The art is gorgeous, although at times it's hard to distinguish between all the male characters. There is only one female drawn, the other is throughout the series dressed as a boy.
Plotwise, I do understand why people would like the story. It was interesting, the characters were pretty well developed and while the heiress of the clan needed protection often, it didn't feel like she was a typical damsel.

However. The characters did not really express feelings to my satisfaction. There were a lot of "I love you."s, but the only guy that seemed sincere was Sei's fiancé. YMMV.
And then the gender-bending. It's not something I purposefully read, since it can be done very badly, but this manga reads to me as if Ran was a man born into a female -- it reads like Ran is transgender. This is also imho why there is no such thing as Ran in a dress, because (s)he's male.
(Japanese) Genderbending usually doesn't make me feel this way, because normally it's the butt of a joke, and purposely set up that way. (Which I very much enjoyed in Here is Greenwood, but is still inherent transphobic.) That made the scene were Ran rips the shirt to reveal breasts really freaking awkward. The obligatory "No homo!" was totally unnecessary, because you couldn't really read any feelings into the characters. At least I couldn't.

Also, I didn't think it was funny? Nothing made me laugh.
While not tying up all the questions, I thought the ending was satisfying. Everyone seemed to be about to move on to bigger and better things.

Conclusion: Don't think to deeply on the social issues and you're fine.

... Last updated on September 21st, 2015, 3:06am

The art work and plot are extremely well done, and the characters' and their development is by no means poor. For the most part no flaws really stand out, and the mangaka did a wonderful job of tying ends together despite the manga being rushed. Basically, a huge time-skip and a well suggested epilogue (i.e. the rest of the series) was given in leu of a proper ending. What's probably missing is further character development, what exactly happened to Rei and what he does later, the relationship between Rei and Sei, meeting the other six or seven knights, and other fantastic details (e.g. the sick little brother of the knight-doctor) that would have made for a great second part— or even simply a short series of oneshots. However, as it is, the series ends overly abruptly, though I can't say that it is completely an evil: the relationship between Ran and Ibara was very well paced and in a longer manga that build up could easily have become annoying. The manga also takes an extremely common set of shounen/ manga-hero virtues and presents them in a fresh and less forced way (psychological effects of trust) while also adding some new stuff. While I hope the mangaka goes back to it in some way (maybe focusing on Rei or Sei's perspectives), it remains well worth reading.

... Last updated on February 9th, 2019, 2:44pm

As I was reading this manga I was so afraid that it would go from good to bad. Thankfully that did not happen. The the storyline was great and not too long and the art was beautiful. I just wish that the ending could have been better.

... Last updated on January 19th, 2013, 10:36pm

It was very thrilling manga with beautiful art and very interesting characters. I would have loved it better if the Managua had drawn her as a a girl at the end, we really only saw how she looked as a guy. The only time we saw her in a dress was when she was a little girl. Overall I highly reccommend this manga to anyone wh enjoys shoujos with a badass female lead who doesnt have a potty mouth or is super rude.

The story is Amazing! It's really good! I love reading manga with Amazing Female Characters! And this one is one of My favorite thing! ♥ And I'm so happy with the romance that goes so smoothly~! And i more happy because this one not having Love Triangle at all!!! The pairing is Perfect too! Without doubt, LOVE IT! RECOMMENDED!!! ♥

I took up this manga at random and definitely didn't regret it. Because I picked it up so late, I was also able to read it all in one go so I didn't get necessarily confused by the characters' relations. The characters were quite likeable, even though not all that deep (but not too shallow either) and the story was interesting. At some points I thought some parts were getting a little repetitive but overall it was still great fun. I kinda wonder what happened with Houjou though. The art was lovely and I liked the character designs too. Though at times I sort of thought Ran really looks like feminine version of Sebastian. :X
The only thing I wasn't particularly happy with... As many others mentioned, the ending was not exactly satisfying.


... Last updated on August 1st, 2012, 4:32pm

First time I tried reading this manga, I dropped it after 1 volume because i thought the main character looked too much like a guy and it bothered me but I gave it a chance again and It was actually pretty good! Don't expect a lot of romance but it was still cute (funny cuz I don't like manga that doesn't have a lot of romance) and it was definitely an interesting manga and it gives you that warm feeling. The ending:

sooooo good. god, this is so. incredibly. goooooood. i LOVED this!!!!! this story had all the right things for me; the romance, the intrigue, the plot, the beautiful art, the bishies, the strong leads... it was just perfect! (except for the ending as mentioned...

BUT that is literally my only complaint. well, besides the fact that i don't think i'm going to find anything better in a while... but seriously, i could read this again and again. i just wish it was longer... i don't want to let it go yet!

warning: don't read this if you are close to going to bed lol

... Last updated on January 11th, 2012, 4:53pm

The art was good, suspense okay... but what I thought was really unnecessary was the speeches at the end. Repetition is okay but not to the point where 11 chapters state the same thing over and over again.

This manga also seems a lot like Utena. The overall jist is too similar, not to mention the character names and design.

The plot around the manga was brilliant.
This isn't about a love story, or about people battling inner problems. This is a story about people fighting to protect someone, while battling some opposing forces, and falling in love. The plot has some depth, which was beautiful.

The art was gorgeous. I had no problems distiguishing between characters at all. (OK. There is one character that looks a lot like the main character, but they act completely different, so they were easy to tell apart).

The ending wasn't bad, per se. It was just just a "7," in the midst of a story full of "TENS!". It pulled together a string or two, but left the untied strings with predicable outcomes. I can't say I disliked it, but there was a bit of untapped potential.

In total, I suggest you read this if you enjoy an original plot mixed with a pure-hearted(but not naive) romance. Don't let the ending scare you away. It's not bad, it's just not as amazing as the rest.