The Gentlemen's Alliance †, Vol. 5

紳士同盟 クロス [Shinshi Doumei Cross] #5

by Arina Tanemura, Nancy Thistlethwaite (Editor)

From the creator of Full Moon o Sagashite Please note: Reads Right to Left (Japanese Style)

 

In return for a business loan of 50 million yen, the prestigious Kamiya family gave their daughter Haine away to the Otomiya family. Haine, now an Otomiya, is appointed to the student council of the exclusive Imperial Academy, a private school for the aristocracy. Even though Haine is of proper lineage to be on the council, she finds herself struggling to find her place among the many secrets of its elite members, especially those of the president who holds her heart--Shizumasa Togu, aka "the Emperor."

 

Haine has been stripped of her Platinum status and ousted from the student council. Shizumasa refuses to acknowledge her, and she learns that even her adopted family has been lying to her. With nowhere else to turn, Haine returns to the man who sold her to save his business--her birth father, Kazuhito Kamiya.

Genres: Manga, Romance, Graphic Novels, Shojo, Young Adult, Comics Manga, LGBT

184 pages, Paperback

First published September 15, 2006

About the author

Name in Japanese: 種村有菜 (Tanemura Arina)
Western Zodiac: Pisces

Arina Tanemura was born on March 12, 1978. She's the author of Full Moon O Sagashite, Time Stranger Kyoko, Kamikaze Kaito Jeanne, The Gentlemen's Alliance Cross, Sakura Hime Kaden, and more.

Her favorite hobby is Karaoke. One song that she sings is Smile, originally by Myco. She has two cats, named Riku and Kai. She has one elder and one younger sister and one brother. She's the type who hates to lose in anything. She also likes Ribon.

Reviews

[Luke Reynolds · Rating 3 out of 5]

Update (8/5/16): I've officially decided not to continue with the series. I'll be happy in reading Tanemura's other stuff, but I don't think this series is going to work.

I'm honestly not sure what Arina Tanemura is trying to do with this series. What I thought was going to be a student council slice-of-life comedy with some romance drama has thrown the student council aside in favor of Haine pining after Shizumasa (who isn't even the actual Shizumasa and whose name we officially learn is Takanari, the older twin brother of Shizumasa) while he continues to act hot and cold to her (he doesn't even apologize for pushing her to the ground, smooth) and there's also some family tidbits that would be really interesting if they didn't feel out of place amidst this convoluted plot (Haine's biological mother having amnesia post her adoption feels contrived). I don't think the cast needs to be as big as it should be, the main couple should just be together already, and all the love triangles and pining are just plain irritating at this point. However, Tanemura's art is spectacular, and there are some really cute scenes in this (like Haine and Takanari's date where he eats a fast food hamburger for the first time ^_^), but I don't know. I want to give this one more volume to see if this improves and maybe turns out like Sakura Hime in terms of making the content broad without going overboard.

It's a shame too, especially considering that I thought this volume would be the most enjoyable because it seemed like all the drama was ending. There looks to be some set-up, and the short story at the back with Haine's adoptive brother Kusame and her biological sister Komaki was cute (also I want Kusame's tank with that collar ASAP). I have the next three volumes on end, so let's see where The Gentlemen's Alliance Cross takes me next. The soap opera thing is going to get annoying.

[Sabrina "Look At My Books" · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was really interesting to see what happened to Haines mother and to see "Shizumasa" and her together.

I really love to see him so happy with such open eyes. So beautifully drawn.
I also want to know what's really up with Ushio. She is indeed mysterious.

[Bibliothecat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Students attending the Imperial Academy are placed in a hierarchical order based on their parents' income and social standing. Haine is in the bronze class and is not even allowed to interact with the highest gold class - yet the gold class is reserved for the head of the school council, also known as the Emperor, who happens to be the one Haine has set her heart on. When chance allows for her to join the school council, she finds that now that she can finally speak to the Emperor, he does not seem very willing to do so.

I wish I could cover The Gentlemen's Alliance Cross with praise - yet if I try to describe it in a few words I'd come up with chaotic, illogical and terrible humour. From the time of its release, it has been my least favourite series (one-shots not included) by Arina Tanemura and has yet held that position. It's a bit of a modern take on Cinderella with a school for a backdrop that could have taken many routes - but it seems to have gone all over the place.

Let's start with my biggest peeve - where does this all take place? Judging by the names and clothing, it can only be Japan - or a pseudo-Japan? Because although it reflects our contemporary time in many ways, many of the social norms make no sense. Haine is given up for adoption in exchange for 50 million yen, the school's hierarchy seems absolute - you can't talk with people in higher classes and you can rise up in class if your parents pay enough money. Teachers barely seem present, it's like the students run the school in which gang fights are a thing. There's a lot of family abuse going on and people can be proclaimed dead without any investigation, there are forced marriages and just so many extremes. If this were a fantasy setting I wouldn't have minded - fictional worlds can have any rules. But in the setting in which it's presented, it just caused too much disbelief in me.

With that off my chest, let's go back to the beginning. Although the school's concept could have proven an interesting story, it's barely relevant. The plot consists of the characters' dilemmas - and boy are there many. There is not a single character with a normal life that isn't frightfully melodramatic. Let's look at Haine; she's cute but also an ex-yankee/gangster who can easily beat someone silly (why are there knife and snake fights at school again?). She became a yankee because she wanted to prove that she's not worth anything - because, you know, her dad sold her and all. In her mind, her new adoptive family doesn't really want or need her, she's just a burden - so what better solution than to roam the streets at night looking for trouble.

Of course, her whole adoption thing proves to have much more to it, her father's just another tortured soul trying to do the right thing. Her mum goes half insane over it which, once again, didn't make any sense! She's had her teeth knocked out during her yankee-time and whenever her now fake-teeth come out, she goes all strangely berserk - hello humour, you almost made me smile.

Anyway, Haine goes into depression-phase multiple times throughout the story. There are many would-be-climaxes that are either resolved too fast or just interrupted so it could be resolved in a later volume. And because Haine's problems aren't enough, the author made sure that every.single.character. has at least as many to whine over.

If this story would have been much shorter, less wanna-be-depressing and either in a fictional setting or one that makes sense in our world, this could have been a decent story. The council was quite a nice set of characters. I like how they were all pretty different and became great friends.

Shizumasa, the Emperor, starts off as your standard stand-offish main guy but he turns out to be pretty interesting. I feel as though he actually had a legitimate reason to be a jerk to everyone and you know, he's the first to get over himself. His backstory is by far the most interesting and it led to interesting conflicts - it was pretty easy to root for him and hope for a happy ending.

So, while I could try to look past the many, many flaws and read on for the good aspects and hope for a happy end - I can say the ending was a happy one for the characters, if not for me. It was utterly unsatisfactory and pretty much cheats its way past the main obstacle that stands between Haine and Shizumasa. Why resolve the story's main conflict if you can simply ignore it and they all lived happily ever after!

Despite all, I still find myself reading this from time to time. Although most of it is spent shaking my head, there must be enough good in it to make me reread it.

[✮Octjillery✮ · Rating 4 out of 5]

First read: Probably 2008ish
Second read: December 2021

This is probably my favorite volume so far, because: I love the Otomiya family SO much, the date is adorable, and Haine FINALLY---

The bonus story is also really cute. One thing is that you have to really overlook how toxic basically every relationship in this series is, or at least look at the shitty stuff they do as for the sake of drama instead of relating them to real people and relationships. It's less a "this series" and more of a "shoujo drama in general" thing, which I'm realizing more and more as an adult, especially re-reading series that I loved as a teen. I'm not saying it's acceptable; I've read manga and watched Kdramas where things were actually done well without the forced drama-for-the-sake-of-drama bullshit, so it can be done without making all of your characters suck. It's just rare to find it done well.

I somehow remember the next volume being frustrating, though, so I need to just plow ahead and get through it or else I'll set the series down for a few days that will turn into months and then forever like I always (unintentionally) do when series reach annoying plot points for a while.

[Nazish Ahmed (Nazish Reads) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have a lot of thoughts and I'm tired right now and going to go to bed and will write the review later. Hopefully, I can get my thoughts in order by then.

For now all I'm going to say is that while I will continue this series, I probably won't buy it and will just continue reading it on the Viz app. For the longest time I was unsure if I wanted to buy the rest of this series (I've had vol. 2 since I bought it used at Anime North 2012 but hadn't read it until last year), I might wait until I read vol. 6 but we're almost halfway through and if I'm still not enjoying this series enough to buy the other 10 volumes, then I think I should probably see that as a sign not to buy them.


Blog: nazreads.ca
Twitter: Naz_readsanime
Instagram: nazreads01, nazcosplay, nradesigns, charmedanimegirl01

[EyrisReadsTheWorld · Rating 5 out of 5]

J’adore ce tome, pour l’instant je pense que c’est même mon préféré. J’ai énormément rigolé en lisant ce volume, surtout au moment du rendez-vous avez Shizumasa. On voit enfin la maman de Haine dans ce volume, c’était très intéressant. C’est fou quand même comment les adultes ont a peu près les mêmes têtes que les adolescents xD

[Kaya Hayes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Things I liked about this volume-
-the whacky pacing and so much going on IMMEDIATELY
-art, as always
-some relationship building
-the cover, I love Maora

Things I disliked about this volume-
-I hate Senri with a passion
-I was not convinced with Kusame and his relationship

This volume was a little disappointing compared to the last, but I know I have things to look forward to

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

She really needs to get some hobbies and/or have something else to live for besides revolving her life around her childhood crush. Also, you would think her dad would've brought his daughter home sooner if his wife was losing her memories and the catalyst for that being him selling their daughter off

[sokka1111 · Rating 5 out of 5]

this series is sooo bad in a narrative way but i've always loved the art style and author and i never had access to this story as a kid so i'm powering thru for my inner child rn but also it's lowkey good sometimes but only sometimes

[Hannah H. · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite Magna!

[Em Mirra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pending.

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

OMGGGG this was so adorable and ANGSTY!!!!

Team Takanari all the way!!

[Liselotte · Rating 4 out of 5]

it's too cute really, I can't DEAL

[Ancelle Tache · Rating 3 out of 5]

This volume made me laugh so hard. The author has a way of making over the top scenes really entertaining instead of cringey

[cat · Rating 5 out of 5]

la famille otomiya ♡

[Betz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ich mag die Story, aber tue mich mit diesem Band etwas schwer, Stichwort Consent ….

[-moonprismpower- · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ohhh the ending!! The huge cliffhanger!!!!!
And that bonus story about Kusame and Komaki was just too cute. I was hoping he would fall in love with someone else.

[Kelley Angelica (bookswithbuns) · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Actual: 3.75⭐, rounded up) // Full review to come.

[ana · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5*

[Amanda Setasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I appreciated the fact that they finally explained what the heck was going on. XD It was an enjoyable volume.

[Yoyomaus Die Büchereule · Rating 3 out of 5]

Zum Inhalt:
Haine versteht die Welt nicht mehr, denn nach ihrem Kuss mit Shizumasa folgt aus heiterem Himmel das Aus als Platina! Doch Haine bleibt kaum Zeit, sich darüber Gedanken zu machen, denn auch ihre familiäre Situation wird immer komplizierter: Völlig unvermittelt holt sie ihr leiblicher Vater zu sich nachhause und dort begegnet sie nach langer Zeit endlich wieder ihrer Mutter…

Haine kann es nicht fassen, Shizumasa hat sie als Platina entlassen und niemand an der Schule beachtet sie mehr. Sie scheint wie Luft für die anderen zu sein und ihr Herz scheint ihr in der Brust zu zerspringen. Voller Liebeskummer versucht sie noch einmal Shizumasa zur Rede zu stellen, verpasst ihn aber knapp und bricht in ihrem Kummer in der Schule zusammen. Nachdem sie sich zu Hause etwas aufgepäppelt hat und etwas sucht, findet sie ein Sparbuch, auf dem ihr ganzes Geld, dass sie so sauer bei ihren Jobs verdient hat, eingezahlt worden ist. Für sie. Ihre Adoptivfamilie hat das Geld nicht angerührt. Haine erkennt bitter, dass sie immer versucht hat sich eine Familie zu erkaufen und rennt von zu Hause weg. Dort wird sie vor den Augen ihres Stiefbruders und ihrer Schwester entführt. Doch Komaki erkennt den Wagen und weiß sofort, dass niemand anderes dahinter steckt als ihr gemeinsamer Vater. Ehe sich Haine versieht steht sie einem Vater gegenüber, der scheinbar keine Gefühle für sie hegt, sie jedoch bittet zu ihrer Mutter zu gehen, da diese seitdem Haine fort gegeben wurde, ihr Gedächtnis verliert. Und dann tauchen plötzlich ihre Freunde aus dem Schulrat und Shizumasa auf, um sie aus den Fängen ihres Vaters zu befreien.

Die Fortsetzung des Mangas ist noch immer schleppend, was nicht zuletzt daher rührt, dass die Szenen noch immer absolut sprunghaft sind und die Beziehungen oder Empfindungen unter den Charakteren noch immer kreuz und quer gehen. Noch immer ist es schwer, trotz der tollen Zeichnungen, die Charaktere auseinander zu halten. Schön dargestellt werden aber die Emotionen. Haine erkennt, dass sie immer eine Familie erkaufen wollte, ihren Adoptiveltern irgendwie die Summe zurück zahlen, die sie einst für sie aufgebracht haben. Darüber hinaus hat sie einfach nicht erkannt, dass ihre Adoptiveltern sie auch so lieben und ihr ein liebevolles zu Hause geben. Erst jetzt erkennt sie, was sie an ihnen hat. Auch bei dem falschen Shizumasa tut sich was, denn er will nicht mehr im Schatten des Originals stehen und Haine endlich in das Geheimnis einweihen. Er will Haine als seien Freundin und ihr seine Liebe gestehen und zwar als der, der er wirklich ist. Und auch Haines beste Freundin Ushio macht immer mehr deutlich, dass Haine nicht nur ihre beste Freundin ist, sondern sie noch mehr für sie empfindet. Was dann aber wieder absolut verwirrend ist, ist die Begegnung mit ihrer Mutter. Diese kann sich nicht mehr an ihre Tochter erinnern und irgendwie macht es auch keinen Sinn, dass ihr Vater erst jetzt damit ankommt sie zurück zu holen, damit ihre Mutter ihr Gedächtnis wieder erlangt. Das ist nicht logisch. Besonders die Darstellung der Mutter ist in meinen Augen sehr übertrieben. Wie ein Vögelchen im Käfig. Eingesperrt und einsam. Irgendwie traurig.

3 von 5 Sterne

Taschenbuch: 184 Seiten
Verlag: TOKYOPOP (2. April 2007)
Sprache: Deutsch
ISBN-10: 3865806759
ISBN-13: 978-3865806758
Vom Hersteller empfohlenes Alter: 13 - 16 Jahre
Größe und/oder Gewicht: 12,6 x 1,7 x 18,9 cm

[Dharia Scarab · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since I don't normally write reviews unless I have something specific to say, here's the break down of how I rate my books...

1 star... This book was bad, so bad I may have given up and skipped to the end. I will avoid this author like the plague in the future.

2 stars... This book was not very good, and I won't be reading any more from the author.

3 stars... This book was ok, but I won't go out of my way to read more, But if I find another book by the author for under a dollar I'd pick it up.

4 stars... I really enjoyed this book and will definitely be on the look out to pick up more from the series/author.

5 stars... I loved this book! It has earned a permanent home in my collection and I'll be picking up the rest of the series and other books from the author ASAP.

[Cassiopeia's Moon · Rating 4 out of 5]

*Trying to remember exactly what happened in this volume.*

Reactions:
SHIT! No good. Why?
SHIT! SHIT! SHIT!
I don't understand... GO STUDENT COUNCIL!
^^
Senri..!! Grrr.... I'm not happy with you!
Jiiii!!!! I'M SO HAPPY!
HAHAHA!! Funny moment eating hamburgers x)
Omg... where is this going?
S.H.I.T.
Kusame ♥

From now on I'll have to write reviews as soon as I've read the book and not two days after.

[R. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well that backfired spectacularly. Definitely starting to feel bad for Takanari. Still can't decide what I think of Shizumasa for a variety of reasons. Haine is both predictable and surprising in her naivety and steadfast focus on her love. However this is going to play out, no one can claim it's boring. This is one series you really do have to pay attention to or you're going to miss a lot of details.... and those details are likely important later on.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn't sold on this series at first . It began a little slow and was confusing , but now that all the plot threads are coming together , I'm glad I stuck with it . I still like her other series better ( especially Full Moon ) , but this one is pretty good .

[Amethyst · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly amazing!!! This is my favorite one out of all of them!! I read this one more than 20 times!!! It's so good and everything gets really good and they start to fall in love and it's just amazing!!! <3<3<3<3<3 :):):):)

[Kereesa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series...it hurts everywhere.

Do you think there's a cure for that?

For I-wish-everyone-was-happy-and-I-love-the-fake-one-please-be-with-him-Haine-syndrome?

Probably not.

5/5

[Steph · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the art. Arina Tanemura is one of the greatest artist of mangas in my opinion. The story line still confuses me, but I'm starting to understand it and I love all the plot twists.

[Dylan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yeah Takanari realized his feelings for Haine. But whoa making out in a coffee shop then here comes shizumasa.

[Amy]

Gentlemen's Alliance , Vol. 5 (The Gentlemen's Alliance ) (v. 5) by Arina Tanemura (2008)