I’ve been wanting to talk about this manga for a while now, and it’s already made its way into my manga top 10 of all time – which is coming to this blog next week – but I still want to dedicate an entire post to it. The Fragrant Flower blooms with Dignity is a romance manga by Saka Mikami. It follows the classic Romeo & Juliet story where two people from opposing backgrounds fall in love with each other. It’s a tale as old as time, but that’s fine, as long as the execution is good. And Fragrant Flower nails the execution in my opinion. Let’s talk about it.
Rin is the son of a baker and his wife. He’s always had an intimidating aura and felt left out a lot as a child due to this. The distance this created between him and his peers eventually caused him to become emotionally detached from the people around him. Inspired by a cool chef, he dyed his hair blond and got ear piercings, adding even more to his intimidating presence. He’s now a student at Chidori, a school for boys that has a rough and tumble reputation. He’s not very good at studying but despite being emotionally unavailable, he does have a group of friends that he’s surprisingly close with.
On the other hand we have Kaoruko, a student at the neighboring Kikyo. Kikyo is an elite all-girls school that only takes in the rich girls or the poor girls that show extreme potential. Kaoruko is there on a scholarship, which means she has to maintain high grades more so than anyone else. Kaoruko is a smart and serious girl, so this hasn’t been a problem, but it does require a lot of hard work from her. To reward herself for working so hard after a particularly stressful day, she stumbles into the patisserie that Rin’s parents own and where Rin sometimes works as well. During a low point where she is feeling vulnerable, Rin shows her a kindness that she desperately needs and she instantly falls for the young man. Rin mostly forgets the interaction until they meet again several months later and he saves her from some creeps in the street. They become friends and then start their romance not long after. And that is the core setup of this story.
There are three main points I want to talk about when it comes to this manga and I will be going into spoilers a little bit, but I won’t spoil very specific things, just the general vibe of the story. Feel free to check out the manga first if you want to avoid all spoilers, or continue reading if you’re not yet convinced. The first thing I want to talk about is the title of this post. It’s a quote from the story that really emphasises what makes this story work so well. Rin is a very kind person. He’s not pushy or over the top, but he is just kind to others because that’s who he is. Despite his looks, he has a heart of gold, and everyone that’s taken the effort to get to know him knows this. Kaoruko more so than anyone else. He is also a very insightful person. What he lacks in school smarts he makes up for in social skills despite not having many friends. He is very good with people once they give him a chance. Although Rin is a handsome young man, the sole reason Kaoruko fell for him was the way he treated her. He treated her with kindness but he also treated her with respect. He is understanding of her situation as their two schools do not want to hang out with each other, but he is also well aware that happiness cannot be defined by the rules that the people around us try to apply to us. The two are absolutely perfect for each other.
The second thing I wanted to talk about is the friendship between Rin and his three friends at school. Usami is always cheerful, Natsusawa is a bit cold at first sight but cares more than you think and Yorita is the clever one of the group, who also looks out for his friends. The three have been friends with Rin for ages, but since Rin isn’t big on opening up to others, it takes until the meeting with Kaoruko for their friendship to really blossom. And blossoming it does. The amount of trust that these four eventually have in each other is absolutely beautiful. They have the patience to hear each other out, but they can also get into fights if they disagree with each other. At the end of the day, they have the maturity to make up and forge even stronger bonds. When they find out that Rin is hanging out with girls from the Kikyo school they don’t get angry at him like he expects, but instead they protect him from a group of delinquents so that he can get the girls home safely.
This brings me to the third and most important thing I wanted to talk about when it comes to this manga. The influence it has on teenagers. There was a little bit of discourse that I came across when looking up some information for this series. Some of the comments have argued that the writing in this manga was a bit wish-fullfilment-y (that’s not a word, I know). And I don’t disagree with that assessment, but I also don’t think it is a bad thing. The characters in this series are often very kind towards each other and are very good at resolving the problems they encounter, despite still being children. Sure, they’re in their late teens, so they are starting their journey towards being adults, but as someone working in a school full of teenagers I can assure you that they are still very much little children most of the time. But sometimes they surprise you with how insightful they are and it’s that kind of positivity that we need to spread more. Quite a few of the boys and girls that I teach have actually seen the anime for this show (they’re around 13-15 years old) and really like it. Other anime they really enjoy are shows like You and I are polar opposites, A silent Voice and Ramparts of Ice. These are all shows I probably wouldn’t have watched at their age, let alone freely discussed with my peers. These boys and girls are very open about their feelings and I strongly believe that we need more media that promotes this kind of healthy discourse among teenagers. These same boys will get into trouble for their behavior half the time, but when it’s balanced out with having healthy conversations about what makes them emotional then I am confident that the kids are alright.
If this post hasn’t convinced you that The Fragrant Flower is a must-read, then I don’t know what else to tell you. You should either read the manga or watch the anime and judge for yourself. After finishing up this review, I am actually going to read the latest volume, which only arrived just the other day. I hope you enjoyed this post and as always, thanks for reading!
Opal Kaharis 