When it comes to romance for young girls, you'll tend to find popular series that portray unhealthy relationships that are glossed over and glamorized as normal and acceptable.
Black Bird is one of those series.
There really isn't a plot in this story nor is there any character development within this manga. Black Bird is about the head of the Tengu clan named Kyo trying to kill anyone who gets in between him and Misao, who happens to be this 'Holy Fruit', just so he can sleep with her.
I wouldn't have a problem with this series if Kyo wasn't a controlling, abusive, sex fiend. He touches her when she doesn't want to be touched, makes snide remarks about sleeping with her, and tells her who she can and can't talk to. In a nutshell, he is a dominating control freak.
One example is when she is taking a bath and he gives her his clothes because he 'doesn't want her to wear clothes of another man.'
Another one is when she is not paying attention to him and he doesn't like it, so he 'punishes' her by kissing her and doing what he pleases with her body as she protests.
There are times when she is unconscious, and he is kissing her naked body. Folks, if the person is, anyway, unable to verbally and mentally give consent, then that's sexual assault.
What's horrible about his whole thing is that it's attempting to be cute and funny when it's not. It's not cute, funny, or romantic when a man makes a woman uncomfortable by touching her when she does not want to be touched.
I did give Misao credit because in the beginning, she doesn't love him and wanted nothing to do with him. She believes he doesn't want her for who she is but rather because she is this 'Holy Fruit'. Naturally, she has every right to believe that. She has enough sense to slap him, kick his knee, or push him away when she says no every time he advances on her.
The problem, as the series continues, is she falls in love with him. It's dangerous because this behavior creates societal expectations for men and women.
It causes men to think that women say 'no' but never mean it. It's dangerous for women, who actually don't want to be in a relationship because they get unwanted attention with stalking and constant pressure (from men and the rest of society) into saying yes. And can you blame them? After endless, nonstop attempts, of course she's going to give up and stop resisting. Saying no doesn't matter. What a woman says doesn't matter, because she's so 'inconsiderate' of a man's feelings. How dare she say no!
This is Misao's fate. She resists and tries to set boundaries with Kyo only to give up and surrender to his feelings.
Kyo is a creepy sex fiend. That's all there is to it. During his childhood he made sure he was the head of the house so he could marry her. To physically stay close to her he moved next door to her as her neighbor. He even becomes a teacher at her school.
I know sometimes the manga intends to bring humor when Misao slaps Kyo during his advances but honesty . . . it's not funny. Not even close.
If you look at the setup for this story, it shouldn't be a surprise that it's not good. The story is setup for a failed romance. Think about it. A romance between a girl who is this predestined bride and a demon who makes a choice between loving her for who she is or forcefully taking her to bring prosperity to his clan. It puts the heroine in a scenario where she has to accept one of her competitors or die from a rejected demon who kills her to prevent her from becoming someone else's bride.
So no matter what Misao says, it's a lose-lose situation for her. And all for the 'prosperity' of a demon clan.
And what's alarming is that you have plenty of book and manga series that are similar like this but super popular. Which is sad. I just hope women read this and don't desire a relationship like this because this is not okay.