Kiss of the Rose Princess, Vol. 9

薔薇嬢のキス [Barajou no Kiss] #9

by Aya Shouoto

High school student Anise Yamamoto is the “Rose Princess” of four handsome Rose Knights. The identity of the Silver Rose is revealed, and Anise learns that her father has been captured by the Society. In order to rescue him, Anise must confront her true enemy…and choose her fate!

Genres: Manga, Fantasy, Romance, Shojo, Graphic Novels, Young Adult, Paranormal

188 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 25, 2012

About the author

Aya Shōoto is a Japanese mangaka.

She publishes under two names in Japanese, that spell the same but are written with different characters.
- 硝音あや: for shōjo manga
- しょうおとあや: for BL manga

Associated Names:
Aya Shōoto
Aya Showoto
Kashi

Reviews

[Victoria ✮⋆˙ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t really know what I was expecting for the ending and final volume but it certainly wasn’t that! It was a little lacklustre and rushed (an extra volume I think could have fixed this) but I still enjoyed myself a lot. It had some interesting twists!!

[Kayla Brunson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a bittersweet ending to this manga. I really enjoyed it, but I felt it could have used a bit more pages of them after they fought the battle. Maybe I just wasn't ready to say goodbye to Anise her knights. Especially Serian! This is definitely a series that I will be rereading!

[Julie]

SCRATCH WHAT I SAID BELOW. THIS IS FINALLY GETTING PUBLISHED IN ENGLISH. VIZ MEDIA YOOUUUUUUU BEAUT! I don't even care if they don't end up publishing all the volumes. As long as I get one pretty volume on my soon-to-be-but-right-now-non-existent-bookshelf I will be one happy duck!

----

So it turns out that the translations for the last volume are still being done so as of right now, this last volume is still incomplete. Therefore I have decided to not rate this yet or provide a proper review until I have completed it. Hopefully this will happen before the end of the year. When it does, I will most likely create a review for the full manga series, or just mesh my small review for each volume/tome together.

[marine ♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

the series was very addictive but the plot felt unfinished and clearly incoherent

[Jodi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this series was really cute in it's own way. I felt like some detail was crammed in last minute but it did bring most of the story full circle. Overall very well done in my opinion!!

[Alexis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series was enjoyable and cute. I want more though!

[Kris · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have been a fan of this series since it was only a fan translation, before its official English release. I own the whole series now and was able to finish out the last 4 volumes and I have to say that I was a little dissatisfied with the ending. It felt rushed and like there was too much going on, and I had more questions that didn’t get answered. Like what happened to her mother? Was she killed? Overall though this series is really cute, I just wish the ending was handled better.

[The Book Dragon · Rating 1 out of 5]

So... the fake roses put a whole town to sleep, Sleeping Beauty style, to draw Anise out and fight the real rose knights, only to have the whole thing be an elaborate set up by her father Schwarz so he could give an abridged version of "How I Met Your Mother" and then he gets captured by the Rose Society so this turns into a rescue mission. Also we find out that Anise and Mitsuru are related. Oh yeah, and the Arcana Cards and Demon Lord are still a thing... AND WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!

So yeah, with as few spoilers as possible, this series starts off as a fairly standard magical reverse harem rom-com, only for someone to switch the tracks and send this ride so far off course that I don't even understand how we got from cultural festival shenanigans to occult science in the basement. Is the romance even still the main plot?! Oh, and there's a short extra that goes over the rose knight roster, so none of that here.

Overall, a good start that went WAY out there to the point I think I'm reading a different story.

This series has 9 volumes.

[Katt Hansen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh this ending made me sad - for all the wrong reasons.

Somewhere someone decided the series would end here, and so the author scurried through the rest of the plot, slammed an ending down so fast it makes your head spin, that gives absolutely no real conflict and resolves the book without resolving ANY of the conflict that was set up in the rest of the series.

Sigh.

And I'm still giving this 3 stars, because I love the characters so much. And that's the ONLY reason I am.

I hate when a manga series reads badly, and am very glad that this is one I got from the library and didn't invest in personally. There was so much potential that I'm dying for someone to rewrite the entire thing only taking the time to plot out the story, and then adjust the pacing accordingly. Since that's not going to happen, I shall withdraw and weep quietly in the corner for what we all lost.

[Kimiko · Rating 5 out of 5]

Is that how the books are gonna end!??!!?!?!?!??

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is such a non-ending. Most of the major story arc plot lines were not tied up. We don’t know how well the seal is going to be protected, we don’t know who Anise is going to choose as her highest awakened knight (it’s pretty much implied to be Kaede), and we don’t know what’s going to happen to the fake rose knights or her dad. Mutsuki absorbed his older brother, what happens there? Tenjo did a lot of weird things at the end, there should be some repercussions there. Haruto was a true rose knight (yellow), but he became a fake rose knight (gold) as well? Why? How does that affect his powers? Will he still fight against Anise and her contracted rose knights? Why can she only have four contracts? Did she renew her contract with Mutsuki, since apparently the collar thing his bro had him wear broke it? Can they revive Mikage/Cinder Ella and her purple rose knight, Shiden? Was she actually as powerful as Anise? Why was Shiden so powerful? So many questions.

This is a real disappointing end to the series and I don’t know why the author decided to end it this way. Did the viewership decline so much that the publisher decided to have her end it? Did she get bored?

[-moonprismpower- · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ahhh I wanted more from that ending… *sigh*

Overall thoughts about this series:
I give it a 3.5 out of 5 stars. It’s definitely not my favorite Aya Shouoto story (The Demon Prince of Momochi House still wins that battle!!).
It certainly was interesting though! I read the entire series in two days (would’ve been one if I didn’t have a little self control lol).
The art was beautiful but sometimes too busy.
The story was confusing at times but that’s how all of Shouoto’s stories are. I wonder where she gets these ideas???
Why was the pacing so quick??? I felt like I couldn’t get a minute to think about the plot before it jumps into the next thing! That rushed ending really just hurt the series. Plus, we didn’t get a “definitive” answer on who Anise ended up with… I think it was Kaede with how they kissed at the end and her answer, “That was only the kiss of the rose princess!” was all part of the back and forth her and Kaede have with each other.. but we all know they love each other…

[vaelia]

This series is such a mess ahahahah
But if it's one of the first shojos you read you probably won't notice it too much especially if you're not familiar with storytelling and pacing.
It's still fun just for how crazy it is and the characters are loveable for the little time you spend getting to know them. I actually really like the protagonist (I just wish she didn't talk so often about her weight because she's very small and thin af and says quite a lot how she gained weight/has to lose weight on the side of the story as "filler" but it is a manga from the 2000s sooo)

[Jnyama · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very similar to Shouoto's "He's My Only Vampire" series, I thought the art was beautiful and the story concept compelling and the characters intriguing and the ending really pretty arbitrary. I did like the resolution better than "He's My Only Vampire," but it seemed very rushed with confusing connecting details. I would still recommend the series but would caution readers to moderate their expectations for the end.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

What honestly kept me reading this far was how gorgeous the art was. Shouoto draws a mean bishonen (the likes I haven't seen in years), but the storytelling for this title was jumbled, rushed, and all over the place. Everything is "resolved" in the span of a few pages, but to me, I still had a few unanswered questions. So, I suppose, this was a thing. A prettily drawn thing.

[Punkie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3 stars for this volume, 3 1/2-4 stars for the series overall
Kiss Of The Rose Princess is one of those oddly endearing series, not particularly well developed, but amusing all the same. What the story lacks in plot, it makes up for with likeable characters and truly beautiful art. It's definitely worth the time, even though you'll feel quite silly while reading it.

[Jessa Lee Mercedes Melo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This started out as just a way to help me complete my readings goals for the year and ended up being the reason I got out of a reading slump and have become more interested in manga in the process. I loved the whole series and binged it within a few days. I really hope this becomes animated and I’m definitely going to read the others series by the creator that has become an anime already.

[Annie · Rating 3 out of 5]

So it was a fun ride... I liked that the final lesson was "don't let the fate of the world in the hands of old geezers" LOL
As I predicted there wasn't a definitive couple, but it certainly ended in Kaede vs Mutsuki for Anis' heart.

[Janet · Rating 2 out of 5]

For most of this series, I was mentally asking myself, "What? Is? Happening?" And then the ending wasn't even good. I can overlook a lot (and I mean a LOT) if there's a cute romance going on, but it was insanely underdeveloped, and then left hanging. Like everything else in the series.

[KristynRene SwissCheese JellyBean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Of course this chaotic and nonsensical series would have a chaotic and nonsensical ending. The story is absurd, the magic is mostly jargon, and it all reads like an otome game.

But.

I still enjoyed this nonsense comedy for what it was 🤣

[Miss Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

i just think someone needs to teach aya shouoto about the power of pacing...throwing out like three plot developments only to wrap them up in one volume doesn't give anyone the opportunity to feel anything about it...

2 stars

[Meme · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

Wished the ending wasn't rushed like that.

[Rebekah · Rating 2 out of 5]

This series was so fast paced that the story didn't really makes sense. Characters motives changed too quickly and the main character was really irritating.

[gabi · Rating 4 out of 5]

The ending was a little odd and rushed, but overall I really enjoyed it!

[Lisa Kizer · Rating 4 out of 5]

What she did not end up with Kaede!?! She ended up with no one :(

[R · Rating 5 out of 5]

No!!! Last volume! But I loved this series so much and wish it could keep going! I will miss these characters and I hope Kaede gets the girl!

[Maria Waltner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cop out ending.

[nidah05 (SleepDreamWrite) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another good volume.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This didn’t really make much sense to me and I was a little sad my ship didn’t pan out, but it was still a super enjoyable read. I really loved reading through this series!!

[Solace Winter · Rating 2 out of 5]

What an absolutely unsatisfying ending.