I actually first saw this series a couple of years ago when I was browsing Amazon Japan. I was drawn to the cover, but the title sounded like it could either be a traditional shoujo romance with a stubborn lion-like heroine (like the heroine of Toradora!) or a beast-like male lead.
Well, there is someone lion-like in the story, but I don’t think it’s the sixteen-year-old heroine… or her groom.
Sound the love triangle alert. And while you’re at it, sound the problematic romances alert too. Because in corner #1 we have a man who is thirty-ish and protagonist Yua’s teacher. I’m sure some of you have already crossed The Lion and the Bride off your reading lists, but if you’re interested in corner #2… it’s the teacher’s son and Yua’s classmate.
The manga starts off innocently enough. Yua, who is living alone because her grandmother (and last living relative) is in the hospital, dreams of getting married and does all the household duties. She is later given vegetables by a bespectacled young man, whom we later learn is her boyfriend and teacher.
But when her grandmother dies, Ryo asks to marry her. (I’m not even sure Ryo is his full name or a nickname — Yua just calls him Sensei.) The first night she moves in, she’s shocked that her jerky classmate who rejected her best friend, Subaru, is actually Ryo’s son. While Yua makes her displeasure toward Subaru well-known, the two gradually grow closer, especially since they pretend to date in order to hide Yua’s marriage with Ryo.
There are so many things wrong here that I almost don’t know where to start. I mean, not revealing you have a child? Getting married before going on a proper date? Pretending to date your stepson? And that’s not all. Both Ryo and Subaru make veiled statements that Yua’s relationship with the other — and even himself — is not as clear-cut as she thinks it is. Yua makes a bold statement that she can accept any secret her beloved has, but her reactions to Subaru living with them and finding out Ryo has been to the honeymoon hotel she’s picked out do not match her declaration.
If it weren’t for the whole marriage-and-classmate-stepchild thing, this probably would’ve been a fairly standard shoujo. Maybe not groundbreaking or great role models, but this whole setup is just one match away from an explosion. Or judging by the ending, maybe it’s already been lit. So, uh, credit to The Lion and the Bride for being unique I guess? But considering this series is only three volumes long, someone’s going to lose. It’s either the secret-keeping but cheerful father or the rude but lonely son. At least the manga so far is kept free from adult situations, as otherwise, that would open up a whole other can of worms.
The art is fine. It’s probably not quite as beautiful as the cover, as there are an abundance of images where the characters are just sulking. Mad, jealous, embarrassed — chances are, they’re either gritting their teeth or turning away. The panels are large, and I wish there were more backgrounds to help fill in some of the space. Some of Media Do’s other works have been iffy on the translation, but this one seemed fine even if I’m not a fan of naturally italicized fonts.
All in all, I’m tempted to continue out of a morbid curiosity. But for most manga fans, the setup is just too much of a turn-off to enjoy.