May 1, 2012
I've always been a huge fan of Arina Tanemura's work, and while The Gentlemen's Alliance is a good series, I believe it to be her weakest and not a good indicator of her story telling ability. Firstly, the plot.
It's hard to discuss the plot of The Gentlemen's Alliance separately to the characters, as it is a primarily character driven plot. The basic plot summary of Haine's conflict between her two families is rather dull, and as a protagonist I found her rather weak. The strength of shojo manga's lies in their ability to create a bond between a reader and the protagonist, however, this
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was completely absent in The Gentlemen's Alliance. The problems that Haine encounters are hard to relate too, and come across as rich kid problems that are rather irrelevant in the long run, or that she blows situations out of proportion. There were a few times when I cared for her, but they were too sparse for such a long series. This main plot is the reason that I've given the series a lower score for story, and the choice of Haine as protagonist really pulls down the overall cast. While the Emperor is more likeable I found that as the series progressed, the plot became more and more convoluted and I simply stopped caring about his problems.
Like most of Arina Tanemura's work, there are a lot of darker themes underlying the series. Some of them work nicely to give the school plot a good, and well needed twist, but others end up coming across as rather fickle. Some of the serious issues in the series, such as the selling of children, are weak because they don't impress the seriousness of the issues onto the reader. Later in the series, these issues only serve to heighten the rich girl character Haine has, and make her more unlikeable. While appreciate Arina Tanemura including some of these issues, their poor treatment means I would prefer them absent.
Thankfully, the supporting cast are much stronger. They're funny, emotional, and I found myself genuinely caring for characters, especially Ushio. Unlike Haine, they act as an ensemble and each get a perfect amount of development. Unlike Haine, I never thought that their plots were becoming convoluted or over-dramatic (for the genre, that is). While some of the issues are dealt with without seriousness, such as Maora and Maguri, I think this is a fault of the genre, rather than Arina herself. Nevertheless, it would have been nice to see the issues of sexuality in the series considered more seriously, as it crops up in a few of the characters back stories.
While the story is easy to get into, and has early and good plot progressions, it becomes stale rather quickly, picking up with some of the best sub-plots closer to the end of the series. This is a double edged sword, as it's easy to get into, but a bit of a chore to read the whole series. The pacing in the middle becomes rather messy, maybe this is because I read the series as it came out, rather than all at once, but I think it would be hard to read at once. This is definitely a series for people who enjoy the shojo genre, as it doesn't offer much of an alternative to the romance plot.
As a fan of Arina Tanemura's art style, I thought that the series looked gorgeous, and featured some lovely designs and beautiful cover illustrations. While the characters themselves don't look too out of the ordinary for the genre, the designs of the characters all help to portray their personalities and eccentricities, for example Maguri's headband or Ushio's "princess" look. In terms of art and character design, I think this is Arina Tanemura's strongest work.
Despite the faults of the series, I did enjoy it, but as said, I think this is a series for fans of the shojo genre or Arina Tanemura's work, as it is primarily a romantic melodrama with a typical plot line. The supporting cast have their own eccentricities that make the series enjoyable instead of tedious, but it is far from a masterpiece in exploring human sentiment. It is a good manga, and offers some good romance in the sub-plots, but I wouldn't recommend it for the character of Haine at all. Your enjoyment of this series will depend on how well you take to Haine.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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