“Antigamente, este lugar parecia uma casa mágica. Era um lugar que te fazia sorrir mesmo chorando… Ter que voltar para esta casa agora me deixa muito, mas muito feliz…” Quando era criança, Mao vivia indo na casa do seu vizinho da frente, Hiro, pois sempre se sentia bem lá. Alguns anos depois, Mao acaba saindo da casa de seu pai após ele formar uma nova família. Sem ter onde ficar, ela acaba indo morar com Hiro que vive sozinho desde que perdeu seus pais. E então… Assim, começa a alegre, porém levemente triste, vida a dois dos amigos de infância que têm uma certa diferença de idade...
Having read only the first few volums, I've got to say that this one is seriously good!! No wonder it has won so many awards. The story is good, with some depth in it that is revealed gradually. The drawings are beautiful and the love story is okay (plus, I didn't really mind the age difference). I also liked that the story has a smooth continuation, without being bombarded with the new characters in each chapter.
It's been a while since I last read a shoujo manga. When the shoujo craving came there's nothing can be done to stop it sooo... I read all 13 volumes of "Taiyou no Ie" in one afternoon.
I usually become super picky when it comes to shoujo manga duo to bad experiences with lamey cheesy silly shoujo books in the past. But I actually really enjoyed this one. It has the warmth of innocent young love and family.
I love how such broken-hearted, troubled young people came together and not just mended their own broken homes but also together built for themselves and people they love a new one. A lovely story full of sunshine and family memories. The fact that the main characters are so tied up with their families make me like this manga series even more because there are so many mangas which are too focus on the lovey dovey couples and almost erease their families (by lame reasons) so that..well..they can be each other's one and only? Blah blah
All the characters are likable, the drawing style is really cute ~ The character I like the most has to be Daiki-kun :3 Though I don't love "Taiyou no Ie" as much as "Kimi ni Todoke" and " Honey and Clover" but the fact that it revolves around family topic so much will give it a special place in my heart :"D It's a worth-trying shoujo mangas, you guys should definitely try picking it up~
Reread 2025: Randomly decided to read this again 3 years later, and it still hit the same as the first time. Also, now that I'm the same age is Hiro, I feel like I appreciate certain parts of the story a lot more. I love how this isn't just a romance, but a story of healing for two families.
This is now one of my top romance manga ever. I read all 13 volumes at once so this is a review for the whole series. This was honestly such a wholesome story. The main characters were able to lean on each other and eventually deal with their issues. I loved that there was a focus on the importance of family and friendship, which is not seen a lot in romance manga. Also, I liked that even though there were a lot of typical tropes with other "love interests", all of those were quickly resolved.
Since this is a romance, I do have to talk about the lead couple. Usually I find it pretty strange when a high schooler is dating a man in his early 20s (why does this happen so much in manga), but I thought their relationship was actually pretty reasonable and not weird in any way. They were childhood friends who started spending time together and eventually fell in love. Also majorly impressed with how Hiro knew about his responsibilities as an adult and didn't make a move on Mao until she moved out and he didn't have to take care of her anymore. This maturity is so rare with the usual leads.
100% recommend this to anyone. Literally in tears.
Yet another age gap romance manga, although this one had enough charm and emotion for you to almost miss the 6 year age gap between the love interests.
If I were to compare this with Living-Room Matsunaga-san, Vol. 1 (which I would do only because I read them in quick succession and they have similarities in concept), it would be clear that this is the superior of the two. This manga had more depth of storyline and range of emotional exploration. In Living-Room Matsunaga-san, Vol. 1 there was a complete lack of backstory beyond a few vague mentions of the protagonist’s “family circumstances” whereas in this manga not only did they delve into both love interest’s backstories, they actually leaned into it heavily enough that they used it to build up the storyline and influence the characters’ personalities.
The protagonist here sort of reminded me of Tyga from the anime Toradora except without a lot of the anger issues and that’s because they both have a lot of passion and the art was kind of reminiscent of the anime’s art style. And so of course, the protagonist is very likeable and one you root for throughout. She takes you through a rollercoaster of emotions and leaves you wanting to give her a hug.
The plot was great because it didn’t get in the way of the backstory but instead incorporated it in order to move the story along. The only downside to the efficient storytelling was that this volume was much too short—it was so good I didn’t want it to end!
Of course, I had to choose a shoujo manga, it's been a while! This story revolves around Mao and Hiro, both coming from broken homes, each in their own way, and both finding solitude in each other.
I had some troubles with the pacing of this first volume, everything was happening way too fast, and no matter what, some things were just impossible to happen and only happened for the sake of the plot.
Mao is a crybaby, but the drawing style is super cute. Not the strongest beginning for a manga series.
Manga Status: Complete Number of Chapters: 50 Genres: Shoujo, Slice of Life, Comedy, Drama, Romance
This review is for the manga series as a whole.
Taiyou no Ie is the story of Motomiya Mao, a high school student whose father has recently gotten remarried. With his new wife he gains a new daughter, and Mao feels more left out than ever. After Mao and her father butt heads, she moves in with her childhood friend, 23-year-old Nakamura Hiro, who lives alone in his family home.
This manga has romance as a genre, but it is very muted... and I'm completely okay with that. Instead, the main focus of this story was of family. Mao doesn't get along with her father, and was abandoned at a young age by her mother. Hiro, on the other hand, had a great life: both of his parents loved each other, and he had a younger brother and a younger sister. His house was filled with love and happiness, so much that Mao spent most of her free time there instead of sitting home alone. But when Hiro's parents die and his siblings relocate to live with different relatives, Hiro's dream of living in their home, happy and all together, seems infinitely far away.
I actually really liked Mao. She had a lot of dark emotions, but instead of becoming an angry, spiteful character, she let out these emotions by writing a cell phone novel based on her life. She's actually really popular under her assumed pseudonym (a historic play on her name). Mao's writing is what releases and relieves her painful emotions, and I like that this manga showed that creativity can ease hurt and act as therapy. It's also a fun twist that Hiro has been keeping up with her novel... completely unaware that she's the author.
But Hiro is actually kind of a bland character, in my opinion. I don't know. I didn't love or hate him, though I really did like to see his interactions with Mao.
The romance is sweet and understated. Of course, Hiro and Mao grow closer together the longer they live in the same house. Mao actually falls for him. And what's nice is that this isn't the possessive kind of like. Mao decides that she's going to help Hiro meet his dream of having his entire family living under one roof, happy and together.
There is a bit of a love triangle though, between Mao, Hiro, and (dun dun) Hiro's younger brother, Daiki. I would guess that you know how this triangle ends up, but I don't want to reveal the finer specifics of it.
Taiyou no Ie is an enjoyable manga, but not one of my favorites. I liked it and finished it quickly enough, but I didn't love it. I just simply liked it.
House of the Sun, a manga I discovered on Hoopla, is a surprisingly touching exploration of loneliness and the search for belonging.
We follow Mao, a teenager feeling invisible in her own home, and Hiro, a young man carrying the weight of loss. Years after forming a childhood bond, Mao finds herself feeling increasingly alienated by her father's new family. Seeking a sense of home, she moves in with Hiro, who himself yearns for connection in his empty house.
The manga delicately navigates the age difference between Mao (17) and Hiro (around 23), portraying their relationship not as romantic or inappropriate, but as a genuine connection built on mutual need. Hiro desires someone to share his home with, while Mao desperately seeks someone to acknowledge her. The author masterfully conveys the quiet ache of their loneliness, making you root for them to find happiness together.
I'm not sure if a relationship between the two grows, maybe, but the focus now is two people feeling so alone, they finally find comfort in each other's presence. And maybe we all need someone in our life not to feel so cold and isolated. A 4 out of 5.
I'm a sucker for found family stories. It started out found family between two lonely neighbors since they knew each other in childhood, but then the female protagonist, a high schooler, near the end of the volume realized she was in love with the male protagonist, who is an adult business man. She even confessed to him and I was flabbergasted at how fast this pace was considering how there were more volumes after this.
There were parts of the book I can relate to as my mother is hardworking and I felt lonely not having her around, but knew she was doing it for me and my brother.
I'm curious where the series will go so I'll continue reading it, but I swear Japan has this thing about high schoolers and adults in relationships and how a girl and a man can't be just simply found family and not lovers. They continue to give these characters love interests too and I'm here like whyyyyyyyyyyyyyy??!!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Sometimes understanding who says what is confusing. Also, sometimes Mao looks like a kid and sometimes like a young woman. However, other than these two issues, I enjoying reading the first volume. The story is emotional alright. Even though I don't face similar problems with my family, I understand the feeling of not belong as well as the feeling of loneliness so I am touched. I believe I will continue reading Taiyou no Ie.
The story in this has definitely a huge potential. I loved the concept and the structure of the manga. What I was disappointed in, was the art style. It's pretty skatchy and feels amateur.
I really hope that with time I will see an evolution on the art as well, being 13 volumes there's definitely hope and space for get better.
For now it has a very interesting story but needs some art improvement.
It's difficult to like the protagonist, yet you still end up feeling for her. This is actually a really interesting series. There are a lot of misunderstandings but I like that it focuses on the idea of 'family'. I think mangas with a strong theme focus have a better chance of gaining more attention. This is one of those. It certainly caught my attention.
Wow! This is such an amazing series of manga volumes. The story is well drawn and written and I could easily relate to the characters and their emotions. I'm quite sure I'll read this series over and over as times goes by in the same way you might visit with a friend that you haven't seen for awhile and wish to get to know them again.
Diese Reihe wollte ich schon seit langem anfangen. Band 1 hat mir auch so weit gefallen...Ich bin nur mit Mao noch nicht so richtig warm geworden. Es tat mir jedoch leid, dass ihr bisher nie wirklich das Gefühl gegeben wurde geliebt zu werden oder sich zu Hause bei ihrer Familie geborgen zu fühlen.
About the whole series: a cute story about people trying to find a sense of belonging, or a sense of family. A bit slow at times but stuck to a pretty realistic story line which made it more enjoyable then some of the other manga out there. Didn't like it enough to read or skim through again though.
I tried reading it twice but unfortunately didn't click with me because the whole romance scene was pretty much making me impatient to wait for it to happen so I'm gonna just pass this manga yet again...
This was a cute first volume! I love this mangaka’s art style and their characters! This is my second series from them! I am enjoying this series so far and will be reading more! I love the fact that most of the volumes are on Comixology Unlimited! I will probably binge them!
Hat mir wirklich gut gefallen und ich freue mich auch schon sehr auf Band 2, aber hier und dort waren mir manche sachen doch zu kindisch xD aber sehr lustig, traurig und schön einfach!