The Golden Orchid
joined Jan 19, 2017
This series is so old, geez. Was this Mera's debut? It's a very different style from her later works that's for sure and was rather lackluster for me. I remembered why I didn't remember anything about it from the first time I read it. Seeing Tsumugi and Beniko in the extras volume was heart-warming, but I feel like Ai and Fuuko never received the same resolution, despite being the "main" couple. Honestly they were a little boring to read about actually? Cause of how shallow the characterization was? But to be fair, I don't think that's Mera's strong point. Was dissappointing to see anyway.
All of the characters needed more background details and in-depth looks at their characters. When Ai said she wanted to get closer to Fuuko in the third volume, I was incredulous, because how do they know nothing about each other and what does she even like about her? The prince imagery shows up aproximately twice and isn't a recurrent theme, since Fuuko never does anything truly prince-like after the first chapter. There's also inconsistent characterization, cause when do Ai and Fuuko even get closer? What happened to the awkward middle school Ai? What happened to her seeing Fuuko as annoying? I saw more of a relationship grow between Ai and Anzu than Ai and Fuuko. What's up with not revealing the concern Beniko has of burdening Tsumugi until the very last two chapters. keyboard smash
At least seeing Tsumugi and her awkward realization she's just like Asagi in some ways made reading this worth it. And the chapter with her saving Beniko from getting burned was pretty hot, pun unintended.