In general, shoujo features more innocent romance, while josei doesn't shy away from delving into the sexual side of relationships, with a more mature approach to storytelling and issues. 'Chou yo Hana yo' fits firmly into the second category, its story built on office romance with a little twist. It revolves around Chouko Kuze, whose family lost its fortune and is now struggling to stay afloat. She gets a job as a secretary under a very inappropriate boss, who turns out to be none other than the servant who used to tend to her as a child — and still insists on doing that, in an odd mistress/servant - superior/subordinate dynamic.

Story, Characters - 6/10

Right off the bat, the story is unusual for a Yuki Yoshihara manga: her scripts usually rely on subverting shoujo tropes and stereotypes, most often by having the main female character be horny and assertive while her love interest is the "prey". Here, Yoshihara plays the shoujo personality tropes straight, with Masayuki relentlessly pursuing Chouko instead, oftentimes in outlandish ways bordering on sexual harrassment. Other characters are given appropriate time as well. However, I would have liked to see more of Chouko and Masayuki's relationship as ojou and servant when she was young, instead of repetitive flirting attempts, as it wasn't developed enough to make their connection as adults believable.

True to Yoshihara's style, raunchy humor and visual jokes often interrupt a more serious scene; most of their effectiveness comes from how bizarre they are. However, as funny as they are, you can stretch this plot only so much until you run out of material, and CYHY ran for too long to be considered a "tight" story. And, in my opinion, some of the sexual harassment crosses the line into "too much": a certain subplot has Chouko almost raped after having a spiked drink and the outcome is handled very poorly. Other than that, the constant sexual harassment from Masayuki himself was annoying.

Art - 8/10

The art is clean, with pleasant-looking character designs, as is the norm with Yuki Yoshihara; with Masayuki hogging the story so much, Chouko in monstrous chibi form (Yoshihara's own words) doesn't appear quite as often. There's also some fairly explicit sexual content later on, but it's done tastefully and not dwelled on for too long. Yoshihara has her specific style but it's easy to tell the characters apart, and we even get a cameo from Itadakimasu's Maria, although she is more toned down.

Enjoyment - 6/10

It's a fun premise but definitely stretched past the point of being enjoyable, and I found myself becoming impatient with the repetitiveness and just wanting it to end already. Some attempts at serious moments fall flat (see above) and, as much time as we spend with the characters, there still seems to be something missing.

Overall - 7/10

All in all, 'Chou yo Hana yo' is a cute story, albeit one that I feel went on for too long; the sweet spot would have probably been around 5 volumes, without losing any of the story or slipping into tedium. If you've already read other works of Yoshihara's and are familiar with her style, it might come across as less funny. However, it's OK if you're in the mood for some wacky office romance with a different relationship dynamic than what you'd usually encounter.