This is a really fun love-com series. You have the successful 26 year old business man, Takane, who has a very arrogant attitude. Due to his characteristics, he has yet to get a girl to stay with him and has virtually no friends.Then there is Hana, a 16 year old who is not your typical shoujo-roll-over-doki-doki high school girl. You have these two characters who who find themselves in an omiai (meeting for possible marriage). However, Hana was secretly taking her 23 year old sisters place with plans to make her partner reject her.Their first meeting starts off with them insulting the other and ends with Hana walking out on Takane. Hana is fine with this, but Takane is intrigued and decides to pursue her. Hana is hesitant about Takane, but when she starts seeing the real him peeking through his shell, she decides to give the relationship a try.
It's very funny to watch Takane's attempts at wowing Hana from his unceasing roses, fancy restaurants, rides in his classy car, and what not. There is something about Hana that makes him loose his cool and and she accepts him because of this. He is so intrigued with Hana and wants to be with her, yet due to her age and how she treats him, he doesn't know what to do with her. He may be a little hard on the outside, but underneath that lies a little boy who only wants to do the best he can even if he doesn't know how. For Hana, all of Takane's wowing washes off her back and she has yet to be fully bedazzled by his lifestyle. She knows such things are immaterial, all she really wants is the real Takane. What is so interesting about Hana is that she refuses to be put down by Takane. He can be a little jerky sometimes and a little nasty towards her, but she refuses to take any of his guff and hilariously throws it right back at him. Which I find to be rather refreshing compared to all those other shoujo oh-he's-so-mean-to-me-but-I'll-take-it-because-l-love-him girls. She is clever, bold, and has a good dose of slyness in her. However, she is still a believable 16 year old girl and still has a lot of maturing to do. Takane is very respectful of this and takes no perverted advantage of her. On the exterior they are rather gruff with each other, but beneath that they are very hesitant and shy. It is really just fun watching them stumble around each other, reading their hilarious banter, and watching them mature in a strong couple that you can see lasted until death.
Oh and I should mention the art. The art is half of what makes the manga so good. It is cleanly drawn, but it's the facial expressions that can be priceless! Just looking at the raws makes me crack up!
The bottom line: Great shoujo art, good characters, a sweet story, and just plain laugh-out-loud fun.
[edited - because the review needed help]
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