Sengoku Danshi Hana no Ran

Edit

What would you like to edit?

SynopsisBackgroundAlternative TitlesPictureChapters/VolumesPublishing DatesRelationsTypeExternal Links  

This is a nice manga to read. The main story is a typical shoujo story. Girl and boy fall in love but they must face a series of obstacles until they actually can be together... as it will most probably happen. The manga hasn´t ended yet.

Story (6): As I was saying, it is the typical shoujo story, but there are some interesting twists: time travel, samurais, a particular situation that makes the main male character confront his experience with the vision other people in the present have of history. The time-travelling samurais end up acting, together with the heroin, in a historic movie that ... tells a version of their own lives. Sounds interesting, but I think the manga doesn't make the most of the possibilities a time travel plot can give. The author remains in the surface, and does not dig deep into any conflict. As the storie advances, it becomes more and more a cliché.

Art (7): I liked the art. It isn’t unique but it´s nice. The characters are easily identifiable; they all have their very distinct features. But there is nothing particularly special about it.

Characters (7): There are good characters, the heroin’s grandfather and the samurai master are particularly appealing, even when they don´t appear that often. The female character does not cry as much as they usually do in other shoujo mangas. There is shed of tears, but in a very reasonable amount. However, I think the samurai characters adapt too easily to the modern times... at moments I found myself wondering: why are the talking like that or how does he find this situation so natural?

In short, Sengoku Danshi Hana no Ran -although it may not be an outstanding work- is an easy to read, enjoyable manga.

STORY:
Sengoku no Danshi Hana no Ran was pretty mundane with no antagonist until vol 4, and the only looming threat was the samurai boys living out their ill-fated histories if they returned to their era.

In the beginning, I thought Hana's family idol agency and time traveling made the story over-packed, but I like how it developed.

I was surprised this manga touched briefly on child molestation and date-rape drugs in the entertainment business. The light slice-of-life tone is nearly nonexistent in the final volume because everything had turned very dark.

The ending was a bit rushed, to the point the readers could tell, but still ... managed to tie up a few loose ends in a fairy-tale way.

CHARACTERS:
Hana is a pretty plain main character but likable. She doesn't cry excessive shoujo tears and is not whiny, so she's okay in my book.

I liked the samurai brothers the most, collectively. I happened to like Riki, the quiet brother, almost instantly and Ran as well. I don't think anything really stood out from Ran beyond the norm of the cool-headed, about-his-business character type. He didn't break the character mold but I liked him all the same. Aniue the middle brother was... the middle child.

I felt bad for Momo and I usually dislike the female love rivals, but there was really nothing hate-worthy about her. On that same vein, there was nothing noteworthy about her either.

ART:
Art is A+ all around for me. Ran is an undeniably handsome man, so it's no wonder why he's the shoujo lead.

Overall, the story was very over the top but not bad, and the art and characters made the story easy to read. Not to mention, this manga has some of the best shoujo scenes ever, the type to make you smile at your phone/device deliriously.

This manga can not be any cooler. I seriously enjoyed how it never rushed the romance and tried to make detour to showcase the strength of each characters. It's is too short for me and I was honestly hoping they could add more volumes.

The very idea of the story line is quite risky in a way that it could lead to typical historical/time travel/shoujo manga or could lead to a very superb running manga that it might lose its perkiness as the story progresses.

It would have been better if the author or the mangaka would have added more backstory to the other mori ... brothers or to Momo chan. All of the characters are amazing and interesting, even Ryou (the guy who betrayed Hana).