Flower in a Storm
By Takagi Shigeyoshi
Riko: I just want to be an ordinary girl living a peaceful life. *leaves the classroom*
Schoolmate: Whoooaaaaa!!! Riko jumped from the third floor!
Riko: I am REALLY really trying my best to be normal.
Ran: IS THERE A BEAUTIFUL MAIDEN NAMED RIKO HERE?!
Riko: What the...
Ran: *spots Riko* I've found you, my love~ *goes to her*
Schoolmate: Whoa! That's Ran Tachibana! He's the son of one of the richest men in the world!!!!
Ran: Alright, I'm done with my work (and some underground business). I fell in love with you at first sight so... LET'S GET MARRIED!!!!
Riko: ...... Eh?
RATING: C (AVERAGE!)
FAVORITISM: 3 Hearts ---> LIKE (4 Hearts to Ran for being adorably corny xD)This is just an average romantic comedy about a rich guy falling in love with a commoner. Its characters are pretty stereotypical and it's rich in shoujo cliches. There's nothing really that remarkable about this....
But it was really fun to read~
But it was really fun to read~
The characters, except for the leading girl, are the main reason why this series has been very enjoyable~ Seeing the devotion of Ran's bodyguards were adorable. The rescue attempt of Riko's classmate was amusing~ Ran's father is wickedly awesome and the red-haired assassin maye have been lame at first but turned out to be pretty cool~
The leading guy's seems like the perfect bishie: handsome, intelligent, kickass, wealthy, skillful, etc. ut he's no goody-goody, for he doesn't mask his evil, tactless, biased, insensitive, and arrogant side even! What made him the greatest entertainment in the series is not his heroic acts or his perfection, it's his EXTREMELY LAME ROMANTIC SPEECHES:
He's so corny that he's hilarious xD Hahahahahahha!
Oh, why the leading girl was an exception? Well, yes, she's not a helpless girl who cries a lot and needs to be rescued 24/7. It's because she's really strong, you see. And what was the reason for that? Oh, it's her flexibility and fast reflexes. Err, yeah, that's it.
THAT'S IT????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Her reflexes were enough to beat up experienced athletes, defeat trained bodyguards, and do a rescue operation against professional assassins. No mention of fighting background or training... not even interest. She could've at least been fighting against bullies.... even gymnastics know-how would do. You can't do incredible stunts just in having good reflexes.
What a perfect heroine who is only vulnerable when it's time to have the leading guy to shine and do some action.
It's nice to see extraordinary characters wanting to live in a simple way, but her main reason for wanting to be ordinary is just... meh. Pfft, yeah, it's only because if she's not ordinary, HER CRUSH REJECTED HER. Oh dear lord, dear lord. *bangs head on the wall*
Seriously, the "not having friends" reason would've been more decent. OH COME ON, DOES IT ALWAYS HAVE TO BE ABOUT NOT GETTING A BOYFRIEND? THAT SHOUJO HEROINES GET SO BUTTHURT???
Oh my head, my head....
She's not any better when she finally acknowledged her love for Ran. She becomes easily depressed when he couldn't stay by her side for a short period of time. She also had been full of herself when she decided to talk to Ran's father because she thinks she's right. A commoner being able to talk to a billionaire too easily (without Ran's assistance)? Special treatment of the mangaka to leading ladies eh... they can always do the impossible, pfft!
Not to mention she's boring to the core. Oh her characterization's really mediocre T_T
The side characters were pretty decent though, too bad they didn't get much chance to shine. They're sometimes even used as tools just to make the leading characters look cooler. The lack of involvement and development of the side characters was really a waste.
On the bright side, there were no angsty jealousies or love triangles. Main couples not being too emotional and vengeful when jealous is really really rare.
Yeah, it's pretty repetitive and predictable most of the time, but it somehow managed to show some interesting twists. It's nowhere near impressive on its story telling, pacing, and even in originality, indeed; But it's not that bad at all and reading it is an enjoyable experience~
I suppose Ouran High School Host Club (with low expectations) will pretty much enjoy this one... the leading guys are strikingly similar (Tamaki's just more idiotic in love while Ran's naughtier)~
5 comments:
I generally felt the same way you did about this short series. Ran was awesome and the fast pacing was nice, but in general the series was meh.
I knew I wasn't alone on this xD Hehe.
"DOES IT ALWAYS HAVE TO BE ABOUT NOT GETTING A BOYFRIEND?"
I always wondered that, but... I think I understand why recently. Blame Asian culture and its expectations for girls (including getting married early, 25 at the latest)
i LOL'd when i read your comment about ran's pathetic and corny lines. you were spot on haha XD i dropped the series after i reached chapter 3. it was just unbelievably corny that i had shudders reading through it. ech.
I love Ran's epic fail lines~ So adorkable xD Haha!
It was a good decision to drop this series that early if youcan't stand the corniness, haha. It was corny until the end, haha!
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