Hana to Akuma

This manga, Hana to Akuma was recommended by a friend but I forgot the title until I came across it on goodreads. I guess my hanging around on goodreads paid off eh? Hehe.

Before we talk about this story, let me tell you what the title means. Hana means flower, to is a Japanese particle that could be used in a lot of ways but for this, it’s used as and, while Akuma means demon or devil. Hmmm, so tell me, was that able to get your attention?

I love supernatural stories especially in my books, manga, anime or movies and this one didn’t disappoint at all. My friend told me a summary about this story (when she recommended it to me) so it felt like I already know it without having to read it yet. My mood is really getting hard to please lately (which is really annoying) so I was quite surprised that this manga took my full attention as early as its first chapter. I guess it was partly because I love the art and the protagonist looks so hot (insert deafening squeal here). Actually, he has this weird resemblance to Lelouch Lamperouge. Well, because of that, I can't help but think that all the demon characters in the manga/anime that I’ve watched so far were required to be incredibly hot. Remember the last demon butler I was lusting over early this year? Hehe.

The plot of this story was quite interesting making it not your typical shojo manga. As you can read on the sypnosis above, Vivi is a demon duke who came to the human world to kill time found an abandoned baby and, on a whim, raised her. She cried so hard but once she saw Vivi’s face, she smiled sweetly like a flower and that’s how she got her name.

This story started really light at first introducing its main characters and how the two of them met. But once I reached volume 4, it’s started to get really more interesting making it hard to put down. Evidence? I finished all 10 volumes for just 2 nights. I really stayed late last night not being concerned that the next day would be another work day because dang! It was so good. Well, compared to your usual shonen manga/anime, Hana to Akuma is quite simple but there’s just something about it that will pull you closer. Ofcourse it’s not perfect with all its flaws and clichés but those didn’t stop me from enjoying this manga. I also love how it made me emotional especially on the last volume. It was so emotional that I actually found myself crying to sleep last night, or should I say this early morning, haha.

The main leads we’re so cute together that I keep on grinning like an idiot everytime they’re having sweet scenes. I love Vivi! Well, he’s actually the first thing I noticed when I started this manga and my admiration for him stayed all throughout the story. He has a hot and cold personality but you can really see how he cares so much for Hana. And my! He’s really so good looking which angle you look at him. And heck! You should see him wearing glasses! Ahem, I am starting to sound like a crazy stalker, haha. So, let’s talk about Hana now eh? Just like Vivi, I like how the author drew her character. She’s really so kawaii! And my! You should see her smile! It’s so innocent and so contagious and so perfectly drawn. Considering that she grew up with demons, she sure remained pure and so innocent. There’s definitely no evil in her, which I’m sure one of the reason why the great demon king and other demons adores her, *wink.

Aside from the main leads, I also like the other characters as well. It’s great that they all got the chance to share their own story making you feel really close to them. I didn’t find any unnecessary scenes here and every character got their own role to play and done them well. There’s no hair-pulling-annoying characters but I have this 1 particular character that I want to burn alive, haha, kidding. He’s quite annoying but I think his role made the story more interesting.

Also, I super love the art especially on how the author drew their clothes!

SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT!

When a human fell in love with a demon, you would expect her to suddenly enjoy a long lifespan too right? I was really expecting for that and I would be lying if I say that I wasn’t disappointed. But then again, that’s usually what a hopeless romantic like me would expect. Eventhough I was disappointed, I have to say that it was still beautiful. Emotional yes but the ending was undeniably beautiful and realistic. But thinking about it still makes me want to wail. Uwaaaah! Vivi! Hana!

Considering of its flaws and clichés, I have to say that Hana to Akuma is still a very good read. I enjoyed discovering the demon world, laughing with the characters and just loving everything about it (especially Vivi, *wink). Yo guys, you really need to read this manga!

Story - 10/10
Hana to Akuma was a masterpiece! It was really a thrilling, enjoyable and an exciting manga. I really recommend this to everyone out there who have yet read this. I have read TONS, yes TONS of manga.. but Hana to Akuma was the very best. You will really carve to see the next chapter/page.

Also, let's not forget the title which REALLY fits for this manga - Hana to Akuma.. in other words, The flower and the demon. Somehow, the title 'says' about the love between the 2 main characters in this manga.

In each and every chapter and page of this manga, it never, not even one failed any of my expectations. Just base it from the plot, the story is rather unique. I have to admit that I'm obsessed with this, really. What made me love this manga more was the ending. Even I myself can't believe what I just felt at the end. It was a happy-sad ending. Everytime I read the ending, I never failed to cry.

The story teaches us one important lesson.. just trying to keep out from spoilers, I cannot say it. If you're so curious about it, try reading until the very end.:)

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Art - 10/10
One more reason for people to read this is that because Oto-sensei drew all the characters very well.. even the environment. I love how he draw Vivi and Hana. Also, he really draw very well the exact emotion of Vivi. That's what I love more. Can't say more.

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Character - 10/10
I love each and every character personalities in the story. Even the heroine, Hana. You can say that she's quite a stubborn and a naive girl but that's just what makes me like her more. It makes my heart skip a beat when Hana's naive-ness comes out in a romantic situation then Vivi have to do or say something straight just for her to understand.

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Enjoyment - 10/10
I really enjoyed this manga until the very end. There is nothing more I can say.♥

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Overall - 10/10
I'm really giving Hana to Akuma a perfect score. Everything is just so perfect, seriously. Just wanna say a huge thanks to Oto-sensei, the author of this manga for making such a fabulous manga! I really admire you.

*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.

I really enjoyed this manga. It was very bittersweet, and was probably one of the best shoujos I've ever read. The art style took some getting use to, but I learned to really appreciate it over time.

Story:
It was a beautiful, bittersweet story. A demon comes to earth and raises an abandoned human child, and as she grows up they both really start to adore each other. The manga is about them overcoming their challenges to be together, and yes, while it was a romantic manga, the bond is very sweet, and goes beyond the typical shoujo relationship.

Art:
Like I said, I wasn't really in to the art at first, but I learned to appreciate it as it was. And it's not like it was bad, the mangaka's style was just a little bit different than most.

Character:
The characters really grew on me; Hana seemed like your typical shoujo lead, but she really wasn't. I really loved her, and she was a good protagonist for this kind of light-hearted manga. There was very minimal character growth in Hana, but that doesn't mean she was a bad character. The character growth was more in Vivi, as he learned to accept Hana for what she is and how to treat her.

Enjoyment:
I really, really loved this manga. I recommend it to anyone. It's a little sad, but it's very cute. I wasn't prepared for it to end, but everything has to end sometime.


Overall, you should probably go check out Hana to Akuma. I've been reading it since the very beginning, and I'm glad I stuck with it. It was really touching.

I've never read such a funny, heart throbbing story in my entire life (so far ;D)!!... This was with simply just one word beautiful.. It made my heart go "doki-doki!" A LOT!!.. And their relationship is just so sweet... In the end i cried, but not tears of sadness.. No, on the contrary it was tears of joy.. Tears that'll fall because the last chapter is just so magnificent beautiful.. Even though the story involves "akuma's" (demons, which would in many context be considered evil) .. But no, not in this.. This captures the evilness from Vivi (the leading male role ) and converts it to sweetness and innocentsness when he's around Hana (Main Role. Also the main female role).. And to any girl with just a little princess like character inside her will be completely captured by their relationships sweetness and pureness..
I'm not a "real girl" (meaning: I'm a tomboy. So i have a typical un-ladylike character)... So I'm not the biggest fan of the romance genre. Or comedy.. But this manga just stroke right through my heart, and i found my ladylike character..The only thing I'll do is to recommend it to you even though this doesn't sound like a manga that'll be the kind of genre you would read. You have to contain a large part of patience to read this. Because it's in chapter 40 I'd say thing begins to really spike up. But while you read the remaining forty chapters to get to chapter 40 you'll fall in love with every role in this Manga. It simply is irresistible.

In fact, the first time I read this manga I just read the first chapters and after that I went straight to the end.After that I stayed a little down and I didn't read another chapter. But I was so curious that I gave up and started to read again. I don't have regrets about this decision, I should had read this in the right order since the start:
Just because he is a demon and she is a human, it doesn' mean that they can't be together. It's a beautiful romance with a beutiful end. " Anyone can fell in love, anyone has the right to be happy with the person they love, even if they can't be together forever"