Kaoru Hana wa Rin to Saku (The Fragrant Flower Blooms with Dignity)

Despite being adjacent to one another, Chidori Public High School and the all-girls Kikyo Private Academy seem to exist in two different worlds. While the latter boasts an immaculate reputation and favors students from wealthy backgrounds, the former is a nest for dim-witted delinquents. Everyone at Kikyo harbors a deep hatred for their Chidori neighbors.

Sixteen-year-old Rintarou Tsumugi is a student at Chidori whose intimidating face leads people to avoid him. Rintarou pays no mind to this, as he is content with his group of friends. However, there is something he has not told them yet: sometimes, he helps out at his family's cake shop.

One day at work, Rintarou sees a customer at a table, but she runs off before he can talk to her. The next day, he receives an apology from the girl, Kaoruko Waguri, who explains that she did not run away because of his appearance and that she believes Rintarou is a kind-hearted person. Although he is not used to Kaoruko's bright personality, Rintarou looks forward to forming a friendship with her. There is just one obstacle that stands in his way: Kaoruko is a Kikyo student!

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Edit
Background

Kaoru Hana wa Rin to Saku was nominated for the 47th and 48th Kodansha Manga Awards in the Shounen category in 2023 and 2024, respectively.

The series has been simulpub digitally in English as The Fragrant Flower Blooms with Dignity by Kodansha USA through K Manga. The volumes have been published by Kodansha USA since June 4, 2024.

Edit

Related Entries

More characters
Characters

Waguri, Kaoruko

Main

Tsumugi, Rintarou

Main

Hoshina, Subaru

Supporting

Natsusawa, Saku

Supporting

Yuzuhara, Madoka

Supporting

Tsumugi, Kyouko

Supporting

Usami, Shouhei

Supporting

Yorita, Ayato

Supporting

Tsumugi, Keiichirou

Supporting

Sawatari, Ayumi

Supporting

Reviews

Jun 6, 2022

ShojoNum1453

Recommended

Preliminary (14/? eps)

Just by looking at the cover picture, you can tell it is another "Romeo and Juliet", "Delinquent and smart girl" cliche slapped together. However, the mangaka is able to turn these overused tropes into something amazing and wholesome that other mangas with the same plot simply could not accomplish.

The plot is simple: we start of from the perspective of a delinquent guy, our male lead Tsumugi Rintaro from a low-ranked public high school, coincidentally meeting with a petite girl, our female lead Kaoruko Waguri from a prestigious all-girls high school, at a cake shop owned by Rintaro's mom. Both schools are also coincidentally next to ... each other with a unfathomable hatred of each other. It is without a doubt both leads would need to navigate their relationship within the web of animosity between their schools and friends.

What changes the progression and pacing of this plot lies entirely with the characters, and the mangaka sure does know how to write good characters. Tsumugi, who is portrayed as a scary person on the outside, is soft and kind on the inside. He is able to learn quickly from and correct mistakes he made, intentionally or unintentionally progressing the relationship between him and Kaoruko. Kaoruko, who saw past Tsumugi's scary appearance and a love of cake, naturally opened up to him at his family's cake shop (for reasons that would probably be explained in the future). What is truly refreshing is that these two main leads are not shy of expressing their feelings and are able to face the obstacles head on whether it be from objections of their social standing or their classmates. The main leads and side character's honesty and respect for their values makes this manga enjoyable to read as they develop.

The art is nothing to be scoffed at considering the mangaka's first published work. Every character's facial expressions are extremely detailed and can invoke heavy emotions, whether they be upset, crying, blushing, or joyful. Every character is also unique and as a reader can easily distinguish who is who. In addition, the backgrounds of each scene are meticulously drawn to give an adequate sense of the setting of each event.

Within the first 10 chapters, there has been more meaningful progression between the relationship of Tsumugi and Kaoruko than other mainstream romance mangas. Although it is easy to see the general gist to what the ending is, I am excited to see how the mangaka will lead the plot to that ending as every chapter has been full of twists and turns, and heavy emotions that is hard to replicate after reading hundreds of the same genre.

If you are a fan of this type of romance genre, I highly suggest you give it a try. Even if you are tired of other mangas overusing these cliches, I would still recommend you try the first two chapters as it sets a solid foundation of what the rest of the manga will be like.

Open

Gift

Dec 11, 2024

Satyr_icon

Mixed Feelings

Preliminary (52/? eps)

This is your typical melodramatic romance manga where nobody seems to act like human beings, but rather like actors in some larger than life play. Something as commonplace as going to the beach with friends is turned into an absurdly cathartic, life-changing event, with hearty and sobbing speeches about friendship and how much life has changed and how much they've been through in just those few chapters. And everyone is constantly on edge about something or other, and then nothing can be solved in a subtle or simple manner, everything should and will be aggrandised for dramatic effect. People are constantly walking on eggshells, blushing, ...

Open

Gift

Jun 29, 2024

Aum_Pinata_Party

Not Recommended

Preliminary (37/? eps)

Totally, completely mediocre. The Romeo & Juliet angle is somehow both forced and incredibly underutilized at the same time, and there really isn't much else besides the neat and orderly succession of every single romance trope you've ever seen a million times before with no significant variations or surprises.

I knew it was time to drop this series when I could skim through and read maybe one out of ten speech bubbles and have no confusion about the plot or characters.

Genuinely, if this story seems appealing on a level besides the art style, I'd recommend getting the same experience from more influential works that ...

Open

Gift

More stacks

Interest Stacks

Best new manga of the 2020s

by Doggo1195

41 Entries · 58 Restacks

Romance Where Side Characters Relationship Are Developed Too

by LeturLefr

23 Entries · 7 Restacks

Male POV Romance

by BlackRose_1210

19 Entries · 32 Restacks

More recommendations
Recommendations

View All

More news
Recent News

North American Anime & Manga Releases for February

Here are the North American anime, manga, and light novel releases for February. Week 1: February 4 - 10 Anime Releases Mato Seihei no Slave (Chained Soldier) Comple...read more

Feb 1, 3:29 PM by Aiimee | Discuss (0 comments)

North American Anime & Manga Releases for December

Here are the North American anime, manga, and light novel releases for December. Week 1: December 3 - 9 Anime Releases Boku ga Aishita Subete no Kimi e + Kimi wo Ais...read more

Dec 4, 2024 3:13 PM by Aiimee | Discuss (0 comments)

More discussions
Recent Forum Discussion

Poll: Kaoru Hana wa Rin to Saku Chapter 133 Discussion ryzxgum - Dec 4, 2024	8 replies	by Rexnihilo »» Feb 21, 7:33 PM
Poll: Kaoru Hana wa Rin to Saku Chapter 132 Discussion ryzxgum - Nov 27, 2024	5 replies	by Rexnihilo »» Feb 21, 7:28 PM
Poll: Kaoru Hana wa Rin to Saku Chapter 128 Discussion ryzxgum - Oct 9, 2024	17 replies	by Rexnihilo »» Feb 21, 7:13 PM
Poll: Kaoru Hana wa Rin to Saku Chapter 140 Discussion ryzxgum - Feb 12	12 replies	by khelsenpai11 »» Feb 21, 1:00 AM
Poll: Kaoru Hana wa Rin to Saku Chapter 139 Discussion ryzxgum - Feb 5	11 replies	by topfloorboss45 »» Feb 16, 2:45 AM

Kaoru Hana wa Rin to Saku
The Fragrant Flower Blooms with Dignity
Edit

What would you like to edit?

Alternative Titles

Information

Statistics

Available At

Resources

Edit
Synopsis

Edit
Background

Related Entries

Visit MALxJapan
MALxJapan -More than just anime-

More characters
Characters

Reviews

Interest Stacks

More recommendations
Recommendations

More news
Recent News

More discussions
Recent Forum Discussion

MoreTop Anime

MoreTop Airing Anime

MoreMost Popular Characters

Kaoru Hana wa Rin to SakuThe Fragrant Flower Blooms with Dignity Edit What would you like to edit? SynopsisBackgroundAlternative TitlesPictureChapters/VolumesPublishing DatesRelationsTypeExternal Links

Alternative Titles

Information

Statistics

Available At

Resources

EditSynopsis

EditBackground

Related Entries

Visit MALxJapan MALxJapan -More than just anime-

More charactersCharacters

Reviews

Interest Stacks

More recommendations Recommendations

More newsRecent News

More discussionsRecent Forum Discussion

MoreTop Anime

MoreTop Airing Anime

MoreMost Popular Characters

Kaoru Hana wa Rin to Saku
The Fragrant Flower Blooms with Dignity
Edit

What would you like to edit?

Edit
Synopsis

Edit
Background

Visit MALxJapan
MALxJapan -More than just anime-

More characters
Characters

More recommendations
Recommendations

More news
Recent News

More discussions
Recent Forum Discussion