Monday, July 1, 2013

Rosy's scrawled manga recommendation: Anata ni Hana o Sasagemashou by Ohmi Tomu

Anata ni Hana o Sasagemashou
Ohmi Tomu


Blurb
Seri is a very happy, simple girl. The only thing that bothers her is her marriage to her fiancee, the super-obocchama, Yuzuki. While they both repel each other, Seri happens to notice the strange creatures behind Yuzuki!

Alternative names
あなたに花を捧げましょう
如鮮花般盛開
爱如鲜花般盛开
Anata ni Hana wo Sasagemashou
I'll Give You a Flower

Status
Complete

Manga reader sites (free)
Manga Here, Manga Fox

Rosy's scrawlings on Anata ni Hana o Sasagemashou
This manga focuses on two main stories, which are the love between Seri and Yuzuki and the tale of ghostly vengeance that manifests as a curse upon the previous heirs of Yuzuki's family, now upon Yuzuki. Seri is to marry Yuzuki but she finds him not only surrounded by ghosts, a scary enough experience in itself, but also cursed to die if he should leave the house. Only the ghosts offer him any protection. Yuzuki, being so restricted in his life has taken to gardening, majoring in horticulture, and spends most of his time locked up in his greenhouse. When Seri, his destined bride, arrives he's dismayed to find her terrified of ghosts and even more so of the curse. But for their budding love, Seri braves all her terrors and Yuzuki begins to explore the world outside. The two are a pair matched in harshness and innocence, for different reasons, and together they work to try to destroy the curse.
Anata ni Hana o Sasagemashou is a complex story that reads rather easily. There are multiple characters to get to know but there's only two main plots to follow, the easiest being the love story and the more complex being the destruction of the curse and all the family drama that surrounds it. The ghosts are multi-faceted too, starting out as flowing representations of who they'd once been, whether good or bad, but having the potential to devolve into 'demons' focused on hatred or anger. The curse, taking the form of a long dead witch, is the most powerful of them all but with many less powerful ghosts and mediums acting together she's often thwarted. The story is light and entertaining but contains some less explicit sex scenes and angst ridden moments. It is filled with roses and flowery emotions but also fear and anger and jealousy, making the manga a light yet hefty dose of romance and intrigue.
The art of Anata ni Hana o Sasagemashou is where the characters are solidified the most. While the dialogue doesn't always reveal enough the illustrations serve to build up the action, the characterisation and the complex relationships. Jealousy or interest is in a look more than in words. A ghost's well-being is in their appearance, or lack of, more than their commented status. Altogether, the art flows beautifully, the lines in great sweeps. There's many a popular element to the artwork, including the large glittering eyes and hair swished just so but it has been incorporated rather well into a more individualistic style. Of interest to those who read a lot of manga romances, the characters are all adults in appearance and clothing choice, making it a breath of fresh air from the overwhelmingly popular schoolyard romance.

I'd recommend this manga to: women who love romance stories with gentile characters, ghost stories and complex plots filled with intrigue.

Notes on manga reader sites
The quality of manga readers can vary. The uploads are often done cheaply or as a serious hobby by a collective. Be aware that sometimes licence hasn't been given but the sites noted above, Manga Fox in particular, are extremely careful about adding and pulling mangas according to license agreements. So you shouldn't have to worry too much about the material being pirated. There are also translated works and non-translated. Amongst the translated works you will find that the quality of translation may vary according to the skills of the translators. Usually the works are perfectly readable anyway, with only a few added or dropped words or a word in the incorrect tense or with/out plurals. But sometimes the text becomes gobbledygook. In which case, either seek another version or give up and buy an official copy once a printed translation comes out. The other issue of note is you may need to expand the screen to read the text easily as sometimes the scans are minimised a little.
I find that if a page doesn't download properly or some other issue occurs (too slow or someone ordered the pages incorrectly etc.) with one reader then skipping across to another reader and picking up where I was is quite easy and rarely annoying.
Otherwise, enjoy and watch out you don't get too addicted you forget about the necessary things in life.

No comments:

Post a Comment