho! So poor. I couldn’t even get tears from my eyes when Naru is stabbed. I almost laughed there… what was that fight sequence anyway? From the Art itself, the guys were good looking and all… but we saw no emotion, no drama, no anxiety, no joy, no fear… everything is plain and shallow in the drawing. Call me harsh, I don’t care.

- The story is repetitive, doesn’t evolve! It’s always about strong Master Yodah who kick arses, who walks with his friends beating down the bad guys; about “Mimi, The Princess” spoiled girl if good background who always get off the hook; and Gang Naru, the revolted rich boy who turn his back to his rich family and decide to live on his own. Woah! So original! All the clichés were mixed up together and ended up in a strange, tasteless, watermelon-peanut-cabbage salad. Seems like the manhwaka reads/watches a lot of Coffee Prince, Boys Over Flowers and MARS dramas…

- The Only character that can be saved is Shinah, who is truly human and kept my attention till the end [I really wished that Gang Naru was dead for a few pages…] By the way, that could have made the story pretty interesting, though we don’t even have the chance to believe in his that, due to the lack of imagination of the manhwaka, who spoils the suspense since the beginning.

-Aw, there’s that problem too… The manhwaka doesn’t knows how to tell the story. Not only speeds up in important parts, also ruins the mood in others with the lack of information or bad timing. Sometimes the story goes so fast we can’t even sense the motion in that moment. And some parts, some stories, some details that should’ve been explored, well… they’re superficially explained.

In the end, this is another repetitive story with shallow lead characters full of old clichés. I can say it was entertaining 70% of the time… and for that, I’ll give this series an 7.6: 4 points for the story, 1 point for the handsome Gang Naru, 5 points for Shinah’s existence and -2.4 for the annoying Choi Idiot-Ida.

SHINAH, LET ME BE YOUR SLAVE!!!

Okay, thus far, I am loving this series! A strong, kick-butt heroine (a rare find these days, in Shoujo especially), an interesting plot (so far), an antagonist you love to hate (Mimi, of course), and bishies (I'm majorly crushing on Jang Shinah)...this series has it all.
I'll admit to a little confusion as to why everyone seems to think Ida in feminine form is so ugly - she seems fine to me - but that's a minor flaw. All in all, 'He Dedicated to Roses' is something I would certainly recommend.

Edit: Unfortunately, this manga has done nothing but go downhill since I left my previous review.
The heroine is no longer strong and kick-butt - she's sniveling, poor, stepped on, and selfish. Her love interest is blah, the antagonist is just aggravating and uppity, and the plot...well, to be frank, it sucks.
I'm bored to tears, and seriously considering dropping this.

Edit #2: Well, I finished it. ...Terrible. Urgh, I could barely read it. The entire thing only got worse as it went along. And the ending? Worst, most sappy, cliche, all-around stupid ending ever. Bleh. I am never going near this series again, and I warn off those who are tempted by it. I rate it a three, and I'm being generous because of the beginning.

... Last updated on August 27th, 2014, 11:13am

Ditto to the comment below. Though many of these manhwas have pretty interesting plots and characters, it's never enough to make a truly good story. And this is no exception to the numerous psycho characters, bullies, poor/rich hardships, and lucky plain-looking cinderella protag. And of course, lots of unrealistic violence and jjangs.

Like mentioned, the story is interesting and I read it all the way through in one sitting to see how it ended. And yes, you can pretty much predict it from the start - keeping in mind things wont be outside the box this time. I did like that at some points all that painstaking time payed off with big chunks of satisfying just deserts. And it ended very happy, not bittersweet. But that's all I got from the story. Just something to keep from being bored. The romantic premise* is poor. The main character looks like a girl in both her forms. Her love interest confused me. I feel like his background is extremely vague and it's hard to even know what kind of person he is, or if he really likes her for her*. The bullying was horrible but underplayed. And of course you have to have one disgustingly cruel antagonist. In this case it's Mimi, the rich daughter that crosses the line with mind games and more*. There is only one good character in this story and his name is Shinah. If he wasn't there I probably would have dropped it. He makes pretty much everything in the story better and he's a little less stereotypical.

*More specifically:


Ok I'm done with my ranting. If you want a really good story, not just one that's a little interesting on the surface, I don't recommend this.

... Last updated on January 3rd, 2013, 3:59am

For the first eight volumes or so, I LOVED this. The main characters were strong and the story was interesting. However, the more it progressed the more it became a typical shoujo. Choi Ida lost her strong personality, and turned into a typical heroine. It started to turn around again in volume ten, but the ending was so gay and cliched that it ruined that bit of effort. All in all I definitely recommend this, but it won't take you long to predict the ending.

I enjoyed this manhwa, which is unusual because I can't normally get through the first few chapters of Hwang Mi Ri's works (not to mention that I'm not a huge fan of manhwa in general). I love gender-bender stories, so that was a huge plus for me, and I think that it worked out fairly well in this story (although not perfectly). A couple of the plot developments, especially near the end, left me exasperated, but not so much that I wanted to stop reading.

I loved the romance in this story, but I found myself wishing near the middle that the story would focus more on Ida and Naru rather than on Ida and other characters.

I kept thinking of Love in the Mask while I was reading this, and the two are very similar in some ways. This manwha is a lot lighter, however, and it doesn't drag out. I like the art in this manwha better than the art in Love in the Mask and, overall, I enjoyed the progression of the story more. In my opinion, there was nothing in the story that was gripping, deep, or overly exciting, but if you're looking for something to pass the time you should give it a shot.

... Last updated on May 10th, 2013, 3:03pm

The series is pretty good depending on what you are looking for. It's a light read and a good love story. Plus, I really love gender bender so this story was interesting. The characters can be tiresome because they are pretty cliche. At some points you're thinking that it's not even possible to be that evil or that the writer is just trying to beat into your head certain information. For a light read it's good, especially if you're wanting a love story. The end is extremely abrupt and things are left wrapped up a little too neatly. All and all, it was sweet though.

It's great! btw for everyone to know- partly because I'm happy about it- He dedicated to roses is first place in mangafox with 830,000 views a month- beating Naruto! Just wanted to say that also, I just wanted to say it's been scanlated and you can read it at mangafox up to vol. 7 ch. 26 as of today. It's really good, and unlike most shoujo manwhas Definitely recommmend this!

I can understand some comments listed below, I only scanned through them. I did read a few that did not seem reasonable to post. I like Hwang Mi Ri's work, and the art is unique. Sure, t is a somewhat typical shoujo plot, but the mangaka's stories are also somewhat tragedy-like, in a good way. I love gender bender, so this is really a good story for those who like this genre. And for anyone who actually reads this far. But, I see it as a work of art and imagining and creativity. Not a "just another manga I read." That's what I think of manga. The reason I actually like manga is because I saw a poster and fell in love with the art. So I find Hwang Mi Ri to be a very good author, and her stories are well planned out. Also, I see some people do not like the art at all, but actually many manhwas are styled this way. You can tell in the eyes and face. Just a FYI. I often can't tell so I read manhwas backwards until I read them again...

I liked this series right up to the end. I thought that the story was good. Some of the comments were a bit harsh, but I guess I can see where everyone was coming from.

First off I should say that I loved the art. I thought that it was really good I loved the characters but Junah was my favorite because he was the most real (to the way he felt). I did like Naru's fiery personality as well. What I found annoying was Ida's personality. I loved her as Yodah, but as Ida she sucked. I just didn't get why she took so much crap from people in her "female" form. I understood her need for both personalities, but they're both her so wth man?

And lets talk about the ending.. WTH was that?! I mean really couldn't you have ended the story better. I'm still waiting for the next chapter with the real ending..

it was an ok read. started out great but kinda fizzled out towards the end. but as a light read its fine.
characters are kinda cliched. the female lead had a stong start, wish she had more fight scenes though cos towards the end, even when dressed as a guy she was being waaay too girly. but at least she didn't get irritating. that's a plus i guess. male lead's kinda really dumb somehow. h's character didnt get much developmeny beyond "ooh what a hottie". wish the author put more into him. shinah, had more character development than the male lead and he's only a secondary character. and i think he was supposed to be cute when he was being all clingy and possessive with the female lead, but he just wasnt childish(?) enough to be cute and make me go "awww". mimi, the main female antagonist is waaay to evil. she's so evil it's cliched. main male antagonist is creepy, lol. kinda disappointed junah didnt get much action in the series. the femal trio gang in the female's lead school provided some entertainment though. so did the teacher, lol. wanted to kill the fatty though XD
didn't like how the manhwa just kinda ended abruptly either.

won't give it an overly low rating cos it did entertain me. if you just want something light to read and don't mind cliched, kinda underdeveloped characters, ths manhwa is fine. XD