I always had the feeling that House of the Sun was a good manga ever since I finished it, but I was never really sure if it was justified or not since I didn't sit down to think about it too much. So when I wanted to write a review for it, I reread the entire series to refresh my mind and I can say confidently now that it is most definitely a great read and my favorite shoujo manga.

Now, I want start this off by saying that I am not really the biggest fan of shoujo manga since I feel that most of them are just overly dramatic and take way too long, which you could argue applies to this series as well. So with that being said, know that this review comes from someone who is not super well acquainted with the genre.

House of the Sun follows the relationship between two childhood friends, Mao and Hiro. Mao often found herself spending a lot of her time at Hiro's house, which ended up becoming some of her greatest memories from childhood. After the passing of Hiro's parents, his siblings left while he stayed behind to protect his house. Many years later, Mao finds herself without a home as her new mother and step sister move in to her house. Hiro then finds her moping by a shrine and invites her to stay over, which kicks off the story. So right off the bat, one of the reasons that I think this manga is so much better than other shoujo is because it focuses on the theme of family just as much as it does on romance. A lot of times I find that shoujo manga will put all their eggs into the one basket of romance, and since they don't want things to go too fast, the pacing tends to slow to almost a halt between big romantic developments. In House of the Sun however, the time not spent on the relationship between Mao and Hiro is spent instead on the task of rebuilding both of their family lives. We are taken on a journey looking at the rebuilding of two separate families broken by different reasons. It never really feels like the story stalls for very long without building up some major plotline.

Character-wise I have to admit that this manga doesn't necessarily shine in, as most of the characters are commonly found in shoujo manga, but that doesn't mean that they aren't well done. Both of our leads are very likeable as we get to see them grow and mature throughout the story, and their interactions with each other are straight up really adorable. Hiro's brother Daiki also brings along a really enjoyable dynamic in his interactions with the rest of the cast that keeps the story fresh and moving. All the other characters I could honestly care less for, but they all serve their purpose as being catalysts for our main characters.

When we look at the story thematically, I'm actually really hard pressed to find something super 'deep' or 'thought provoking' to talk about. But the thing is, a lot more than many other manga, I feel like it doesn't really matter at all here. The main theme is on the importance of family and that, no matter now far apart or strange the dynamic of the family may be, it is always a place of love that you can run home to. It's definitely super intentional that neither of the two main families are traditional ones with one family having the parents pass away and the children separated from a young age and the other being made of two remarried adults with children. Even the large age gap between the leads emphasizes this. Yet despite all the irregularities we see our main characters striving to rebuild that family that they had lost long ago. The feeling of warmth and love that comes from being with family is worth fighting for, even when it all feels hopeless to recover.

Overall, the feeling you get after reading House of the Sun is as warm as the name implies. It's a story focused around romantic and familial love and the power that it can have. Honestly, it feels like the romantic aspect of this story, while being so unbelievably cute and enjoyable, takes a backseat to the main plot of repairing broken families, which is just as heartwarming. It may not have the most crazy plot, the most unexplored themes or the most diverse cast of characters, but in its simplicity it captures a warmth and joy that most stories cannot even imagine to reach.