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I liked the cover of this volume, in particular, the contrast between her clean, innocent look, and the evil little plushie she has tucked into her top. It is so cute! She looks so innocent and sweet. And the toy has a skull on it! Hah! Ahem, Anyway, I don’t think I have covered any other manga by this author here before. This is a cute book, volume 1 of an ongoing series. The artwork is fairly clean and simple like the cover, however the heroine does not normally look so polished and angelic. She is actually more sloppy and ‘average’. Everyone is drawn in a clean, almost delicate style except for the heroine. Her hair is kind of all over the place, yet she is very cute when she smiles. Her personality is honest and genuine, I like her. While this book does use several common shoujo manga plot devices, I like the characters a lot.
Our heroine is a girl named Kogane. She has grown up under the care of her grandmother after her parents died in an accident when she was a young child. Now her grandmother has also passed away and she is all alone. Or is she? Just when Kogane is reflecting on having no one left, someone appears. It is an elegant woman dressed in a kimono. She knows who Kogane is and says that she would like Kogane to come with her and become her relative. Naturally, Kogane is surprised. She didn’t think she had any relatives left. She thought she was all alone! She eventually decides to go with the woman, and soon Kogane is in a whole new world.
The woman turns out to be extremely wealthy! Kogane can’t believe the size of the mansion she will be living in! And she won’t be the only one living there. This is the home of the Oogami family. As soon as Kogane arrives, she is introduced to the woman’s three handsome sons. The oldest is OOGAMI Shoutarou, a first year high school student. He is tall, with longish black hair, and a bit of a narcissistic arrogant personality. The middle son is named OOGAMI Takezou, a second year middle school student, the same age as Kogane. He has spiked short hair. The youngest brother is OOGAMI Umenosuke. He is cute and studious, but in a sort of superior, unemotional kind of way.
Kogane is surprised by the presence of these cute brothers, but is even more surprised when their mother says Kogane will be marrying one of them! Wait, what? She only went with this woman because she thought they were related! She can’t marry a relative! The woman clarifies that Kogane will become a relative when she marries one of the boys. Right now, they have no relationship. Eeeeh?
Yes, Kogane has been promised to one of the brothers, something that they apparently are aware of, but is news to Kogane! They don’t seem all that thrilled about the prospect, but there is also a sense of competition between them as to who will marry her. Now why would this be happening to Kogane? This is such a shoujo manga situation! Things like this do not happen in reality! (I know I certainly wouldn’t be adverse to having some insanely rich people show up to sweep me away from my drab lifestyle, lol, I am so shallow) It turns out that this arrangement is all a part of the last will of the grandfather of the wealthy family. Kogane’s grandmother was his childhood love. In his will, he basically leaves everything to Kogane, with the stipulation that she marry one of the grandsons within a year. The entire family inheritance and assets are riding on this marriage!
With little opportunity to argue, Kogane is now living in the mansion. She then finds herself enrolled in the huge fancy private school that the brothers attend. It is a school that has all grades from pre-school through college. The brothers are very popular there. Kogane feels out of place. She does make one new friend though — a handsome and gentle guy named Shion. He is in her class, and he is only half Japanese. His light hair and blue eyes seem amazing to Kogane. He helps her fit in, but his presence also sparks a surprising amount to territorial attitude between the brothers, who have no problems claiming in public that she is their fiancee. Obviously, having more than one guy, more than one POPULAR RICH guy declaring this causes some problems for Kogane. But the brothers appear to be trying to stake their claim on her…
The relationship between the brothers is not that good. They all seem to do their own thing, and the family doesn’t really feel like a FAMILY. Kogane can’t believe this. She is all alone, and would be thankful to have blood relatives! But they all take each other for granted. Can Kogane unite the family, fit in to her new environment, and pick a husband?