Eden no Hana

woodenstarfish Oct 5, 2011

10

My first review...   This manga is the story of a teenage girl who runs away from her mentally abusive adoptive family and her sexually abusive stepbrother. She instead goes to start over, living with her true, somewhat 'long lost', older brother. He tracks her down and comes to rescue her; the story follows their relationship and her struggles with school and putting trust in others. There are confessions of plagiarism from the author, but, please, this story still has elements of its own and it is quite a good read. It was heartbreaking and moving, on par with the sadness I felt after stumbling my way through the anime, Clannad: After Story. Don't dive in to this expecting a whole ton of humour, and don't expect too many romantic cliches to appear either. I would categorize it as a slice of life or a drama, it has its lighthearted moments but for the most part it is honest, incredibly emotionally touching and just plain old hard to put down! I enjoyed that it was pushed mostly by the character's decisions in place of the environment - it kept things very interesting and you learn a lot about the characters that way. They also have interesting pasts which surface slowly throughout the story and build up to an amazing finish. As well, I found it quite easy to attach to the characters, even though the supporting characters were not always as complex as they could have been, they were enjoyable to experience and fit well. However, the main characters were vivid, had depth, and always met up with what one would expect from their given peronalities. When they did surprise me... well, the reasons for it were explained thoroughly enough. At times some of the relationships may seem... weird... but stick it out, this manga is absolutely worth finishing!! It exceeded all my expectations. The art is a tad confusing at times, true, but overall I'd say it's well done. It has movement to it - I remember it in my head as being more animated than a manga. I didn't expect to get very far in this one; I'm quite picky and have trouble getting through most manga (but I finished it all and it became an instant favourite, bringing me close to tears in many parts!). (I have also heard it is still in progress, but there is some doubt do to the accounts of plagiarism. Where it has left off seems rather appropiate however, though many could dispute that.)  

ModnarAnon Dec 19, 2023

8.5

After 6 years, I finally decided to re-read it! My thoughts and feelings are the same when I read it several years ago! The romance and drama are truly classic. 👌🏻 It healed and awaken my shoujo, romance spirit that's been somehow disappointed with the recent mangas/manhwas out there. 🥺 Don't get me wrong. This is not one of the top manga to read but this is definitely one of the top classic to read especially with family themed romance manga. Hope many would give this a try and let ML and FL grow into your hearts! PS. 2nd ML is such a treasure! ✨

xxxmyoui Sep 29, 2021

6

i mean.....maybe their feelings are too complex for a simple minded reader like me to understand. i struggled to understand the symbolism, some of the dialogue (i feel like it was kinda jumping (?) type of conversations, whether due to confusing translation or it's just my weaknesses.) i enjoyed the drama but for sure i could've had more drama. or give the already established drama more impactful. anyway, i enjoyed it! pst, the art is sooooo pretty and one of my fav art.