Hana to Akuma 's review

shiroanna8
Mar 27, 2021
*Review contains spoilers*

Story 7/10
I found myself really torn on what to rate Hana to Akuma in this section, why? because the manga has both very positive but very negative things for me to rate it too high or too low and still be fair for the material. I will try to summarize my observations:

-Positive: despite the many flaws, cliche, trivial and contradictory events that happened in the story, it managed to keep me engaged from beginning to end. If you are expecting very intricate and deep developments, this is not your manga. However, the story was entertaining and satisfying. To be honest, I wasn't really too interested in this manga from reading the synopsis, but I still gave it a chance out of curiosity...I was pleasantly surprised. The manga is very light and easy to read, had its funny moments that had me laughing out loud as well as heart-wrenching and heart-warming moments. There was never a dull moment and never was I bored/tired with reading. I found it has a good balance between romance, drama, action and silliness. Another positive aspect was the ending. Although the ending was bittersweet and somewhat sad, I found it very realistic and at least we get to know that Hana lived a happy life until its end. I was almost expecting for the characters to find a way to turn Hana into a demon for her to stay "forever and ever" with Vivi, but was glad to see, and actually pay my respects to the author, for showing and playing with the different stages of human life just as they are. The ending kind of doesn't allow me to rate this section lower.

-Negative: I did not understand how Hana and Vivi could be so oblivious to their own feelings. With Hana it could be argued that she was still a child, but Vivi should have enough life experience to be able to know and understand his own feelings.
When I said before I read this manga out of curiosity, I meant I could not imagine how the author was going to handle Vivi and Hana falling in love without me hating the manga. To be honest, I completely agree that this book deals with some cringe worthy degree of pedophelia and incest. I just don't see how these two characters didn't develop a father and daughter or siblings-like type of relationship given that Vivi raised Hana and they have known and engaged with each other in a parent/parentalized child/guardian relationship. To me, Vivi should have seen Hana as his daughter and Hana seen Vivi as a parent. With this being said, there are a couple of things that could be argued as to why they ended up having romantic feelings towards each other: 1. Vivi was a demon, and truth to be told, it would not be fair to expect from or hold to human rules, morals and standards a non human being...specially when demons are supposed to be bad. 2. Hana could have some sort of unresolved Oedipus complex and/or an unhealthy attachment (specially given her also possible abandonment issues). 3. Boundaries were never defined or clear between these two (Hana would sit in Vivi's lap, Hana saw Vivi engage in physical/sexual activities with other people, Hana would walk into Vivi's room and bathroom and get into his bed, etc). 4. Vivi never thought or saw himself as a parent to anyone. 5. The servants did most of the caregiving/parent-like activities for Hana.

I do have a few positive things to say about how this incest/pedophelia was addressed in the manga. The love between Hana and Vivi develops very slowly, without them realizing their feelings until very late in the story (which was a bummer because we don't get to see them actually interact as a couple and see whether it felt awkward or not). It never felt like Vivi was just raising Hana with the objective of having her become his woman, but more like something that simply developed over cotidianity. Vivi even questioned himself about really being in love with Hana and it took him a bit to process and accept this feelings. Their love and feelings were mostly innocent, although Vivi does kiss Hana a lot for no real reason. But truth is, what Hana did with Vivi she could have been doing with Momo, or someone their age, as Vivi didn't really make a move on her beyond occasional kisses. Vivi clearly expressed not to feel attracted to Hana when she was her 14 years old self. And, by the way, for those who get alarmed at a 14 years old being with an adult, if you look at the context, the manga takes place at a time in which it was pretty normal or accustomed for women to get married very young. Whether I agree with this practice or not, is another story, but keep in mind that Vivi and Hana don't get together until she becomes a grown person, which shows some degree of conscience/awareness/respect. All in all, I couldn't bring myself to not like this manga despite this controversial aspect.

Art 9/10
I felt the art, characters designs, facial expressions, reactions and backgrounds were done beautifully. I especially loved Lucifer-sama and his hairstyle.

Characters 7/10
This is definitely the weakest point the manga has, as apart from Vivi and Hana, we don't see a lot of character development for the rest of the cast.
I really enjoyed how carefree Vivi was and found very refreshing how he wasn't ashamed at showing physical affection or his body as Japanese people are usually represented in anime/manga. I also liked how he was never too proud or offended when a misunderstanding with Hana occured. I would have liked to have been given a bit of background on Vivi and the reason why he was not interested in the demon world or becoming a king. In that sense, I would have also liked to see why he was so highly regarded by his kind if he had always shown that detached behavior.
In regards to Hana, I did not like the fact that she cried in all 58.5 chapters. I don't understand how Vivi had to save Hana in all 58.5 chapters. I also found confusing how Hana acted so childish most of the times but seemed to be so mature at other times. I don't think someone raised by demons would be as naive and innocent as Hana. However, I liked Hana and appreciate the fact that she remained a good hearted person no matter what people/demons did to her. I also liked her persistence when she wanted to do something, such as giving flowers to Vivi everyday. I can see why everybody liked her.
My favorite character was probably Lucifer-sama and I think probably every scene in which he was involved ended up being too funny or interesting. Another character that I really liked was Momo. Kuddos to that kid for being very mature for his age and not getting involved in a love triangle. It takes a noble heart to be able to put your feelings aside and wholeheartedly help the person you are interest in be happy, even if it is not with you.

Enjoyment 8/10
As I said before, the manga managed to keep me interested from beginning to end although nothing really surprising happens. There wasn't any arcs or chapter that I felt was boring or unnecessary. I will actually miss this story and I wouldn't have minded a few additional chapters in which we could have seen Hana and Vivi as a couple. It took so much to build Hana and Vivi's love story that having them get together by the end and then fastforwarding to 70+ years ;ater made me feel like I missed out on a lot. The additional chapter made up a bit for this but still...a couple more chapters wouldn't have hurt the manga at all.

Overall 8/10
Not a life changing manga but something entertaining if you are looking for a light yet interesting read.
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Hana to Akuma
Hana to Akuma
Auteur Oto, Hisamu
Artiste