Hana is only 16 but her older sister is about 7 years older. When that rather flakey older sister decides not to show up to an arranged marriage meeting with the heir to the Takaba group, Hana is pressed into service because her dad (who, honestly, is a total idiot) doesn't want to lose his job. In this meeting, Takane Saibara (the grandson heir) is...well...kind of a condescending dick. And even though Hana was supposed to just get through the meeting quietly and hopefully unsuccessfully, she can't take it. She literally swipes the wig off her head and throws it at him and gives him a dressing down and leaves, declaring herself completely uninterested in him.
Takane has never had anyone ever talk to him in this way before. They've always been after his money. And the thing you need to know about his character -- who is 26! 10 years older than Hana! This is the dodgy as hell bit! -- is that he's a bit emotionally stunted. Basically, he's a 15 year old stuck in a man's life with lots of family chaebol-like drama holding him back. This is probably why the story works at all. Anyway, he very adversarily continues to date Hana and they one-up each other all the time, falling in love bit by bit. She brings out the good parts of him, he's helping her grow up.
Now. In real life I would never ever never be behind a relationship between a 26 year old man and a 16 year old high school girl. Never. The power imbalance is WAY wrong. And I often won't read it or watch it either because...well, because it just squicks me out. And I say that as a once upon a time 16 year old where my mom somehow let me briefly go out with a 20 year old (he was a family friend, but still, mom, WTH). But this is actually a very fun series and overall, it works. There's a crazy blonde uni friend of Takane's, Hana's two best girlfriends + the very lovely Okamon (the childhood friend who's actually a very good fit for Hana and loves her) and even a somewhat devoted underling of Takane's.
We're up to maybe volume 12? We both like it. There's lots of laughs, a bit of danger, and even though there's the massive age gap, it's actually pretty innocent and not as dodgy as you'd think it would be.
Which leads me to the next half of this post...there's also a Japanese JDrama live action version. Now, I debated for a long time whether I'd try it or not because there's things that work in manga that just...don't in live action. Like Happy Marriage.
And, two episodes in, I'd still say I'm a bit not sure of how this one is going but...well...let's start by saying that, in some ways, it does work well because Takane in this does NOT look or feel at all like he's 26 while she's 16. But, at the same time, the actor that's playing him is very wrong. He's the same height as Hana! When the actress is in heels, he's shorter! He's supposed to tower over her. So he feels both right and wrong. He's also not quite handsome enough (not that he's not an attractive guy, just not quite Takane level...but is anyone?).
That said, Hana's friends are all pretty perfect in their roles so far. And the girl who plays Hana is...well, I think she seems okay. Though I wish her hair were pink. HAHA. Maybe a bit more wishy-washy at this point in the story than I think she should be, but that might be because they need to move some things along faster? Or I've forgotten the earlier books? Because it does seem to be following the storyline fairly well from the books (at least, nothing is glaringly obvious and out of place).
So...in summary, I think I probably will watch this one, though I'm not in a rush to do so. And we'll definitely keep reading it, even with as problematic as the core plot is. Little dude is probably sick of me reminding him that this is something he is never to do in real life.
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