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It's not the *best* anime, but it has great potential. Like a few other reviews, I do agree characters that are introduced aren't really developed too well, but that might be for a variety of reasons.

If I was to not compared it to the well-oiled industry of Japanese anime and the fact that this is one of the few Chinese animes around, on top of the fact that Haoliners Animation League was only founded in 2013; it is a good start.

The most annoying thing was the opening (not a fan of the song) and the repetition-type of moments and lack of depth in exploration ... of relationships they make known; such as that between the Prince and the sickly Nan Qingwan.

They set it up for the characters to be entangled; such as Rouyan and Ye Youming's history. They give the smallest bit of details of their connection to build up the trope between a princess and concubine,

Many Chinese dramas average at least 60-ish episodes in this genre which delves deep into the society and culture of palace life; drama over who the crown prince is, favored concubines fighting for power, political intrigue.

They set this animation up to have more than one season and ended on a 'cliff-hanger' through some bits of foreshadowing. I'm hoping the 2nd season that they episodes get longer than a 20 min run time (10 mins of commercial time slotted, really?), praying for a better opening sequence and song, and improved character development.

I just have to start off to say this anime is fairly mediocre. It could have been I started watching it with too high of expectations but I don't think that was the issue.

Over the course of the twelve episodes there is very little plot or development. The two main characters knew each other from middle school and had mutually liked one another only for Kou (the boy) to suddenly move away after Futaba (the girl) caused an awkward scene after he asked her to go to a festival with him.

When Kou returns and Futaba see him she is attached to the past ... version of Kou she knew and tried to apply it to the Kou that had been away from her for 3 years. The whole anime is about these two and a "developing romance" but honestly it was entirely one-sided for about 90% of the series.

Kou's hidden niceness makes it appear as though he has affections early on but Futaba's character explains it best when she states that he is just nice though he tries to act as though he doesn't care because he is scared.

If you are looking for a romance anime that has no real romantic closure at the end this would be an anime to watch. I can only hope there is a 2nd season in the works otherwise this is a very boring anime.

Firstly I must state that apparently this manga is based off an otome game. While I have read manga that were also based on otome games they had better depth than this one.

Story
It's dreadful. Many things that occur within this manga are never explained. So on the few moments that things start to get interesting, such as the mad baddie character Yamato's background snippets, it never goes further than a few frames displaying a complex character history. This applies to most of the characters so you never really get to know them beyond the few things they cared to put ... in for you to read (which isn't a lot).

To summarize what this manga is about in my words, an average high school girl gets sent back in time to save an important historical character by a water spirit.

There isn't any special reason for Mana being select, you could say she just happened to be there and is expected to somehow save a particular person without being told how she is supposed to save them. This leads me into...

Characters
The main character girl fulfills the classic otome character. Basically she's a "blank" that a reader can imagine as herself. Mana isn't anything special and is really boring.

The only character's I had any interest in where the ones who were revealed as to having some dark or mysterious past (which as stated earlier are only given glimpses and nothing more, no conversations, no flashbacks, no close-bonding story between characters). All the other character's are just sort of... there.

Art
I do love the quality of the art and the style. This is pretty much what kept me reading... that and the hope that something deeper would occur, such as Yamato's history (which doesn't make much sense with the details we are given).

Overall...
If you are seeking a nice past era romance manga, I would say to skip this one.

This manhwa was fairly disappointing for a number of reasons. The story was very inconsistent as well as the characters. The main female leads father seemed to suffer from borderline personality disorder and OCD and displays mild abuse to his family in various ways. While this situation at times is made to be funny, it's not very amusing when first being introduced to the character.

The attitude of the main female lead is very annoying throughout the entire story. She is only supposed to a be a year younger than the main love interest, but acts like a selfish child (which is ... at one point explained due to the fact that her father is a selfish man). They barely have any stable couple relationship and with her father being bipolar he either tells them to get married or forbids them from being anywhere near each other.

Overall, the story was terrible and the only character I could stand personally was the main male love interest who seemed to be the only stable character. Which makes you ponder as to why he ever had interest in the female lead.

While many parts of this manga made me squeal "kyaaaa" at times due to cute or lovey-dovey scenes it is not a manga for those interested in characters and story with depth and complications.

There is never any explanation behind why the two main characters get into a relationship. It literally just happens; boy molests girl, girl suffers a doki doki moment, BOOM, relationship.

There is more depth and story behind the male lead than the female. This gives the feeling that the female lead is simply there for the female reader to "insert self here" with a female lead character so lacking in personality ... and background.

I usually feel the student/teacher type of manga is overdone and usually boring. However, the depth of the main character's stories were impressive compared to the many other manga I've read. They are flawed and damaged character's, which is rare to find in a manga (especially shoujo).

The artwork is well done compared to some of the manga out there. There isn't anything spectacular, but the artwork is smooth and not distracting other than the very attractive rival male characters (Teacher and Mamura).

While I did cheer for my OTP I knew it would never be, but it was still enjoyable to cheer for ... them. I won't go into detail due to possible spoilers.

Overall, it was enjoyable and a nice kind of different from most student/teacher manga.

Story: The story seems very much like a reverse harem manga, one girl, 4 suitors to choose from. However, the last vol. takes such a sharp turn in such a random and horrible way that anything enjoyable from earlier chapters is completely wiped out.

Art: The artwork is nicely done.

Character: There is little character development through the story and the 4 suitors have very strong personalities, though the reason for this is explained near the end.

Enjoyment: I enjoyed the manga up until the very last moment which reveals why the 'air girl' is invisible to everyone. The ending was completely out of place and ... pace with the story making it seem as though in the end the editor told the artist/author to do something different and this failure was this result.

When I first read a summary about this manga it piqued my curiosity and I began to read it.

Story: 8
Ichiko did something terrible and ran away from home only to be found by a masked stranger and taken to his home where she is offered to live if she does the work of a maid.

Each of those living within this household alll have their reasons for doing so, none moreso than Kohaku, the masked stranger.

The story seems fairly normal, if a bit dramatic in regards to Ichiko's reason for fleeing from her home. There is a nice build up and you are lead to ... be curious about why Kohaku wears a mask. I will warn you that you will not his his face till almost the very end of the manga, but the scene where he reveals his face is a powerful one.

Art: 9
The artwork is fine, though I personally did not care much for Ichkio's hair style, but that is simply personal taste. The eyes are not drawn successfully in a few 'close up' frames making them appear almost hollow while a character's facial expression shows one of joy, giving a weird creepiness when these close ups occur. That being said there aren't too many of these and after a while they aren't nearly as distracting as you progress through the manga.

Character: 10
I love all the characters in this manga! While many of the support characters don't have their backgrounds explained, they are still wonderfully developed characters with an important background role to the main characters. Kohaku's personality is incredibly complicated but this is only ever explain through the support characters.

Enjoyment: 9
This is a manga where I would read it again (and there are only a few that make me do this). I was never bored with a single chapter or volume as there aren't too many 'filler' moments.

This manga is very mediocre in it's story and character development. While some things are explained, they are done so in a poor manner (such as in the mother's reason for her actions towards her daughter).

The romance is a case of "instant" love with almost little to no development between the engaged parties. The love rival part of the story is also horribly short and could have easily been left out of the story without really changing much of anything, it just added that the drama that was missing from earlier on in the manga.

If you are looking for a Manhwa that has instant love without any reason and poor plot/story, then go for it. Overall, the first few chapters were good up until the separation, then from that point it's just one annoying scene after another on repeat.

The romance is pretty much non existent till the very, VERY last chapter.