薫る花は凛と咲く 9 [Kaoru Hana wa Rin to Saku 9]

薫る花は凛と咲く [Kaoru Hana wa Rin to Saku] #9

by Saka Mikami, 三香見サカ

底辺男子校・千鳥高校に通う凛太郎と、お嬢様校・桔梗女子の薫子。ある休日、夏休み明け久々のデートを楽しむ凛太郎と薫子だったが、その様子を桔梗女子の友人4人に目撃されてしまう。彼女らは薫子を心配し、付き合うことを反対するが、千鳥に偏見を持たない柚原まどかの存在により、ついに凛太郎たちと会う決断をする。隣接する二校の相容れぬ深い溝、その行方は──…。

Genres: Manga, Romance, Contemporary, Comics, Young Adult, Japanese Literature, Slice Of Life

192 pages, Paperback

First published August 8, 2023

Reviews

[rory (jess' version) · Rating 5 out of 5]

i might just dye my hair black because of this. anw the characters in this story is well written and complex it's kind of unreal how good natured they are. plus the fact that they can all communicate well, express their wrongdoings, and admit the insecurities they have which they've been bottling up their whole life. they're so emotionally intelligent despite the fact that they're still young.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

The dreaded moment of Kaoruko and Rintaro’s relationship being discovered has come to pass, which has put Kaoruko’s friendships between a rock and a hard case (I think I’m reusing that joke, but please understand).

But Rintaro’s never been anything like the thug he’s been mistaken for, so this just means the gang is going to come together and simply friend away the problems, which does tend to be this series’ modus operandi.

Still, in a world of cold cynicism, I don’t mind this sort of warmth, even if I do think it’s a little too simplified at times. Of course, this just means that when we get a little friction it stands out all the more.

As you can tell based on the cover, Rintaro goes back to his roots, so to speak, this volume and I’m genuinely glad that Kaoruko tried to stop him because I think this sort of ‘I’ve changed’ moment is far too conformist every time I see it.

Having her call that out was really welcome, and I have to say that his response to this was also terribly sweet and showed how much he cares about her. These two have a very genuine relationship, although it does lack a certain frisson of passion.

It was a great volume to show just how much Subaru has changed, not to mention her relationship with Rintaro. I really enjoyed the two of them playing off one another.

Honestly, all the supporting cast does a bang-up job this time out. They’ve come together to become such a close friend group and it’s nice to see them care for one another and hang out.

When the other girls do show up, it is really a vehicle for the Ayumi Sawatari show. And what a show it is. We’ve seen a lot of these characters who are slowly being crushed under both expectations and their efforts to live up to some failing to bear fruit.

What I loved was how this manifested as her unwillingness to meet the boys, as Ayumi has pinned her entire self-worth on saying that at least she isn’t as bad as the boys at the school next door. It’s a hell of a coping mechanism.

It’s also a coping mechanism that suddenly begins to fall apart in the face of a reality that’s a little more nuanced than that. I really loved how these conversations played out - her reluctance is believable, yet unusual.

And, yes, the power of having a good talk cures all the problems in the world. Still, Rentaro delivers a killer piece of dialogue that shows Ayumi that she’s not as bad as she thinks and it’s just a fantastic argument that I was super impressed by.

Overall, this is turning out to be a great arc. I’m genuinely looking forward to seeing where things go when next volume hits. I mean, it’ll be all love and peace, but somehow this keeps getting away with it.

4.5 stars - I genuinely do think that this might be too nice for its own good, but there’s no denying that it’s strength lies in precisely how nice it is. Very strong and a great volume.

[charly · Rating 5 out of 5]

THIS VOLUME WAS TOO ANGSTY. The fact Rintaro dyed his hair back to protect Kaoru. I CANNOT. The whole friend group is too kind and full of supportive and good people. The development is crazyy and I love it. They are all too wholesome in wanting to help Kaoru and Subaru and also telling Kaoru it’s ok to be vulnerable in front of them. Just AHHH. Rintaro and her being alike in the way they suppress their feelings to make others not worry😭.
Rintaro wanting Kaoru to feel safe being weak in front of him. He is so supportive of her in a healthy way. So refreshing. The meet up scene was so awkward but cute and also angsty at the same time. Madoka is defo my new favourite girlie. I love her bubbly personality and her questions and energy at that meet up were too funny and adorable.
Ayu man I get her mental breakdown tbh. Good people never see just how loved and good they really are. I now see that being a recurring thing in this manga. Ayu though, it was so sad seeing her calling herself names and blaming herself for ruining the meet up. I loved how Rintaro talked to afterwards and then Kaoru did then the girlies did. It was so uplifting to see how many people saw her as a good person and loved her too. Made me tear up tbh. That last scene was so funny too, when Madoka ran to catch up to the boys. LOVE HER

[aimi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bin bisschen bummed, weil der Manga mit den letzten Bänden für mich keinen Funken Spannung mehr hatte. Dieser Band besonders, aber das liegt auch daran, dass ich den Konflikt rund um die Schulen von Anfang sehr schwach und überdramatisiert fand. Aktuell drehen sich die Bände nur darum, dass alle Charaktere sich um die Wette entschuldigen und empathisch versuchen es jedem Recht zu machen. Das wird fast zum Wettkampf und nimmt jeglichem Konflikt oder Wachstum die Luft weg. Es sind nicht mehr viele Bände, daher werd ich bis zum Ende lesen, aber ich hoffe, der nächste Band gefällt mir wieder besser. 🥲

[Bawy{•_•} · Rating 3 out of 5]

*** 3.5✨***

[Juju ♡ ～('▽^人) · Rating 4 out of 5]

the amount of kindness i'm witnessing should be illegal

[Afifahcookie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wasn't really a fan of this volume. It mainly focused on the relationship among friends, especially the girls from Kikyo. Looking forward to seeing Madoka join the main group! She'll fit right in~

Side note, it's been a blast watching Rintaro's character development.

Story & Plot: 3 ⭐
Characters: 5⭐
Writing: 4 ⭐
Enjoyability: 3 ⭐

[nibha ⋆˚꩜｡ · Rating 5 out of 5]

why are all these characters so fleshed out and so incredibly written, author who allowed you to be so good at your job 🗣️‼️ all of them being grateful to each other makes me feel so warm inside, their friendships are truly saving them :(

[MargReadsManga · Rating 5 out of 5]

First of all, this cover.. HOT! 🔥🔥🔥 Rintaro looks so good with black hair too! From the beginning, I had a feeling that Rintaro and Kaoruko would start breaking down the prejudices between the schools. It’s so awesome to see that happening!!

[Lucy Tonks (the invisible life of a reader) · Rating 5 out of 5]

i wanna be friends with all of them

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

His hair 😭😭

[Paula ♡ · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 ✨ stars

I'm crying. that's the review

[Jess | jadecanread · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rintaro dyes his hair back!!!!

Recap: meeting with the kikyo girls, one flips out after realizing the guys are all good and smart even. She runs off and rintaro chases her. She and Karoku make up and all the girls comfort each other. Ends with them going to dinner.

[Kelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

RINTARO—the man you are

[Elizabeth Hatter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lives were changed

[Susanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ah, another overflowingly sweet and positive volume. The boys prepare to meet with the girl friends of Kaoruko and Subaru who witnessed Kaoruko on a date with Rintaro and were shocked by it. Rintaro is determined to make sure he’s not harming Kaoruko’s reputation in any way. That leads to him dying his hair back to black even (it’s not a spoiler, as it’s already on the cover.)

The meeting is awkward at first, but most of the two groups are determined to behave well and treat each other nicely. And when one of them is a bit rude, it’s followed by a lot of soul-searching, confessions, and forgiveness.

I wasn’t sure I liked that the focus was widened from the main group, it added too many characters in the mix, but it helped to freshen up the story now that Rintaro and Kaoruko are finally dating. And I love how Rintaro has found his self-confidence, teasing and flirting with Kaoruko a little without completely losing his cool. And maybe the focus will change to other characters now that the main pair is together. I’ll have to read on to find out.

[K · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is honestly starting to get a liiiittle too overpoweringly positive for me. Can we have maybe one character who isn't going to spend 50 pages apologizing about how they were a little bit mean once?

This whole volume is about the Kikyo girls finally meeting the Chidori boys. Of course they all get along fabulously, with Usami's cheerful extroversion breaking down any initial awkwardness. I still really enjoy the braids girl, Yuzuhara, who could be really cute paired up with Usami but probably way too chaotic. It's a little hard to understand how someone that casual and cheerfully careless about her grades would be at Kikyo, but that's kind of the theme of this volume.

While there was way too much time spent with everyone having long speeches about how happy they are to all be friends, and how every person is important in their own way, I did like the spin on why Ayu was so determined to hate Chidori. There's a little bit of brainwashing - Usami literally says they were "programmed" to dislike them, which is a great way of putting it - but Ayu has also been using Kikyo's superiority as a way to feel better about herself.

She's the youngest daughter in an extremely high-achieving family, but at Kikyo, she's middle of the road at best. Her grades keep slipping, no matter how hard she tries, and her only real consolation of late has been reminding herself that at least she's at Kikyo. At least she's average at a top-tier school that's so much better than other schools, which makes her better than other students, which means she's still doing okay.

But then she finds out that not only are the Chidori guys super friendly and nice and not scary delinquents at all, but one of them is a whole lot smarter than she is...and she can't handle it anymore. It's toppling her already shaky sense of self.

Honestly, some of this probably applies to the teachers, too, who can use their status as Kikyo instructors to feel better than their colleagues. It'd be interesting to see a bit more of the adult side of things, now that all the students are best friends.

I was surprised that Rintaro dyed his hair black for Kaoruko's friends - I'd seen spoilers of his hair a while ago and had assumed it would be more of the traditional meeting-the-family route, but in reality her family accepted him just as he was, and it was her judgy friends who needed the extra attention.

But it's also Rintaro's way of letting go of the hurtful past that had made him start bleaching his hair to begin with. He's happy now, with friends and tons of support. He doesn't need to hide behind the bleached armor anymore.

So there are some really nice messages still mixed in here. I'm just getting a little tired of the long speeches about how wonderful everyone is. Hopefully now that we've gotten the whole cast together, more of the actual story can progress from here.

[Hisgirl85 · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5/5 stars. He's okay now 😭

[Hellie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This volume is quite interesting, especially the last parts of Volume 9, where all of them met at a coffee shop and started getting to know each other. Almost every character has depth, bruh as in no one feels wasted, and you can really understand where each one is coming from. I’m super curious why the teachers at Kikyo are so strict or particular about what kind of students they expect, especially when compared to the students of Chidori. Why are they so “pressed” about maintaining the image of being “perfect” or achieving high grades? It’s actually very interesting. I also can’t help but feel bad for Ayu 😭. I think a lot of people can relate to her, you know as someone coming from a family with high expectations, achieving a lot, but still feeling like a failure whenever she falls short despite all her efforts. I’m really glad that the girls from Kikyo—Kaoruko’s friends—met someone like Rin. Their communication has been so healthy and helpful, and I feel like it’s making a big difference in how they handle their problems & misconception.

PS: i just wish nothing bad happened like the school or teacher finds out about them being friends with the boys ‘cause i’m scared that this might reflect to kaoruko’s scholarship… 😖

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars
Dieser neunte Band war mal wieder toll. Ich liebe die Kommunikation zwischen den Charakteren und man sieht, wie sehr Rintaro und Kaoruko sich bereits verändert haben und sich ihren Freunden öffnen. Fand es auch witzig, dass nun erkannt wurde, wie ähnlich die beiden sich eigentlich sind. Dass die Jungs dem Treffen zugestimmt haben, fand ich auch echt gut. Und es hat ja auch wirklich gut angefangen, wenn die Mädchen auch etwas verhalten waren (bis auf Madoka). Ayus Ausraster ist für mich persönlich schwer nachzuvollziehen, aber ich erkenne an, dass diese Begegnung ihr Welt- und Selbstbild zerstört hat, was auf keinen Fall leicht ist. Rintaro und ihre Freundinnen haben aber nicht aufgegeben und sie konnten sich aussprechen. Ich bin gespannt, wie es nun weitergeht, denn Natsuzawa hatte ja eigentlich angefangen, was zu erklären. Und ich denke, Rintaros neue Haare werden auch noch Gesprächsstoff werden. Super tolle Reihe, die ich jedem empfehlen würde. Es ist einfach erfrischend, so aufgeschlossene, offene, kommunikationsbereite Teenager auf ihrem Weg zu begleiten.

[maria cecília · Rating 5 out of 5]

Demorou um pouco pra aparecerem as consequências do relacionamento entre a Kaoruko e o Rintarou, mas finalmente veio algo. O desenvolvimento entre a rincha das escolas foi até que bem construído nesse volume, porque eu ainda ficava me questionando "nossa será que vai ser só uma rincha mesmo e nunca vão explicar?". Mas acaba que deu pra entender que é mais um pressão social e comparação entre alunos/escolas, e uma disputa de classes talvez.

Muito bom ver que num primeiro momento nem todas as meninas do grupo da Kaoruko ficaram confortáveis de se "misturarem" com os meninos da outra escola, e apenas uma que achou a ideia legal. Super plausível, até porque elas vêm de uma classe diferente e nem sempre mudam facilmente. Além disso, pra mim foi um ponto muito importante no enredo da história porque o Rintarou mostrou que realmente se importa com a Kaoruko e deu um grande passo pra superar não somente a relação dele com o julgamento dos outros, mas com ele mesmo.

[cio · Rating 3 out of 5]

[3.75] This one felt like a deep breath after all the tension not because nothing happened but because it leaned into that quieter, emotional side of the story. It wasn’t flashy or packed with big dramatic twists but it had this steady warmth that made it so satisfying. Ayu’s situation was handled in such a thoughtful way as it didn’t excuse what she did but it gave us the “why” in a way that made her more human. I love that the group worked their way through it, respected that everyone’s feelings were real and kept moving forward. There was no overblown drama for the sake of it, just a gentle untangling of misunderstandings until things felt right again. By the end, everything was tied up in this soft, heartwarming way that felt like exactly what the characters needed after the previous volume’s whirlwind.

PS. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE RINTARO W BLACK HAIR

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rintaro originally dyed his hair and pierced his ears bc he wanted to copy a pastry chef he admired. He ignored comments by people who thought his appearance made him look like a delinquent. On one hand, I feel like his appearance was something he did for himself and dying it was him ignoring what makes him happy for someone else that he cares about. On the other hand, maybe he doesn’t need the blonde hair and piercings to feel cool or confident anymore and that changing it to help Kaoruko is okay bc she is more important to him than his appearance. It’s nice to see that the drama with her friends is slowly resolving after they caught Rintaro and Kaoruko together. The misunderstandings and stereotypes connected to Chidori are breaking down.

[Jellyjeli · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5

แอบคาดหวังตอนก่อนอ่านเล่มนี้เหมือนกัน เพราะว่ามันจะเป็นครั้งแรกที่กลุ่มเพื่อนของทั้งรินทาโร่แล้วก็คาโอรุโกะจะได้มาเจอกัน ซึ่งเราก็อยากรู้ว่ามันจะมีเรื่องดราม่าอะไรบ้างเพราะทั้งสองโรงเรียนไม่ถูกกัน

ในเล่มนี้บอกตรงๆว่ายิ่งปลื้มเจ้ารินจังเข้าไปอีก ยอมเปลี่ยนแปลงภาพลักณ์ของตัวเองเพื่อคนที่รัก ยอมทิ้งเรื่องราวในอดีตไปเพราะว่าปัจจุบันมันมีเรื่องที่สำคัญกว่าให้โฟกัสแล้ว แบบน้องไม่อยากให้คนอื่นมองมาแล้วเห็นว่าตัวเองไปทำให้แฟนตัวเองดูแย่อ่ะ ฮือ (แถมโมเม้นตอนที่แม่น้องมาเห็นคืออยากกอดแม่มาก น้องมันโตขึ้นแล้วใช่มั้ยคะะ ;-;)

ส่วมปมของอายูมิในเรื่องก็จะไม่โทษน้องเลย คิดว่าถ้าใครโดนแบบนั้นบ้างก็คงกดดันตัวเองทั้งนั้นแหล่ะ ซึ่งดีใจนะที่อย่างน้อยก็ยอมเปิดใจคุยกัน ไม่ได้เก็บเอาไว้คนเดียว

[ℂ ✧ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Porto un embolic considerable amb els capítols d'aquesta sèrie perquè diria que vaig més avançada que les publicacions en anglès. En qualsevol cas, aquest 9è volum segueix centrat a fer caure els prejudicis entre les dues escoles, cosa que genera certs conflictes en el grup d'amigues de la prota (sobre les quals anem coneixent els seus rerefons). Em continua semblant una sèrie molt cuqui, tot i que un pèl ensucrada i poc creïble a estones ^^' Això sí, agafes molt d'afecte a tota la colla de personatges ♥

[Riley · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVEEEEEE My boy with black hair.

Also, the characters in this book apologize SO MUCH!!!

Like I know to an extent that it’s socially pertinent to maintain harmony and express good intentions when one feels guilty….

…but one person will apologize and then another person will apologize and then the first person apologizes for apologizing which causes someone else to apologize for making everyone apologize when THEY should be apologizing…

Next time I read, I’m keeping a tally on how many times someone said sorry or it’s my fault in this volume. Because I know it’s more than 10 times for a FACT.

[Zent · Rating 3 out of 5]

The dialogue is getting excessively unrealistic. I understand it's a story and we're supposed to suspend disbelief, but it's getting a bit silly. People are nowhere near this perceptive, empathetic, and willing to change their longheld views so easily after talking to a stranger for 10 minutes. They don't apologise for every little thing. They're nowhere near as understanding of other people's bad traits and try to put a positive spin on them. If it's between friends you've known for a while I get it, but randos you just met?

[Cassandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one is cute, I love a strong friend group that shounen ai manga seem really good at delivering. This volume just seemed a little too much of a repeat of previous friendship confessions and then growth. Really it was the girls apologizing for their misconception to the guys and confessing how much they value their girl friends. Which is fine just felt repetitive and I didn't love it I am excited for us to move on from this and get some romance and friendship growths that don't deal with tears and apologies.

[Belén Coronel Blanes · Rating 4 out of 5]

RINTARO VOLVIÓ AL CABELLO NEGROOO

Toda la reunión con las chicas de Kikyo, entendí un poco el sentimiento de Ayumi Sawatari, pero no me gustó que los tratara así a los chicos solo por falsas ideas impuesta por profesores de su escuela.
Me gusta que cada personaje tenga su historia de trasfondo, los hace más profundos y menos vacíos. Y también me gusta la importancia que se le da a la amistad, la adolescencia es una etapa que puede ser difícil y es genial poder contar con el apoyo de tus amigos.

[Latifah S Ningrum · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cover dari volume kali ini seakan udah ngasih spoiler kalo Rintaro punya rambut warna hitam. Aku jujur kerasa terharu liat interaksi Si Kaoru sama Rintaro sebelum Rintaro ambil keputusan soal rambutnya.
Tokoh Ayumi maupun Madoka bikin warna cerita di volume kali ini makin seru. Makin seneng deh liat interaksi siswa Chidori sama siswi akademi Kikyo. Epilog di volume ini bikin nggak sabar baca volume selanjutnya!