Of Swords and Parasols

It’s been long enough since I read this manga that I forgot how…big the eyes are. And how many sparkles there are. And the super detailed hair. And the eyes. The eyes want to suck out my soul!

On a more serious note, I also forgot how prone she is to the guys grabbing and yanking as UST. Or maybe certain TV shows have made me even more sensitive to that stuff.

( spoilers )

Several years ago, Haine’s prestigious family sold her to the Otomiya family for a loan of 50 million yen. Though her new family seems to have treated her well, Haine rebelled and became a yanki (gangster) when her adopted father married a widow with a son and made him his heir. That came to an end, however, when she met Toga Shizumasa once and talked to him the entire night. This caused Haine to reform and enter the exclusive imperial Academy, which has a ranking system based on precious metals that creates a heirachy. Haine, of course, is bronze, the “commoner” equivalent but wants to earn enough points to gain a silver ranking so that she’ll be able to be close to Shizumasa, the school’s emperor. She gets her chance when a student council member makes her a member of the student council and Shizumasa’s bodyguard after she “saves” him from a kidnapping.

It starts with a typical shoujo plot combining both “girl chases after boy and devotes life to it” and “annoying high school hierarchy,” but soon descends into complete insanity. I mean, it starts of with Haine working part time at the school (the Otomiya family now faces financial difficulties) in a maid uniform and her stoic and blunt best friend, Ushio, chasing them off. Ushio, of course, is in love with Haine and buys her way into the student council to stay close to Haine. Shizumasa alternates between appearing to hate and be irritated by Haine and being sweet and supportive. He pretends to have a boyfriend so that the girls won’t fight over him. Except said boyfriend actually is in love with him. And is yakuza. And is regularly in competition with-and loses to-Maora, the other member of the student council who is frighteningly smart and has a brain like a computer. There are secret societies and rebellions and attempted coups at the school.  Haine’s adopted brother is possibly in love with her.

And did I mention that our former yanki heroine who was sold as a child also kicks snakes and is the hero’s bodyguard? Actually, while I wish Arina Tanemura’s heroine’s weren’t always (in what I’ve read, at least) so dim, I’m glad they’re pretty gutsy, and seem to always be able to back up their claims.

I still die from the EYES and how overwhelmingly busy the artwork is (Calm down! Whites and blacks are not bad things!) but there’s a certain insanity to Arina Tanemura’s stuff that I don’t seem to be able to resist.