Kaoru Hana wa Rin to Saku, or The Fragrant Flower Blooms With Dignity, as many call it, is a shoujo manga that mainly focuses on the romantic relationship between a girl, Waguri Kaoruko, who attends a prestigious all-girls school, and a boy, Tsumugi Rintarou, who attends an infamous all-boys school known for the fact that most of its students don't have good grades and are rumoured to get into all sorts of trouble; it's like one of those schools full of delinquents that usually pop up in mangas, however the author made sure to tone it down to an acceptable degree so it could be considered fitting for this story. And it happens to be that both schools are beside each other on the same street.
The plot is undoubtedly about these two, but the more time they spend to know each other the bigger the world comes to be in this story as we are introduced with many other characters who are mostly friends or family of these two, these characters have their own issues and dramas of course. Although for a large number of readers it might be less interesting than the romance itself, I have to disagree, it's because of the interactions between the main characters and they that these issues come to be solved or at least start changing for the better, as result the secondary characters gain more humanity and at the same time the main characters have a certain self-development. It's for this reason that I think this series should also be categorized as Slice of life.
As I've said before it's a shoujo manga and therefore you would expect an art style fitting for this demography (you know, those ones of villainess in another world or the ones with the classic high school setting), however this one is rather different, don't get me wrong, I'm quite fond of the characters design, the drawing style do have quite a big merit in its favour. Most of the characters are relatable, in part for their inner thoughts but mostly because of their facial expressions, they seem so unbelievably human that the only reasonable thing to do is sympathize with them.
Another feature to take into account is the discrimination that the boys from Chidori, the all-boys school, have to face as the people from the surroundings, including the girls from Kikyo, deem them as some sort of dangerous idiots that shouldn't be trusted by no means, when in fact they are pretty much nice guys who don't like being treated as if they were some kind of criminals.
If you are wondering whether or not there are any downsides for the manga this isn't your place, It's actually so good that the only possible bad part is perhaps that Rintarou and Kaoruko sure did take their time to develop their relationship, but you have to remember it's a shoujo manga, so it makes sense; those little moments of intimacy and unspoken feelings are truly fulfilling.
So far it has been demonstrated an undeniable fact: This manga is highly recommendable to anyone. There isn't at all any kind of fanservice or weird characters that might make the other reader think immediately: “The story is quite good, but these parts make me feel uncomfortable, I'm dropping”. NO!!! The sole reason anyone would leave it aside is plain laziness, and even I find it difficult knowing how good the comedy is along the chapters.
To sum up at once, it's one of the best mangas I've ever read in my short existence, and while it hasn't finished yet I hope it gets another two hundred chapters if possible. Now, the series is doing so well lately that I wouldn't be surprised if this year we catch wind of an official announcement for an anime, I'll be looking forward to it as I hope all of you will do as well.
Having said all that I hope you liked this review.
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