Takane to Hana
Takane & Hana

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Takane to Hana review

A story about a Teenage girl who replaces her sister (Flaked due to having a boyfriend) with an arranged meeting with a high profile CEO of the largest corporation in Japan. You've read shoujo manga you know the type. However immediately he's rude to her so she also is rude to him and leaves in a huff. However with his pride being hurt and horrified how a women hasn't fallen for him cuz of his existence being existing, he will now try to woo her constantly through the weirdest way possible. She annoyed with him though finding him funny due to extravagance ... she intends to make him fall in love with her instead. Hence the Push and pull relationship starts and However falls in love first LOSES.

If you couldn't tell this is some Kaguya shit going on. The MMC is full of himself but it works because the FMC pushes back hard. They both want the other one to fall in love first whilst both of them due to there constant teasing, affection and various situations mostly romantic than sexual they slowly start gaining feelings for each other. This results in the push and pull dynamic as I mentioned earlier. This isn't the first series to do that. But it works because of the equal mental pairing of the characters. Despite being 26 the Male lead is more immature, despite being 16 the female lead is the more mature one. The money difference also allows for some actual funny gags. Rare for a romcom unlike the many garbage ones that get praised.

The manga is 18 volumes yet it works because the core of the series. The romantic Comedy aspect of the series is actually very good. The jokes aren't all amazing but most of them do land unlike other romcom like Nisekoi or Love Hina or Maison Ikkoku. The manga also isn't excessive in comedy. Its not using comedy to hide its bottom tier writing and characters Like Jitsu wa watashi wa often did. It has the right balance. Though I still wish It gave the more emotional moments the right amount of breathing room. It felt a little short and undercut with comedy at times.

The characters are great. They have great chemistry both the male lead and female lead have various stages of character development whilst not alienating from there original personality. The age gap is surprisingly not really a thing. Its just there as like a passing mention thing. It doesn't have an arc, It feels more like something that exists because the author is into older guys. Hana the FMC does mention how different there world is because of there age gap but its not an obstacle. Even when it seems like its an obstacle its not. They mention it more times than it being an actual problem.

The family drama as it does appear. This IS a shoujo manga after all. Is also kinda well done. Mostly because it retains the humor while not making the situations too dark. There is 1 scene that definitely crosses the line. But you know its just one scene. If you've read Shoujo manga you know what I'm talking about.

The characters romantic development is sweet and engaging. I did think that these couples are meant to be together. There isn't a love triangle due to how short lived it is. This is seems to be recurring theme as something dramatic isn't as long as it should be. But this isn't really a bad thing.

In the end its the ending that kinda bothered. The whole sweep all the garbage under the rug. Bad guy does good stuff now. No one is at fault really. Its my parents and then the parents get the back story that their parents were assholes and so on and so on.

The jokes don't always land, the family drama could've been better, shouldn't undercut some serious scenes with jokes but honestly there isn't a lot to complain here. The comedy is funny when it matters, the romance is tight and to the point, the development is nice and not overtly done. And you have a naked tap dancing scene so why haven't you read this manga already.

One of the romance series that is actually funny unlike the many other series that wave the romcom tag.

This is a simple story of a highschool girl and a rich guy heir to a fortune, rather it's not that simple.

This managa is surprisingly good and is a treasure trove of true rom-com, because it has no chapter that is not wholesome and also makes you laugh.

This simple story that starts with some arrangement marriage meeting, is both wholesome and comedic. The bonus stories and the 4-koma stories at the end of chapters are just cherry on top of this amazing reading experience this manga provides.

The art is very appealing and at times it's only the art that makes one giggle. Both ... the main characters and the side characters are very detrimental to how the manga plays out.

All in all, it's well worth the time to be reading this manga that has all typical shoujo manga cliches, which are so excellently put in place that it seems super natural to the course of story. Nothing in the entire manga feels out of place. It's a shoujo manga that is not like others even when it has so many plot points that are similar. It's a uniques experience with how the manga draws attention and excites the urge to see what happens with the characters' life ahead.

Takane to Hana is one such Rom-Com which doesn't screw up with the plot it's going with. It's straight up a blessing in disguise sort of managa that elevates ones heart to feel warm.

Plot
A highschool girl (female MC 15 years) had to pretend to be her elder sister in an arranged marriage setting with the heir (male MC 26 years) of a conglomerate. our MC is arrogant and insults her (using too much makeup, only here for his money etc..), which leads her to get angry at him. MC loves her "fiesty" attitude and starts courting her to make her fall for him. she wants to do the opposite. and this is a journey to a scandalous relationship between an adult business man and a high school girl.

Age Gap Romance
lets get to the point. ... I am fine with any amount of age gaps when both of them are above 22 ish, because that's when most people get out of college and can start acting like adults and being responsible for their choices. OTOH, a highschool girl at 15 in a relationship with 26 year old mega rich guy? its disgusting.
I first hated it, but then i realized that high school characters in manga never actually act like high school characters. and adults never act like adults either. I MEAN IT. These high school girls are way too mature and our male MC is way too immature.
I accepted it as just a part of "setting", and just ignored that whole thing. Trying to compare 2D manga and 3D real life will make them both worse.

Trigger WARNING
There is a scene where a bunch of thugs kidnap and almost raping a high school girl. But the way it is handled feels silly. It is drawn like a pillow fight between the girl and the thugs. and the guy responsible for this whole mess faces is redeemed by the end of the chapter and faces *zero* consequences.


Characters
Well.. its a shoujo manga, almost all characters are super sweet. The author heavily leans on the "if you are fighting, it means you are in love" angle. 80% of our main character interactions are them fighting like brats, and finally making up with each other. It was okay to start with story with, but when it happens too often, you get the feeling that author is out of ideas, so is using made up fights/drama to pad/stretch the manga out. It just gets annoying at some point. I wanted more focus on the side characters, so that we could get a break from the main characters.

Female MC family
The family, especially the father and sister, interacting with male MC lead to a lot of comedy. The sister is absolutely gorgeous and smh seems to be quite a strong character. I was really hoping that the manga would focus a little bit on her and her antics. The mother is actually the only sensible/realistic (relatively speaking) character in the show.

MC's assistant is also a great character. I really wished for yukari (female MC's sister) and this perfect butler guy to get into a relationship.

Art
The best part is all the weirdly designed costumes female MC is forced to wear on dates. I also loved when we had male MC be reduced to a chibi version for comedy.

Overall
I would say the manga is worth a read if you are bored. The love story and most of the plot feels very much contrived. But it is carried by the comedy and the sweetness. I mean, you don't read shoujo manga for realistic depictions of human nature :)

If you need an actual age gap romance, i recommend "Behind the super market, smoking with you". Both characters are adults and is less annoying in general.