I have been very quiet recently and I am so sorry for that. There is a whole lot to catch up on and working on the holidays in retail had made me feel reluctant to do much of anything. BUT there is a web manga series I am in the process of making as well.

I will finish up on Brothers Conflict this upcoming week, and then go back to Food Wars. After that there is a massive amount of series to go through. 

Takane and Hana is becoming a really big hit as a manga series in my opinion, and it isn’t hard to see why. Both Takane and Hana are incredibly interesting characters and so are the side characters. The two tend to push each others buttons but it works in this instance. It’s in no way the same kind of treatment seen in “Wolf Girl and Black Prince.” Hana taunts Takane, and he does the same towards her.

In volume 2, we are introduced to that “one” friend Takane has; his name is Nicola Luciano, and like Takane, he is extremely wealthy. The names of Hana’s closest friends are revealed: Mizuki and Hikaruko. We also see Hana’s other classmate and neighbor, Okamon, who she seems to be very close with.

In the beginning, Takane has invited Hana to a party that his grandfather was holding. Things seem to be okay in the beginning, especially when Takane’s grandfather meets with them in private to see how the relationship was going. Takane admits he’d refuse any other arranged marriage meetings since both he and Hana are trying to figure things out. Hana lies and says the same thing; that they are still getting to know one another so she doesn’t really have an opinion on the future. Takane’s grandfather seems happy with that and leaves them. It’s after the party that Hana starts to think horrible things, and even dreams about them at school. Basically because she’s 16 and Takane is 26, she fears that if anyone found out it would be a huge scandal for Takane, and she is concerned about it.

Hana avoids Takane for days and when he comes by, she basically tells him he became boring. This obviously shocks Takane; he even looks hurt by what Hana said. But even after that, he comes by her place the next day. Takane realizes what bothered Hana and in their own strange way, they talk it over.

Takane seems to be growing more fond of Hana, even though he is still full of himself. It’s after he meets Okamon for the first time that this fondness can be clearly seen. His jealousy becomes more noticeable once Nicola comes into the picture. When Hana suggests that they go see the cherry blossoms, Takane teases her about it, but they go anyway. Okamon’s younger brother spots Hana and Okamon goes to say hi to her. Takane instantly asks about him, and pretty much checks Okamon out to see if he is a “threat” to him regarding Hana.

When it comes to Nicola, Takane becomes extremely protective of Hana. There is a past history between Nicola and Takane that has caused Takane to become bitter and grew distrust towards him. But Nicola is a very likable character in general. His ideas of how to treat women is incredibly different to Takane’s ideas.

The story line really starts to take shape in this volume. We see Takane’s flaws, Hana’s concerns or worries, competition (possibly?) and deeper exploration in friendships. The relationship between Hana and Takane is also starting to take shape, but as to what form, it’s unclear at this point. 

Volume 2 is definitely worth reading if a reader is still wondering if the manga in general  is any good. I’m up to volume 6 now and I can say that it only gets better…and the humor even more so. If you haven’t read it yet, but enjoy shojo manga, this is a definite must read!