Opposites Attract, but are they really so different?
Kaoru Hana wa Rin to Saku (薫る花は凛と咲く, engl.: The Fragrant Flower Blooms With Dignity) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Saka Mikami. It began serialization on Kodansha's Magazine Pocket manga website and app in October 2021. It would later get an official English translation, which was published in Kodansha's K-Manga app.Chidori Public High School and Kikyo Girls' School lie directly next two each other, yet couldn't be further apart otherwise: While Chidori is filled with bottom-feeding Delinquents, Kikyo is a prestigious private school for girls from wealthy backgrounds, leading them to look down on their dim-witted neighbors.
Sixteen-year-old Rintaro Tsumugi is a student at Chidori whose intimidating face leads people to avoid him. Rintaro pays no mind to this, as he is content with his group of friends. While helping out at his family's cake shop, he meets Kaoruko Waguri, a regular at the shop, who isn't put off by his looks. Yet while fantasying about her and glancing over at Kikyo, he finds himself looking straight at Kaoruko's seat inside.
This series provides examples of:
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: Averted. Nearly all the Kikyo-girls look down on the "bottom-feeding delinquents" at Cydori. Kaoruko, meanwhile, falls not for Rintaro's Bad-Boy-looks, but for his kindness.
- All of the Other Reindeer:
- Rintaro seems to have been bullied in the past for his parents owning a cake shop.
- Subaru was bullied as a child for her naturally silver hair.
- Defrosting Ice Queen: Subaru, upon accepting Rintaro's and Kaoruko's friendship, defrosts in record-time.
- Forgotten First Meeting: Rintaro and Kaoruko actually met sometime before the story. Karoruko visited the Tsumugis' cake shop shortly after her mother was hospitalized. Rintaro showing her kindness back then caused her to become a regular at the shop.
- Gentle Giant: Rintaro, although his Face of a Thug is more emphasised than his height.
- Nonconformist Dyed Hair:
- Rintaro's dyed hair, alongside his piercings, contributes greatly to his Delinquent-looks, yet he was really passionate about doing it. After becoming more comfortable with himself, he dyes it back to black.
- Subverted with Subaru, whose natural hair clolor is silver, wich leads a lot of people to assume she dyed it.
- No Social Skills:
- Rintaro, due to his Face of a Thug, had no friends for most of his school life and in the beginning still struggles to express himself.
- Subaru turns into a nervous and stuttering mess upon meeting Rintaro and his friends.
- One Head Taller: Rintaro towers over most other people, yet especially over the tiny Kaoruko, placing them somewhere between this and Huge Guy, Tiny Girl.
- Only Friend: Kaoruko is this to Subaru, leading to the latter being especially protective of the former.
- Opposites Attract: Played With. At a glance, Rintaro (a huge, intimidating, yet shy Dumb Jock) and Kaoruko (a tiny, cute and smart Class Princess) couldn't be more different, yet over time, their similarities are highlighted: Both are kind and compassionate, both are remarkably hard-working and both have the bad habit of not being open about their troubles.
- Real Men Wear Pink: Rintaro starts out somewhat ashamed of his family owning a cake shop and him helping out there, yet he accepts it over the corse of the story and even starts baking himself.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: Downplayed with Kaoruko and Subaru: While both act rather feminine, the former dresses in cute, frilly dresses, while the latter prefers more masculine clothing in her free-time.
- Uptown Girl: Subverted. Rintaro (and probably the reader) first thinks that Kaoruko must be from a rich family due to attending Kikyo, yet she quickly reveals that she got in on a scholarship, making her a modern-day Penny Among Diamonds.
